Before arriving at Franklin & Marshall College, Lily Andrey ’27 followed the news, nurturing an interest in history, particularly the Cold War, but not so much in journalism.

“I knew I wanted to be a writer, but not a creative writer,” the American studies major says.

The Hackman Summer Scholar and editor-in-chief of the College Reporter, the campus newspaper, is working on a research project about a deeply influential late 20th century U.S. politician whose scandal changed politics and journalism.

“The great thing about college is you can truly try anything you want,” Andrey says.

In her first semester, she took a course on the Cold War and President Richard Nixon with Daniel Frick, now emeritus senior teaching professor of American studies.

The course further informed her interests, particularly since it included watching the film, “All the President’s Men,” about two Washington Post reporters who exposed the Watergate Scandal that led to Nixon’s resignation from office in 1974.

“The great thing about college is you can truly try anything you want.”

— Lily Andrey ’27, editor-in-chief of the College Reporter

Frick is following up his 2008 book, “Reinventing Richard Nixon: A Cultural History of an American Obsession,” with an examination of Nixon’s post-presidential years when the late commander-in-chief contributed to Republican thinking on numerous policies, particularly on international issues.

Andrey’s research, which tracks Frick’s, seeks a through line, from Nixon to President Donald Trump: “is there a Nixon legacy in the age of Trump?” Frick says .“Lily's track is a little bit more of a general history of the Republican Party. She is starting with Nixon in '68, and looking to see if there’s a through line? Or is there a break or something that is kind of an amalgamation?”

What Andrey discovered so far is yes, there is a through line.

“I would say a direct correlation is the way that Trump addresses immigration,” Andrey says. “He uses the same tactics and same fear-mongering – immigrants taking your life, taking your job – and uses that the same way Nixon addressed the civil rights movement and African-Americans.”

Andrey says working with Frick has been very informative to her own research project as well as influential in what she is considering in her postgraduate career.

“He just has such detailed knowledge of the historical context of every single Republican platform,” she says. “It's really a wonderful opportunity to be able to work one-on-one with someone who is specialized in my area of interest.”