History/Political Science paper by Deák, Nóra
Nixon’s Encounter and Experience with Hungarians During his Trips to Austria, Camp Kilmer, and Budapest (Accepted)
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
Vice President Richard Nixon paid a flying visit to Austria after the first major – 15,000 – quota increase for Hungarian refugees in December 1956, with a mission, which was also called Operation Mercy just like the action to resettle refugees in the United States, to find facts about the refugee crisis and make suggestions for an immigration reform. During his trip to Austria Nixon not only met with Austrian politicians and officials of relief organizations, not only visited refugee camps, but he went on a rather unnecessary night escapade near the border to pick up recent refugees. After Christmas, yet before he finalized his report to President Eisenhower, he made a one-day visit to Camp Kilmer, NJ to meet the President’s Committee and the newly arrived refugees in the Joyce Kilmer Reception Center. His suggestions for a new Immigration Law – unfortunately – were not accepted, yet temporary quotas were added several times by the President.
After two unsuccessful campaigns, Nixon with his family and friends took a Summer vacation in Europe and Egypt, including the only country in the Soviet block: Hungary, in 1963. What were his impressions of the refugees in 1956, and the Hungarian capital in general while walking on the streets of, or visiting a mid-week market in Budapest? I’ll also discuss his contacts with emigré politicians and organizations, and how they might have influenced his attitude towards Hungarians.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Nóra Deák is a PhD student in American Studies at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. Her research topic is the reception, registration, and resettlement of the 1956 Hungarian refugees in the United States. She majored in English and Russian languages and literatures, graduated in 1990 in Debrecen, then received an LIS MA degree in 1997 in Budapest. She has been working as Head of the Library at the School of English and American Studies Library, ELTE, in Budapest, since 1995. Her research was supported by a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholarship at the American Hungarian Foundation, and by Rutgers University Libraries as a Visiting Research Student during 2014 and 2015 in New Brunswick, NJ. She participated in the Mikes Kelemen Program in 2017/18.