A: After the initial shock, I embraced the moniker and thought it would be fun to capitalize on my 15 minutes of fame. I regarded my inclusion on the list as a badge of honor. To celebrate my newfound celebrity, I held an 'Enemies Ball' at Jimmy's, inviting all of the others on the list.
Q: Did your unpopularity with the Nixon administration have any practical ramifications?
A: The real intrusions stemming from my inclusion on the list occurred after the 'Enemies Ball.' My doorman informed me that I had had visitors who wanted to know about me while I was out. At first I thought these 'visitors' were reporters. But I realized that they were Nixon investigators. Once I was in the government spotlight, I was subject to IRS and state tax audits. This produced a domino effect, becoming time consuming, costly and inconvenient. But even with all of the attendant issues, I cannot imagine anything better than being an enemy of the state while Nixon was head of state!
Q: The list described you as a 'first-class S.O.B., wheeler-dealer and suspected bagman.' Is there any truth at all to that description?
A: No, but I guess if you are going to be called anything, 'first-class' is the best thing to be called. Admittedly, I don't really know why the Nixon people labeled me these things. I was a tough kid doing my job for Mayor Lindsay and the City of New York.
Q: Did you know anyone else on the list? What do you think those included had in common?
A: I had met some people on the list, like Paul Newman for photo ops with the mayor. But otherwise I had no business relationships with anyone on the list.
Q: Did you have any personal contact with Nixon, either before or after his presidency?
A: It's important to remember that Mayor Lindsay was previously a Republican. Lindsay was on President Nixon's 1968 vice presidential nomination short list. At the 1968 Republican convention, New York Senator Jacob Javits attempted to persuade Nixon to embrace Lindsay as the vice presidential candidate. In this respect, I corresponded with Nixon's aides and met him on a few occasions, but I did not know him personally.
Q: How do you think history will judge Nixon?
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