Nixon leapt up on the hood of his bulletproof limousine, made the two-handed V-salute, and jutted out his chin. He told his handlers, “That’s what they hate to see!” He was answered with a hail of rocks, flags, and candles from the candlelight vigil: Caracas in California. Press secretary Ron Ziegler was later asked why the leader of the free world had placed his person in such danger. He responded that Nixon had spotted a “friendly face” in the crowd. Haldeman put it differently in his diary: “Made a huge incident and we worked hard to crank it up, should make a really major story and might
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