Richard m nixon short biography

Schoolchildren absorb at least one fact about Richard Milhous Nixon: He was the first and (so far) the only President of the United States to resign the office. Before the spectacular fall, there was an equally spectacular rise. In a half-dozen years, he went from obscurity to a heartbeat from the presidency, winning a congressional race (1946), national prominence in the Alger Hiss spy case (1948), a Senate seat (1950), and the vice presidency (1952). John F. Kennedy interrupted Nixon's ascent in 1960, winning the presidency by the narrowest margin of the twentieth century.

After losing a 1962 race for governor of California and holding his "last press conference," Nixon patiently laid the groundwork for a comeback. In 1964, he campaigned for Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater at a time when other prominent Republicans were keeping their distance from the leader of the budding conservative movement. The Republican Party lost in a landslide that year but Nixon won the gratitude of conservatives, the growing power within the party. The GOP's huge losses in 1964 were offset in 1966 when two years of the Vietnam War and urban riots led to huge Republican gains in congressional elections. In 1968, Nixon won a presidential election almost as narrow as the one he had lost in 1960. He was then reelected in 1972 with a larger percentage of the votes than any other Republican during the Cold War.

Until the Watergate scandal led to his near impeachment by the House of Representatives and resignation in 1974, he was the dominant politician of the Cold War. As a Washington pundit once said, hers was not the Pepsi generation but the Nixon generation.

Richard Nixon, 1960  ©Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States and is the only one to resign from office, following the Watergate scandal. His presidency was also marked by the first moon landings.

Richard Milhous Nixon was born in California on 9 January 1913. He studied law and joined a law firm in his home state. In 1940, he married Patricia Ryan and they had two daughters. During World War Two, Nixon served with the US Navy in the Pacific.

Nixon was elected to Congress in 1946 and in 1950 he won a seat in the Senate, representing California.

In 1952, at the age of 39, Nixon was selected by Dwight Eisenhower to be his running mate in Eisenhower's presidential campaign. They won a resounding victory. As vice president, Nixon frequently stood in for Eisenhower at home and on trips abroad. Nixon and Eisenhower easily won re-election in 1956.

Nixon was nominated as the Republican candidate to run for president in 1960, but lost by a narrow margin to John F Kennedy. He returned to his former career as a lawyer. In 1968, he again received the Republican Party's nomination and won the presidential election.

The most important issue facing Nixon when he became president was the war in Vietnam. He began to withdraw American troops, but in April 1970, authorised the invasion of Cambodia to pursue North Vietnamese troops. Simultaneously, Nixon pursued a policy of improving relations with China and the Soviet Union, and in 1972 he visited both Beijing and Moscow.

Later the same year, Nixon was re-elected president in a landslide victory. In January 1973, a ceasefire was signed between the US and North Vietnam.

During the 1972 election campaign there was a break-in at the offices of the Democratic Party's national headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington DC. Five men connected with Nixon's campaign team were arrested. Evidence of a cover-up was gradually uncovered and President Nixon was himself impli

1913-1994

Who Was Richard Nixon?

Richard Nixon was a Republican congressman who served as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon ran for president in 1960 but lost to charismatic Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy. Undeterred, Nixon returned to the race eight years later and won the White House by a solid margin. In 1974, he resigned rather than be impeached for covering up illegal activities of party members in the Watergate affair. He died in April 1994, at age 81.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Richard Milhous Nixon
BORN: January 9, 1913
DIED: April 22,1994
BIRTHPLACE: Yorba Linda, California
SPOUSE: Pat Nixon (1940-1993)
CHILDREN: Patricia and Julie
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn

Early Life and Military Service

Born on January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California, Richard Milhous Nixon was the second of five children born to Frank Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon. His father was a service station owner and grocer, who also owned a small lemon farm in Yorba Linda. His mother was a Quaker who exerted a strong influence on her son. Nixon's early life was hard, as he characterized by saying, “We were poor, but the glory of it was we didn’t know it.” The family experienced tragedy twice early in Nixon’s life: His younger brother died in 1925 after a short illness, and in 1933, his older brother, whom he greatly admired, died of tuberculosis.

Nixon attended Fullerton High School but later transferred to Whittier High School, where he ran for student body president (but lost to a more popular student). Nixon graduated high school second in his class and was offered a scholarship to Harvard, but his family couldn’t afford the travel and living expenses. Instead of Harvard, Nixon attended local Whittier College, a Quaker institution, where he earned a reputation as a formidable debater, a standout in college drama productions and a successful athlete. Upon graduation from Whittier in 1934, Nixon received a full scholarship to Duke University