Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">president of the United States</a>, serving from 1969 until <a href="/facts/Resignation_of_Richard_Nixon/HQzepo9f">his resignation</a> in 1974. A member of the <a href="/facts/Republican_Party_(United_States)/XXM1EVPr">Republican Party</a>, he previously served as the 36th <a href="/facts/Vice_President_of_the_United_States/tYWUGv0A">vice president</a> under President <a href="/facts/Dwight_D._Eisenhower/a21WXe8r">Dwight D. Eisenhower</a> from 1953 to 1961, and also as a <a href="/facts/United_States_House_of_Representatives/cdBPb9pY">representative</a> and <a href="/facts/United_States_Senate/VyzXHE01">senator</a> from <a href="/facts/California/zLW2vdQJ">California</a>. <a href="/facts/Presidency_of_Richard_Nixon/HQzepo9f">His presidency</a> saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the <a href="/facts/Vietnam_War/W0gfbGTE">Vietnam War</a>, <a href="/facts/D%25C3%25A9tente/04U1rTlj">détente</a> with the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> and <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a>, the <a href="/facts/Apollo_11/BdUKVnQP">Apollo 11</a> Moon landing, and the establishment of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Environmental_Protection_Agency/ghI985SI">Environmental Protection Agency</a> and <a href="/facts/Occupational_Safety_and_Health_Administration/dCGbW5Ax">Occupational Safety and Health Administration</a>. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office as a result of the <a href="/facts/Watergate_scandal/7fEhrNXM">Watergate scandal</a>.
Nixon was born into a poor family of <a href="/facts/Quakers/CQFqeKAJ">Quakers</a> in <a href="/facts/Yorba_Linda/4CagHRhs">Yorba Linda</a>, Southern California. He graduated from <a href="/facts/Whittier_College/XnKzXbEQ">Whittier College</a> with a <a href="/facts/Bachelor_of_Arts/2pa1nwfR">Bachelor of Arts</a> in 1934 and from <a href="/facts/Duke_University/BFMHVjsB">Duke University</a> with a <a href="/facts/Juris_Doctor/IcnGQNTB">Juris Doctor</a> in 1937, practiced law in California, and then moved with his wife <a href="/facts/Pat_Nixon/wEPEt9Np">Pat</a> to <a href="/facts/Washington%2c_D.C./enXPK156">Washington, D.C.</a>, in 1942 to work for the <a href="/facts/Federal_government_of_the_United_States/VJCxUaf7">federal government</a>. After serving in the <a href="/facts/United_States_Navy_Reserve/xwbzlJ0t">Naval Reserve</a> during <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, he was elected to the <a href="/facts/United_States_House_of_Representatives/cdBPb9pY">House of Representatives</a> in <a href="/facts/1946_California%2527s_12th_congressional_district_election/razY5XEH">1946</a>. His work on the <a href="/facts/Alger_Hiss/7cRwXAbQ">Alger Hiss</a> case established his reputation as a leading <a href="/facts/Anti-communism/bJuolzxo">anti-communist</a>. In <a href="/facts/1950_United_States_Senate_election_in_California/5JTuEF1y">1950</a>, he was elected to the <a href="/facts/United_States_Senate/VyzXHE01">Senate</a>. Nixon was the running mate of Eisenhower, the Republican Party's presidential nominee in the <a href="/facts/1952_United_States_presidential_election/Fs487584">1952</a> and <a href="/facts/1956_United_States_presidential_election/LyeTtddX">1956 elections</a>. Nixon served for eight years as vice president and his two terms saw an increase in the notability of the office. He narrowly lost the <a href="/facts/1960_United_States_presidential_election/4kAkL4E5">1960 presidential election</a> to <a href="/facts/John_F._Kennedy/1cdDaswg">John F. Kennedy</a>. After his loss in the <a href="/facts/1962_California_gubernatorial_election/8x9rIrrk">1962</a> race for governor of California, he announced his retirement from politics. However, in <a href="/facts/1968_United_States_presidential_election/Njp6VxxV">1968</a>, he made another run for the presidency and narrowly defeated the Democratic incumbent vice president <a href="/facts/Hubert_Humphrey/03zHKcbR">Hubert Humphrey</a>.
Seeking to bring the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table, Nixon ordered <a href="/facts/Cambodian_campaign/d9Xqh9Tc">military operations</a> and <a href="/facts/Operation_Menu/Eb9rEv4G">carpet bombing campaigns</a> in Cambodia. He covertly aided Pakistan during the <a href="/facts/Bangladesh_Liberation_War/gTshjg0R">Bangladesh Liberation War</a> in 1971 and ended American combat involvement in Vietnam in 1973 and the <a href="/facts/Conscription_in_the_United_States/gTDVEpRS">military draft</a> the same year. His <a href="/facts/1972_visit_by_Richard_Nixon_to_China/kGmpLxoo">visit to China</a> in 1972 led to <a href="/facts/Joint_Communiqu%25C3%25A9_on_the_Establishment_of_Diplomatic_Relations/WPzCuc1d">diplomatic relations between the two nations</a>, and he finalized the <a href="/facts/Anti-Ballistic_Missile_Treaty/zVdq5BYF">Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty</a> with the Soviet Union. During the course of his first term, he enacted many progressive environmental policy shifts such as creating the <a href="/facts/United_States_Environmental_Protection_Agency/ghI985SI">Environmental Protection Agency</a> and passing laws including the <a href="/facts/Endangered_Species_Act_of_1973/voufDnBj">Endangered Species</a> and <a href="/facts/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)/zfdgfHjP">Clean Air Acts</a>. In addition to implementing the <a href="/facts/Twenty-sixth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution/GpYtAdo1">Twenty-sixth Amendment</a> that lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, he ended the <a href="/facts/Bretton_Woods_system/cQWyMgkC">direct international convertibility</a> of the U.S. dollar to gold in 1971, effectively taking the United States off the <a href="/facts/Gold_standard/jnG3YIGo">gold standard</a>. He also imposed <a href="/facts/Economic_Stabilization_Act_of_1970/SHtMLeee">wage and price controls</a> for 90 days, launched the Wars on <a href="/facts/War_on_cancer/j96f8Jmv">Cancer</a> and <a href="/facts/War_on_Drugs/bvaUH3re">Drugs</a>, passed the <a href="/facts/Controlled_Substances_Act/8laeNsgD">Controlled Substances Act</a>, and presided over the end of the <a href="/facts/Space_Race/9fPV4LUq">Space Race</a> by overseeing the Apollo 11 Moon landing. He was re-elected in <a href="/facts/1972_United_States_presidential_election/qx5QFCPD">1972</a>, when he defeated <a href="/facts/George_McGovern/VdmoWWNu">George McGovern</a> in <a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_by_popular_vote_margin/KAaT1cbF">one of the largest landslide victories in American history</a>. 
In his second term, Nixon ordered <a href="/facts/Operation_Nickel_Grass/A8W4SFfv">an airlift</a> to resupply Israeli materiel losses in the <a href="/facts/Yom_Kippur_War/tTNe7UlK">Yom Kippur War</a>, a conflict which led to the <a href="/facts/1973_oil_crisis/fpuVQF2T">oil crisis</a> at home. From 1973, ongoing revelations from the Nixon administration's involvement in Watergate eroded his support in Congress and the country. The scandal began with a break-in at the <a href="/facts/Democratic_National_Committee/zGbMqAUU">Democratic National Committee</a> office, ordered by administration officials, and escalated despite <a href="/facts/Cover-up/Mjs4gvGQ">cover-up</a> efforts by the Nixon administration, of which he was aware. On August 9, 1974, facing almost certain <a href="/facts/Impeachment_process_against_Richard_Nixon/w6qr0TK3">impeachment</a> and removal from office, Nixon resigned. Afterward, he was issued <a href="/facts/Pardon_of_Richard_Nixon/NnYcHAj6">a controversial pardon</a> by his successor, <a href="/facts/Gerald_Ford/AdMS7jGW">Gerald Ford</a>. During nearly 20 years of retirement, Nixon wrote nine books and undertook many foreign trips, rehabilitating his image into that of an elder statesman and leading expert on foreign affairs. On April 18, 1994, he suffered a debilitating <a href="/facts/Stroke/DwpjdzY0">stroke</a>, and <a href="/facts/Death_and_state_funeral_of_Richard_Nixon/3qfP35js">died four days later</a>. <a href="/facts/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States/SzRz5GwT">Evaluations</a> of Nixon's time in office have proven complex, with the successes of his presidency contrasted against the scandalous circumstances of his departure from office.

Richard Nixon open-in-new

Richard Nixon