Nixon's first drug czar dead at 87. Good riddance! (And take Nixon with you!)

Myles J. Ambrose, who was President Richard M. Nixon’s first drug czar, but who resigned before he could take the helm of the new government arm he had helped shepherd into being, the Drug Enforcement Administration, died on June 3 in Leesburg, Va. He was 87. Nixon established the office to overcome bureaucratic gridlock in the fight against illegal drugs and, by most accounts, to expedite his vaunted war on crime as he sought re-election. Mr. Ambrose’s job, as Nixon’s special drug adviser and assistant attorney general in charge of drug prosecution, was to form a pilot program from competing pieces of government departments and agencies{ … } to “drive drug traffickers and drug pushers off the streets” with a unified approach, Nixon said. As Customs commissioner, Mr. Ambrose had run Operation Intercept, a mass monthlong pat-down and vehicle search at the Mexican border in 1969. The effort was criticized for hurting businesses on both sides of the border and damaging relations with Mexico. The administration considered it successful for signaling a new American resolve. As Customs commissioner, Mr. Ambrose had run Operation Intercept, a mass monthlong pat-down and vehicle search at the Mexican border in 1969. The effort was criticized for hurting businesses on both sides of the border and damaging relations with Mexico. The administration considered it successful for signaling a new American resolve. {This misguided operation prompted the search of purses and lunchboxes of school children and forcded strip searches of travelers, and it caused lines at the boarder several miles long. According to a federal spokesman "No large seizures have been made since Intercept was launched last Sunday" -- Spinshield} Nixon considered the project a spectacular success. Based on a proposal written by Mr. Ambrose, he asked Congress in March 1973 to make the agency permanent as the Drug Enforcement Administration, an arm of the Justice Department. But without official explanation, Mr. Ambrose resigned, in June 1973, before he could take the post. { as first DEA administrator … } to return to private practice to earn more money. Source: "Myles J. Ambrose, Nixon Drug Czar, D.E.A. Midwife, Dies at 87" By PAUL VITELLO - NY Times - JUNE 9, 2014

Myles J. Ambrose sat beside President Richard M. Nixon in March 1972 at a meeting of drug enforcement officials. Source: Michael Evans/The New York Times

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