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United States Presidents

Richard M. Nixon,
1969 - 1974

	Thirty-seventh President Republican Vice President -  Spiro T. Agnew (1969-1973) Gerald R. Ford (1973-1974) Born: January 9, 1913 Yorba Linda, California Occupation: Lawyer,  Public Official Married Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Died: April 22, 1994 New York, New York

Early Years:  Nixon worked on his family's lemon farm and in their general store and gas station.  He attended local public schools and Whittier College, went to Duke University Law School on a scholarship and placed third in his graduating class.      

His Presidency:  Under Nixon's administration, there was a cease-fire agreement with Vietnam.  Nixon began the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union.  The Watergate controversy led to his resignation, but he was granted "a full, complete and absolute pardon."  He was later known as an expert in international affairs.  

His Life:   Reconciliation was the first goal set by President Richard M. Nixon. The Nation was painfully divided, with turbulence in the cities and war overseas. During his Presidency, Nixon succeeded in ending American fighting in Viet Nam and improving relations with the U.S.S.R. and China. But the Watergate scandal brought fresh divisions to the country and ultimately led to his resignation.

His election in 1968 had climaxed a career unusual on two counts: his early success and his comeback after being defeated for President in 1960 and for Governor of California in 1962.

Born in California in 1913, Nixon had a brilliant record at Whittier College and Duke University Law School before beginning the practice of law. In 1940, he married Patricia Ryan; they had two daughters, Patricia (Tricia) and Julie. During World War II, Nixon served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific.

On leaving the service, he was elected to Congress from his California district. In 1950, he won a Senate seat. Two years later, General Eisenhower selected Nixon, age 39, to be his running mate.

As Vice President, Nixon took on major duties in the Eisenhower Administration. Nominated for President by acclamation in 1960, he lost by a narrow margin to John F. Kennedy. In 1968, he again won his party's nomination, and went on to defeat Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and third-party candidate George C. Wallace.

His accomplishments while in office included revenue sharing, the end of the draft, new anticrime laws, and a broad environmental program. As he had promised, he appointed Justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court. One of the most dramatic events of his first term occurred in 1969, when American astronauts made the first moon landing.

Some of his most acclaimed achievements came in his quest for world stability. During visits in 1972 to Beijing and Moscow, he reduced tensions with China and the U.S.S.R. His summit meetings with Russian leader Leonid I. Brezhnev produced a treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons. In January 1973, he announced an accord with North Viet Nam to end American involvement in Indochina. In 1974, his Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, negotiated disengagement agreements between Israel and its opponents, Egypt and Syria.

In his 1972 bid for office, Nixon defeated Democratic candidate George McGovern by one of the widest margins on record.

Within a few months, his administration was embattled over the so-called "Watergate" scandal, stemming from a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee during the 1972 campaign. The break-in was traced to officials of the Committee to Re-elect the President. A number of administration officials resigned; some were later convicted of offenses connected with efforts to cover up the affair. Nixon denied any personal involvement, but the courts forced him to yield tape recordings which indicated that he had, in fact, tried to divert the investigation.

As a result of unrelated scandals in Maryland, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in 1973. Nixon nominated, and Congress approved, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford as Vice President.

Faced with what seemed almost certain impeachment, Nixon announced on August 8, 1974, that he would resign the next day to begin "that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America."

In his last years, Nixon gained praise as an elder statesman. By the time of his death on April 22, 1994, he had written numerous books on his experiences in public life and on foreign policy.

Did you know?  Nixon was a Quaker, and his mother wanted him to become a missionary. 

Quotations

"It is time for the great silent majority of Americans to stand up and be counted."

Richard Nixon - 

"My strong point, if I have a strong point, is performance. I always do more than I say. I always produce more than I promise."

Richard Nixon - 

"Now that all the members of the press are so delighted that I have lost . . . I believe Governor Brown has a heart, even though he believes that I do not . . . I did not win. I have no hard feelings against anybody, against any opponent and least of all, the people of California." 

Richard Nixon - 

"You cannot win a battle in any arena merely by defending yourself."

Richard Nixon - 

"My strong point, if I have a strong point, is performance. I always do more than I say. I always produce more than I promise."

Richard Nixon - 

"You won’t have Nixon to kick around any more, because gentlemen, this is my last press conference." 

Richard Nixon - 

"Communist leaders believe in Lenin’s precept: Probe with bayonets. If you encounter mush, proceed; if you encounter steel, withdraw."

Richard Nixon - 

"Once a man has been in politics, once that’s been in his life, he will always return if the people want him."

Richard Nixon - 

"I would have made a good pope."

"And all the decisions I have made in my public life I have always tried to do what was best for the nation. . . . In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in Congress to justify continuing that effort . . . . I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. . . . . I have never been a quitter. . . . To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body." 

Richard Nixon - (Resignation, August 8, 1974)

"Always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember; others may hate you. Those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself." 

Richard Nixon - (Farewell to White House staff)

"Once you’re in the stream of history you can’t get out."

Richard Nixon - 

"Television in its present form…[is] the opiate of the people of the United States."

Richard Nixon - 

"Your boys will be home for Christmas."

Richard Nixon - 

"A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life’s mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself. Only then does he discover all the latent strengths he never knew he had and which would otherwise have remained dormant."

Richard Nixon - 

"Any culture which can put a man on the moon is capable of gathering all the nations of the earth in peace, justice, and concord." 

Richard Nixon - 

"If I could find a way to get [Saddam Hussein] out of there, even putting a contract out on him, if the CIA still did that sort of thing, assuming it ever did, I would be for it."

Richard Nixon - 

"Voters quickly forget what a man says."

Richard Nixon - 

Speeches:

• First Inaugural address, 1969
• Second Inaugural address, 1973
• No State of the Union available
• The Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace

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