I was talking sports with the president

All of the recent hullabaloo over the 40th anniversary of former President Richard Nixon’s historic resignation made me a bit nostalgic. It jogged my memory about some interesting times during the Nixon presidency when I was press secretary for U.S. Rep. F. Edward Hebert, D-New Orleans.

Hebert, who was elected to Congress in 1941, and Nixon, who was elected in 1947, were close personal friends. They served together on the old House Un-American Activities Committee and socialized together. It is not surprising, therefore, that Hebert was invited to many functions at the White House. I would drop him off since Hebert had very poor eyesight and could not drive.

One day in December of 1970, Hebert came into my office and asked me to take him to White House. He wanted to present the president with tickets to the Sugar Bowl. Hebert, who was chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Academies, was influential in getting the Sugar Bowl to invite the Air Force Academy football team to be one of the participants. It was the first time Air Force had been invited to play in a major bowl game, and its opponent would be Tennessee.

So off to the White House we went. I would usually drop Hebert off at the Southwest Gate, and Secret Service officials would escort him inside. But on this day, Hebert told me to drive to the front gate off Pennsylvania Avenue. When we got to the gate, the Secret Service Guard recognized Hebert with a “Hello, Mr. Chairman.” It was then that Hebert said, “I am going to take this character (pointing to me) with me to see the president.”

Needless to say, I was stunned. The Secret Service guard said they would have to check me out to see if I had the proper clearance to be with the president.. That took about 15 minutes. The gate opened and we drove onto the White House grounds. We were met by the White House liaison staffer, who gave us the established protocol. A Secret Service agent would enter first, followed by him, then Hebert, then me. The liaison would announce Hebert, then introduce me to the president.

Well, it didn’t work out that way. As soon as the door to the Oval Office was opened, Nixon looked up and saw Hebert and rushed from behind his desk. “Eddie, my good friend, come on in,” he said. Hebert then introduced me to the president. “This is my press secretary, Lou Gehrig Burnett, emphasizing Lou Gehrig. Nixon was curious about my name. “I bet you love sports, and I bet you are an LSU man. I love sports, too,” he said.

I told him he was right on both counts and that I had served as sports editor of the Houma Courier for a couple of years while I was attending college. Hebert broke in saying he had brought him tickets to the Sugar Bow. Well, that started another conversation. Nixon was informed on every bowl game, so he started by saying LSU had a tough game going up against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. At the time, LSU was ranked fifth in the AP poll, and Nebraska was ranked third. “LSU has a fine team, but I don’t think they can beat Nebraska,” he predicted. I responded, “I respectfully disagree, Mr. President. I think LSU will win.” As it turned out, the president was right. Nebraska beat LSU 17-12.

Nixon went on to predict the national champion, saying Texas would wind up as No. 1. He missed on that one. Texas, ranked No.1 at the end of the regular season, lost to Notre Dame 24-11 in the Cotton Bowl, and Nebraska was named national champion. LSU finished at No. 7. Nixon said not to reveal what he had told me, and I did not in an article that appeared in the Houma Courier about my visit with the president. This is the first time I have revealed his erroneous prediction of who would be national champion.

Hebert relished the interaction between me and Nixon. He was elated as we drove back to Capitol Hill, and I, of course, was on cloud nine. The president was very friendly and down-to-earth and seemed to enjoy our visit. During my 27 years of working on Capitol Hill, it was the only time I was in the Oval Office. I was invited to the White House for lunch with some other chiefs-of-staff when Jimmy Carter was president and again when Ronald Reagan occupied the White House.

On the wall of my home office is a picture of Hebert and me with President Nixon in the Oval Office. I also have a signed, official photograph of President Nixon hanging along side. He also gave both of us presidential cufflinks and me a presidential pen.

Of course, I voted for Nixon in 1972 when he won a second term. But I was so disappointed over Watergate and his resignation as president of the United States. So was Hebert. He was invited to the White House the night Nixon gave his resignation speech. The next morning, with tears in his eyes, Hebert dictated his official statement to me in which he said his good friend had lied to the American people and needed to resign.

Lou Gehrig Burnett, an award-winning journalist, has been involved with politics for 44 years and was a congressional aide in Washington, D.C., for 27 years. He also served as executive assistant to former Shreveport Mayor Bo Williams. Burnett is the publisher of the weekly “FaxNet Update” and can be reached at 861-0552 or [email protected].