About this item
A new, revolutionary look into the brilliant life of Pat Nixon.In America's collective consciousness, Pat Nixon has long been perceived as enigmatic. She was voted "Most Admired Woman in the World" in 1972 and made Gallup Poll's top ten list of most admired women fourteen times. She survived the turmoil of the Watergate scandal with her popularity and dignity intact. And yet, the media often portrayed Mrs. Nixon as elusive and mysterious. The real Pat Nixon, however, bore little resemblance to the woman so often described in the press. Pat married California lawyer Richard Nixon in June of 1940, becoming a wife, mother, and her husband's trusted political partner in short order. As the couple rose to prominence, Pat became Second Lady from 1953-1961 and then First Lady from 1969-1974, forging her own graceful path between the protocols of the strait-laced mid-century and the bra-burning Sixties and Seventies.
About the Author
Heath comes from a museum education, historic preservation, and writing background. She holds a B.A. in History with Honors from Davidson College, and an M.A. in French Language and Literature from the University of Virginia. She started her museum career at the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the Director of Education and Programs. Heath has since worked as a consultant for southern house museums such as Stratford Hall, Robert E. Lee's birthplace, and Menokin Plantation, once home to Francis Lightfoot Lee. She is currently working as the Coordinator of the History Series for Salisbury House & Gardens, a 1920's house museum in Des Moines, Iowa. Heath has written for numerous magazines, newspapers and blogs. Winnie Davis: Daughter of the Lost Cause, her biography of Varina Anne "Winnie" Davis, is her first book. Winnie will be published April 1, 2014, by Potomac Press, a division of the University of Nebraska Press. Heath moved to Des Moines from her hometown of Richmond, Virginia in 2008. She is married to Chris Lee and they have two children, Anne Alston Lee and James Hawkins Lee. While living in Midwest, Heath has found that she loves the Iowa State Fair, the Butter Cow, and corn. True to her Southern roots, she still loves North Carolina BBQ, (the vinegar kind,) Virginia ham (very salty) , and Sally Belle's cupcakes (caramel) . The cupcakes are made in Richmond, right down the street from the White House of the Confederacy where Winnie was born in 1864.
