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Richard Nixon was the 37th US president, serving from 1969 to 1974. He was involved in the Watergate scandal and resigned before impeachment. Nixon’s presidency included ending the Vietnam War and opening diplomacy with China, but his political career was tarnished. He died in 1994.
Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States. He served from 1969 to 1974, following Lyndon Johnson and before Gerald Ford, and was also a vice president under Dwight Eisenhower. Nixon was at the center of the infamous Watergate scandal, which led to his resignation.
Born Richard Milhous Nixon on January 9, 1913 in California, one of five brothers. He graduated from Whittier High School and attended Whittier College and later Duke University School of Law, where he graduated third in his class. Nixon served as a reserve officer in the Navy during World War II. He married Thelma Pat Ryan in 1940 and they had two children.
Richard Nixon began his political career in 1946 as a member of the United States House of Representatives, serving in California’s 12th district. He served two terms in Congress and was elected to the Senate in 1950. His political reputation grew and he was given the permanent nickname “Tricky Dick.” In 1952, at age 39, he was elected vice president on Dwight Eisenhower’s slate.
In 1960, Nixon ran for president against John F. Kennedy, but was narrowly defeated. Nixon also lost the race for governor of California in 1962, but would make a stunning political comeback in the 1968 presidential election. His presidency has been praised for ending US involvement in the Vietnam War and opening diplomacy with China, and nationally created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Another milestone of Nixon’s presidency included the historic radio speech during the Apollo 11 moonwalk in 1969.
Nixon was re-elected president in 1972 in a landslide defeat by George McGovern. His second term would be cut short, however, due to the Watergate scandal, a series of events in which corruption and illegal activity within his administration were uncovered. Ahead of an impeachment hearing, Nixon resigned as president in August 1974 and his vice president, Gerald Ford, took office. Ford pardoned Nixon for any federal crimes he may have committed.
With Nixon’s political career tarnished, he shunned the public eye. He served as an adviser to both political parties on foreign affairs for several years following his resignation. She has written several books in her post-presidency years, including her memoir. Nixon died of complications from a stroke on April 22, 1994 at the age of 81. He is buried next to his wife at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California.
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