TIL: If this 1983 story from The Palm Beach Post is to be believed then Richard Nixon considered taking up residence at the Trump Tower, a new building at the time famous for being the world’s most expensive address. It almost sounds like the stuff of politically-planted apocrypha, but who really knows? There was mutual admiration between Richard Nixon and Donald Trump, that much is certain. Apparently Richard Nixon wanted to downsize his living accommodation so he could better take care of his wife, Pat, who had suffered a minor stroke.
The Palm Beach Post Thursday, September 22, 1983
NIXON AND HIS TIMES. Former President Richard Nixon is moving again, this time from his home in the New Jersey suburbs to the posh Trump Tower in Manhattan, where it should be easier to care for his wife Pat, who is being treated for a recent stroke, and where it should be more convenient for friends to drop by. Nixon enjoys private dinners at his home with old friends and experts on national and international affairs. His latest book will be syndicated soon by the New York Times.
Another story from the Chula Vista Star-News (September 4, 1983, page 11) describes a three hour tour of Trump Tower apartments attended by Richard Nixon, his daughter Tricia, and Donald Trump. If Nixon ever actually moved in to the Trump Tower it appears to have been done confidentially. That would be consistent with the Trump Tower’s reputation of security for its residents, not that that makes it any easier to believe Nixon ever actually moved in.
In April Susan Mulcahy recounted how she mentioned the Nixon/Trump encounter in the New York Post‘s Page Six. Trump denied the meeting occurred. I am not coming to bat for Trump’s character but this, too, would be consistent with the standards of any high-end real estate broker maintaining the confidentiality of their prospective residents. A Nixon aide, on the other hand, confirmed the meeting happened. (Nice payphone picture in the above link to Politico.com, by the way.)
It would be interesting to learn that the former president lived at the Trump Tower without it being mentioned anywhere in the press, but having Richard Nixon in the house would be a pretty hard secret to keep. Nixon appears to have genuinely considered taking a place at the Trump Tower but decided against it. Maybe the décor and general swankiness of the place got through to him as conspicuously non-Nixonian. Or maybe he just couldn’t afford it. How much money did he really have, anyway?
My interest in Richard Nixon goes way back, but it has nothing to do with his presidency or his politics. It’s all about his music. In my pursuit of this I believe I offended the man, and while this does not torment me I consider the incident regrettable.
I was organizing a concert in which I played 26 short pieces by composers for every letter of the alphabet. Starting with “A” I programmed something by the French composer Charles Alkan, “B” was Beethoven, and so forth. I wrote about that concert here. The idea was to bring these 26 pieces together and form one single new super-piece.
At the heart of the program I needed an “N” composer, and why not make it “N for Novelty”? I had read that Richard Nixon, while attending Whittier College, wrote a theme song for a club of which he was a member. I wanted to include that piece in my A-Z program. I wrote about my pursuit of this music and its unhappy conclusion here, and here.
I also maintain a long-time fondness for the Trump Tower. It has always been considered fashionable to diss that building on its æsthetic merits (nowadays more than ever) but I never had a problem with its design. I don’t disagree with those who say it is tacky and overwrought but that doesn’t mean I can’t like it for what it is.
I also used to work at Tower Records, a few years before that record store chain occupied several thousand square feet of retail space in the Trump Tower basement. I never worked at the “Tower Tower” but my ex-girlfriend did and I used to see her there.
My mother would be loath to see Donald Trump rising to the level of legitimate presidential candidate. She disliked him intensely. I became aware of this when I unwittingly bought my mother a Christmas gift at the Trump Tower. It was a music box, purchased at one of the once-abundant shops in the Trump Tower Mall. Mother seemed to like the music box just fine until I mentioned where I had purchased it. At that she threatened never to wind it up or listen to it ever again. I do not know that she followed through with that threat but she certainly made it with all sincerity.
