en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_Jew_count
3 corrections found
The 13 employees considered to be Jewish were demoted and sent to other positions within the United States Department of Labor
The records do not show that all 13 identified employees were demoted. An official Nixon Library finding aid says Malek listed 13 people with Jewish-sounding surnames, but only two were subsequently demoted.
Full reasoning
Official Nixon Library/National Archives material contradicts the claim that all 13 employees on Malek’s list were demoted and transferred.
- The Richard Nixon Museum and Library’s finding aid for Frederic V. Malek states that Malek "supplied Nixon with a list of thirteen people he thought had Jewish surnames" and that "Two of them were subsequently demoted."
- A July 14, 1971 White House memo from Malek to H. R. Haldeman likewise does not describe a plan to demote all 13. Instead, it says the plan’s three main components were replacing Geoffrey Moore, transferring Harold Goldstein, and conducting further research on whether other top BLS officials should be transferred. The memo names only a small number of additional officials for possible further review.
So the documentary record supports a list of 13 names, but not the statement that all 13 were demoted and moved elsewhere in the Labor Department.
2 sources
- Frederic V. Malek (White House Central Files: Staff Member and Office Files) | Richard Nixon Museum and Library
"Under pressure from Nixon and Haldeman, he supplied Nixon with a list of thirteen people he thought had Jewish surnames. Two of them were subsequently demoted."
- Malek memorandum, 'Action Plan for Strengthening the Bureau of Labor Statistics,' July 14, 1971 | Richard Nixon Museum and Library
"The three major components of the plan are replacing Geoffrey Moore as Commissioner, transferring Harold Goldstein, and conducting further research on the advisability of transferring other top BLS officials."
In a letter to Nixon, subsequently referred to as the "Jew-counting" memo
The cited document was not a letter to Nixon. The Nixon Library identifies it as a memorandum from Fred Malek to H. R. Haldeman.
Full reasoning
The surviving document on the Nixon Library site contradicts this description.
- The Nixon Library’s own page for the document is titled "Malek to Haldeman, July 27, 1971."
- The PDF text itself begins "MEMORANDUM FOR: H. R. HALDEMAN" and contains the line about 13 employees who "fit the other demographic criterion."
So the document in question was a memorandum to H. R. Haldeman, not a letter to President Nixon.
2 sources
- Malek to Haldeman, July 27, 1971. | Richard Nixon Museum and Library
The Nixon Library page identifies the document as "Malek to Haldeman, July 27, 1971."
- Malek memorandum, July 27, 1971 | Richard Nixon Museum and Library
The PDF begins "MEMORANDUM FOR: H. R. HALDEMAN" and includes: "In addition, 13 out of the 35 fit the other demographic criterion that was discussed."
When the story was first reported in 1988
This episode was reported before 1988. Contemporary coverage from March 1976 described Woodward and Bernstein's account of Nixon summoning Fred Malek over a supposed "Jewish cabal" at BLS.
Full reasoning
The claim that the story was first reported in 1988 is contradicted by earlier published reporting.
- On March 30, 1976, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on excerpts from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s The Final Days, stating that "Late in 1971 Nixon had summoned the White House personnel chief, Fred Malek, to his office to discuss a 'Jewish cabal' in the Bureau of Labor Statistics" and that "Malek reported back on the number."
- A later History News Network article summarizes the chronology the same way, saying that Woodward and Bernstein first reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics episode in The Final Days.
So 1988 was not the first public reporting of the story; it had already been reported in 1976.
2 sources
- Woodward, Bernstein Report Nixon Was Obsessed with Idea That a 'Jewish Cabal' Was out to Get Him - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Published March 30, 1976, the article says: "Late in 1971 Nixon had summoned the White House personnel chief, Fred Malek, to his office to discuss a 'Jewish cabal' in the Bureau of Labor Statistics... Malek reported back on the number."
- Nixon and the Jews - History News Network
The article states: "As Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein first reported in The Final Days ... Nixon feared that a 'Jewish cabal' at the Bureau of Labor Statistics was skewing data to make him look bad, and he instructed his aide Fred Malek to tally up the Jewish employees at the bureau."