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Robert G. Nixon Oral History

Oral History Interviews
with Robert G. Nixon

News correspondent with the International News Service (INS), 1930-58; INS State Department and foreign relations correspondent in 1938; war correspondent, attached to the British army in France and Belgium, 1940, during invasion of the low countries; evacuated from Dunkirk but later returned to France; evacuated with the British army from Brest, June 20, 1940; covered London Blitz, 1940-41; war correspondent, attached to United States forces in European theater of operations, 1942-1943; correspondent in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, and Mediterranean theater, participating in North African invasion and campaign. Covered Casablanca conference, 1943; Quebec conference, 1944; and Potsdam, 1945. Washington correspondent covering the White House beginning 1944.

 
Interview Transcripts
1970
October: 9, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30
November: 4, 5, 6, 20, 23

[Notices and Restrictions | List of Subjects Discussed]

 


Notice
These are transcripts of tape-recorded interviews conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of each transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that these are essentially transcripts of the spoken, rather than the written word.

Numbers appearing in square brackets (ex. [45]) within the transcript indicate the pagination in the original, hardcopy version of the oral history interview.

RESTRICTIONS
These oral history transcripts may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.

 


 

List of Subjects Discussed

 

 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X-Y-Z

A
Acheson, Dean,
514, 516, 723, 729, 745, 826, 827, 828, 889, 971-973, 1053

F
Fair Deal,

G
Gatow Airfield,
294
George V, 326, 327
George VI, 322, 326-327
Georgia Tech, 313
Georgian, 2, 4
Germany, 313, 636

    • Allied plans for the invasion of, 304-305, 306-307
      atomic bomb: black market in, 275-277
      destruction in, 340-341
      jets, use of in World War II, 338
      surrender, announcement of, 336-337
      Truman, Harry S., reviews United States' troops in, 308-309
      Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, attitude toward, 274, 278
  • Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Visits by Dwight D. Eisenhower, 231-236
    Gibralter, 30, 344
    Girard, General Henri Honore, 31, 32, 33-34, 37
    Godman, Earl, 382
    Goebbels, Josef, 301
    Goering, Hermann, 52, 53, 301, 330
    Graham, Captain Frank, 286
    Graham, Wallace, 208, 287-288, 795
    Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 932
    Great Britain, 313, 344, 636
    • blitz attack by Germany, 1023-1025 elections, 1945, 264-266
      Truman, Harry S., comments on sharing the atomic bomb with, 373-374
    Greece, aid to, 181, 215, 570, 1037-1038
    Gridiron Club, 633
    Griffith Stadium, 951
    Guantanamo Bay, 535

H
Hachmeister, Louise L.
108
Hagerty, James, 226, 227, 228, 233, 430, 1018
Haiti, 535
Hannegan, Robert, 60, 71
Harding, Warren, 173, 210
Harlem, New York, 649, 651
Harriman, W. Averell, 556-557
Hassett, William C., 108, 109, 113, 117, 118, 197-198, 199, 617-618, 707, 861
Hastie, William O., 533-534
Hawaii, 746, 747, 749, 756, 762
Hearst, William Randolph, Sr., 458, 661, 739, 1032
Hearst newspaper chain, 457-459, 647, 830
Hemmingway, Ernest, 524
Hillman, William, 1011, 1012, 1022-1024, 1026-1028
Hiroshima, Japan, 316, 329, 373, 805
Hiss, Alger, 411, 933
Hiss-Chambers case, 410, 416, 419
Hitler, Adolf, 51, 52, 297, 300, 301, 330, 715
Hobcaw,Barony, 57-58, 100
Hogan, Ben, 229
Holmes, George R., 632-634
Hoover, Herbert, 379, 405, 1016
House of Representatives, 785
Hull, Cordell, 20, 21, 22, 1053
Hume, Paul, 1044-1045

I
Illinois,

J
Jackson Place,
778, 787, 788
James, Frank, 371
James, Jesse, 371
Japan, 315, 1040

    • MacArthur, Douglas, as commanding general of United States occupation forces in, 739-740
      Nixon, Robert G., opinion on decision to drop the bombs, 315-317
      Pearl Harbor, bombing of, 20-26
      surrender of, 331-335
      Union of Soviet Socialists Republic, enters into the war against, 317-320, 331
      United States troops in, 487-498
      Wake Island Conference communique, as part of, 765-766, 772-773
  • Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, 1952, 141, 854, 864-866
    Jefferson, Thomas, 985
    Jenner, William E., 928-929, 968
    Jersey City, New Jersey, 890
    Jessup, Phillip C., 755
    Johnson, Alvanley, 643
    Johnson, Louis:
    • Acheson, Dean, feud between, 495, 505, 508, 512
      Defense budget cut by, 498-504
      Roosevelt, Franklin D., as Assistant Secretary of War for, 505
      Secretary of Defense, resignation as, 509-513, 514-515
      testimonial dinner given for, 734-737
      Truman, Harry S., appointed as Secretary of War for, 507, 508
      Woodring, Harry H., problems between, 505-507
    Johnson, Lyndon, 635, 877, 916
    • Presidential press conferences of, 433-434
    Jonesboro, Arkansas, 368
K
Kaiser, Henry J.,
L
Labor vote in the 1948 Presidential election,
  • 630, 639, 643-644
    Lafayette Park, 778
    Lake Forest, Illinois, 893
    Lancastria, 10
    Landry, Robert B., 861
    League of Nations, 41
    Leahy, William D., 283-284, 332, 524, 861
    • atomic bomb, opinion of, 713-714
      background of, 712-716
      Roosevelt, Franklin D., appointed as United States Ambassador to Vichy government, 715-716
    Lend lease, 502, 1038 Leviero, Anthony H., 759
    • Wake Island Conference notes, writes exclusive story dealing with, 838-846
    Lewis, Clyde A., 817
    Libertyville, Illinois, 893
    Libya, 1020
    Life magazine, 547, 548, 925
    Lincoln, Abraham, 1052
    Lincolns, Carroll, 520
    Lindberg, Charles A., 50-51
    • America Firsters, head of, 53
      Germany, attitude toward, 52-53
      Roosevelt, Franklin D., meets with, 52
    Lodge, Henry Cabot, 610, 958
    London, England, discussion of the blitz, 12-20
    Los Angeles, California, 564-565
    Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 418
    Los Angeles Times, 393
    Luce, Henry, 488, 925, 930
    Luftwaffe, 52

M
MacArthur, Douglas,

N
Nagasaki, Japan,
  • 373, 805
    Napoleon, 298
    Narvik, Norway, 313
    Nash, Philleo, 195-196
    National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 289, 1022
    National Plowing Contest, Dexter, Iowa, speech given by Harry S. Truman at, 621-627, 638-639
    Neutrality Act, 53, 81
    New Deal, 80, 696
    New York City, New York, 890
    • Roosevelt, Franklin D., campaigns in, 72-74
    New York Herald-Tribune, 418, 605, 662
    New York Times, 243, 393, 418, 431, 451, 452, 464, 465, 586, 605, 631, 670, 671, 759-760, 820, 962, 994,
    • Truman, Harry S., runs exclusive interview with, 446-448
      Wake Island conference notes, carries an exclusive on, 838-846
    Newsmen: News photographers, 475-481, 482
    News service reporters, special privileges of, 382
    Niles, David, 195, 196, 197
    Nimitz, Chester, 38, 72, 317
    Nixon, Richard M., 129-130, 410, 416, 703, 891, 933, 967
    • Presidential press conferences of, 437, 438
    Nixon, Robert G., 389, 1012
    • atomic bomb:
      • Japan, opinion of use in, 315-317
        knowledge of the project to create, 312-314
      Berlin, Germany, tour of, 299-304
      biographical information, 1-3
      Brest, France, evacuated from, 9-11
      Churchill, Winston, reasons for defeat in 1945 elections, 79-80
      Eisenhower, Dwight D., evaluation of, 136-137
      Germany, tour of, 295-298
      Great Britain, 1945 election prediction, 264-266
      International News Service, work for, 4-6
      Japan's surrender announcement, his reporting of, 332-335
      Korean war:
      • opinion of our involvement in, 732-733
        problems involved in getting a story on, 722-731
      London, England, recollection of the attack on in World War II, 12-20
      North African invasion, covers, 29-37
      Pearl Harbor, learns of bombing of, 20-26
      Potsdam, the expenses of the trip, 365-368
      Presidential campaign, 1948:
      • exhaustive pace of, 590-593
        Ferdinand Magellan, accommodations, 593-595
      Reel foot Lake, problems of reporting from, 375-378
      Roosevelt, Franklin D.: Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr., opinion of, 896-900
      Truman, Harry S.: Tubby, Roger, problems between, 989-996, 1007
      war correspondent, as a, 6-9
      White House reporter, as a, 37-38
    North Africa:
    • American troops in, 29-37
      Stalin demands a military base on the coast of, 343
    North Korea, invasion of South Korea, 497-498
    Noyes, David M., 1011, 1012

O
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
  • 596, 599
    • Truman, Harry S., speech by, 602-604
    Olympia, Washington, 236-237
    Olympic Coronet, 317
    Omaha, Nebraska, 556
    • Thirty-fifth Division Association's reunion in, 545-549
    Omaha, U.S.S., 77

P
Pace, Frank,

Q
Quantico, Virginia,

R
Raleigh, North Carolina,
658
Rayburn, Sam, 178, 572-573, 583, 585, 596, 832, 935
Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 940, 941, 945
Red herring remark, 412-413
Red Sea, 344
Reelfoot Lake, visited by Harry S. Truman, 369-370, 372, 375-378
Reich Chancellory, 300, 302, 304, 346
Reichstag, 303
Reilly, Mike, 347, 348
Reinsch, Leonard, 160, 163-165, 201, 833-837
Reuters, 759
Reynaud, Paul, 9
Reynolds, R. J., 658
Rigdon, William M., 283, 287, 289, 474, 861
Rio de Janeiro, Inter-American Conference at, 483
Roberts, Roy, 672-674, 980, 1031
Romagna, Jack, 157, 222, 289
Roosevelt, Eleanor (Mrs. Franklin D.), 119-120, 147, 150-151
Roosevelt, Franklin D.: 38, 45-49, 78, 80, 81, 87, 194, 212, 247-248, 258, 260, 274, 280, 283, 306, 308, 310,

S
Saint Croix,
534, 537
Saint John, 535
St. Louis Globe Democrat, 418
St. Louis, Missouri, speech given by Harry S. Truman in, 659-663, 1032
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 200, 217, 418, 796, 979
Saint Thomas, 535, 538
Sakhalin Islands, 92
Salt Lake City, Utah, 241
San Francisco, California, 103

T
Taft, Robert A.,
821, 834, 837, 872
Tass, 222
Tehran, 274
Television, impact on Presidential elections, 920-925
Tempelhof Airfield, 298
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 369
Thirty-fifth Division Association, reunion of, 545-549
Thurmond, Strom, 645, 656, 657
Time Magazine, 485, 925
Tiptonville, Tennessee, 370, 372
Tromso, Norway, 313
Truman, Harry S., 61, 62, 87, 153-154, 214, 227, 274, 281, 299, 310, 311, 318, 319, 342, 378, 380, 433, 441,

U
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
1020, 1021

V
V-1 rocket,
330
V-2 rocket, 330
Vaccaro, Anthony, 149-150, 289, 455, 979, 1002-1004
Vardaman, James K., Jr., 160-161, 163, 181-182, 183-185, 284, 616, 711, 938, 1047
Vaughan, Harry, 85, 156, 160, 175, 177, 263, 269, 284, 352, 353, 357, 360-361, 546, 561, 721, 861, 862, 939,

  • Vichy government (France), 715
    Vienna, Congress of, 285, 298-299
    Vietnam, 496, 635, 814, 815
    Villa San Souci, 273
    Vinson, Fred M., 254, 255-256, 368, 874
    • Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, appointed, 259
      Secretary of Treasury, appointed, 257
      trip to Moscow, speculation on, 448-449
    Virgin Islands, visited by Harry S. Truman, 533-538
    Vladivostok, Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, 93, 318-320

W
Waccamaw River,
59
Wake Island Conference, 738, 740, 747-768, 770-773

Y
Yalta Conference,
39-40, 44, 77, 92, 95, 131, 273, 274, 280, 308, 319, 325, 411, 768, 808, 814
Young, Merl, 940-945, 1049
Young, Mrs. Merl (Lauretta W.), 940-944

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