John H. Taylor (pastor)

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The Reverend John H. Taylor is the former post-Chief of Staff to Richard Nixon, former President of the United States, and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation. Taylor had served as director of the privately-owned and funded Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace prior to it joining the federal presidential libraries system, and becoming the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. Taylor is also an Episcopalian priest, and currently serves as the Vicar of St. John's Episcopal Church and School, located in Rancho Santa Margarita, Orange County, California.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Taylor held a position as a newspaper reporter.[2] He later moved to California and worked as President Richard Nixon's post-Chief of Staff from 1979 until the former president's death in 1994.[3] Taylor married Kathy O'Connor in 2002.[2]

[edit] Director of the Nixon Library

Taylor was appointed Director of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace while still working for the former president. His tenure consisted of the growth and expansion of the library, as well as the fostering and preservation of Richard Nixon's presidential legacy. In 1999, Taylor sought to enhance the former's president's image when he authorized the release of 124 Nixon-era White House tapes regarding the Watergate scandal and Nixon's involvement in it.[4] Taylor acknowledged, "The entire record of Watergate needs to be viewed through the prism of [the] Vietnam [War]... Richard Nixon was a war-time president. He will still be criticized for his actions" but the criticism will be fairer when viewed in that light.[4]

A controversy erupted in 1996, however, between Taylor and President Nixon's daughters Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower. Taylor had requested that control of the library be taken from the Nixon family and placed with a 24-member board of directors. Both sisters were opposed, although Julie Nixon Eisenhower changed her position and supported Taylor's notion; control was eventually granted to Taylor after a legal battle.[5] During that period, a plan to reunite the president's scattered records was undertaken, but largely fell apart due to a court case regarding a $14 million donation from a close friend of President and Mrs. Nixon, Bebe Rebozo.[5]

This issue would be resolved, however, beginning in 2003, when the United States Congress voted to repeal a law that prevented President Nixon and his family from controlling presidential records dating from 1969 to 1974.[6] Taylor labeled it as "a first step in abolishing the anomaly" of Richard Nixon being the only president between Herbert Hoover and Bill Clinton without a government-operated library.[6]

During his time as director, Taylor was paid $145,500 in 2000, the highest of any director of a presidential library.[5] President Dwight D. Eisenhower's grandson, and son-in-law to President Nixon David Eisenhower said of Taylor's job performance, "It's a very well-run library, and John Taylor is a phenomenal director."[5]

[edit] Nixon Library Foundation

Taylor served as director of the library until July 11, 2007, when the National Archives and Records Administration took full control of the Richard Nixon Library;[7] this included replacing Taylor as director[8][9] with Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian.[10] As Executive Director of the Foundation, Taylor's position remains similar to that of which he previously held, although the foundation is only responsible for Nixon's pre- and post-presidential papers, library grounds, and event space; the National Archives controls the exhibits themselves.[9]

[edit] Pastoral work

Taylor was ordained as an Episcopal priest in January 2004, after studying at the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont.[2] He was subsequently named Vicar of St. John's Episcopal Church and School of Rancho Santa Margarita, California, in 2004 by the Right Reverend J. Jon Bruno.[11] He currently remains in that position.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Bunce, Donna. "Knott award helps spread the Goodwill", The Orange County Register, November 8, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  2. ^ a b c The Rev. John H. Taylor (PDF). St. John's Episcopal Church. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
  3. ^ Stout, David. "2 Nixon Aides Skeptical About Report That He Took Drug", The New York Times, August 31, 2000. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  4. ^ a b "New Nixon tape transcripts released on Web", CNN, February 25, 1999. 
  5. ^ a b c d Sterngold, James. "Library and Legacy Adrift As the Nixon Sisters Feud", The New York Times, March 25, 2002. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  6. ^ a b Lardner, George Jr. "Nixon Data May Be Calif.-Bound", The Washington Post, November 13, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  7. ^ The National Archives Opens Federal Nixon Library, Releases Previously-Restricted Documents and Tapes (press release). U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (July 11, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
  8. ^ Shane, Scott. "Director of Nixon Library Agrees to Make President's Political Tapes Public", The New York Times, March 18, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  9. ^ a b Lee, Christopher. "Nixon Library Joins the Club", The Washington Post, March 20, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  10. ^ National Archives Names Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum (press release). U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (April 10, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
  11. ^ The View From Plano Trabuco: A Brief History of St. John Chrysostom Episcopal Church & School. St. John's Episcopal Church. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.