us Together' being invited to the inaugural. She didn't even read or write it!" Reinecke forwarded the letter to Nixon aide John Ehrlichman with the comment, "I suspect that Carla's reaction may be shared by other young people who worked in the Nixon campaign." Nixon assistant Charles E. Stuart replied to Reinecke, stating, "Vicki Lynne has been invited to the inauguration not because she carried the sign, or even because she made the sign, but rather because the sign which she did carry proved to be an inspiration to Mr. Nixon" and expressed his confidence the invitation would be well received by other young Nixon partisans. Political usage and aftermath The Inaugural Committee wanted to adopt "Bring Us Together" as the inaugural theme, appalling Safire, who said, "That wasn't the theme of the campaign." Safire and other aides felt the administration should seek to advance its agenda, rather than seeking consensus on policy, and White House Chief of Staff-designate H. R. Haldeman was able to change the theme to "Forward Together." Nevertheless, the phrase "Bring Us Together" was thrown in the face of the Nixon administration by Democrats each time something divisive was proposed, and was used as the title of a tell-all exposé by Leon Panetta after he was fired from the Nixon administration for dissenting from the White House's "Southern strategy" on civil rights policy. According to Safire, the use of the phrase against Nixon shows a slogan which evokes emotion can cut both ways. Nixon's advisors denied he had abandoned a desire to bring the American people together. However, they were divided between those who sought national unity, and those, such as campaign manager and Attorney General John N. Mitchell, who felt Nixon should concentrate on keeping the voters who had cast their ballots for him, and should seek to win over the voters who had favored third-party candidate Alabama Governor George Wallace, as the key to reelection in 1972. According to Safire, after taking office, Nixon and his advisors decided he need not bring the country together, but need only work to secure his reelection by appealing to voters who were not hostile to Nixon and his policies—they became known as the silent majority. Historian Stanley Kutler suggested in his book on the Nixon administration that Nixon's policies widened divisions in the US, but that the nation finally came together late in his presidency—to reject Nixon