Charles Gregory “Bebe” Rebozo (November 17, 1912, Tampa, Florida – May 8, 1998) was a Florida banker and businessman who became famous for being a friend and confidant of President Richard Nixon.
The youngest of twelve children (hence, the nickname “Bebe” meaning “Baby” in Spanish) of Cuban immigrants to Tampa, Florida, Matias and Carmen, Rebozo owned several businesses in Florida, including a gas station and a group of laundromats, before starting his own bank, the Key Biscayne Bank & Trust, in Key Biscayne during 1964. Rebozo regularly attended Key Biscayne Community Church, sometimes accompanied during later years by Richard Nixon.
Friendship with Richard Nixon.
Rebozo first met then-U.S. Representative Nixon in 1950 through Florida Representative George Smathers. Smathers had recommended Key Biscayne as a vacation destination to Nixon, who eventually established a residence there which was later nicknamed the “Winter White House” by journalists. While Nixon was vacationing in Key Biscayne, Smathers had Rebozo take Nixon deep sea fishing. Rebozo and Nixon then started a friendship that endured 44 years.
In 1952 Dwight Eisenhower selected Richard Nixon to be his vice president. As George Smathers later admitted that “Bebe’s level of liking Nixon increased as Nixon’s position increased”. One of the ways that Rebozo helped Nixon was to obtain large campaign contributions from Howard Hughes.
Rebozo briefly remarried Claire Gunn. The marriage only lasted two years. Later he married Jane Lucke, his lawyer’s secretary. In one interview, his wife said “Bebe’s favourites are Richard Nixon, his cat – and then me.” One of Rebozo’s friends, Jake Jernigan, claimed that: “He (Rebozo) loved Nixon more than he loved anybody.” Another friend said that “Bebe worshipped Nixon and hated Nixon’s enemies”.
Rebozo quickly became best friend and financial and real estate advisor to Nixon. In 1968 Rebozo changed his party from Democratic to Republican.
Rebozo advised Richard Nixon about possible business investments. According to a FBI informant, the two men invested in Cuba when it was governed by the military dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Rebozo’s business partner, Hoke Maroon, claimed that Nixon was also part-owner of the Coral Gables Motel.
According to Rebozo, the two men were swimming together at Rebozo’s home in June 1972 when Nixon was first informed of the Watergate Hotel break-in. And he was with the president on the night that Nixon resolved to resign from the presidency.
In 1960 Nixon attempted to become president of the United States. Rebozo helped raise funds and paid for an investigation into the private life of Nixon’s opponent, John F. Kennedy. Rebozo sent Nixon documents claiming that Kennedy had previously been married to Durie Malcolm. However, this story was untrue and despite this smear campaign against Kennedy, Nixon was defeated.
Rebozo became one of Nixon’s closest political advisers. Rebozo also took a keen interest in Caribbean politics and had considerable business investments in the region. He therefore became one of the leading opponents of Fidel Castro after he gained power in Cuba. In 1961 Rebozo accompanied William Pawley on a secret mission to see Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo.
In 1964 Rebozo started his own financial institution, the Key Biscayne Bank. Nixon, who took part in the opening ceremony, held Savings Account No.1. The bank was used to fund a shopping centre for Cuban refugee merchants. The man brought in to manage this shopping centre, was Edgardo Buttari, Director for Social Assistance for the First Officers of Brigade 2506 (Bernardo de Torres was the Vice Director). Later, Richard Nixon appointed Buttari to a highly paid job in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
After Richard Nixon became president in 1968, Rebozo was a regular visitor to the White House. However, he often used a false name and was not logged in by the Secret Service. Rebozo also negotiated deals on behalf of his business friends.
In January, 1973, Frank Sturgis, E. Howard Hunt, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, Bernard L. Barker, Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord were convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping. Several of these men had links to the White House. The Watergate Scandal.
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s as a result of the June 17, 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration’s attempted cover-up of its involvement.
Rebozo was eventually dragged into the Watergate Scandal. During the investigation, a $100,000 donation from Howard Hughes that was meant for the Republican Party, was found in a safe-deposit box owned by Rebozo. The IRS now began a detailed look into Rebozo’s financial affairs, with a focus on “misappropriation of campaign contributions, acceptance of money in exchange for favors by the Justice Department, distribution of Watergate hush money, and alleged diversion of campaign funds to Nixon’s brothers and personal secretary.”
Journalist Jack Anderson speculated that Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox had been fired because he had started to investigate Rebozo’s role in Nixon accepting covert payments.
The IRS investigation discovered that when Nixon took office his net worth was $307,000. During his first five years in the White House this sum had tripled to nearly $1 million. During the same period Rebozo’s net worth went from $673,000 to $4.5 million. According to Jack Anderson, Nixon and Rebozo had both hidden money in Switzerland.
In 1974 the staff of the Senate Watergate committee discovered that Charles Rebozo gave or lent part of a $100,000 campaign contribution to President Nixon’s personal secretary Rose Mary Woods.
It was also discovered during the Watergate investigation that Rebozo had a business relationship with two of the burglars, Bernard L. Barker and Eugenio Martinez. Rebozo had also arranged for E. Howard Hunt to investigate Hoke Maroon, who had information about Nixon’s early business investments in Cuba.
Charles Rebozo died on 8th May, 1998.
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The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor.