Nixon Aide Speaks Here

A top official of the Republican National Committee said last night that Presidents Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy '40 were very much alike.

"President Nixon has been able to translate the ideals of John F. Kennedy into action," J. Brian Smith, the chief writer for Domestic Affairs of the Republican National Committee, said yesterday. Smith added that he, as a Kennedy Democrat, had no qualms about becoming a Nixon Republican.

Smith spoke to 15 students in Lowell House. He explained that Nixon has followed through on Kennedy's initiatives in the fields of pollution, civil rights and foreign policy.

Smith added that Nixon's politics are more in tune with the views of college students than were those of Kennedy. He explained that Kennedy advocated U.S. military superiority, while Nixon is content with military sufficiency.

Kennedy was committed to supporting our allies militarily, while Nixon believes that we should only assist them financially, Smith said.

He concluded that "President Nixon has been able to realistically move the system along the lines that college youth have advocated."

When questioned about the Watergate affair, Smith called it "stupid." He said that he believed the bugging was done by a small group of people "acting on their own" and that they must "pay the consequences."