A newspaper report that President Nixon had referred “glowingly” to Albert Speer, a top Nazi during World War II, during a recent meeting on the energy crisis was confirmed today by Presidential press secretary Gerald Warren. Asked about the report in the syndicated Evans-Novak column, Warren said he understood Nixon had referred to Speer “in the context of Speer’s work relating to the mobilization of industry.”
Speer was one of the most important men in the Nazi government and was credited with keeping German industry at peak production during the war years. He was convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials at the end of the war. Speer’s autobiography, “Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs of Albert Speer,” was a best seller several years ago.
Asked if the President regretted his reference to Speer, Warren replied: “I don’t think that a reference to an historical event should lead to a feeling of regret. There are lessons to be learned from both former enemies as well as former friends.” Nixon’s reference was seen by some here as indicating that he wanted William Simon, the government’s energy chief, to be his Albert Speer.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
