Nixon and the Chief: Quakers, Indian policy and Nixon?s Indian Mentor Wallace J. Newman
Mentor 1
Michael Wilson
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
5-4-2019 1:30 PM
End Date
5-4-2019 3:30 PM
Description
President Richard Nixon would remark in relation to his domestic policy that it was “building outhouses in Peoria” when compared to his foreign policy objectives. However, one notable “outhouse” from this foreign policy president was the one Nixon and his administration built for the people who lived in what is today the United States of America before anyone else: American Indians. The Nixon Administration charted a new course in Indian affairs by ending termination and ushering in the current era of federal American Indian policy. This policy change was accomplished through the work of White House officials in attorney Leonard Garment and his executive assistant Bradley H. Patterson among others but also because of a man who had touched the President’s personal life deeply in Wallace “Chief” Newman. Chief Newman was the football coach of Whittier College, a small Quaker institution, when a young Richard Nixon was a student there in the early 1930’s. Newman left a lasting impact in the small Quaker town of Whittier, California and was a second father to the men who played under him. Outside of coaching, Newman was a tribal leader active both in his own La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians and the California American Indian community more broadly. The Nixon legacy on Indian Affairs can not be understated and with thanks to the Nixon Presidential library in Yorba Linda, California, this presentation will walk you through the accomplishments and personal relationships that manifested itself in lasting political change.
Nixon and the Chief: Quakers, Indian policy and Nixon?s Indian Mentor Wallace J. Newman
Union Wisconsin Room
President Richard Nixon would remark in relation to his domestic policy that it was “building outhouses in Peoria” when compared to his foreign policy objectives. However, one notable “outhouse” from this foreign policy president was the one Nixon and his administration built for the people who lived in what is today the United States of America before anyone else: American Indians. The Nixon Administration charted a new course in Indian affairs by ending termination and ushering in the current era of federal American Indian policy. This policy change was accomplished through the work of White House officials in attorney Leonard Garment and his executive assistant Bradley H. Patterson among others but also because of a man who had touched the President’s personal life deeply in Wallace “Chief” Newman. Chief Newman was the football coach of Whittier College, a small Quaker institution, when a young Richard Nixon was a student there in the early 1930’s. Newman left a lasting impact in the small Quaker town of Whittier, California and was a second father to the men who played under him. Outside of coaching, Newman was a tribal leader active both in his own La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians and the California American Indian community more broadly. The Nixon legacy on Indian Affairs can not be understated and with thanks to the Nixon Presidential library in Yorba Linda, California, this presentation will walk you through the accomplishments and personal relationships that manifested itself in lasting political change.
