As President Bush prepares for his daughter’s wedding, S.C. man remembers his role in Tricia Nixon’s big day

By ALLISON ASKINS - aaskins@thestate.com

South Carolinian Fred Ortmann knows a little about the excitement that’s in the air this weekend because of a president’s child’s wedding.

Ortmann served as a White House social aide in 1971 when Tricia Nixon married Edward Cox in the Rose Garden. In fact, Ortmann’s duties the day of the celebration, June 12, 1971, involved escorting the wedding party to the appropriate places prior to the ceremony.

“It was a great day, and when it was over, we were all exhausted,” Ortmann said during an interview in his Columbia office, Ortmann Healthcare Associates.

A retired Air Force colonel, Ortmann, 62, recalls fondly the period of time about 40 years ago when he had the “privilege and honor” of serving as a White House social aide. Aides are honorary positions granted to members of the military to assist with affairs of state.

“It’s a bit of a plum assignment for a young officer,” said Steve Greene, archivist with the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. “Over the six years of the administration, there were probably hundreds of young officers who served in that role and dozens on that particular date because of the wedding.”

Ortmann maintains a collection of memorabilia from the experience, including the 400-person guest list and the instructions to be followed for either a “fair weather scenario” or an “inclement weather scenario.”

The instructions are excruciatingly precise, including the exact moment the wedding party would arrive at the White House, 1400 hours, or 2 p.m.; the time for the first dance between the newlyweds, 1920 hours, or 7:20 p.m.; and the cake cutting, 1940 hours, or 7:40 p.m.

“The job of the aides is to make sure it does stick to that,” Ortmann said.

Ortmann’s most vivid memories of the occasion involve concerns about the weather.

Because Tricia Nixon wanted to be married in the Rose Garden, every effort was made to be prepared in the event of rain.

The rains came, but the wedding went on ... outside.

The morning of the big event, Ortmann awoke to a torrential downpour and word from the president’s social secretary that the “fair-weather scenario” still was to be followed, with slight adjustments in timing.

As it turns out, the “Father of the Bride” — the nomenclature the Nixon family requested for the president for wedding planning purposes — had made a call to the National Weather Service early June 12, Ortmann said.

He was told that a 30-minute break in the rain was expected around 4:30 p.m.

The wedding was delayed until 4:30 and “went on outside with not one drop of rain,” Ortmann said. “When we got the last guest inside, the heavens released.”

And so, Tricia Nixon had her Rose Garden wedding, the last presidential wedding to be held in the White House.

Ortmann’s collection of the day’s details is fascinating. The guest list reads like a “Who’s Who” of the Nixon era. (Ortmann’s other job that day was to introduce each guest to President and Mrs. Nixon as they stood in the receiving line.)

Among the guests:

• Patrick J. Buchanan, then a special assistant to the president

• John D. Ehrlichman, assistant to the president for domestic affairs

• H.R. “Bob” Haldeman, assistant to the president

• Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower of Gettsyburg, Pa., former first lady and mother-in-law of Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Tricia’s sister

• J. Edgar Hoover, the legendary director of the FBI

• Henry A. Kissinger, another legendary figure and assistant to the president for National Security Affairs.

And the list goes on, including other well-known American personalities such as Billy Graham, Mrs. Bob Hope, Norman Vincent Peale and Ralph Nader.

Unlike Jenna Bush, who reportedly will have 14 bridesmaids at her Crawford, Texas, wedding today, Tricia had a much smaller wedding party. The Nixon wedding plan lists four attendants, including two junior bridesmaids.

But like Jenna, Tricia asked her sister (Julie Nixon Eisenhower) to serve as her matron of honor. Barbara Bush, Jenna’s twin, will be Jenna’s maid of honor.

The food and cake were spectacular, Ortmann recalled, though protocol prevented him from tasting anything until the president and first lady retired to their quarters.

Even today, something as simple as a bright red strawberry evokes memories of the food prepared by the White House chefs during Ortmann’s years of service in Washington. A strawberry tart was a specialty of the culinary staff at the time.

“They were to die for,” he said.

Ortmann has a photograph of the happy couple cutting the enormous cake — it weighed 350 pounds and soared 7 feet into the air with 13 tiers.

“It was absolutely elegant.”

One particularly sweet family photograph shows the president smiling endearingly at his daughter as the newlyweds departed for their honeymoon. The image stands as a sharp contrast to all that befell the family and the nation during Nixon’s last years in the White House.

The day was a very happy one for the Nixons, Ortmann said.

And as far as his opinion about Jenna Bush’s decision to have a smaller, more private affair at home in Texas, Ortmann says a bride — no matter who her father is — should always be the one to make that call.

“It is her prerogative as a bride to have the kind of wedding she wants to have,” he said. “If she wants to have it in Texas, great for her.”

But he’ll be thinking about all the aides assisting — especially because it’s scheduled to be an outdoor wedding.

Reach Askins at (803) 771-8614.