RN ON FDR: To mark the 50th...

RN ON FDR: To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace on Wednesday planted a magnolia tree in his honor, near Nixon’s burial site. . . . The Republican President was hardly a supporter of the New Deal Democrat, but he did admire Roosevelt as a shrewd politician. Nixon writes in his memoirs: “We sometimes forget that FDR was a master of invective,” who became a champion of the underclass “by making useful enemies of the upper class.”

HAPPY BOB? Whether you’re friend or foe of Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) there’s no denying he’ll add interesting verbal sparks when he enters the ring today as a GOP candidate for President. Dornan told CNN on Wednesday that his “hot temper” is a myth: “I’m more like Hubert Humphrey, the Happy Warrior.”. . . Dornan’s top social issues: abortion, gang warfare, narcotics and “homosexual activism.”

IT’S REALLY HER: Carol Higgins Clark, who speaks at a recognition breakfast at Planet Hollywood in Santa Ana today for Friends of the Orange County Library, is a well-known mystery writer. But not as famous as her mother, Mary Higgins Clark, whose books are automatic bestsellers the day they’re released. . . . The daughter can joke about it, though. She told Good Housekeeping that one disappointed woman expecting her mother told her at a book-signing: “Oh, I was hoping your name was just a misprint in the newspaper.”

SNAPPIN’ EM UP: Easter is bunny season. But right now, turtles are in vogue too. Since the county’s Animal Control this week confiscated some 300 turtles at a Garden Grove store owner’s home--many of them dehydrated for lack of water--more than 300 people have called wanting to adopt them. . . . They aren’t available--yet. But the more healthy ones can be adopted soon (714-935-6848). Says a city police spokesman: “Regardless if it’s a turtle, a pet is still a nice present.”