Donald Nixon
Richard M. Nixon's brother.
"Security" for the loan was a vacant lot, assessed for tax purposes at $13,000. The lot belonged to Nixon's mother. The restaurant went bankrupt a few months later. No one knows what happened to the $205,000.
Some observers have intimated that Hughes's loan to Donald, in effect, "bought" Vice President Nixon for Hughes. Shortly thereafter, the troubles of Hughes's airline, TWA, were over; an antitrust suit against Hughes Tool was quietly shelved; various investigations of other Hughes operations ground to a halt.
Timeline
| Jan 1957 |
Howard Hughes loans Donald Nixon $205,000 to bail out his drive-in restaurant in Whittier, California. The eatery (called "Nixon's") served up a delicacy named the Nixonburger. It goes bankrupt less than a year later, and the loan is never repaid. |
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