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Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States (1969–1974) and the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961).
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing undergraduate work at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law in La Mirada. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the United States Navy and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during World War II.
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1959 At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, US vice-president Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev have a "kitchen debate."
1968 Dwight David Eisenhower II married Julie Nixon, the daughter of the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon.
1969 Richard Nixon succeeds Lyndon Johnson as the 37th President of the United States of America.
1969 Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This starts the "Vietnamization" of the war.
1969 U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington to the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. retains rights to military bases on the island, but they must be nuclear-free.
1970 President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, banning cigarette television advertisements in the United States, starting on January 1, 1971.
1970 Richard Nixon begins a tour of Europe and visits Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
1970 The U.S. Congress gives President Richard Nixon authority to sell arms to Israel.
1970 Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects U.S. President Richard Nixon's October seven peace proposal as "a maneuver to deceive world opinion."
1970 Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas.
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Quotations
Jewish families are close, but there's this strange malignancy that seems to creep among them - radicalism.
Nowdays, If a news report does not tie up loose ends as neatly as 'The A Team', it is considered a flop.
From In The Arena, 1990
The Jews are irreligious, atheistic, immoral bunch of bastards.
People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.
Televised Question and Answer session with the press (November 17, 1973)
Well, when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.
Explaining his interpretation of executive privilege; transcript of David Frost-Nixon interview, N.Y. Times, May 20, 1977, at A16
And I want you to know that I have no intention whatever of ever walking away from the job that the people elected me to do for the people of the United States.
1974 State of the Union Address
Encyclopedia
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States (1969–1974) and the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961).
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing undergraduate work at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law in La Mirada. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the United States Navy and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during World War II. He was elected in 1946 as a Republican to the House of Representatives representing California's 12th Congressional district, and in 1950 to the United States Senate. He was chosen by Republican Party nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower to be his running mate in 1952 and served as vice president from 1953 until 1961. Despite announcing his retirement from politics after losing the 1960 presidential election and 1962 California gubernatorial election, Nixon was elected to the presidency in 1968.
The most immediate task facing President Nixon was the Vietnam War. He initially escalated the conflict, overseeing secret bombing campaigns, but soon withdrew American troops and successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending American involvement in the war. His foreign policy was largely successful; he opened relations with the People's Republic of China and initiated détente with the Soviet Union. Domestically, he implemented new economic policies which called for wage and price control and the abolition of the gold standard. He was reelected by a landslide in 1972. In his second term, the nation was afflicted with economic difficulties. In the face of likely impeachment for his role in the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.
In his retirement, Nixon became a prolific author and undertook many foreign trips. Though far from universally popular, he gained respect as an elder statesman. He suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994, and died four days later at the age of 81.
Early life
Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, to Francis A. Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon in a house his father had built in Yorba Linda, California. His mother was a Quaker, and his upbringing is said to have been marked by conservative Quaker observances of the time, such as refraining from drinking, dancing, and swearing. His father converted from Methodism to Quakerism after his marriage. Nixon had four brothers: Harold (1909–1933), Donald (1914–1987), Arthur (1918–1925), and Ed (born 1930).
Nixon's early life was marked by hardships. Two of his brothers died before he was 21 and his family's ranch failed in 1922. The Nixons then moved to Whittier, California, the home of his mother's relatives, where his father opened a grocery store.
Nixon initially attended Fullerton High School in Fullerton, but later transferred to Whittier High School, where he graduated second in his class in 1930. Financial concerns forced him to decline a scholarship to Harvard University and to Yale University; he instead enrolled at Whittier College, a local Quaker school, where he co-founded a fraternity known as The Orthogonian Society. Nixon was a formidable debater, standout in collegiate drama productions, student body president, player on the football and basketball teams, and track runner. While at Whittier, he lived at home and worked at his family's store; he also taught Sunday school at East Whittier Friends Church, where he remained a member all his life. In 1934, he graduated second in his class from Whittier, and went on to Duke University School of Law, where he received a full scholarship. His future plans at this time focused solely on law; he was elected president of the Duke Bar Association and graduated third in his class in June 1937.
Law practice
Although Nixon's first choice was to get a job with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he returned to California and was admitted to the bar in 1937. He began practicing with Wingert and Bewley, where he worked on commercial litigation for local petroleum companies and other corporate matters as well as on wills.
By his own admission, Nixon would not work on divorce because he was "severely embarrassed by women's confessions of sexual misconduct." Nixon found the practice of law unexciting, but thought that it would gain him experience that would be beneficial in a future political career. In 1938, he opened up his own branch of Wingert and Bewley in La Habra, California, and the following year he became a full partner in the firm.
Marriage
In January 1938 Nixon was cast in the Whittier Community Players production of The Dark Tower. There he played opposite a high school teacher named Thelma "Pat" Ryan. Nixon pursued her, but initially Ryan was not interested in a relationship. He began dropping in on her at her house unannounced and would take her on Sunday drives to the Quaker Sunday School where he was again teacher. After several proposals, Ryan eventually agreed to marry the future president and they wed at a small ceremony on June 21, 1940.
After a honeymoon in Mexico, the Nixons moved to Long Beach, then settled into an apartment in East Whittier a few months later. In January 1942, they moved to Washington, D.C., where Richard Nixon took a job at the Office of Price Administration.
World War II
Nixon was eligible for an exemption from military service, both as a Quaker with Quaker parents and through his job working for the OPA, but he did not seek one and was commissioned into the United States Navy in August 1942. He was trained at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island and was assigned to Ottumwa Naval Air Station, Iowa, for seven months. He was subsequently reassigned as the naval passenger control officer for the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command, supporting the logistics of operations in the South West Pacific theater. After requesting more challenging duties he was given command of cargo handling units. Nixon returned to the United States with two service stars (although he saw no actual combat) and a citation of commendation, and became the administrative officer of the Alameda Naval Air Station. In January 1945 he was transferred to Philadelphia's Bureau of Aeronautics office to help negotiate the termination of war contracts. There he received another letter of commendation, this time from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. In October 1945, he was promoted to lieutenant commander. He resigned his commission on New Year's Day 1946.
Congressional career
House of Representatives
Soon after World War II ended some Whittier Republicans approached Nixon about running for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. Nixon accepted, and defeated five term Democratic incumbent Jerry Voorhis in the November 1946 election to represent southern California's 12th Congressional district. He helped finance the campaign with his World War II poker winnings.
In Congress, Nixon supported the Taft-Hartley Act of 1948, and served on the Education and Labor Committee. He was part of the Herter Committee, which went to Europe to prepare a preliminary report on the newly enacted Marshall Plan.
Nixon first gained national attention in 1948 when his investigation on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) broke the impasse of the Alger Hiss spy case. Nixon believed Whittaker Chambers' allegations that Hiss, a high State Department official, was a Soviet spy. He discovered that Chambers saved microfilm reproductions of incriminating documents by hiding the film in a pumpkin; these became known as the "Pumpkin Papers". They were alleged to be accessible only to Hiss and to have been typed on his personal typewriter. Hiss was convicted of perjury in 1950 for statements he made to the HUAC. The discovery that Hiss, who had been an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, could have been a Soviet spy thrust Nixon into the public eye and made him a hero to many of Roosevelt's enemies, and an enemy to many of Roosevelt's supporters. In reality, his support for internationalism put him closer to the center of the Republican party. This case turned the young Congressman into a national, and controversial, figure. Due to his popularity, Nixon was easily reelected in 1948.
Senate
In the 1950 mid-term elections, Nixon challenged and defeated Democratic Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas in a landslide to win a seat in the United States Senate. The campaign was very contentious. Nixon felt the former actress was a left-wing sympathizer and said she was "pink right down to her underwear." Douglas responded by bestowing upon Nixon the nickname "Tricky Dick."
As a senator, Nixon took a prominent position in opposing global communism. He traveled frequently, speaking out against what he labeled as "the threat." He also criticized what he saw as President Harry S. Truman's mishandling of the Korean War. He supported statehood for Alaska and Hawaii, voted in favor of civil rights, and favored disaster relief for India and Yugoslavia. He voted against price and other controls, illegal immigration, and public power.
Vice Presidency (1953-1961)
Due to his anti-communist stance, the 39-year-old Nixon was selected by Republican party nominee General Dwight D. Eisenhower to be the Vice Presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention in July 1952. In September, the New York Post produced an article claiming that campaign donors were buying influence with Nixon by providing him with a secret cash fund for his personal expenses. Nixon responded by saying that the fund was not secret and produced an independent audit showing that it was used only for political purposes. Republicans, including those within Eisenhower's campaign, pressured Eisenhower to remove Nixon from the ticket, but Eisenhower realized he was unlikely to win without Nixon.
Nixon appeared on television on September 23, 1952 to defend himself, in a famous speech. He provided an independent third-party review of the fund's accounting, along with a summary of his personal finances. The speech became better known for its rhetoric, such as when he stated his wife Pat did not wear mink, but rather "a respectable Republican cloth coat," and that although he had been given an American Cocker Spaniel named Checkers in addition to his other campaign contributions, he was not going to give the dog back because his daughters loved it. This speech became known as the "Checkers speech." It resulted in much support from the Republican party base and from the general public, and helped keep him on the ticket. In the 1952 presidential elections, Eisenhower and Nixon defeated their opponents, Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson and Alabama Senator John Sparkman, by seven million votes.
As Vice-President, Nixon expanded the office into an important and prominent post. Although he had little formal power, he had the attention of the media and the Republican Party. Using these, Nixon and his wife undertook many foreign trips of goodwill to garner support for American policies during the Cold War. On one such trip to Caracas, Venezuela, anti-American protesters disrupted and assaulted Nixon's motorcade, injuring Venezuela's foreign minister. Nixon was lauded and attracted international media attention for his calm and coolness during the events.
In July 1959, President Eisenhower sent Nixon to the Soviet Union for Moscow's opening of the American National Exhibition. On July 24, 1959, while touring the exhibits with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, they stopped at a model of an American kitchen and engaged in the impromptu "Kitchen Debate" about the merits of capitalism versus Communism.
Nixon was the first Vice President to step in temporarily, and unofficially, to run the government. Nixon would conduct National Security meetings in the president's absence. As President of the Senate, Nixon intervened to make procedural rulings on filibusters in order to assure the passage of Eisenhower's 1957 civil rights bill, which created the United States Commission on Civil Rights and protected voting rights.
As Vice President, he officially opened the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California.
1960 presidential election
In 1960, Nixon launched his campaign for President of the United States. He faced little competition in the Republican primaries, and chose former Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. as his running mate. His Democratic challenger was John F. Kennedy, and the race remained close for the duration. Nixon campaigned on his experience, but Kennedy called for new blood and claimed the Eisenhower-Nixon administration allowed the Soviet Union to overtake the U.S. in ballistic missiles (the "missile gap"). Kennedy told voters it was time to "get the country moving again." In the midst of the campaign, Nixon advocated stimulative tax cuts in what became a supply-side theory. He also presented a plan for economic growth and deficit reduction, which appealed to many.
A new medium was brought to the campaign: televised presidential debates. In the first of four such debates, Nixon was recovering from illness and, wearing little makeup, looked wan and uncomfortable, in contrast to the composed Kennedy. Nixon's performance in the debate was perceived to be mediocre in the visual medium of television, though many people listening on the radio thought he won.
That November, Nixon lost the 1960 election narrowly. The final count recorded that he lost by 120,000 votes, or 0.2%. There were charges of vote fraud in Texas and Illinois; Nixon supporters unsuccessfully challenged results in both states as well as nine others. The Kennedy campaign successfully challenged Nixon's victory in Hawaii; after all the court battles and recounts were done, Kennedy had a greater number of electoral votes than he held after Election Day. Nixon halted further investigations to avoid a Constitutional crisis. Nixon and Kennedy later met in Key Biscayne, Florida, where Kennedy offered Nixon a job in his administration, an offer which Nixon declined.
Wilderness years
Following his loss to Kennedy, Nixon and his family returned to California, where he practiced law and wrote a bestselling book, Six Crises. It recorded his political involvement as a congressman, senator and vice president and used six different crises Nixon had experienced throughout his political career to illustrate his political memoirs. The work won praise from many policy experts and critics. It also found a favorable critic in Mao Zedong, who referred to the book during Nixon's visit in 1972.
In 1962, local and national Republican leaders encouraged Nixon to challenge incumbent Governor of California Pat Brown in that year's election. Despite initial reluctance, Nixon entered the race. The campaign was clouded by public suspicion that Nixon viewed the governorship as a political "stepping-stone" to a higher office, some opposition from the far-right of the party, and his own lack of interest in being California's governor. He lost to Brown by nearly 300,000 votes. This loss was widely believed to be the end of his career; in an impromptu concession speech the morning after the election, Nixon famously blamed the media for favoring his opponent, saying, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." The California defeat was highlighted in the November 11, 1962, episode of ABC's Howard K. Smith: News and Comment entitled "The Political Obituary of Richard M. Nixon." Some claimed that Smith's broadcast helped Nixon to begin what would become a six-year comeback to the presidency.
The Nixon family traveled to Europe in 1963; during the trip, Nixon gave press conferences and arranged to meet with the leaders of the countries he visited. The family soon moved to New York City, where Nixon became a senior partner in the leading law firm Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander. Though largely out of the public eye, he was still supported by much of the Republican base who respected his knowledge of politics and international affairs. This reputation was enhanced when Nixon wrote an article in Foreign Affairs entitled "Asia After Vietnam", in which he proposed a new relationship with China. He campaigned for Republican candidates in the 1966 Congressional elections and took an extended trip to South America and parts of the Middle East in 1967.
At the end of 1967, Nixon was experiencing a crisis of indecision about whether to run for president the following year. He consulted with longtime friend Reverend Dr. Billy Graham, who urged him to run. He later held a dinner at his home with friends and all supported a presidential bid, except for his wife. He formally announced his candidacy for president of the United States on February 1, 1968.
1968 presidential election
Nixon portrayed himself as a figure of stability during a period of national unrest and upheaval. He appealed to what he called the "Silent Majority" of socially conservative Americans who disliked the hippie counterculture and the anti-war demonstrators, and soon won the nomination. Nixon's running mate, Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew, became an increasingly vocal critic of these groups, solidifying Nixon's position with the right.
Nixon waged a prominent television campaign, meeting with supporters in front of cameras. He stressed that the crime rate was too high, and attacked what he perceived as a surrender by the Democrats of the United States' nuclear superiority. His campaign was aided by turmoil within the Democratic party: President Lyndon B. Johnson, consumed with the Vietnam War, announced that he would not seek reelection; Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles; and the campaign eventual nominee Hubert Humphrey, experienced some rough periods following mass protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Nixon appeared to represent a calmer society. With regards to the Vietnam War, he promised peace with honor, and campaigned on the notion that "new leadership will end the war and win the peace in the Pacific." He did not give specific plans on how to end the war, causing the media to intimate that he must have a "secret plan." His slogan of "Nixon's the One" proved to be effective.
In a three-way race between Nixon, Humphrey, and independent candidate George Wallace, Nixon defeated Humphrey by nearly 500,000 votes to become the 37th President of the United States on November 5, 1968. Nixon had achieved a remarkable comeback from his "last press conference" six years before.
Presidency (1969–1974)
First term
Nixon was inaugurated on January 20, 1969. Pat Nixon held the family Bibles open to Isaiah 2:4, reading, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." In his inaugural address, which received almost uniformly positive reviews, Nixon said, "The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker." He set out to reconstruct the Western Alliance, develop a relationship with China, pursue arms control agreements with the Soviet Union, activate a peace process in the Middle East, restrain inflation, implement anti-crime measures, accelerate desegregation, and reform welfare. The most immediate task, however, was the Vietnam War.
Vietnam War
When Nixon took office, 300 American soldiers were dying per week in the Vietnam War. The Johnson administration had negotiated a deal in which the U.S. would suspend the bombing of North Vietnam in exchange for unconditional negotiations, but this faltered. Nixon face the choice of devising a new policy to chance securing South Vietnam as a non-communist state, or withdrawing American forces completely.
Nixon approved a secret bombing campaign of North Vietnamese positions in Cambodia in March 1969 (code-named Operation Menu) to destroy what was believed to be the headquarters of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam. The Air Force considered the bombings a success. He then proposed simultaneous substantial withdrawals of North Vietnamese and American forces from South Vietnam one year after reaching a mutual agreement.
In July 1969, the Nixons visited South Vietnam, where Nixon met with President Nguyen Van Thieu and with U.S. military commanders. Amidst protests at home, he implemented the Nixon Doctrine, a strategy of replacing American troops with the Vietnamese troops, also called "Vietnamization." He soon enacted phased U.S. troop withdrawals but bombed Laos, in part to interrupt the Ho Chi Minh trail that passed through Laos and Cambodia. Nixon's 1968 campaign promise to curb the war and his subsequent Laos bombing raised questions in the press about a "credibility gap," similar to that encountered earlier in the war by Lyndon B. Johnson. In a televised speech on April 30, 1970, Nixon announced the incursion of U.S. troops into Cambodia to disrupt so-called North Vietnamese sanctuaries. This led to protest and student strikes that temporarily closed 536 universities, colleges, and high schools.
Nixon formed the Gates Commission to look into ending the military service draft, implemented under President Johnson. The Gates Commission issued its report in February 1970, describing how adequate military strength could be maintained without having conscription. The draft was extended to June 1973, and then ended. Military pay was increased as an incentive to attract volunteers, and television advertising for the United States Army began.
In December 1972, though concerned about the level of civilian casualties, Nixon approved Linebacker II, the codename for aerial bombings of military and industrial targets in North Vietnam. After much fighting, a peace treaty was signed in 1973. Under Nixon, American involvement in the war steadily declined from a troop strength of 543,000 to zero in 1973.
Economy
Under Nixon, direct payments from the federal government to individual American citizens in government benefits (including Social Security and Medicare) rose from 6.3% of the Gross National Product (GNP) to 8.9%. Food aid and public assistance also rose, beginning at $6.6 billion and escalating to $9.1 billion. Defense spending decreased from 9.1% to 5.8% of the GNP. The revenue sharing program pioneered by Nixon delivered $80 billion to individual states and municipalities.
Nixon announced new economic policies on August 15, 1971 in a televised speech to the nation. The Democratic Congress passed the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970, giving Nixon power to set wages and prices; it did not believe he would use it and felt this would make him look indecisive. While opposed to permanent wage and price controls, Nixon imposed the controls on a temporary basis in a 90 day wage and price freeze. The controls (enforced for large corporations, voluntary for others) were the largest since World War II; they were relaxed after the initial 90 days, although unemployment did not decrease. A Pay Board set wage controls limiting increases to 5.5% per year, and the Price Commission set a 2.5% annual limit on price increases. The limits did help to control wages, but not inflation. Overall, however, the controls were viewed as successful in the short term and were popular with the public, who felt Nixon was rescuing them from price-gougers and from a foreign-caused exchange crisis. The next day, the Dow Jones measured a then-record one day increase.
Nixon was worried about the effects of increasing inflation and accelerating unemployment, so he indexed Social Security for inflation, and created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In 1969, he had presented the only balanced budget between 1961 and 1998. However, despite speeches declaring an opposition to the idea, he decided to offer Congress a budget with deficit spending to reduce unemployment and declared, "Now I am a Keynesian." He also explored creating a universal minimum income and universal health care, but was not able to realize either.
Another large part of Nixon's plan was the detachment of the dollar from the gold standard. By the time Nixon took office, U.S. gold reserves had declined from $25 billion to $10.5 billion. Gold was an underpriced commodity, as the dollar was overpriced as a currency. The United States was on the verge of running its first trade deficit in over 75 years.
The price of gold had been set at $35 an ounce since the days of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency; foreign countries acquired more dollar reserves, outnumbering the entire amount of gold the United States possessed. Nixon completely eradicated the gold standard, preventing other countries from being able to claim gold in exchange for their dollar reserves, but also weakening the exchange rate of the dollar against other currencies and increasing inflation by driving up the cost of imports. Nixon felt that the dollar should float freely like other currencies. Said Nixon in his speech:
"The American dollar must never again be a hostage in the hands of international speculators.... Government... does not hold the key to the success of a people. That key... is in your hands. Every action I have taken tonight is designed to nurture and stimulate that competitive spirit to help us snap out of self-doubt, the self-disparagement that saps our energy and erodes our confidence in ourselves... Whether the nation stays Number One depends on your competitive spirit, your sense of personal destiny, your pride in your country and yourself."
Other parts of the Nixon plan included the reimposition of a 10% investment tax credit, assistance to the automobile industry in the form of removal of excise taxes (provided the savings were passed directly to the consumer), an end to fixed exchange rates, devaluation of the dollar on the free market, and a 10% tax on all imports into the U.S. The U.S. economy was gradually transformed into tertiary industry; U.S. income rose, and unionization declined.
Nixon wanted to lift the spirits of the country as polls showed increasing concern about the economy. His program was viewed by nearly everyone to be exceptionally bold, and astounded the Democrats. Nixon soon experienced a bounce in the polls. His economic program was determined to be a clear success by December 1971. One of Nixon's economic advisers, Herbert Stein, wrote: "Probably more new regulation was imposed on the economy during the Nixon administration than in any other presidency since the New Deal."
Civil rights
The Nixon years witnessed the first large-scale integration of public schools in the South. Strategically, Nixon sought a middle way between the segregationist George C. Wallace and liberal Democrats, whose support of integration was alienating some Southern white Democrats. His plan has since become known as the Southern strategy. He was determined to implement exactly what the courts had ordered— desegregation — but did not favor busing children, in the words of author Conrad Black, "all over the country to satisfy the capricious meddling of judges." Nixon, the Quaker, felt that racism was the greatest moral failure of the United States and concentrated on the principle that the law must be color-blind: "I am convinced that while legal segregation is totally wrong, forced integration of housing or education is just as wrong."
Nixon tied desegregation to improving the quality of education and enforced the law after the Supreme Court, in Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education (1969), prohibited further delays. By fall of 1970, two million southern black children enrolled in newly created unitary fully integrated school districts; this meant that only 18% of Southern black children attended all-black schools, a decrease from 70% when Nixon came to office. Nixon's Cabinet Committee on Education, under the leadership of Labor Secretary George P. Shultz, quietly set up local biracial committees to assure smooth compliance without violence or political grandstanding. "In this sense, Nixon was the greatest school desegregator in American history," historian Dean Kotlowski concluded. Author Conrad Black concurred: "In his singular, unsung way, Richard Nixon defanged and healed one of the potentially greatest controversies of the time."
Nixon immediately endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment after it passed both houses of Congress in 1971 and went to the states for ratification as a Constitutional amendment.
U.S. space program
In 1969, Nixon's first year in office, the United States sent three men up to the moon, becoming the first nation in the world to do so. On July 20, Nixon addressed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, two of the astronauts, live via radio during their historic Apollo 11 moonwalk. Nixon also placed a telephone call to Armstrong on the moon, the longest distance phone call ever, and called it "the most historic phone call ever made from the White House." He observed their landing in the ocean from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. All U.S. Project Apollo moon landings, and the attempted moon landing of Apollo 13, took place during Nixon's first term.
On January 5, 1972, Nixon approved the development of NASA's Space Shuttle program, a decision that profoundly influenced American efforts to explore and develop space for several decades thereafter. Under the Nixon administration, however, NASA's budget declined. NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine was drawing up ambitious plans for the establishment of a permanent base on the Moon by the end of the 1970s and the launch of a manned expedition to Mars as early as 1981. Nixon, however, rejected this proposal.
Indo-Pakistani War
A conflict broke out in Pakistan in 1971 following independence demonstrations in East Pakistan; President Yahya Khan instructed the Pakistani Army to quell the riots, resulting in widespread human rights abuses. President Nixon liked Yahya personally, and credited him for helping to open a channel to China; accordingly, he felt obligated to support him in the struggle. But there were limits as to how far the United States could associate itself with Pakistan due to human rights abuse. American public opinion was concerned with the atrocities and the suppression of over 10 million people into India.
Nixon relayed messages to Yahya, urging him to restrain Pakistani forces. His objective was to prevent a war and safeguard Pakistan's interests, though he was also fearful of an Indian invasion of West Pakistan that would lead to Indian domination of the sub-continent and strengthen the position of the Soviet Union, which had recently signed a cooperation treaty with India. Nixon felt that the Soviet Union was inciting the country.
Nixon met with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and did not believe her assertion that she would not invade Pakistan. On December 3, Yahya attacked the Indian Air Force and Gandhi retaliated, pushing into East Pakistan. Nixon issued a statement blaming Pakistan for starting the conflict but blaming India for escalating it because he favored a cease-fire. The United States was secretly encouraging the shipment of military equipment from Iran, Turkey, and Jordan to Pakistan, reimbursing those countries despite Congressional objections. A cease fire was reached on December 16 and Bangladesh was created.
China
Relations between the Western powers and Eastern Bloc changed dramatically in the early 1970s. In 1960, the People's Republic of China publicly split from its main ally, the Soviet Union, in the Sino-Soviet Split. As tension along the border between the two communist nations reached its peak in 1969 and 1970, Nixon decided to use their conflict to shift the balance of power towards the West in the Cold War.
Nixon had begun entreating China a mere month into office by sending covert messages of rapprochement through third-party nations such as Romania and Pakistan. He reduced many trade restrictions between the two countries, and silenced anti-China voices within the White House. By January 1970, the two nations began secret discussions in Warsaw, Poland, though the Chinese canceled these.
In April 1971, the Chinese table tennis team invited the American table tennis team to attend a demonstration competition for a week in China. Unbeknownst to the Americans, the invitation came upon the order of Mao Zedong himself, who had taken note of Nixon's "subtle overtures" to improve U.S.-Chinese relations, including the conflict in Pakistan. This was significant in that the fifteen-member table tennis team were the first Americans to enter China in more than twenty years (the term "ping pong diplomacy" arose from this encounter).
Chinese Premier Chou En-lai, through the Pakistani ambassador, had relayed a message to Nixon reading, "The Chinese government reaffirms its willingness to receive publicly in Peking a special envoy of the president of the United States, or the U.S. secretary of state, or even the president himself." Nixon sent then-National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger on a secret mission to China in July 1971 to arrange a visit by the president and first lady. Soon, the world was stunned to learn that Nixon intended to visit Communist China the following year.
In February 1972, President and Mrs. Nixon traveled to China, where the president was to engage in direct talks with Mao and Chou. Kissinger briefed Nixon for over forty hours in preparation. Upon touching down, Nixon and Pat emerged from Air Force One and greeted Chou. According to Nixon biographer Stephen Ambrose:
"[Nixon] knew that when his old friend John Foster Dulles had refused to shake the hand of Chou En-lai in Geneva in 1954, Chou had felt insulted. He knew too that American television cameras would be at the Peking airport to film his arrival. A dozen times on the way to Peking, Nixon told Kissinger and Secretary of State William Rogers that they were to stay on the plane until he had descended the gangway and shaken Zhou Enlai's hand. As added insurance, a Secret Service agent blocked the aisle of Air Force One to make sure the president emerged alone." Over one hundred television journalists accompanied the president. On Nixon's orders, television was strongly favored over printed publications, as it would capture the trip's visuals much better while snubbing the print journalists Nixon despised.
Nixon and Kissinger were soon summoned to an hour long meeting with Mao and Zhou, at Mao's official private residence, where they discussed a range of issues. Mao later told his doctor that he had been impressed by Nixon, who was forthright, unlike the leftists and the Soviets. He also said he was suspicious of Kissinger, though the National Security Advisor referred to their meeting as his "encounter with history." A formal banquet welcoming the presidential party was conducted that evening in the Great Hall of the People. The following day, Nixon met with Chou to discuss serious matters; during this meeting he stated that he believed “there is one China, and Taiwan is a part of China.” When not in meetings, Nixon toured architectural wonders including the Forbidden City, Ming Tombs, and the Great Wall. Americans received their first glance into China via Pat Nixon, who toured the city of Peking and visited communes, schools, factories, and hospitals accompanied by the American media.
The visit ushered in a new era of Chinese-American relations. Fearing the possibility of a Sino-American alliance, the Soviet Union yielded to American pressure for détente.
Soviet Union
Nixon used the improving international environment to address the topic of nuclear peace. Following his successful visit to China, the Nixon administration drew up plans for the president to visit the Soviet Union. The President and First Lady arrived in Moscow on May 22, 1972.
Nixon met with Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev, and engaged in intense negotiations regarding international issues with his Soviet counterpart. out of this "summit meeting" came agreements for increased trade and two landmark arms control treaties: SALT I, the first comprehensive limitation pact signed by the two superpowers, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which banned the development of systems designed to intercept incoming missiles. Nixon and Brezhnev proclaimed a new era of "peaceful coexistence" and established groundbreaking new policy of détente (or cooperation) between the two superpowers. Détente would replace the hostility of the Cold War and the two countries would live mutually. A banquet was held that evening at the Kremlin.
Nixon extended the Nixon Doctrine from Vietnam to his policy toward the Soviet Union, believing that helping Iran become stronger would check the Soviets' power. To win American friendship, both China and the Soviet Union cut back on their diplomatic support for North Vietnam and advised Hanoi to come to terms. Nixon laid out his strategy:
I had long believed that an indispensable element of any successful peace initiative in Vietnam was to enlist, if possible, the help of the Soviets and the Chinese. Though rapprochement with China and détente with the Soviet Union were ends in themselves, I also considered them possible means to hasten the end of the war. At worst, Hanoi was bound to feel less confident if Washington was dealing with Moscow and Beijing. At best, if the two major Communist powers decided that they had bigger fish to fry, Hanoi would be pressured into negotiating a settlement we could accept.
Having made great progress over the last two years in U.S.-Soviet relations, Nixon planned a second trip to the Soviet Union in 1973. He arrived in Moscow on June 27 to a welcome ceremony, cheering crowds, and a state dinner at the Grand Kremlin Palace that evening. Nixon and Brezhnev met in Yalta, where they discussed a proposed mutual defense pact, détente, and MIRVs. While he considered proposing a comprehensive test-ban treaty, Nixon felt that it would take far too long to accomplish. There were not any significant breakthroughs in these negotiations.
1972 presidential campaign
Nixon entered his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot on January 5, 1972, effectively announcing his candidacy for reelection. Nixon had expected his Democratic opponent to be Senator Ted Kennedy, but Senator Edmund Muskie soon became the front runner of the Democrats, with Senator George McGovern in a close second place. Alabama Governor George Wallace entered the race as well; popular in Florida, he would create havoc among the Democrats and boost Nixon's campaign.
Prominent issues of the early campaign included school busing and heated relations between the three branches of the government. Nixon defeated Congressman Paul McCloskey and Congressman John Ashbrook with 70% of the vote in the March New Hampshire primary, and later won Florida with 87% of the vote (McCloskey had withdrawn). This largely assured him the Republican nomination. On the Democratic side in New Hampshire, Muskie defeated McGovern in the primary 48% to 37%. McGovern did not campaign in Florida and won only 5% of the vote, while Wallace took 42% in a field of ten opponents. Muskie received 14%, effectively ending his campaign.
Nixon addressed the nation on March 16 about the school busing issue, reiterating that it was wrong to force a child onto a school bus and that busing lowered the quality of education. He announced the Equal Education Opportunities bill that would seek a moratorium on local school busing. The bill passed and the poorest school districts were slowly improved. Vietnam was still ongoing, though Nixon had reduced troop levels dramatically.
Meanwhile, George Wallace was shot on May 15; though he recovered, he was confined to a wheelchair. He then won absolute majorities in several other primaries, placing him well ahead of other Democratic candidates. McGovern, however, chaired a commission that allocated delegates based off of an affirmative action plan, giving fixed weight to ethnic groups and gerrymandered the convention for himself. On June 10, McGovern won the California primary and secured the Democratic nomination.
That August, Nixon was renominated at the 1972 Republican National Convention. He dismissed the Democratic platform as cowardly and divisive. Nixon was ahead in most polls for the entire election cycle, and was reelected that November in one of the biggest landslide election victories in U.S. political history. He defeated McGovern with over 60% of the popular vote. He carried 49 of the 50 states, losing only in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Second term
On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned amid charges of bribery, tax evasion and money laundering from his tenure as Maryland's governor. Nixon chose Representative Gerald Ford, Republican Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to replace Agnew.
Continuation of economic changes
After he won reelection, Nixon found that inflation was increasing, and the legislation authorizing price controls expired April 30, 1973. The Senate Democratic Caucus recommended a 90-day freeze on all profits, interest rates, and prices. Nixon re-imposed price controls in June 1973, echoing his 1971 plan, as food prices rose; this time, he focused on agricultural exports and limited the freeze to 60 days.
The price controls became unpopular with the public and businesspeople, who saw powerful labor unions as preferable to the price board bureaucracy. Business owners, however, now saw the controls as permanent rather than temporary, and voluntary compliance decreased. The controls produced food shortages, as meat disappeared from grocery stores and farmers drowned chickens rather than sell them at a loss. The controls were slowly ended, and by April 30, 1974, the control authority from Congress had lapsed. However, the controls on oil and natural gas prices persisted for several years. Nixon also dramatically increased spending on federal employees' salaries while the economy was plagued by the 1973–1974 stock market crash.
Federal government initiatives
Nixon believed in using government wisely to benefit all, supporting the idea of practical liberalism. During the Nixon administration, the United States established many government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In addition, the Post Office Department was abolished as a cabinet department and reorganized as a government-owned corporation: the U.S. Postal Service.
Nixon impounded billions of dollars in federal spending and expanded the power of the Office of Management and Budget. He established the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1972 and promoted the Legacy of parks program. He implemented the Philadelphia Plan, the first significant federal affirmative action program. Nixon authorized the Clean Air Act of 1970, which has been called one of the most significant pieces of environmental legislation ever signed. In 1971, Nixon proposed the creation of four new government departments superseding the current structure: departments organized for the goal of efficient and effective public service as opposed to the thematic bases of Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Agriculture, et al. Departments including the State, Treasury, Defense, and Justice would remain under this proposal. In his 1974 State of the Union address, Nixon called for comprehensive health insurance. On February 6, 1974, he introduced the Comprehensive Health Insurance Act. Nixon's plan would have mandated employers to purchase health insurance for their employees, and in addition provided a federal health plan, similar to Medicaid, that any American could join by paying on a sliding scale based on income.
Yom Kippur War and 1973 oil crisis
The Nixon administration supported Israel, a powerful American ally in the Middle East, during the Yom Kippur War. When an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria—allies to the Soviets—attacked in October 1973, Israel suffered initial losses and pressed European powers for help, but (with the notable exception of the Netherlands) the Europeans responded with inaction. Nixon cut through inter-departmental squabbles and bureaucracy to initiate an airlift of American arms. By the time the U.S. and the Soviet Union negotiated a truce, Israel had penetrated deep into enemy territory. A long-term effect was the movement of Egypt away from the Soviets toward the U.S. But Israel's victory came at the cost to the U.S. of the 1973 oil crisis; the members of OPEC decided to raise oil prices in response to the American support of Israel.
After Nixon chose to go off the gold standard, foreign countries increased their currency reserves in anticipation of currency fluctuation, which caused deflation of the dollar and other world currencies. Since oil was paid for in dollars, OPEC was receiving less value for their product. They cut production and announced price hikes and an embargo targeted at the United States and the Netherlands, specifically blaming U.S. support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War for the actions.
On January 2, 1974, Nixon signed a bill that lowered the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 miles per hour (90 km/h) in order to conserve gasoline during the crisis. This law was repealed in 1995, though states had been allowed to raise the limit to 65 miles per hour in rural areas since 1987.
Watergate
The term Watergate has come to encompass an array of illegal and secret activities undertaken by the Nixon administration. The activities came to light in the aftermath of five men being caught breaking into Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972. The Washington Post picked up on the story, while reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward relied on an FBI informant known as "Deep Throat" to link the men to the Nixon White House. This became one of a series of scandalous acts involving the Committee to Re-Elect the President. Nixon downplayed the scandal as mere politics, and his White House denounced the story as biased and misleading. As the FBI eventually confirmed that Nixon aides had attempted to sabotage the Democrats, many began resigning and senior aides faced prosecution.
Nixon's alleged role in ordering a cover-up came to light after the testimony of John Dean. In July 1973, White House aide Alexander Butterfield testified that Nixon had a secret taping system that recorded his conversations and phone calls in the Oval Office. Unlike the tape recordings by earlier Presidents, Nixon's were subpoenaed. The White House refused to release them, citing executive privilege. A tentative deal was reached in which the White House would provide written summaries of the tapes, but this was rejected by Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, a former member of the Kennedy administration. Cox was fired, and replaced by Leon Jaworski, a former member of the Johnson administration. Jaworski revealed an audio tape of conversations held in the White House on June 20, 1972, which featured an unexplained 18˝ minute gap. The first deleted section, of about five minutes, has been attributed to human error on the part of Rose Mary Woods, the President's personal secretary, who admitted accidentally wiping the section while transcribing the tape. The gap, while not conclusive proof of wrong-doing on the part of the President, cast doubt on Nixon's claim that he was unaware of the cover-up.
Though Nixon lost much popular support, including from some in his own party, he rejected accusations of wrongdoing and vowed to stay in office. He insisted that he had made mistakes, but had no prior knowledge of the burglary, did not break any laws, and did not learn of the coverup until early 1973. On November 17, 1973, during a televised question and answer session with the press, Nixon said,
In April 1974, Nixon announced the release of 1200 pages transcripts of White House conversations between him and his aides. Despite this, the House Judiciary Committee, controlled by Democrats, opened impeachment hearings against the President on May 9, 1974. On July 24, the Supreme Court then ruled that the tapes must be released to Jaworski; one of the secret recordings, known as the Smoking Gun tape, was released on August 5, 1974, and revealed that Nixon knew of the cover-up from its inception and had administration officials try to stop the FBI's investigation. In light of his loss of political support and the near certainty of impeachment, Nixon resigned the office of the presidency on August 9, 1974, after addressing the nation on television the previous evening. The resignation speech was delivered on August 8, 1974, at 9:01 p.m. Eastern Time from the Oval Office of the White House and was carried live on radio and television. The core of the speech was Nixon's announcement that Gerald Ford, as Vice President, would succeed to the presidency, effective at noon Eastern Time the next day. Around this announcement, he discussed his feelings about his presidential work and general political issues that needed attention once he left.
He never admitted to criminal wrongdoing, although he conceded errors of judgment. During the Watergate scandal, Nixon's approval rating fell to 23%.
Judicial appointments
Supreme Court
Nixon appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States: Warren E. Burger as Chief Justice in 1969, Harry Andrew Blackmun in 1970, Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. in 1972, and William Rehnquist later that year.
Other courts
In addition to his four Supreme Court appointments, Nixon appointed 46 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals, and 181 judges to the United States district courts. Nixon formally nominated one person, Charles A. Bane, for a federal appellate judgeship. Bane was never confirmed.
Pardons
President Nixon issued 926 pardons or commutations. Among notable cases were labor leader Jimmy Hoffa (sentence commuted on condition) and mobster Angelo DeCarlo (convicted of extortion; served 1 1/2 years; pardoned due to poor health). DeCarlo's pardon was later investigated, but no evidence was found of corruption.
During his presidency, Nixon decided to grant a clemency in over 20% of requests.
Later life
Following his resignation, Nixon and his wife returned to their home La Casa Pacifica in San Clemente, California. Nixon was said to be in seclusion for a number of days in his home, first experiencing shock and later persistent sadness. On September 8, 1974, Ford granted him a "full, free, and absolute pardon". This ended any possibility of an indictment. Nixon then released a statement:
"I was wrong in not acting more decisively and forthrightly in dealing with Watergate.... No words can describe the depths of my regret and pain at the anguish of my mistakes over Watergate have caused the nation and presidency, a nation I so deeply love and an institution I so greatly respect."
Within one month, President Ford's approval rating dropped from 71% to 49%. Nixon later told a former aide that he felt he was chased out of office by the establishment in Washington and the establishment soft left in the media, as they considered him a mortal threat to their domination of national affairs.
As a result of Watergate, Nixon was disbarred by the State of New York. He had attempted to resign his license, but the State refused to let him do so unless he admitted wrongdoing in Watergate. He later resigned his other law licenses, including one in California.
The evening of the pardon, Nixon experienced great pain in his lower left abdomen and his left leg had swollen to three times its normal size. It was determined that phlebitis, a condition that had afflicted Nixon the previous June, had returned. Told that he would surely die if he did not go to a hospital, Nixon relented and was taken to Long Beach Memorial Hospital. It was discovered that a clot from his leg had broken off and traveled to his lung; to treat this, he was placed on an anti-coagulant intravenous machine.
While hospitalized, Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski subpoenaed Nixon to testify before a trial regarding Watergate. Nixon's doctor, John Lungren, said that Nixon could not sustain a flight to Washington due to his condition because he must avoid prolonged periods of sitting. Nixon was released from the hospital on October 4 and soon filed a motion requesting the judge to revoke the subpoena, which was rejected. Doctor Lungren filed an affidavit, arguing that the well being of the former president may be compromised by forcing him to appear at the trial.
On October 23, Nixon was taken back to the hospital as swelling had begun again. Doctors found serious vascular blockages and a danger of gangrene; it was feared that blood clots may break loose and travel to his heart or brain. An eighteen inch blood clot was found in a vein leading to Nixon's heart. Surgery was deemed necessary for his survival; he underwent a ninety-minute operation on October 29. While recuperating, Nixon fainted, fell out of bed, and fell into a coma. He underwent four blood transfusions in three hours and suffered severe internal bleeding and an extremely low blood pressure. Pat and his daughters stayed by his side, while he was visited by President Ford and telephoned by Mao Zedong. He returned home on November 14. Three leading doctors sent by the judge in the Watergate trial evaluated Nixon's condition, and concluded that he was not able to testify. The judge ruled that his testimony would not be necessary.
By the spring of 1975, Nixon's mental and physical health was improving. He maintained an office in a Coast Guard station 300 yards from his home, first taking a golf cart and later walking the route each day; he mainly worked on his memoirs. Nixon traveled extensively, both domestically and internationally. He took trips to Europe, the Middle East, Russia, Africa, and Asia. At the invitation of Mao Zedong, Nixon traveled to China in February 1976. His trip was initially criticized, including by some within his own party, who argued that citizen-Nixon was conducting U.S. foreign policy. The well-publicized trip was deemed a success, however; upon his return, Nixon prepared a lengthy memorandum on his experiences that was sent to the White House. He would visit China four more times.
By 1977, Nixon began forming a public-relations comeback effort. He met with British commentator David Frost that August, who paid him six hundred thousand dollars for a series of sit-down interviews. They began on the topic of foreign policy, recounting the leaders he had known, but the most remembered section of the interviews was that on Watergate. Nixon admitted that the he had let down the country and said, "I did abuse the power I had as president." He said that at the time of his resignation, he was crippled and that "I said things that were not true." He revealed, "I brought myself down. I gave them a sword and they stuck it in. And they twisted it with relish. And, I guess, if I'd been in their position, I'd have done the same thing." Nixon did not admit to criminal wrongdoing, denied criminal intent, and denied authorizing payment to the burglars as an incentive for them not to reveal information. He was criticized at the time by some who opined that he should not be giving information to Frost that he had declined to give to federal courts. Nonetheless, the interviews became well known and were viewed widely across the world, garnering between 45 and 50 million viewers and making them the most watched interviews in the history of television. The encounters were the subject of the 2006 play Frost/Nixon, which later became a 2008 film.
He soon published his memoirs, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon and a second book, The Real War. These were the first of ten books he was to author in his retirement, and their respective releases enabled Nixon to further his comeback effort by partaking in book tours.
The Nixons moved to New York City in February 1980 to be closer to their family. When the former Shah of Iran died in Egypt in June, Nixon defied President Jimmy Carter's State Department by attending the funeral. He supported Ronald Reagan for president in 1980, making numerous television appearances portraying himself as, in biographer Steven Ambrose's words, "the senior statesman above the fray." He wrote guest articles for numerous publications and participated in many television interviews. After eighteen months in the New York City townhouse, Richard and Pat moved to Saddle River, New Jersey in 1981. Throughout the 1980s, Nixon maintained a routine schedule of speaking engagements and writing, traveled, and met with many foreign leaders, especially those of Third World countries. He joined former Presidents Ford and Carter as representatives of the United States at the funeral of Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat. On a trip to the Middle East, Nixon made his views known regarding Saudi Arabia and Libya, which attracted significant U.S. media attention; The Washington Post ran stories on Nixon's "rehabilitation." He later embarked on journeys to Japan, China, and the Soviet Union. On his return from the Soviet Union, Nixon sent President Ronald Reagan a lengthy memorandum that contained foreign policy suggestions and his personal impressions of Mikhail Gorbachev. Following this trip, Nixon was ranked by Gallup as one of the ten most admired men in the world.
In 1986, Nixon gave an address to a convention of newspaper publishers, impressing his audience with his tour d'horizon of the world. Author Elizabeth Drew wrote that "even when he was wrong, Nixon still showed that he knew a great deal and had a capacious memory as well as the capacity to speak with apparent authority, enough to impress people who had little regard for him in earlier times." Newsweek, among other publications, ran a story on "Nixon's comeback" with the headline "He's back." He gained respect as an elder statesman in the area of foreign affairs, being consulted by both Republican and Democratic successors to the presidency; Reagan sought Nixon's advice in dealing with Gorbachev.
On July 19, 1990, the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California opened as a private institution, with Nixon and Pat in attendance. They were joined by a throng of people, including Gerald Ford, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, and their spouses Betty, Nancy, and Barbara, respectively. The property was owned and operated by a private foundation and was not part of the National Archives' presidential libraries system until July 11, 2007, when the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum was officially welcomed into the federal presidential library system. In January 1991, the former president founded the Nixon Center, a policy think tank and conference center.
Pat Nixon died on June 22, 1993 of health problems, including emphysema and lung cancer. Her funeral services were held on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace during the week leading up to her burial on June 26. Richard Nixon was deeply distraught, and broke down in convulsive sobs for the only time in his adult life. Inside the building, he delivered a tribute to her. Nixon was comforted by his family while former presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan and their wives attended the ceremony. Some commented that without Pat, Nixon would not "last a year."
Death and funeral
Nixon suffered a severe stroke at 5:45 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 18, 1994, while preparing to eat dinner in his Park Ridge, New Jersey home. It was determined that a blood clot resulting from his heart condition had formed in his upper heart, then broken off and traveled to his brain. He was taken to New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, initially alert, but unable to speak or to move his right arm or leg. Damage to the brain caused swelling (cerebral edema) and Nixon slipped into a deep coma. On Friday, April 22, 1994, he died at 9:08 p.m., with his daughters at his bedside; he was 81.
Nixon's funeral took place on April 27, 1994, the first for an American president since that of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973, which Nixon had presided over as President. Speakers at the service, held at the Nixon Library, included then-President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, California Governor Pete Wilson, and the Reverend Billy Graham. Also in attendance were former Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush and their respective first ladies. Nixon was buried beside Pat on the grounds of the Nixon Library. He was survived by his two daughters, Tricia and Julie, and four grandchildren. In keeping with his wishes, his funeral was not a state funeral, though his body did lie in repose in the Nixon Library lobby prior to the funeral services.
Public perception
Nixon's career was frequently dogged by his personality, and the public perception of it. Editorial cartoonists such as Herblock and comedians often exaggerated Nixon's appearance and mannerisms, to the point where the line between the human and the caricature version of him became increasingly blurred. He was often portrayed with unshaven jowls, slumped shoulders, and a furrowed, sweaty brow.
Nixon had a complex personality, both very secretive and awkward yet strikingly reflective about himself. He was inclined to distance himself from people and was formal in all aspects, always wearing a coat and tie even when home alone. He advised people not to care about what others thought of them. Some experts have described him as having a narcissistic and paranoid personality. Conrad Black described him as being "driven" though also "uneasy with himself in some ways." According to Black, Nixon "thought that he was doomed to be traduced, double-crossed, unjustly harassed, misunderstood, underappreciated, and subjected the to the trials of Job, but that by the application of his mighty will, tenacity, and diligence he would ultimately prevail." Biographer Elizabeth Drew summarized Nixon as a "smart, talented man, but most peculiar and haunted of presidents."
He frequently brandished the two-finger V sign (alternately viewed as the "Victory sign" or "peace sign") using both hands, an act that became one of his best-known trademarks. Due to his uptight image, many were surprised at his swearing and anti-Semitic comments seen on the transcripts his White House tapes.
Legacy
No American has served as long as Richard Nixon did in a national office. He is the only person in American history to appear on the Republican Party's presidential ticket five times, to secure the Republican nomination for president three times, and to have been elected twice to both the vice presidency and the presidency. With Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon was the chief builder of the modern Republican party. Throughout his career, he was instrumental in moving the party away from the control of isolationists and as a Congressman was a persuasive advocate of containing Soviet Communism.
Though he did not achieve all that he had wished for in the Middle East, Nixon virtually expelled the Soviet Union from the region and began an excruciatingly long peace process. He began formal relations with China and improved relations with the Soviet Union. Domestically, he decentralized government by revenue sharing, ended school segregation, reduced inflation (until it rose again as a result of the oil cartels), ended the gold standard, reduced the crime rate, and pioneered positive environmental measures. As a result of the Watergate scandal, however, the mood of the nation was severely affected and the office of the presidency was demeaned.
James MacGregor Burns observed of Nixon, "How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic President, so brilliant and so morally lacking?" George McGovern, Nixon's former opponent, commented in 1983, "President Nixon probably had a more practical approach to the two superpowers, China and the Soviet Union, than any other president since World War II. ... I think, with the exception of his inexcusable continuation of the war in Vietnam, Nixon really will get high marks in history."
Bibliography
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