Dear Mr. Secretary:
In order to effect a saving in money and manpower, I have decided to deactivate the Presidential cabin cruisers Patricia and Julie, which are operated by the Naval Administrative Unit.
You are, therefore, directed to offer these craft for disposal outside of the Department of Defense in a manner appropriate and befitting of their service to the administrations of five Presidents.
By separate correspondence, my Military Assistant will effect concurrent personnel reductions for the Naval Administrative Unit.
Sincerely,
RICHARD NIXON
[Honorable Melvin Laird, Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C.]
Note: The letter was dated April 15, 1970, and released on April 28 along with background information on the Presidential cabin cruisers Patricia and Julie, as well as Sequoia, the only remaining Presidential vessel. The background information is printed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (vol. 6, p. 591 ).
A fact sheet on Presidential yachts was also released by the White House on April 28.
Richard Nixon, Letter to the Secretary of Defense Deactivating the Presidential Cabin Cruisers. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239699