Never-before-seen photos of Richard Nixon post-Watergate, by his Secret Service agent

The photos depict a man who managed to maintain semblance of authority and respect after fall from the highest office.

It appears that Nixon surrounded himself with people who respected him, who asked him to hold their babies at beach barbecues, and who turned their eyes toward him rather than the person snapping the photos.

They were provided to KUOW by Nixon's former Secret Service agent.

Mike Endicott, a former Secret Service agent who protected Richard Nixon, fondly recounts protecting the 37th president.

The 76-year-old wore blue sweatpants and a hat emblazoned with USA as he described his 20-year career in the Secret Service.

Most notable, Endicott said, was his time spent at Nixon’s side. He headed Nixon’s security from 1979 to 1985, and acted as his special assistant until 1992. Nixon died two years later.

Endicott said he shared personal photos with KUOW to demystify Nixon, and show the former president in a kinder light. He had kept these photos in a manila envelope before sharing them with KUOW.

“He was hated but ... he had some of the best friends that anybody could have,” Endicott said recently. The former agent lives at an assisted living facility in Tacoma.

Nixon resigned from the presidency in 1974 after being exposed for sabotaging Democrats and bugging his opponents. He is the only U.S. president to resign. He was not impeached.

Lauded by historians for ending the Vietnam War, and the draft, Nixon has been described as aging into a bitter and paranoid man.

“I knew a different Richard Nixon,” Endicott said. “I knew, no question in my mind, the pain he was going through. I knew who he was. I know how much that job meant to him, and I know how much the country meant to him.”

Endicott's photos show the former president during barbecues, with close friends, and on travel in Russia.

“I knew Richard Nixon like no one else,” Endicott said.

Nixon appears formal in these images, his hair combed and always in slacks, tie and a jacket, even when others wore bathing suits and sleeveless tops.

For 13 years, Endicott handled Nixon’s operations and logistics, planned his travel, and was his chef and confidante. He knew the foods he liked (stone crab from Miami), and what he enjoyed (ball games and traveling overseas with friends).

Endicott’s two daughters Robin McGuire and Leslie Mironenko sometimes babysat Nixon’s grandkids during summer visits on the East Coast.

“My dad really feels like Nixon and his wife were pretty much parents to him,” McGuire said. “They adored him and included him in a lot their family stuff.”

Endicott has written two books about his time in the Secret Service. The first was Walking With Presidents, and the second, self-published last year, was After Watergate.

Endicott said he wanted readers to look past their misconceptions about Nixon, who he called a “hated man.” He wanted his book to reflect the good he saw in Nixon.

Endicott, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease about five years ago, said he also worries that the generation that knew Nixon best would soon disappear, and with them, a more nuanced view of Nixon.

“Probably the biggest impact on me was understanding that things aren't always what they seem,” he said.

“I’m not saying we didn't get the occasional ‘Tricky Dick,’” Endicott said about the ridicule Nixon would sometimes face in public settings.

“If you stood back and watched him, you might not get the feeling that people didn't like him,” he said. “The people that came up and talked to him either liked him or had enough courtesy not to embarrass themselves.”

Endicott grew up in Tacoma, dreaming of being a biology teacher. When he graduated from St. Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington, his father-in-law, who was in the Secret Service at the time, suggested that he join.

Endicott took the entrance exam in 1965, two years after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, and the same year Congress authorized protection for former presidents and their spouses during their lifetimes.

Early in his career, Endicott convened an anti-terrorism program for the Secret Service, at a time when “terrorism was just rearing its head,” he said. For a year and a half, he traveled to Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Damascus, collecting intelligence.

During Nixon's presidency, Endicott served on Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's detail.

Endicott recalled meeting Nixon for the first time, and the lasting impression Nixon made.

After 30 minutes into their conversation, Nixon told Endicott he possessed "intuitive intelligence," a term Endicott didn't understand until years later.

Years after resigning, Nixon asked Endicott to join him, the former agent said.

He was offered the job as head of Nixon’s detail. By that time, Nixon had been out of the White House for about five years.

“I had an absolutely amazing life,” Endicott said.

“He said he was going to be moving to New York and he wanted me to go with him,” Endicott said. “He told me he was going to get back into the front lines again and that I would head his detail up.”

Nixon told Endicott he was the seventh person he talked to about the job. The others had turned him down.

“He said, ‘So, you got it,’” Endicott said. “He was completely honest about what was going on.”

Memories he holds near and dear: summer outings with Nixon, his wife Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon, their friends Robert Abplanalp, American inventor of the modern aerosol spray valve, and Charles Gregory "Bebe" Rebozo, Florida banker and businessman.

“Usually Nixon was a suit and tie guy,” Endicott said. “He put a suit on everyday, except for times when he was going to the island. Then maybe he’d be more casual and not have a tie on.”

Endicott said their close relationship developed over time. The more formal relationship of agent and president fell away as Nixon aged, and eventually, decided against having the Secret Service in his presence. Instead, he hired Endicott to serve him directly.

“There came a point where they transitioned into being more like friends,” Mironenko, Endicott’s daughter, said. “Nixon would call the house quite a bit for my dad ... I knew it was Nixon because of his voice. He had a distinguished voice and would call to speak to my dad.”

Despite their many conversations on life, and their 6 a.m. weekly planning phone calls, there was one subject the pair rarely broached. When it came to Watergate, Endicott said Nixon never brought the topic up, and he never asked about it either.