January 14, 2010

PTI (13 Jan 2010) – London: Former US president Richard Nixon was “envious” of Winston Churchill’s way with words and instructed his speech writers to learn from the ex-British Prime Minister.

According to some documents released by the Nixon Presidential Library, the ex-American President never considered himself a great orator and was secretly envious of Churchill’s oratory skills.

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Preparing for an address to the Canadian Parliament in early 1972, the President worried that his rhetoric was so tedious it would cost him politically.

“The speeches I make are to the great credit of the speech writing team generally highly literate, highly responsible and almost invariably dull,” Nixon wrote in a memo to his top aides.

“Now I don’t mean to suggest that I should write or sound like Churchill,” he said.

“He is one of those rare birds where God broke the mold when he died. On the other hand, we can at least learn from him”.

The President appealed for “illustration, anecdote and colourful words which would inevitably be remembered”.

“I am not talking about gimmicks. I abhor gimmicks and the clever tricks which are fine for Governors, Mayors, Senators, but simply not up to Presidential standards,” he added.

The admission surfaced in thousands of documents released by the Nixon Presidential Library, the Daily Mail reported.

©PTI from zeenews.com India Edition