Historical Figure
Richard Nixon
1913–1994
President of the United States from 1969 to 1974
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Biography
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he represented California in both houses of the United States Congress before serving as the 36th vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.
In Their Own Words (5)
I would rather be a one-term President and do what I believe is right than to be a two-term President at the cost of seeing America become a second-rate power and to see this Nation accept the first defeat in its proud 190-year history.
Address to the nation on the situation in Southeast Asia (April 30, 1970); in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Richard Nixon, 1970, p. 410 , 1970
The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy. The professors are the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it.
Conversation with Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig on December 14, 1972 , 1972
1 in 10 chance perhaps, but save Chile! worth spending; not concerned; no involvement of embassy; $10,000,000 available, more if necessary; full-time job — best men we have; game plan; make the economy scream; 48 hours for plan of action.
Notes taken down by CIA director Richard Helms on Nixon's orders for a plan against Salvador Allende of Chile. (September 15, 1970); Document reproduced as part of George Washington University's National Security Archive. , 1970
No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic.
No More Vietnams (1987) , 1987
I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.
As attributed in "The Case Against Donald Trump", by Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic, (10/2020) , 2020
Timeline
The story of Richard Nixon, told in moments.
Delivers the "Checkers speech" on national television to save his spot as Eisenhower's running mate. He's been accused of maintaining a secret political fund. He denies it, itemizes his family's modest finances on live TV, and says the only gift he won't return is a cocker spaniel his daughter named Checkers. 60 million people watch. It works.
Loses the presidential election to Kennedy by 112,000 votes. Loses the California governor's race two years later. Tells reporters: "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." Moves to New York. Practices law. Everyone writes him off.
Lands in Beijing. Shakes hands with Zhou Enlai. Meets Mao Zedong. After 25 years of frozen relations, the trip opens diplomatic ties between the United States and China. "The week that changed the world," he calls it. For once, the self-promotion isn't exaggeration.
Resigns the presidency. The only US president to do so. The tapes prove he ordered the Watergate cover-up. "I have never been a quitter," he tells the nation. "To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body." Gerald Ford pardons him 30 days later.
Dies of a stroke at 81 in New York. Five former presidents attend the funeral. Bill Clinton, who protested against him in the 1960s, delivers the eulogy. Nixon spent his last 20 years writing books and advising presidents, rebuilding a reputation that could never be fully rebuilt.
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