Richard Nixon: Life, Presidency, and Legacy (1913–1994)

Introduction

Richard Nixon (1913–1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. He is the only president in American history to have resigned from the office. Elected in 1968, his second term was overshadowed by the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to his resignation in August 1974.

Early Years and Education

Richard Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California, on January 9, 1913, to Hannah Milhous Nixon and Francis A. Nixon. The Nixons were of Scots-Irish descent, while the Milhouses were of Irish and English heritage. Richard was the second of five sons. When he was nine years old, the family moved to Whittier, California, where his father Francis operated a country store and gas station. They were a devout Christian Quaker family, and Richard regularly attended Friends Churches with his mother. She raised him as a conservative Quaker and hoped he would one day enter missionary work. His father, while less strictly religious, focused primarily on the family store.

Richard attended local public schools in Whittier, where he proved to be an excellent student. At the age of seventeen he enrolled at Whittier College, a small local institution, where he actively participated in student politics and won prizes in intercollegiate debate. It was at Whittier that Nixon met his future wife, Thelma ("Pat") Ryan. They married on June 21, 1940, and had two daughters: Patricia, born in 1946, and Julie, born in 1948.

After graduating from Whittier College in 1934 — finishing second in his class — Nixon earned a scholarship to Duke University Law School in Durham, North Carolina. During his time there, he worked part-time through the National Youth Administration to support himself financially. In 1937 he passed his bar examinations, finishing third in a class of 25. He was elected president of the Duke Bar Association and admitted to the Order of the Coif, an honorary legal fraternity (Ambrose, 1987). Nixon then returned to Whittier and joined an established law firm, where he also gained experience as a police prosecutor in the nearby town of La Habra. He later served as a legal adviser to Pepsi-Cola as well.

Prior to joining the Navy, Nixon worked for six months in the Emergency Management Office. During World War II, he joined the U.S. armed forces as a junior lieutenant and served as a Naval Air Transport officer. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant commander (Ambrose, 1987).

Congressional Career and Vice Presidency

After returning to Whittier, Nixon entered electoral politics in earnest. In 1944, he ran as the Republican candidate for a seat in Congress, building his campaign primarily on an anti-communist platform. He won the election and became a member of Congress. Serving on the Committee on the European Recovery Program, he gained valuable experience in international affairs. Nixon played a particularly prominent role in the investigation of Alger Hiss, a former official of the U.S. State Department accused of espionage for the Soviet Union, which brought Nixon national recognition (Reedy). He was re-elected to Congress in 1948 with relative ease (Microsoft Encarta).

In 1950, the Republican Party nominated Nixon as its candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He won the seat and quickly earned a reputation as a rising star of the Republican Party, owing in large part to his oratorical skills and effective fundraising work. His success in fundraising led to his nomination as the Republican vice-presidential candidate in 1952, at the age of just 39. His opponents attacked him over the fundraising campaign, alleging that he had accepted money from business interests in exchange for promised favors. No concrete evidence of fund misuse or special favors was ever produced.

In response to the controversy, Nixon delivered an emotional televised address that became known as the "Checkers speech" — named after the family dog he mentioned by name. In the speech, he fully disclosed his personal finances. The address won over public opinion and secured his place on the ticket. Nixon and Dwight D. Eisenhower won the 1952 presidential election and were re-elected together in 1956.

As vice president, Nixon spent much of his time representing the president on domestic matters and foreign tours, visiting 56 countries. In July 1959, he traveled to the Soviet Union to open a U.S. exhibition in Moscow, where the famous "Kitchen Debate" took place — a spontaneous public exchange with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev over the merits of American capitalism versus Soviet communism. Nixon concluded the trip with a memorable address on Soviet television. During Eisenhower's periods of illness, Nixon frequently performed presidential duties, gaining important executive experience.

Nixon overwhelmingly secured the Republican presidential nomination in 1960 as Eisenhower's chosen successor, but lost one of the most closely contested elections in American history to John F. Kennedy. After fourteen years in Washington politics, Nixon returned to California and joined a law firm in Los Angeles. In 1962, he ran for governor of California and lost again. He then relocated to New York City and established a Wall Street law practice, while continuing to appear at Republican fundraising events.

The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 and Lyndon B. Johnson's assumption of the presidency opened new political possibilities for Nixon. He campaigned for Republican congressional candidates in 1966, rebuilding his public profile, and entered the race for the 1968 presidential election. He won, becoming the 37th President of the United States. Inheriting a nation at war in Vietnam and marked by domestic unrest, Nixon called for unity in his inaugural address (Ambrose, 1987).