The Making of the Newest Nixon

OVER a period of months, the man has seemed somehow different at successive appearances, to be undergoing an almost imperceptible process of change. Observers thought that he looked a bit less jowly, more confident, more appealing. Last week, in his televised session with network correspondents, makeup could not conceal a puffiness under the eyes. His presence may never be exactly magisterial, but on the whole, Richard Nixon looks more, well, presidential than he ever has.

Part of the change may be in the eye of the beholder—the nation, after two years, has simply got used to Nixon as President. But there is more to it than mere acclimatization. For one thing, the President acquired a new barber six months ago. This artist, Milton Pitts, 54, who calls himself "Washington's leading men's hair stylist," strives to give the presidential head "the natural sculptured look." He has gradually lowered Nixon's sideburns about half an inch and his neckline by an inch —not exactly an Abbie Hoffman do but slightly less military than before. Pitts has also got Nixon away from the greasy kid stuff he was using. "His hair was curly at the edges," Pitts explains.

"It used to stick out in back. If you put oil on curly hair, it doesn't lie natural." By Pitts' analysis, Nixon had been getting entirely the wrong cut: "He has a full face. The hair used to be cut too thin on the sides and be too full just above the ear. Now, with a balanced sculpture cut, he has a more oval look."

Nixon has changed his tailoring too, and just as subtly. Anthony T. Rossi, sales manager of the President's favorite tailoring firm, H. Freeman & Son of Philadelphia, has persuaded the President to wear his somber blue and gray corporate suits with a slightly (⅝ in.) wider lapel. Before his European trip last fall, the President bought four new suits (average price: $275). Nixon was even gently talked into a couple of reticently modish double-breasted suits, the first he has worn since his congressional days. "He's a person who doesn't like to be told what to wear, no matter what the fashions are," says Rossi. "We'll say, They're wearing 4-in. lapels,' and he'll say he doesn't want them quite that wide but 'I would like them a little wider.' He'll compromise." To go with the new suits, Nixon has taken to slightly wider, 3-in. ties, which he generally buys from F.R. Tripler or A. Sulka in Manhattan.

As his physical checkup last month indicated, Nixon is remarkably fit, his blood pressure excellent. Although he takes a full dinner, he eats sparingly at breakfast and lunch. His weight is an optimum 170 Ibs., down 2 Ibs. in the past year. Nixon usually gets to bed by 11:30 or midnight, rises about 7 a.m. He shaves himself with a safety razor in the morning, handles the old beard problem with a quick runover by electric razor in the afternoon. If he is to appear in public or on television in the evening, he shaves again with a safety razor.