with phlebitis. told by his doctors that he could either be operated on or die, a reluctant nixon chose surgery, and president ford visited him in the hospital. nixon was under subpoena for the trial of three of his former aides—dean, haldeman, and john ehrlichman—and the washington post, disbelieving his illness, printed a cartoon showing nixon with a cast on the "wrong foot". judge john sirica excused nixon's presence despite the defendants' objections. congress instructed ford to retain nixon's presidential papers—beginning a three-decade legal battle over the documents that was eventually won by the former president and his estate. nixon was in the hospital when the 1974 midterm elections were held, and watergate and the pardon were contributing factors to the republican loss of 49 seats in the house and four in the senate. return to public life president jimmy carter and ex-presidents gerald ford and nixon meet at the white house before former vice president hubert humphrey's funeral, 1978. in december 1974, nixon began planning his comeback despite the considerable ill will against him in the country. he wrote in his diary, referring to himself and pat, so be it. we will see it through. we've had tough times before and we can take the tougher ones that we will have to go through now. that is perhaps what we were made for—to be able to take punishment beyond what anyone in this office has had before particularly after leaving office. this is a test of character and we must not fail the test. nixon speaking with chinese vice premier deng xiaoping and u.s. president jimmy carter at the white house, 1979 by early 1975, nixon's health was improving. he maintained an office in a coast guard station 300 yards from his home, at first taking a golf cart and later walking the route each day; he mainly worked on his memoirs. he had hoped to wait before writing his memoirs; the fact that his assets were being eaten away by expenses and lawyer fees compelled him to begin work quickly. he was handicapped in this work by the end of his transition allowance in february, which compelled him to part with many of his staff, including ziegler. in august of that year, he met with british talk-show host and producer david frost, who paid him $600,000 (equivalent to $3 million in 2021) for a series of sit-down interviews, filmed and aired in 1977. they began on the topic of foreign policy, recounting the leaders he had known, but the most remembered section of the interviews was that on watergate. nixon admitted he had "let down the country" and that "i brought myself down. i gave them a sword and they stuck it in. and they twisted it with relish. and, i guess, if i'd been in their position, i'd have done the same thing." the interviews garnered 45–50 million viewers—becoming the most-watched program of its kind in television history. the interviews helped improve nixon's financial position—at one point in early 1975 he had only $500 in the bank—as did the sale of his key biscayne property to a trust set up by wealthy friends of nixon, such as bebe rebozo. in february 1976, nixon visited china at the personal invitation of mao. nixon had wanted to return to china but chose to wait until after ford's own visit in 1975. nixon remained neutral in the close 1976 primary battle between ford and reagan. ford won, but was defeated by georgia governor jimmy carter in the general election. the carter administration had little use for nixon and blocked his planned trip to australia, causing the government of prime minister malcolm fraser to withhold its official invitation. in 1976, nixon was disbarred by the new york state bar association for obstruction of justice in the watergate affair. he chose not to present any defense. in early 1978, he visited the united kingdom; there, he was shunned by american diplomats, most ministers of the james callaghan government, and two former prime ministers, harold macmillan and edward heath. he was welcomed, however, by the leader of the opposition, margaret thatcher, as well as by former prime ministers lord home and sir harold wilson. nixon addressed the oxford union regarding watergate: felt that on this matter that i had not handled it properly, and they were right. i screwed it up and i paid the price. author and elder statesman president ronald reagan meets with his three immediate predecessors, gerald ford, jimmy carter and nixon, at the white house, october 1981; the three former presidents would represent the united states at the funeral of egyptian president anwar sadat. in 1978, nixon published his memoirs, rn: the memoirs of richard nixon, the first of ten books he was to author in his retirement. the book was a bestseller and attracted a generally positive critical response. nixon visited the white house in 1979, invited by carter for the state dinner for chinese vice premier deng xiaoping. carter had not wanted to invite nixon, but deng had said he would visit nixon in california if the former president was not invited. nixon had a private meeting with deng and visited beijing again in mid-1979. on august 10, 1979, the nixons purchased a 12‐room condominium occupying the seventh floor of 817 fifth avenue new york city after being rejected by two manhattan co-ops. when the deposed shah of iran died in egypt in july 1980, nixon defied the state department, which intended to send no u.s. representative, by attending the funeral. though nixon had no official credentials, as a former president he was seen as the american presence at its former ally's funeral. nixon supported ronald reagan for president in 1980, making television appearances portraying himself as, in biographer stephen ambrose's words, "the senior statesman above the fray". he wrote guest articles for many publications both during the campaign and after reagan's victory. after eighteen months in the new york city townhouse, nixon and his wife moved in 1981 to saddle river, new jersey. throughout the 1980s, nixon maintained an ambitious schedule of speaking engagements and writing, traveled, and met with many foreign leaders, especially those of third world countries. he joined former presidents ford and carter as representatives of the united states at the funeral of egyptian president anwar sadat. on a trip to the middle east, nixon made his views known regarding saudi arabia and libya, which attracted significant u.s. media attention; the washington post ran stories on nixon's "rehabilitation". nixon visited the soviet union in 1986 and on his return sent president reagan a lengthy memorandum containing foreign policy suggestions and his personal impressions of soviet general secretary mikhail gorbachev. following this trip, nixon was ranked in a gallup poll as one of the ten most admired men in the world. nixon with president bill clinton in the residence of the white house, march 1993 in 1986, nixon addressed a convention of newspaper publishers, impressing his audience with his tour d'horizon of the world. at the time, political pundit elizabeth drew wrote, "even when he was wrong, nixon still showed that he knew a great deal and had a capacious memory, as well as the capacity to speak with apparent authority, enough to impress people who had little regard for him in earlier times." newsweek ran a story on "nixon's comeback" with the headline "he's back". on july 19, 1990, the richard nixon library and birthplace in yorba linda, california opened as a private institution with the nixons in attendance. they were joined by a large crowd of people, including presidents ford, reagan, and george h. w. bush, as well as their wives, betty, nancy, and barbara. in january 1994, the former president founded the nixon center (today the center for the national interest), a washington policy think tank and conference center. pat nixon died on june 22, 1993, of emphysema and lung cancer. her funeral services were held on the grounds of the richard nixon library and birthplace. former president nixon was distraught throughout the interment and delivered a tribute to her inside the library building. death and funeral five u.s. presidents (then-incumbent president bill clinton, george h.w. bush, ronald reagan, jimmy carter and gerald ford) and their wives attending nixon's funeral, april 27, 1994 nixon suffered a severe stroke on april 18, 1994, while preparing to eat dinner in his home at park ridge, new jersey. a blood clot resulting from the atrial fibrillation he had suffered for many years had formed in his upper heart, broken off, and traveled to his brain. he was taken to newyork-presbyterian hospital in manhattan, initially alert but unable to speak or to move his right arm or leg. damage to the brain caused swelling (cerebral edema), and nixon slipped into a deep coma. he died at 9:08 p.m. on april 22, 1994, with his daughters at his bedside. he was 81 years old. nixon's funeral took place on april 27, 1994, in yorba linda, california. eulogists at the nixon library ceremony included president bill clinton, former secretary of state henry kissinger, senate minority leader bob dole, california governor pete wilson, and the reverend billy graham. also in attendance were former presidents ford, carter, reagan, george h. w. bush, and their wives. richard nixon was buried beside his wife pat on the grounds of the nixon library. he was survived by his two daughters, tricia and julie, and four grandchildren. in keeping with his wishes, his funeral was not a full state funeral, though his body did lie in repose in the nixon library lobby from april 26 to the morning of the funeral service. mourners waited in line for up to eight hours in chilly, wet weather to pay their respects. at its peak, the line to pass by nixon's casket was three miles long with an estimated 42,000 people waiting. john f. stacks of time magazine said of nixon shortly after his death, an outsize energy and determination drove him on to recover and rebuild after every self-created disaster that he faced. to reclaim a respected place in american public life after his resignation, he kept traveling and thinking and talking to the world's leaders ... and by the time bill clinton came to the white house , nixon had virtually cemented his role as an elder statesman. clinton, whose wife served on the staff of the committee that voted to impeach nixon, met openly with him and regularly sought his advice. tom wicker of the new york times noted that nixon had been equalled only by franklin roosevelt in being five times nominated on a major party ticket and, quoting nixon's 1962 farewell speech, wrote, richard nixon's jowly, beard-shadowed face, the ski-jump nose and the widow's peak, the arms upstretched in the v-sign, had been so often pictured and caricatured, his presence had become such a familiar one in the land, he had been so often in the heat of controversy, that it was hard to realize the nation really would not "have nixon to kick around anymore". ambrose said of the reaction to nixon's death, "to everyone's amazement, except his, he's our beloved elder statesman." the graves of president richard nixon and first lady pat nixon upon nixon's death, the news coverage mentioned watergate and the resignation but much of the coverage was favorable to the former president. the dallas morning news stated, "history ultimately should show that despite his flaws, he was one of our most farsighted chief executives." this offended some; columnist russell baker complained of "a group conspiracy to grant him absolution". cartoonist jeff koterba of the omaha world-herald depicted history before a blank canvas, his subject nixon, as america looks on eagerly. the artist urges his audience to sit down; the work will take some time to complete, as "this portrait is a little more complicated than most". hunter s. thompson wrote a scathing piece denouncing nixon for rolling stone, entitled "he was a crook" (which also appeared a month later in the atlantic). in his article, thompson described nixon as "a political monster straight out of grendel and a very dangerous enemy". legacy historian and political scientist james macgregor burns asked of nixon, "how can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic president, so brilliant and so