ABSTRACT
Friday morning, January 31, 1969, found Richard M. Nixon at the intersection of 7th and T Streets in Washington, DC’s Shaw neighborhood, surveying the blasted hulk of Waxie Maxie Discount Records-gutted in the riots of the previous spring-and contemplating the wreckage of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society dreams (Fiske, 1969). Nixon, who had been inaugurated 11 days prior as the 37th president of the United States, was using the visit to signal his own plans for the nation’s capital. He was announcing his commitment to getting the still-stalled post-riot reconstruction moving in time to deliver a remade city as host for what he could hope would be the glorious national bicentennial gala crowning his successful two-term presidency.
