European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 20, 1973, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Campaign trickster Dick tuck feels fun has gone out of politics. Out by Richard e. Meyer associated press it was like watching a Clown cry. The prankster who slipped Fortune Cook ies into a Richard Nixon Campaign Sug Gesting he be elected mayor of Whittier whose comely spy distributed a newsletter on Barry Goldwater s Campaign train As Suring everyone the drinking water was t fluoridated and who suggested sending a Brink s truck to a political Barbecue at John Connally s ranch and parking a mexi can laundry truck behind it was saying politics in t fun anymore. Watergate muttered Dick tuck. It would appear that practical jokes hilarity or whatever you want to Call it Well these Guys have just simply Given it a bad name Over scrambled eggs recently in new York where he was waiting to tape a Tele vision appearance tuck greying curly haired master political trickster of the 1960s, sounded dismayed. The name Dick tuck he noted dismally seemed to be cropping up More and More often at the Sam Ervin show in Washington where the Senate watergate committee has been investigating the political dirty tricks of 1972. First had been Gordon Strachan aide to the president s former chief of staff who had told the committee even before its a gust recess that the republicans had talked during the Campaign about devel Oping a Dick tuck capability. Sounds like a new missile tuck allowed Well into half a Grapefruit. I thought they might have Given the con tract to Lockheed had five Cost overruns and maybe the Damn thing still had t gotten off the  had been . Haldeman the former White House chief of staff who confirmed that he had agreed to generating for our Side the same kind of activity that was so ably carried out Over the years for democratic candidates and in 1972 for Mcgovern by Dick tuck a Man who has been widely praised. Notice he said ably tuck chuckled. But then More thoughtfully you know he literally was fingering me. Third was presidential speechwriter Patrick j. Buchanan who said tuck had trotted out a troop of supposed welfare mothers at Miami Beach in 1968 to Demon Strate against Nixon. They were All Black Buchanan re called. They were All pregnant. And they were All carrying signs saying Nixon s the one " not so said Dick tuck. It never Hap  a politics never seemed like it should be played that Way scolded Richard Gregory tuck pushing 50 now summering these Days in Aspen colo., and 15 pounds lighter than the round faced Gremlin who tripped up Campaign after Campaign in Days gone by. What i did was t illegal. Secondly it was t Ever malicious. I be always tried to lighten things to touch them with humor and that s not always easy. And thirdly i tried you know in most cases to dramatize a serious or an important Issue. Finally what i did was t surreptitious or Anonymous. Some have said that i not Only claimed credit i demand  tuck stumbled into his first prank. He was 22 years old and attending the univer sity of California at Santa Barbara at the time. Ordering More Coffee he remembered working hard for Helen Gahagan Douglas who was running against Rich Ard m. Nixon for Congress. Being a red blooded american boy i was for the Glam Orous Helen Gahagan  but then he got a Telephone Call from the professor who coordinated Campus Young republicans. He must have been the orig Inal absent minded professor because he asked me if i d Advance the Campus for Nixon. I thought Well what the hell the Nixon people themselves picked the Day which was Fine with me since it was a thursday when there was hardly anybody on Campus. I picked the time 4 30 in the afternoon which was absolutely Well i knew it would t conflict with anything else because that was when there was absolutely nobody else around. And i picked the auditorium which was one of the larger ones seated 4,400 or something like that. And so the rally started. About 40 people showed up. I delayed it half an hour waiting for the latecomers but it seemed the people who grew impatient and left outnumbered the late Comers. The candidate was getting Ner Vous and he kept telling me he had a schedule to keep and so after much plead ing i began my introduction. Now in an introduction i like to raise More questions than i answer. So i raised about 125 about every allegation that had Ever been made against Richard Nixon. He was fidgeting and he kept saying i be gotta go gotta go and finally he said look i be got to speak so i said. All right and with a grand fanfare i said that Richard Nixon would now speak to us on the International Mone tary  Richard Nixon spoke anyway. But after returning to his car he rolled a window Down and motioned tuck Over. I figured it was to thank me tuck said. He asked me what my name was again. I said Dick tuck and he said Well Dick tuck you be made your last Advance " Dick tuck drank his  said he had t really donned a rail Road Cap and waved vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon s train out of Tulare calif., while the candidate was still speak ing. That Story he insisted was apocryphal the train had pulled out in mid speech but Dick tuck had t been responsible. It might be a Federal offence to move a train tuck said. I was t even there. But Dick tuck was in Chinatown at los Angeles the Day gubernatorial candidate Richard Nixon arrived in 1962 for a Street Corner rally by then he and tuck knew each other Well. Nixon is a great baseball fan tuck chuckled remembering. He came Over and we started discussing baseball. There seem to have been these children around handing out Fortune cookies. And the women were coming up and shaking hands with him and so Forth. And finally this woman came up with a Fortune cookie and said this says Richard Nixon for mayor of Whittier Pat Brown for  what s that mean and he looked at me and said us of this is going to be one of those Days. -. Later however at the los Angeles press club tuck said candidate Nixon re gained a sparkle of humor. Somebody asked have you seen Dick tuck lately he smiled and said Well the last time i saw tuck he was wearing a Nix Onette costume he did t know i was there. So i got the microphone and said i was kind of shocked that he would say such a thing. But i said my lips Are forever sealed and i la never Tell anybody How he discovered me in that Nix Onette dress " n during the night under every Compa door on Goldwater s Campaign train. " in order to end confusion Over thous time zones we Are travelling Thi the first Issue announced helpfully Goldwater has proclaimed that u keep our watches on Washington t George Washington that is i  walking off the e the Earth. And it reassured All the water aboard the train was t fluoride / Goldwater s staff enjoyed the least. His press Secretary Victor g cited enough was enough. The Culp found a pretty Young girl turned of the delivery person. With a grand Al Gold stopped our last train to and ejected  shouting As a rolled Young lady you have mad last delivery the paper continued to Public cide tally the girl was made news Ery boy of the month and won a free Disneyland and to the rest of the thanks to a Best seller at the tin became known As the spy who was out in the  overseas in 1963, Richard Nixt Dick tuck by Chance at the air Rome and tuck remembered no another chuckle the future or double checked the sign announce departing flight just to be sure. Similarly tuck recalled in 196c Nixon was running for the White his aide Herb Klein eyed several b perfectly Good Campaign buttons ethnic rally at Madison Square a some in italian others in greek a Nese then saw tuck nearby and c the buttons discarded rather than t Chance. Al Campaign 1972, however was a ointment. Sen. George Mcgovey rejected suggestion to hire the two trucks f Nally s ranch. It was too Eso Tei  and then there was watergate. Tuck encountered former pres chief of staff Haldeman not Long a Dirksen Senate office building in in ton. Cameramen were there said what s going on they told me Haldeman was do Hall appearing before the staff of t Ternate committee. Sen. John Tunn fice was Down there so i went up t who had the Hall blocked off and i m the director of the Bakersfield and i be got to see sen. Tunney a Parade and he said sure Okay so i went Down the Hall and was a cup of Coffee with Tunney s pres tary when a door opened across and Haldeman came out. So i step into the Hall. And Haldeman looked and smiled. We be known each othe years. And so he said to me to started All this of course i thought he was pc did t know As it later turned out was quite serious. " but Bob i said you Guys Rar the ground politics used to be a wonderful but now for me personally i w. Close to Robert Kennedy. And i w. Him for 85 Days including the Mon was shot in the Kitchen. At what s his name Bremmer it . With a gun can you kno change the whole rules of the g mean it really took a lot of the up Joy the hilarity out of it for me. So i a vent been doing Muc by " Ixon sat out 1964. So tuck turned his attention to the Goldwater Lyndon John son Campaign which he said ranked As a Spectator sport with watching paint dry and grass grow., to liven things up he said he published the whistle Stop and had it delivered Las Dick tuck turned serious be that Richard Nixon won t hav tuck to kick around anymore perhaps but then the last time turned serious was when he ran California state Senate in 1966. His seriousness lasted Only until he i whereupon he conceded we people have spoke the  and now Over a second cup of tuck observed that when people i which prank was my favorite i tel1 my next one " sent Ari Vien. Mil Ilso b of the 1. Per de be ish iras our in p to old she pwn met to in Vith Dent i his use to of an n Chi bred sap cd s con for ital i the Ash id i the a Isof cop Aid and the a veg acre a shall tout me r20you in. Ilithe into a  with lit Heathen one just Eithe late Lidit Bick tuck the  Joffee me i never met a Man i did t like Pilot Billy Mitchell chauffeured aviation enthusiast Rogers. Minutes Oologah Cherokee nation Indian territory nov. 4, 1879. Born a son William Penn Adair to judge and mrs. Clem Vann Rogers. I usually say i was born in Claremore for convenience because nobody but an Indian can pro  and so two tiny communities in what is now the state of Oklahoma became familiar to people around the world As the Birthplace and Home of one of the most unlikely heroes the human race has Ever produced Cowboy humorist will Rogers. Will Rogers was a special sort of Man. He could Chew gum and twirl a rope simultaneously better than any Man before or since. He was an expert horseman and in the years Between world wars i and ii he was America s number one ambassador of Goodwill. Above All the legend of the Man centers around his political commentaries and his views on life and the times in which he lived views which even today stand the test of time. In fact to read what will Rogers told the world a half Century ago seems uncannily appropriate for the events of the 1970s. On aug. 5, 1935, will Rogers and another famous oklahoman aviator Wiley Post were killed in a plane crash at Point Barrow Alaska. Will was 55, and the world mourned his passing As it has mourned few men. In a time will Rogers undoubtedly would have found fascinating it seems appropriate to see How his comments of four and five decades ago shed Light on circumstances he might have understood better than any of us. There Are Many examples. All the quotes Are will Rogers. Campaign corruption the democrats Are hav ing a lot of fun exposing the Republican Campaign corruptions but they would have a lot More fun if they knew where they could Lay their hands on some of it themselves for next november 1920s. Democratic party splits if the democrats never split in their lives there would be no such thing As a Republican aug. 1,1925. It takes nerve to be a Democrat but it takes Money to be a Republican feb. 10,1929. Campaign contributions you can t make the Republican party pure by More contributions be cause contributions Are what got it where it is today circa 1920s. The presidency i have always maintained that no president can be As bad As the men that advise him january 1933. By Jerry r. Wilson United press International cover ups you can t believe a thing you read in regard to an official s statements. The minute any thing happens connected with official life it s just like a cold night everybody is trying to cover up oct. 4,1925. Public opinion of politicians people s minds Are changed through observation and not through argument March 16,1932. The american people Are generous and will for give almost any weakness with the exception of stupidity feb. 24,1934. Presidential popularity there is no country in the world where a person changes from a hero to a Goat and a Goat to a hero or visa versa As they do with us. It s not our Public men you can t put your Finger on it s our Public. We Are the Only fleas weighing Over 100 pounds. We Don t know what we want but we Are ready to bite somebody to get it june 19,1935. Political scandals we be been staggering along now about 155 years under every conceivable horse thief that could get into office and yet Here we Are still going Strong. I doubt if Barnum s circus has housed As Many different kinds of species As has been in our government employ during its existence. As bad As they Are they can t spoil it and As Good As they Are they can t help it. So As bad As we Are we Are better off than any other nation so what s the use to worry nov. 16,1930. The Public s elective Power every time we have an election we get in worse men and the country keeps right on going. Times have proven Only one thing and that is you can t ruin this country even with politics nov. 4,1928. If we did t have two parties we would All Settle on the Best men in the country and things would run Fine. But As it is we Settle on the worst ones and then fight Over pm oct. 4,1925. Things in our country run in spite of government. Not by Aid of it circa 1930. On account of us being a democracy and run by the people we Are the Only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years no matter what it does circa 1930. It s just got so that 90 per cent of the people in this country Don t give a Damn. Politics Ain t worry ing this country one tenth As much As parking space circa 1920s. We should t elect a president we should elect a magician circa 1930s. Corruption again corruption and Golf is two things we might just As Well make up our minds to take up for they Are both going to be with us circa 1920s congressional investigations everybody wants to hear accusations and nobody wants to hear de Nials april 6, 1924, speaking of a Senate investigation the american people would Trade 10 investigations for one conviction june 6,1924. The american image abroad it will take Amer Ica 15 years steady taking care of our own business and letting everybody else s alone to get us Back to where everybody Speaks to us again 1926. You often hear it said we need diplomats. We Don t need diplomats we need a keeper or a War Den circa 1930our slogan will be now have your civil wars wherever and As far away As you want but on the opening Day we will be there circa 1920s. It takes quite a sense of humor for these people to understand us shaking hands with one hand and shooting with the  i Don t care How Little your country is you got a right to run it like you want. When the big nations quit meddling then the world will have  now if there is one thing that we do worse than any other nation it is try and manage somebody else s affairs circa 1920s. Generation Gap we changed with the times so we can t blame the children for just joining the times without even having to change june 30, 1929 women s lib if women must insist on having men s privileges they have to take men s chances nov. 1,1925 ill bet you the time Ain t far off when a woman won t know any More than a Man circa 1925. Cost of government lord the Money we do spend on government and it s not one bit better than the government we got for one third the Money 20 years ago circa 1920s Only a Little More than two years before his death will Rogers capsule Zed his thoughts about his country and on people. In All its a great country. It s the Best and the worst one i Ever lived in. When i die my like i am so proud of that i can hardly wait to die so it can be carved. And when you come to my grave you will find me sitting there proudly Reading  Page 14 the stars and stripes tuesday n member 20, 1973 the stars and stripes Page 15