Richard Nixon

The Honorable Richard Nixon
Oval Office Photo c. 1972
37th President of the United States
In office January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974
Vice President	Spiro Agnew (1969–1973) None (Oct–Dec 1973) Gerald Ford (1973–1974)
Preceded by	Lyndon B. Johnson
Succeeded by	Gerald Ford
36th Vice President of the United States
In office January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Alben W. Barkley
Succeeded by	Lyndon B. Johnson
United States Senator from California
In office December 1, 1950 – January 1, 1953
Preceded by	Sheridan Downey
Succeeded by	Thomas Kuchel
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 12th district
In office January 3, 1947 – November 30, 1950
Preceded by	Jerry Voorhis
Succeeded by	Patrick J. Hillings
Personal details
Born	Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-01-09)January 9, 1913 Yorba Linda, California, U.S.
Died	April 22, 1994(1994-04-22) (aged 81) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Political party	Republican
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Spouse(s)	Pat Ryan ​ ​ (m. 2021; died 1993)​
Children	Tricia Julie
Mother	Hannah Milhous
Father	Francis A. Nixon
Education	Whittier College (BA) Duke University School of Law (JD)
Religion	Quakers
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1942–1946 (active) 1946–1966 (inactive)
Rank	Commander
Battles/wars	World War II  • South Pacific Theater[1]
Awards	Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2)
Richard Nixon's Voice Nixon's Resignation Speech Recorded August 8, 1974

Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was an American politician who was the 37th president of the United States from 1969 to 1974, when he became the only president to resign.^[2] Before that, Nixon was the 36th vice president (from 1953 to 1961 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower), and a U.S. Representative and Senator from California. He was a Republican.

Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. He attended Duke University and graduated from its law school in 1937. After graduating, he returned to California to practice law. In 1942, he and his wife Pat moved to Washington to work for the federal government. During World War II, he served on active duty in the Naval Reserve.

Nixon began his career in politics after he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. During this time, he became well known as an anti-Communist. In 1950, he was elected to the Senate. In 1953, he became the vice president of the United States, under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He served in this position for eight years. In 1960, Nixon ran for president. He was defeated by John F. Kennedy. Two years later, in 1962, Nixon ran for governor of California. He also lost this election to Pat Brown. In 1968, he ran for president for a second time. He won the election, defeating Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace in a close election.

As president, Nixon got the United States to stop being involved in the Vietnam War. He ended the military draft in 1973. In 1972, Nixon visited China. This visit would eventually create diplomatic relations between the two nations. The same year, he signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union.

Domestically, Nixon imposed wage and price controls for 90 days. He had Southern schools desegregated (ending the separation of people by their race). He established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). He also began the War on Cancer. He presided over the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969. In 1972, Nixon was re-elected in a landslide, defeating George McGovern.

In his second term, Nixon ordered an airlift to resupply Israeli losses in the Yom Kippur War, a war which led to the oil crisis at home. In 1973, he had lost a lot of political support because of the Watergate scandal. On August 9, 1974, Nixon resigned, becoming the first American president to do so. His successor, Gerald Ford, pardoned him.

After resigning, Nixon wrote many books and visited many other countries. He died on April 22, 1994, after suffering a stroke. He is ranked lowly in presidential opinion polls.^[3][4][5] Despite this, evaluations of Nixon have been difficult, as he was viewed to have accomplished good things as president, even though he resigned due to a scandal.

1. ↑ Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum http://nixon.archives.gov/thelife/nixonbio.pdf Archived September 21, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
2. ↑ Wright, John (2001). The New York Times Almanac 2002. Routledge. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-57958-348-4.
3. ↑ "Lincoln Wins: Honest Abe tops new presidential survey". CNN. February 16, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
4. ↑ "Presidential Historians Survey 2017". C-SPAN. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
5. ↑ "Presidents 2018 Rank by Category" (PDF). Retrieved December 2, 2020.