Nixon’s the One

No one can accuse President Nixon of being boring. The same can be said of the Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda. More than a monument to the nation’s 37th president, the library provides a penetrating look into the spectacular successes and failures that defined Richard Nixon.

“No president has fascinated the public and the world more than President Nixon--for better or for worse,” said Nixon library assistant director Sandy Quinn. The library (18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., [714] 993-5075, open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., admission: $5.95) has 22 galleries with exhibits ranging from First Lady Pat Nixon’s dresses to Watergate, where visitors can listen to the actual “smoking gun” tapes that caused Nixon’s downfall.

Period televisions display the Nixon-Kennedy debates. Visitors can peer inside the bulletproof presidential limousine where Nixon and Henry Kissinger held private talks on a visit to Moscow. It was the only place that wasn’t bugged.

Not everything is Nixon. There’s a gallery devoted to American POWs and another devoted to the early days of NASA. But the most popular gallery houses life-size, realistic statues of 10 world leaders who Nixon felt made a difference--”not because they wished it, but because they willed it.”

The plaster statues are dressed in real clothes and coated to look like bronze. People love to see how they measure up to the leaders who shaped the 20th century. “This is everyone’s favorite room,” said Hazel Betts, a petite museum docent who can’t resist standing toe-to-toe with Nikita Khrushchev. “He seemed so big and fearsome at the time. I was surprised to find I can stand eye to eye with him.”

The Nixons are buried on the 9-acre property in a beautiful garden only yards from the modest farmhouse where the president was born in 1913. The garden is best in April and May when its 1,400 rose bushes are in full bloom.

Elvis Is Everywhere

The King dropped in unannounced to the White House on Dec. 21, 1970. A quick-thinking aide got Elvis (dressed to excess, of course) and Nixon to pose for a photograph. “This picture is the most requested photograph in the National Archive,” Quinn said of the now famous photo. “It’s our most popular collectible.”

The museum’s gift shop sells the 8-by-10 photo for $5.50. It’s also on coffee mugs ($5.95), postcards (75 cents), T-shirts ($14.95) and just about anything else that will hold a picture.

Like the museum, the gift shop strives to be a little different. Nowhere else in Orange County can you get a Birthplace birdhouse ($45), a replica of the house where Nixon was born. There’s even a Nixon yo-yo ($2.95).

China bearing the patterns of past presidents is also available. Individual pieces sell for $40 to $60. “A lot of people get one set of Washington and another set of Lincoln,” Quinn said. “They’re beautiful collectibles.”

Hole in the Wall

Celebrate Nixon’s foreign policy legacy with a hearty meal at La Bettola Restaurant, an Italian trattoria-style eatery (18504 Yorba Linda Blvd., [714] 695-0470, open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner). Owner Gaetano Ianni chose the name La Bettola because it means “hole in the wall”; mismatched chairs and other eclectic decor give it an authentic feel. “I’m in a strip mall between 7-Eleven and Firestone Tires and I like it that way,” Ianni said.

Don’t expect to eat and run at La Bettola. The sauces are prepared from scratch so each meal takes time. Instead of serving only Northern or Southern style Italian food, Ianni often bases his menu on what he can get fresh at the market.

The menu says only “beautiful fresh fish” served at market price. “It’s not production-line food. When we have 10 portions of swordfish, that’s it,” he said. “We have fun.”

The portions are massive. A typical meatball weighs in at a hefty pound. It’s nothing but lean, ground sirloin served with homemade meat sauce on a bed of fettuccine. Another popular dish is Fettuccine Bettola, an original creation of chicken, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke and mushrooms in a creamy tomato sauce ($14.95).

“You come here to eat, drink wine, laugh and have a good time. It’s beautiful,” Ianni said. “And if you can’t eat it all, take it home and something for tomorrow.”

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Getting to the Nixon Library & Birthplace: From the Orange Freeway exit on Yorba Linda Boulevard and head east. The museum is about 3 1/2 miles on the left.