The guest of honor at the surprise birthday party last week tried gamely to make the affair fun for everyone. He grinned as his staff members carried in a gaily decorated white cake while singing a squeaky version of Happy Birthday. When he got some icing on his hands, he dutifully followed the directions called out by his wife: "Lick your fingers, Dick." He even got his Irish setter, King Timahoe, to lick off a glob of frosting that had polluted his maroon sports jacket. Pointing at the sullen skies outside, he joked to his aides: "Take the rest of the day off. Go out and enjoy the sun, the swimming."
But for all his efforts, the gritty good humor of President Nixon at his 61st birthday party was belied by his appearance. His complexion was pallid, and he looked haggard and weary. Clearly, the two weeks already spent in San Clemente had not, as hoped, begun to refresh his spirits or restore his vigor. The evidence of the President's weariness came as a particular jolt to some of his staffers: they literally had not seen him since his arrival.
The President has always preferred to work in seclusion, a fact that his defenders have used to try to separate him from Watergate. But in recent months, as the scandal has howled round the White House, Nixon has been isolating himself more and more. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger flew out to spend four days in San Clemente; despite their close association, he saw the President only twice. Roy Ash, director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, went out for one weekend to talk over the budget for the next fiscal year and never did get to see the boss. Indeed, Ash has met with the President only three times to discuss final decisions on the budget, which will chart the course of the Government. Only Energy Czar William Simon has been in frequent touch with Nixon lately (see cover story page 22). The White House staff will soon be weakened by the departure of the only two seasoned political aides that Nixon has. Melvin Laird will be leaving at the end of this month, and Bryce Harlow has said he will not be far behind. Both Laird and Harlow were persuaded to join the White House after H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, Nixon's two top aides, resigned last April over Watergate. But for all their experience and prestige, Laird and Harlow found that they had relatively little influence with the President. A member of the House of Representatives for 16 years before becoming the President's first Secretary of Defense, Laird worked as Nixon's Kissinger-on-the-Hill to negotiate key issues with Congress. Harlow, himself an expert on congressional relations, was mainly occupied by the President's halfhearted and now defunct Operation Candor.
There are others who would like to leave too. Bill Timmons, 43, official liaison with Congress for the White House, has reluctantly agreed to stay on for another year; to quit now, he fears, would be interpreted as an act of disloyalty to his boss. Chief Speechwriter Ray Price, 43, has been thinking about leaving, but will stay on for the present.