Nixon aide, Copley executive Herbert G. Klein, dies at age 91

U-T file photo/Howard Lipin

July 2, 2009

Statement by Edward Nixon, President Nixon's younger brother, on the passing of Herbert G. Klein:

Herb Klein was indeed a great friend, supporter and advisor of Richard Nixon. He signed on in the early campaign days of the House and Senate, and took on countless special assignments during my brother's Vice Presidency. He was at his side during so many important moments, including the famous 1959 kitchen debate in Moscow with Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev. He ably served President Nixon as his White House communications director and was always a true and trusted friend.

Edward Nixon serves on the board of directors of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation.

Story by Peter Rowe and Tom Mallory
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS

SAN DIEGO — Herbert G. Klein, the former Nixon aide whose 52 years with Copley Newspapers and active role in civic affairs made him a San Diego icon, died Thursday.

Mr. Klein, who lived in La Jolla, was 91.

Mr. Klein was the first White House director of communications, in Richard Nixon's embattled administration, until he resigned in July 1973, 13 months before the Watergate scandal forced the president himself to step down.

He first tasted the world of politics as a reporter covering Nixon's 1946 congressional campaign. That association with Nixon eventually led him to the White House.

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Dewey Clower, former White House staffer, recounts the February Group founding

LETTER FROM YORBA LINDA #67 | February 24, 2009

Nixon Staffers Gather in DC as "February Group" Meets Again
By Steve Bull, Former White House Personal Assistant to President Nixon

On February 10th, 1975, approximately six months after President Nixon left office, former Nixon staff member Dewey Clower, who had become a prominent association trade executive after he left the White House, hosted a luncheon for a dozen or so of his former White House colleagues, with the idea being to preserve the friendships that had developed among the men and women who had worked together during the course of the Nixon Presidency. Later that year it was suggested that a similar gathering be organized for that group of people that “met back in February,” hence the name “February Group.” In response, Dewey organized a second function that served to transform the February Group into a semi-permanent organization that, over the next quarter-century, would grow to have a membership of nearly five-hundred men and women who had proudly served the thirty-seventh President of the United States. And thanks to Dewey, who served as its unofficial head and organized two or three gatherings per year for the next quarter century, the February Group thrived as a collection of politically active men and women, many of whom went on to serve in important positions in subsequent Republican administrations.

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