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The 15 Best Books on President Richard Nixon

Essential books on richard nixon.

There are countless books on Richard Nixon, and it comes with good reason, aside from being elected America’s thirty-seventh President, he successfully ended American fighting in Vietnam, improved international relations with the U.S.S.R. and China, and became the only President to ever resign the office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.

“Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines,” he remarked.

In order to get to the bottom of what inspired one of America’s most consequential figures to the height of political power, we’ve compiled a list of the 15 best books on Richard Nixon.

Being Nixon by Evan Thomas

In this revelatory biography, Evan Thomas delivers a radical, unique portrait of America’s thirty-seventh president, a contradictory figure who was both determinedly optimistic and tragically flawed. One of the principal architects of the modern Republican Party and its “silent majority” of disaffected whites and conservative ex-Dixiecrats, Nixon was also deemed a liberal in some quarters for his efforts to desegregate Southern schools, create the Environmental Protection Agency, and end the draft.

The son of devout Quakers, Richard Nixon (not unlike his rival John F. Kennedy) grew up in the shadow of an older, favored brother and thrived on conflict and opposition. Through high school and college, in the navy and in politics, Nixon was constantly leading crusades and fighting off enemies real and imagined. He possessed the plainspoken eloquence to reduce American television audiences to tears with his career-saving “Checkers” speech; meanwhile, Nixon’s darker half hatched schemes designed to take down his political foes, earning him the notorious nickname “Tricky Dick.”

Campaign of the Century by Irwin F. Gellman

The 1960 presidential election between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon is one of the most frequently described political events of the twentieth century, yet the accounts to date have been remarkably unbalanced. Far more attention is given to Kennedy’s side than to Nixon’s.

The imbalance began with the first book on that election, Theodore White’s  The Making of the President 1960 – in which (as he later admitted) White deliberately cast Kennedy as the hero and Nixon as the villain – and it has been perpetuated in almost every book since then. Few historians have attempted an unbiased account of the election, and none have done the archival research that Irwin F. Gellman has done.

Based on previously unused sources such as the FBI’s surveillance of JFK and the papers of Leon Jaworski, vice-presidential candidate Henry Cabot Lodge, and many others, this book presents the first even-handed history of both the primary campaigns and the general election. The result is a fresh, engaging chronicle that shatters long‑held myths and reveals the strengths and weaknesses of both candidates.

Richard Nixon: The Life by Conrad Black

At the end of WWII, navy lieutenant “Nick” Nixon returned from the Pacific and set his cap at Congress, an idealistic dreamer seeking to build a better world. Yet amid the turns of that now legendary 1946 campaign, Nixon’s finer attributes gave way to unapologetic ruthlessness. The story of that transformation is the stunning overture to John A. Farrell’s magisterial biography of the president who came to embody postwar American resentment and division.

Within four years of his first victory, Nixon was a U.S. senator; in six, the vice president of the United States of America. “Few came so far, so fast, and so alone,” Farrell writes. Nixon’s sins as a candidate were legion; and in one unlawful secret plot, as Farrell reveals here, Nixon acted to prolong the Vietnam War for his own political purposes. Finally elected president in 1969, Nixon packed his staff with bright young men who devised forward-thinking reforms addressing health care, welfare, civil rights, and protection of the environment. It was a fine legacy, but Nixon cared little for it. He aspired to make his mark on the world stage instead, and his 1972 opening to China was the first great crack in the Cold War.

All The President’s Men by Bob Woodward

The most devastating political detective story of the century: two  Washington Post reporters, whose brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation smashed the Watergate scandal wide open, tell the behind-the-scenes drama the way it really happened.

One of  Time  magazine’s All-Time 100 Best Nonfiction Books, this is the book that changed America. Published just months before President Nixon’s resignation,  All the President’s Men revealed the full scope of the scandal and introduced for the first time the mysterious “Deep Throat.” Beginning with the story of a simple burglary at Democratic headquarters and then continuing through headline after headline, Bernstein and Woodward deliver a riveting firsthand account of their reporting.

The Contender by Irwin F. Gellman

Unsurpassed in the fifteen years since its original publication, Irwin F. Gellman’s exhaustively researched work is the definitive account of Richard Nixon’s rise from political unknown to the verge of achieving the vice presidency. To document Nixon’s congressional career, Gellman combed the files of Nixon’s 1946, 1948, and 1950 campaigns, papers from the executive sessions of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and every document dated through 1952 at the Richard Nixon Library.

This singular volume corrects many earlier written accounts. For example, there was no secret funding of Nixon’s senate campaign in 1950, and Nixon won universal praise for his evenhandedness as a member of HUAC. The first book of a projected five-volume examination of this complex man’s entire career, this work stands as the definitive political portrait of Nixon as a fast-rising young political star.

The Blood Telegram by Gary J. Bass

This magnificent history provides the first full account of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger’s secret support for Pakistan in 1971 as it committed shocking atrocities in Bangladesh – which led to war between India and Pakistan, shaped the fate of Asia, and left major strategic consequences for the world today.

Drawing on previously unheard White House tapes, recently declassified documents, and his own extensive investigative reporting, Gary Bass uncovers an astonishing unknown story of superpower brinkmanship, war, scandal, and conscience. Revelatory, authoritative, and compulsively readable,  The Blood Telegram is a thrilling chronicle of a pivotal chapter in American foreign policy.

Three Days at Camp David by Jeffrey E. Garten

Over the course of three days – from August 13 to 15, 1971 – at a secret meeting at Camp David, President Richard Nixon and his brain trust changed the course of history. Before that weekend, all national currencies were valued to the U.S. dollar, which was convertible to gold at a fixed rate. That system, established by the Bretton Woods Agreement at the end of World War II, was the foundation of the international monetary system that helped fuel the greatest expansion of middle-class prosperity the world has ever seen.

In making his decision, Nixon shocked world leaders, bankers, investors, traders, and everyone involved in global finance. Jeffrey E. Garten argues that many of the roots of America’s dramatic retrenchment in world affairs began with that momentous event that was an admission that America could no longer afford to uphold the global monetary system. It opened the way for massive market instability and speculation that has plagued the world economy ever since, but at the same time it made possible the gigantic expansion of trade and investment across borders which created our modern era of once unimaginable progress.

King Richard by Michael Dobbs

In January 1973, Richard Nixon had just been inaugurated after winning re-election in a historic landslide. He enjoyed an almost 70 percent approval rating. But by April 1973, his presidency had fallen apart as the Watergate scandal metastasized into what White House counsel John Dean called “a full-blown cancer.” King Richard  is the intimate, utterly absorbing narrative of the tension-packed hundred days when the Watergate conspiracy unraveled as the burglars and their handlers turned on one another, exposing the crimes of a vengeful president.

Drawing on thousands of hours of newly-released taped recordings, Michael Dobbs takes us into the heart of the conspiracy, recreating these traumatic events in cinematic detail. He captures the growing paranoia of the principal players and their desperate attempts to deflect blame as the noose tightens around them. We eavesdrop on Nixon plotting with his aides, raging at his enemies, while also finding time for affectionate moments with his family. The result is an unprecedentedly vivid, close-up portrait of a president facing his greatest crisis.

Nixon: Ruin and Recovery by Stephen E. Ambrose

Watergate is a story of high drama and low skulduggery, of lies and bribes, of greed and lust for power. With access to the central characters, the public papers, and the trials transcripts, Ambrose explains how Nixon destroyed himself through a combination of arrogance and indecision, allowing a “third-rate burglary” to escalate into a scandal that overwhelmed his presidency. Within a decade and a half however, Nixon had become one of America’s elder statesmen, respected internationally and at home even by those who had earlier clamored loudest for his head.

Kennedy & Nixon by Christopher J. Matthews

John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon each dreamed of becoming the great young leader of their age. First as friends, then as bitter enemies, they were linked by a historic rivalry that changed both them and their country. Fresh, entertaining, and revealing,  Kennedy & Nixon reveals that the early fondness between the two men – Kennedy, for example, told a trusted friend that if he didn’t receive the Democratic nomination in 1960, he would vote for Nixon – degenerated into distrust and bitterness. Using White House tapes, this book exposes Richard Nixon’s dread of a Kennedy “restoration” in 1972 drove the dark deeds of Watergate.

Nixon and Kissinger by Robert Dallek

Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger were two of the most compelling, contradictory, and important leaders in America in the second half of the 20th century. Both were largely self-made men, brimming with ambition, driven by their own inner demons, and often ruthless in pursuit of their goals.

Tapping into a wealth of recently declassified documents and tapes, Robert Dallek uncovers fascinating details about Nixon and Kissinger’s tumultuous personal relationship – their collaboration and rivalry – and the extent to which they struggled to outdo each other in the reach of foreign policy achievements.

He also brilliantly analyzes their dealings with power brokers at home and abroad, including the nightmare of Vietnam, the brilliant opening to China, detente with the Soviet Union, the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East, the disastrous overthrow of Allende in Chile, and growing tensions between India and Pakistan, while recognizing how both men were continually plotting to distract the American public’s attention from the growing scandal of Watergate.

One Man Against the World by Tim Weiner

Based largely on documents declassified only in the last few years, this insightful gem among books on Richard Nixon paints a devastating portrait of a tortured yet brilliant man who led the country largely according to a deep-seated insecurity and distrust of not only his cabinet and congress, but the American population at large. In riveting, tick-tock prose, Weiner illuminates how the Vietnam War and the Watergate controversy that brought about Nixon’s demise were inextricably linked.

From the hail of garbage and curses that awaited Nixon upon his arrival at the White House, when he became the president of a nation as deeply divided as it had been since the end of the Civil War, to the unprecedented action Nixon took against American citizens, who he considered as traitorous as the army of North Vietnam, to the infamous break-in and the tapes that bear remarkable record of the most intimate and damning conversations between the president and his confidantes, Weiner narrates the history of Nixon’s anguished presidency in fascinating and fresh detail.

Six Crises by Richard Nixon

Written at a low point in his career and one of the best books by Richard Nixon, Six Crises examines six major political situations that required crisis management on the author’s part.

Pat and Dick by Will Swift

In this necessary addition to the ever-growing index of books on Richard Nixon, biographer Will Swift brings his years of experience as a historian and marital therapist to this unique examination of a long-misunderstood marriage. Nixon the man was enormously complicated: brilliant, insecure, sometimes coldly calculating, and capable of surprising affection with his wife.

Much less is known about Pat. With the help of personal writings and interviews with family and friends, Swift unveils a woman who was warm and vivacious, yet much shrewder and more accomplished than she has been given credit for. From Dick’s unrelenting crusade to marry the glamorous teacher through the myriad crises of his political career, the Nixons’ story is filled with hopes and disappointments, both intimate and global.

The Fall of Richard Nixon by Tom Brokaw

In August 1974, after his involvement in the Watergate scandal could no longer be denied, Richard Nixon became the first and only president to resign from office in anticipation of certain impeachment. The year preceding that moment was filled with shocking revelations and bizarre events, full of power politics, legal jujitsu, and high-stakes showdowns, and with head-shaking surprises every day. As the country’s top reporters worked to discover the truth, the public was overwhelmed by the confusing and almost unbelievable stories about activities in the Oval Office.

Tom Brokaw, who was then the young NBC News White House correspondent, gives us a nuanced and thoughtful chronicle, recalling the players, the strategies, and the scandal that brought down a president.

If you enjoyed this guide to essential books on Richard Nixon, check out our list of The 15 Best Books on President John F. Kennedy !

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Politics & Society » American Politics

The best books on richard nixon, recommended by david greenberg.

American president Richard Nixon will be forever remembered for his role in the Watergate scandal and his resignation in 1974, a blow for a man obsessed with his image who hoped to be remembered as a peacemaker on the global stage. Here historian David Greenberg , a professor at Rutgers, recommends books on a man who elicited very strong emotions, both for and against.

Interview by Eve Gerber

President Nixon: Alone in the White House by Richard Reeves

All The President’s Men by Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein

Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon by Fred Emery

Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power by Robert Dallek

Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image by David Greenberg

1 President Nixon: Alone in the White House by Richard Reeves

2 all the president’s men by bob woodward & carl bernstein, 3 watergate: the corruption of american politics and the fall of richard nixon by fred emery, 4 nixon and kissinger: partners in power by robert dallek, 5 nixon's shadow: the history of an image by david greenberg.

O ur topic is books about Richard Nixon, America’s 37th president. In Nixon’s Shadow , you write that in his own time, “No one was more admired (he was the most respected man in America four years in a row, Gallup reported), no one more loathed (for six years he ranked among the world’s most hated men in one poll, twice edging out Hitler as number one).”

Even very early on, when Richard Nixon was a congressman then a senator and then Dwight Eisenhower’s vice president, there was something about him that brought out the hatred in liberals and suspicion among his fellow conservatives. Perhaps it went to his personal characteristics. As most politicians are, he was incredibly driven. But unlike most, Nixon did not respect the norms of politics and he ultimately did not respect the rules of American democracy.

You see this in the literature about Nixon. By the 1950s, there is writing about the ways he didn’t respect the rules of fair play. Nixon became known for going after people for communist associations, even when it was totally unwarranted. He was known to make all kinds of underhanded insinuations. He was known for dirty tricks and below-the-belt campaign tactics.

Nixon had enough self-awareness to know that his reputation was turning into a political liability, so he tried to reinvent himself. When he ran for president in 1960, and again in 1968, we heard a lot about the new Nixon. It worked well enough to get him elected. And he managed to win reelection in a landslide in 1972. Yet those impressions of ‘Tricky Dick,’ as he was known, never went away.

Richard Nixon is most readily recalled for his least attractive features, his jowls, his racism, his paranoia, his impeachment . To begin our discussion of America’s 37th president, can you please sketch the salient features which led to his success?

Turning to your books, in President Nixon: Alone in the White House presidential biographer Richard Reeves sets out to reconstruct the Nixon presidency as it looked from the center.

I wanted the list to include one book that covered the whole of the Nixon presidency. Watergate dominated Nixon’s presidency but was not the only thing. The problem is that some of the surveys don’t really capture Nixon. They tend to be dry monographs or whitewash his underside. But the Reeves book is a close narrative.

“His supporters saw in him a wholesomeness that helped propel his success”

Reeves tries to show you, day-by-day or month-by-month, life inside Nixon’s White House. But it also has a strong theme. You see that Nixon’s character came into play—his secrecy, his duplicity, his suspiciousness—with respect to his policymaking. In this view, Watergate doesn’t seem like an aberration, it seems like an outgrowth of tendencies that infected all of Nixon’s presidency. It’s a very good introduction to the significant political and policy developments of his presidency, but it’s also a very good introduction to his character.

“Governing by surprise” and “scheming to bypass checks and balances” are the leitmotifs of the Nixon presidency, according to Reeves. What does he mean by governing by surprise? Can you give me an example?

To make a big splash, Nixon announced the opening to China in 1971 without having done much to prepare the public. Kissinger secretly negotiated—in China—to make the announcement more dramatic and redound to their credit more. To be fair, there are elements of diplomacy that do need to be conducted with secrecy or at least discretion. But Nixon reveled in secrecy.

Next you name All the President’s Men , surely one of the most consequential books ever written, by the Washington Post reporters who helped break news of the Watergate scandal. The book came out just a couple months before Nixon resigned. Time claimed it “brought down a presidency” and called it “perhaps the most influential piece of journalism in history.” Tell us about it and why we ought to read it.

All the President’s Men is a dramatic story of how dogged reporting exposed the Watergate scandal and kept public focus on it at a time when a lot of the press corps was ready to move on. I almost didn’t put All the President’s Men in because Nixon himself is not really a character. The book was later made into a very successful movie. It became iconic as a representation of our understanding of what investigative journalism can and should be.

Fred Emery’s Watergate is your next recommendation. Tell us about it and what it adds to the picture of Nixon.

On to Nixon and Kissinger by Robert Dallek . Tell us about the book and why the partnership between Nixon and his national security counselor Henry Kissinger was so pivotal.

Kissinger was a long-time foreign policy guy who had worked for Nelson Rockefeller, among others. Nixon and Kissinger had this very crazy relationship. On the one hand, they worked closely together, but there was also a lot of acrimony and distrust.

Apart from Watergate, what people tend to remember about Nixon’s presidency, and often respect—despite debate and controversy—is his foreign policy. Nixon really did care about foreign policy, more than anything else. He always wanted to be known as a peacemaker as his legacy.

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There were three big areas of his foreign policy record. One was his attempt to end the Vietnam War . He did end it, but only after several more years of American involvement, which was not what was expected when he had been elected in 1968. The second most important aspect of his foreign policy regarded the Soviet Union. Whatever you think of the long-term ramifications of détente, he did start the process. Thirdly, the opening to China. Communist China had been isolated from the family of nations and had no engagement with the United States when Nixon moved to reintegrate it.

In Nixon’s Shadow , your brilliant book, which I insisted we discuss as one of the five, you make clear that Nixon’s public image was that of a political chimera. You write, “his historical importance lies partly in having helped to foster our current image-obsessed political culture.” Please tell us about Nixon’s Shadow .

There was a lot that was shadowy about Nixon. For one, he was known for his five o’clock shadow. Some argue that his dark stubble was one reason he lost the 1960 televised debates to John F. Kennedy when he was first running for president.

Nixon’s Shadow is about the man and what he meant to different groups of Americans—from his Southern California boosters to the liberal intellectuals who hated him. And it’s about how different groups have reinterpreted and reconceptualized Nixon. You could say it’s as much historiography as biography.

Nixon was, even more than most politicians, obsessed with his image. There’s a great story about how he wanted to bring in a television advisor to tell him whether he should hold the phone with his left or right hand when photographed. Nixon emerged in an era when politicians were learning to master television and the politics of image, and when the public was coming to see politicians in terms of image. There was interesting interplay between his own obsession with image and the media’s focus on optics.

Now, a great deal of our political discourse is about image, message and talking points. It feels hollow because we’re not really engaging with underlying concerns. But image is not just a distraction, it is an expression of something fundamental. Image reflects the way values surface and express themselves to the public. So, Nixon’s Shadow is both a study of Nixon, but also a study of how image has come to dominate our thinking about politics.

In Nixon’s Shadow you portray your subject as unrivaled in his corruption of the presidency, citing “his unique violations of the Constitution, his unmatched abuses of power, his deliberate direction of a criminal conspiracy from the White House.” Would you write that sentence in 2022? Do you believe Nixon’s abuses of power remain unmatched in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidency?

For many decades after Nixon, people would compare contemporary scandals to those of the Nixon years. Does the Iran-Contra scandal rival Watergate? What about Bill Clinton’s relationship with a White House intern? John Dean, who was Nixon’s White House counsel, wrote a book about the George W. Bush years called Worse Than Watergate , but he later said the title was hyperbolic. Watergate was the benchmark. No scandal came close to it until Trump.

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Although we should await the verdict of history on the Trump years, it’s safe to say that the scandals and corruption of contemporary democracy during the Trump administration match or outstrip what we call Watergate. There are certainly some similarities between the Nixon and Trump administrations, which both tried to chip away at the constitutional constraints of the presidency. After Watergate, there was some legislation that tried to reign in what was being called the “imperial presidency” in the 1970s. Fears remained of what a single individual with extreme will to power might do in the Oval Office.

The echoes of Nixon’s presidency during Donald Trump’s were not a shock. I wrote a few pieces, over the Trump years, drawing on parallels between America’s 37th and 45th presidents. When Trump talked about firing his attorney general and firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was investigating him, people thought about the so-called ‘Saturday Night Massacre,’ when Nixon fired the special prosecutor investigating Watergate and his attorney general quit. These echoes suggest there are recurring dangers emanating from the structure of American government which allow abuses of executive power.

Nixon’s Shadow captures how optics overshadowed reasoned debate in America’s public square after World War II. But from the perspective of the 2020s, an age of nano-celebrity when presidential tweets can be as pivotal as presidential speeches, the Kennedy-Nixon debates during the Golden Era of Television seem quaint by comparison. How have intervening years changed how we look at Nixon?

Although television still has an important role in presidential politics, social media using internet mobile devices has become a more dominant form of media. A lot of politicking is still image-based; but it’s also meme-based and tweet-based, as you say. So future analyses of image in our current politics will have a different starting point.

Twitter was around throughout the Obama presidency, but because Obama wasn’t a Twitter kind-of-thinker he didn’t harness it much. The Twittersphere is about brevity and impulsivity. So, naturally, Donald Trump was drawn to that domain. It wasn’t so much that Trump cracked the code of Twitter, but that Trump was the type to use the unique properties of Twitter to amplify his political image. It doesn’t mean every president thereafter is going to be a Twitter president. Joe Biden isn’t. But having an intrinsic knack or affinity for a newly dominant medium does serve a president or a candidate for the presidency.

August 12, 2022

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David Greenberg

David Greenberg is a professor of History and of Journalism & Media Studies at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and a frequent commentator in the national news media on contemporary politics and public affairs. He specializes in American political and cultural history.

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Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was the 37 th U.S. president and the only commander-in-chief to resign from his position, after the 1970s Watergate scandal.

Quick Facts

Early life and military service, u.s. congress, vice presidency, running for the presidency, nixon presidency, watergate and other scandals, retirement and death, 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.

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

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 Law School in Durham, North Carolina.

After Duke, Nixon returned to the town of Whittier to practice law at Kroop & Bewley. He soon met Thelma Catherine “Pat” Ryan, a teacher and amateur actor, after the two were cast in the same play at a local community theater. The couple married in 1940 and went on to have two daughters, Tricia and Julie.

A career as a small-town lawyer was not enough for a man with Nixon’s ambition, so in August 1942, he and Pat moved to Washington, D.C., where he took a job in Franklin Roosevelt ’s Office of Price Administration. He soon became disillusioned with the New Deal’s big-government programs and bureaucratic red tape, though, and left the public service realm for the U.S. Navy (despite his an exemption from military service as a Quaker and in his job with OPA).

Serving as an aviation ground officer in the Pacific, Nixon saw no combat, but he returned to the United States with two service stars and several commendations. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant commander before resigning his commission in January 1946.

Following his return to civilian life, Nixon was approached by a group of Whittier Republicans who encouraged him to run for Congress. Nixon would be up against five-term liberal Democratic Jerry Voorhis, but he took on the challenge head-on. Nixon’s campaign exploited notions about Voorhis’ alleged communist sympathies, a tactic that would recur throughout his political life, and it worked, helping Nixon win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1946. During his first term, Nixon was assigned to the Select Committee on Foreign Aid and went to Europe to report on the newly enacted Marshall Plan. There he quickly established a reputation as an internationalist in foreign policy.

As a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) from 1948 to 1950, he took a leading role in the investigation of Alger Hiss, a former State Department official with a previously stellar reputation. While many believed Hiss, Nixon took the allegations that Hiss was spying for the Soviet Union to heart. In dramatic testimony before the committee, Hiss vehemently denied the charge and refuted claims made by his accuser, Whittaker Chambers. Nixon brought Hiss to the witness stand, and under stinging cross-examination, Hiss admitted that he had known Chambers, but under a different name. This brought Hiss a perjury charge and five years in prison, while Nixon’s hostile questioning of Hiss during the committee hearings went a long way toward cementing his national reputation as a fervent anti-Communist.

In 1950, Nixon successfully ran for the United States Senate against Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas. She had been an outspoken opponent of the anti-Communist scare and the actions of HUAC. Employing his previous successful campaign tactics, Nixon’s campaign staff distributed flyers on pink paper unfairly distorting Douglas’ voting record as left-wing. For his efforts, The Independent Review , a small Southern California newspaper, nicknamed Nixon “Tricky Dick,” a derogatory nickname that would remain with him for the rest of this life.

Nixon’s fervent anti-Communist reputation earned him the notice of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Republican Party, who believed he could draw valuable support in the West. And at the Republican convention in 1952, Nixon won the nomination as vice president. Two months before the November election, the New York Post reported that Nixon had a secret “slush fund” provided by campaign donors for his personal use, and some within Eisenhower’s campaign called for removing Nixon from the ticket.

Realizing that he might not win without Nixon, Eisenhower was willing to give Nixon a chance to clear himself. On September 23, 1952, Nixon delivered a nationally televised address in which he acknowledged the existence of the fund but denied that any of it had been used improperly. He turned the speech back on his political enemies, claiming that unlike the wives of so many Democratic politicians, his wife, Pat, did not own a fur coat but only “a respectable Republican cloth coat.” The speech was perhaps best remembered for its conclusion in which Nixon admitted accepting one political gift: a cocker spaniel that his 6-year-old daughter, Tricia, had named Checkers.

Although Nixon initially thought that the speech had failed, the public responded to what became known as the “Checkers Speech.” Nonetheless, the experience embedded a deep distrust of mainstream media in Nixon, who would one day be at the receiving end of much worse from reporters. The Checkers Speech aside, the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket defeated the Democratic candidates, Adlai E. Stevenson and John Sparkman, and Nixon avoided a full-on political disaster.

Between 1955 and 1957, Eisenhower suffered a series of illnesses, including a heart attack and a stroke. Although Nixon held little formal power as vice president, perhaps out of necessity, he expanded the office to an important and prominent post during his two terms. As president of the Senate, he helped ensure the passage of Eisenhower-approved bills, such as the 1957 Civil Rights Bill. While the president was incapacitated, Nixon was called on to chair several high-level meetings, though real power lay in a close circle of Eisenhower advisers. The health scares prompted Eisenhower to formalize an agreement with Nixon on the powers and responsibilities of the vice president in the event of presidential disability; the agreement was accepted by later administrations until the adoption of the 25 th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1967.

Initially, Nixon’s efforts to promote American foreign policy met with mixed results, as he undertook many high-profile foreign trips of goodwill to garner support for American policies during the Cold War. On one such trip to Caracas, Venezuela, Nixon's motorcade was attacked by anti-American protesters, who pelted his limousine with rocks and bottles. Nixon came out unscathed and remained calm and collected during the incident.

In July 1959, Nixon was sent by President Eisenhower to Moscow for the opening of the American National Exhibition. On July 24, while touring the exhibits with Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev , Nixon stopped at a model of an American kitchen and engaged Khrushchev in an impromptu debate. In a friendly yet determined way, both men argued the merits of capitalism and communism, respectively, as it affected the average American and Soviet housewives. While the exchange (later dubbed the “Kitchen Debate”) had little bearing on the United States/Soviet rivalry, Nixon gained popularity for standing up to the “Soviet bully,” as Khrushchev was sometimes characterized, and greatly improved his chances for receiving the Republican presidential nomination in 1960.

Nixon launched his bid for the presidency in early 1960, facing little opposition in the Republican primaries. His democratic opponent was Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy . Nixon campaigned on his experience, but Kennedy brought a new vitality to the election and called for a new generation of leadership, criticizing the Eisenhower administration for endangering U.S. national security. Besides defending the administration during the campaign, Nixon advocated for a series of selective tax cuts that would become a core doctrine of Republican economic policy going forward.

The 1960 presidential campaign proved to be historic in the use of television for advertisements, news interviews and policy debates, something that would play right into Kennedy's youthful hands. Four debates were scheduled between Nixon and Kennedy, and Nixon had his work cut out for himself from the beginning.

During the process, he was recovering from the flu and appeared tired, and then when he arrived at the TV studio, Nixon chose to wear little TV makeup, fearing the press would accuse him of trying to upstage Kennedy’s tan, crisp look. Though he had shaved, Nixon’s “five o’clock shadow” appeared through the cameras, and his gray suit blended into the studio’s gray background in contrast to Kennedy’s tailored dark suit. Also, Nixon was still sweating out his illness, and his perspiration under the hot studio lights was picked up by the cameras in close-ups as he responded to questions. In short, he never looked half as healthy, young or vibrant as Kennedy. Showing the power of the new visual medium, post-debate polls indicated that while many TV viewers believed Kennedy had won the debates, radio listeners indicated that they thought Nixon had won.

In November 1960, Nixon narrowly lost the presidential election, by only 120,000 votes. The Electoral College showed a wider victory for Kennedy, who received 303 votes to Nixon’s 219. Though there were some charges of voter fraud in Texas and Illinois and legal papers were filed, subsequent court rulings showed that Kennedy had a greater number of electoral votes even after recounts. Not wanting to cause a Constitutional crisis, Nixon halted further investigations, later receiving praise for his dignity and professionalism in the face of defeat and suspicion that possible voter fraud had cost him the presidency.

Following the election, Nixon returned with his family to California, where he practiced law and wrote a book, Six Crises , which documented his political life as a congressman, senator and vice president. In 1962, various Republican leaders encouraged Nixon to run against incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Brown. Nixon was at first reluctant to get into another political battle so soon after his disappointing defeat to Kennedy, but eventually, he decided to run.

The campaign did not go well for Nixon, with some observers questioning his sincerity to be governor of California and accusing him of making the election a stepping stone back into national politics. Others felt he just wasn’t enthusiastic enough. He lost to Brown by a substantial margin, and many political experts characterized the defeat as the end of Nixon’s political career. He himself said as much, blaming the media for his defeat and lamenting, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore...”

After the California election, Nixon moved his family to New York City, where he continued to practice law and quietly but effectively remade himself as America’s “senior statesman.” With his calm, conservative voice, Nixon presented a sharp contrast to the escalating war in Vietnam and the growing antiwar protests. He cultivated support from the Republican base, which respected his knowledge of politics and international affairs. He also wrote a farsighted article for Foreign Affairs magazine entitled “Asia After Vietnam,” which enhanced his reputation.

Yet, Nixon agonized over whether to reenter politics and go for another run at the presidency. He consulted friends and respected leaders such as the Reverend Billy Graham for advice. Finally, he formally announced his candidacy for president of the United States on February 1, 1968. Nixon’s campaign received an unexpected boost when on March 31, incumbent President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek another term.

By 1968, the nation was openly struggling over the war in Vietnam, not only on college campuses but in mainstream media. In February, newscaster Walter Cronkite took an almost unprecedented (for him) position, offering commentary on his recent trip to Vietnam, stating that he felt victory was not possible and that the war would end in a stalemate. President Johnson lamented, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost the nation.” As the antiwar protest continued, Nixon’s campaign stayed above the fray, portraying him as a figure of stability and appealing to what he referred to as the “silent majority” of social conservatives who were the steady foundation of the American public.

Nixon was able to construct a coalition of Southern and Western conservatives during the campaign. In exchange for their support, he promised to appoint “strict constructionists” to the federal judiciary and selected a running mate acceptable to the South, Maryland governor Spiro Agnew. The two waged an immensely effective media campaign with well-orchestrated commercials and public appearances. They attacked Democrats for the nation’s high crime rate and a perceived surrender of nuclear superiority to the Soviets.

For a time, the Democrats still held the high ground in the polls, but the assassination of presidential contender Robert Kennedy and a self-destructive nominating convention in Chicago, where Vice President Hubert Humphrey was nominated, weakened their chances. During the entire election campaign, Nixon portrayed a “calm amidst the storm” persona, promising a “peace with honor” conclusion to the war in Vietnam, a restoration of America’s preeminence over the Soviets and a return to conservative values.

In a three-way race between Nixon, Humphrey and independent candidate George Wallace, Nixon won the election by nearly 500,000 votes. He was sworn in as the 37 th president of the United States on January 20, 1969.

Domestic Policies

Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck once called politics “the art of the possible.” But a more pragmatic description was offered by U.S. economist John Kenneth Galbraith, who said politics “consists of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.” Nixon became well-versed in walking a narrow line, as, in one particular issue, he needed to appease the Southern partners in his election coalition and address Court-ordered busing to reduce segregation. He offered a practical solution he called “New Federalism:” locally controlled desegregation. Across the South, the Nixon administration established biracial committees to plan and implement school desegregation. The program was well accepted by the states, and by the end of 1970 only about 18 percent of Black children in the South were attending all-Black schools, down from 70 percent in 1968.

As president, Nixon also increased the number of female appointments in his administration, despite opposition from many in his administration. He created a Presidential Task Force on Women’s Rights, requested that the Department of Justice bring sex-discrimination suits against blatant violators and ordered the Department of Labor to add sex discrimination guidelines to all federal contracts.

Some of President Nixon’s well-intentioned domestic policies under New Federalism clashed with the Democrat-controlled Congress and were fraught with unintended consequences. A case in point was the Family Assistance Plan. The program called for replacing bureaucratically administered programs such as Aid to Families With Dependent Children, Food Stamps and Medicaid with direct cash payments to those in need, including single-parent families and the working poor. Conservatives disliked the plan for guaranteeing an annual income to people who didn’t work, the labor movement saw it as a threat to the minimum wage and federal caseworkers saw the program as a threat to their jobs. Many Americans complained that adding the working poor to Welfare would expand the program rather than reduce it.

Though initially not showing much interest in environmental concerns, after the 1970 Earth Day, with millions of demonstrations across the country, President Nixon sensed a political opportunity and a need. He pushed for the Clean Air Act of 1970 and established two new agencies, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency. Keeping true to his New Federalism principles of less government and fiscal responsibility, Nixon insisted that all environmental proposals meet the cost-benefit standards of the Office of Management and Budget. In 1972, he vetoed the Clean Water Act (which he generally supported) because Congress had boosted its cost to $18 billion. Congress overrode his veto, and in retaliation, Nixon used his presidential powers to impound half the money.

Nixon often adopted a stance of confrontation rather than conciliation and compromise. In his ambition to push through his agenda, he sought to consolidate power within the presidency and took the attitude that the executive branch was exempt from many of the checks and balances imposed by the Constitution. This attitude would later turn on him during the Watergate scandal.

Foreign Affairs

Though achieving some success in domestic politics, most of President Nixon’s first term was dominated by foreign affairs and, most notably, the Vietnam War . His administration successfully negotiated the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT), designed to deter the Soviet Union from launching a first strike. Nixon also reestablished American influence in the Middle East and pressured allies to take more responsibility for their own defense.

With the assistance of his brilliant but taciturn national security adviser, Henry Kissinger , Nixon was able to achieve détente with China and the Soviet Union, playing one off against the other. Since the mid-1960s, tensions between China and its main ally, the USSR, had increased, causing a breach in their relationship by 1969. Nixon sensed an opportunity to shift the Cold War balance of power toward the West, and he sent secret messages to Chinese officials to open a dialogue.

In December 1970, Nixon reduced trade restrictions against China, and in 1971, Chinese officials invited the American table tennis team to China for a demonstration/competition, later dubbed “ping-pong diplomacy.” Then, in February 1972, President Nixon and his wife, Pat, traveled to China, where he engaged in direct talks with Mao Zedong , the Chinese leader. The visit ushered in a new era of Chinese-American relations and pressured the Soviet Union to agree to better relations with the United States.

In Latin America, the Nixon administration continued the long-standing policy of supporting autocratic dictatorships in lieu of socialist democracies. Most notably, he authorized clandestine operations to undermine the coalition government of Chile’s Marxist president, Salvador Allende , after he nationalized American-owned mining companies. Nixon restricted Chile’s access to international economic assistance, discouraged private investment, increased aid to the Chilean military and funneled covert payments to Allende opposition groups. In September 1973, Allende was overthrown in a military coup, establishing Chilean army general Augusto Pinochet as dictator.

But the foremost issue on Nixon’s plate was Vietnam. When he took office, 300 American soldiers were dying per week in Vietnam. The Johnson administration had escalated the war to involve over 500,000 American troops and expanded operations from the defense of South Vietnam to bombing attacks in North Vietnam. By 1969, when Nixon assumed the presidency, the United States was spending between $60 and $80 million per day on the war. Nixon faced the decision of either escalating the war further to secure South Vietnam from communism or withdrawing forces to end involvement in an increasingly unpopular war.

Nixon proposed a controversial strategy of withdrawing American troops from South Vietnam while carrying out Air Force bombings and army special-ops operations against enemy positions in Laos and Cambodia, both of which were officially neutral at the time. He established what became known as the Nixon Doctrine (also called “Vietnamization”), replacing American troops with Vietnamese soldiers. From 1969 to 1972, troop withdrawals were estimated to be 405,000 soldiers. While Nixon’s campaign promise in 1968 was to draw down the size of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the bombings of North Vietnam and incursions into Laos and Cambodia created a political firestorm. When Nixon made a televised speech announcing the movement of U.S. troops into Cambodia to disrupt so-called North Vietnamese sanctuaries, young people across the country erupted in protest, and student strikes temporarily closed more than 500 universities, colleges and high schools.

Beyond all the strife, the war in Vietnam had caused domestic inflation to grow to nearly 6 percent by 1970. To address the problem, Nixon initially tried to restrict federal spending, but beginning in 1971, his budget proposals contained deficits of several billion dollars, the largest in American history up to that time. Though defense spending was cut almost in half, government spending on benefits to American citizens rose from a little over 6 percent to nearly 9 percent. Food aid and public assistance escalated from $6.6 billion to $9.1 billion. To control increasing inflation and unemployment, Nixon imposed temporary wage and price controls, which achieved marginal success, but by the end of 1972, inflation returned with a vengeance, reaching 8.8 percent in 1973 and 12.2 percent in 1974.

With the war in Vietnam winding down, Nixon in 1972 defeated his Democratic challenger, liberal senator George McGovern, in a landslide victory, receiving almost 20 million more popular votes and winning the Electoral College vote 520 to 17. Nixon looked invincible in his victory. It seems odd, in retrospect, that his re-election campaign, the Committee to Re-Elect the President (also known as CREEP) was so concerned about Democrats opposition that it reverted to political sabotage and covert espionage. Public opinion polls during the campaign indicated President Nixon had an overwhelming lead. The entry of independent candidate Wallace ensured some Democratic support would be taken from McGovern in the South, and for most of the American public, Senator McGovern’s policies were just too extreme.

During the campaign in June 1972, rumors began to circulate about White House involvement in a seemingly isolated burglary of the Democratic National Election Headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Initially, Nixon downplayed the coverage of the scandal as politics as usual, but by 1973, the investigation (initiated by two cub reporters for the Washington Post , Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein ) had mushroomed into a full-scale inquest. White House officials denied the press's reporting as biased and misleading, but the FBI eventually confirmed that Nixon aides had attempted to sabotage the Democrats during the election, and many resigned in the face of criminal prosecution.

A Senate committee under Senator Sam Ervin soon began to hold hearings. Eventually, White House counsel John Dean gave evidence that the scandal went all the way to the White House, including a Nixon order to conceal wrongdoing. Nixon continued to declare his innocence, though, repeatedly denying previous knowledge about the campaign sabotage and claiming to have learned about the cover-up in early 1973.

Nixon responded directly to the nation by staging an emotional televised press conference in November 1973, during which he famously declared, “I’m not a crook.” Claiming executive privilege, Nixon nevertheless refused to release potentially damning material, including White House tape recordings that allegedly revealed details of CREEP’s plans to sabotage political opponents and disrupt the FBI's investigation. Facing increased political pressure, Nixon released 1,200 pages of transcripts of conversations between him and White House aides but still refused to release all of the recordings.

The House Judiciary Committee, controlled by Democrats, opened impeachment hearings against the president in May 1974. In July, the Supreme Court denied Nixon's claim of executive privilege and ruled that all tape recordings must be released to the special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski. Once the recordings were released, it didn’t take long for Nixon’s house of cards to teeter: One of the secret recordings confirmed the allegations of the cover-up, indicating that Nixon was looped in from the beginning.

In late July 1974, the House Judiciary Committee passed the first of three articles of impeachment against Nixon, charging obstruction of justice. Upon the threat of a likely post-impeachment conviction, Nixon resigned from the office of the presidency on August 9, 1974, after making the announcement the previous night. He was succeeded by Gerald Ford , whom Nixon had appointed vice president in 1973 after Spiro Agnew resigned his office amid charges of bribery, extortion and tax evasion during his tenure as governor of Maryland. Nixon was pardoned by President Ford on September 8, 1974.

After his resignation, Nixon retired with his wife to the seclusion of his estate in San Clemente, California, where he spent several months distraught and disoriented. Gradually he regrouped, and by 1977 he began forming a public-relations comeback. In August 1977, Nixon met with British commentator David Frost for a series of interviews during which Nixon sent mixed messages of contrition and pride, while never admitting any wrongdoing. While the interviews were met with mixed reviews, they were watched by many and positively contributed to Nixon’s public image.

In 1978, Nixon published RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon , an intensely personal examination of his life, public career and White House years; the book became a best-seller. He also authored several books on international affairs and American foreign policy, modestly rehabilitating his public reputation and earning him a role as an elder foreign-policy expert.

On June 22, 1993, his wife Pat died of lung cancer. Nixon took the loss hard, and on April 22, 1994, just 10 months after his wife’s death, Nixon died of a massive stroke in New York City. President Bill Clinton was joined by four former presidents to pay homage to the 37 th president. His body lay in repose in the Nixon Library lobby, and an estimated 50,000 people waited in heavy rain for up to 18 hours to file past the casket and pay their last respects. He was buried beside his wife at his birthplace, in Yorba Linda, California.

Often caricatured in media, Nixon has proved a source of fascination for his experiences that seemingly captured the best and worst of life as a public figure. His 1977 interviews fueled the production of the 2008 feature Frost/Nixon , starring Frank Langella as the ex-president and Michael Sheen as his interviewer. In 2017, longtime White House reporter Don Fulsom published The Mafia’s President: Nixon and the Mob , about Nixon’s associations with Mickey Cohen , Meyer Lansky , and other notorious figures from organized crime in the 20 th century.

• I’m not a crook.
• Defeat doesn’t finish a man, quit does. A man is not finished when he’s defeated. He’s finished when he quits.
• Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.
• If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the Black and the white notes together.

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Richard M. Nixon

By: History.com Editors

Updated: May 16, 2019 | Original: November 9, 2009

Richard Nixon (1913-94), the 37th U.S. president, is best remembered as the only president ever to resign from office. Nixon stepped down in 1974, halfway through his second term, rather than face impeachment over his efforts to cover up illegal activities by members of his administration in the Watergate scandal. 

A former Republican congressman and U.S. senator from California, he served two terms as vice president under Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) in the 1950s. In 1960, Nixon lost his bid for the presidency in a close race with Democrat John F. Kennedy (1917-63). He ran for the White House again in 1968 and won. As president, Nixon’s achievements included forging diplomatic ties with China and the Soviet Union, and withdrawing U.S. troops from an unpopular war in Vietnam. However, Nixon’s involvement in Watergate tarnished his legacy and deepened American cynicism about government.

Education and Early Political Career

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California . He was the second of five sons of Francis Anthony Nixon (1878-1956), who struggled to earn a living running a grocery store and gas station, and his wife, Hannah Milhous Nixon (1885-1967). Nixon absorbed his parents’ discontent with their working-class circumstances and developed a strong sense of ambition.

Did you know? While serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Richard Nixon won large amounts of money playing poker. He used these winnings to help fund his first political campaign in 1946.

He attended Whittier College, where he excelled as a debater and was elected president of the student body before graduating in 1934. Three years later, he earned a law degree from Duke University, where he was head of the student bar association and graduated near the top of his class. After Duke, he returned to Whittier, California, and began working as an attorney. 

In 1940, Nixon married Thelma Catherine “Pat” Ryan (1912-93), whom he met while participating in a local theater group. The couple had two daughters, Patricia (1946-) and Julie (1948-). When America entered World War II (1939-45), Nixon joined the U.S. Navy and served as an operations officer in the Pacific.

Following the war, Nixon launched his political career in 1946 when he defeated a five-term Democratic incumbent to represent his California district in the U.S. House of Representatives . As a congressman, Nixon served on the House Un-American Activities Committee and rose to national prominence by leading a controversial investigation of Alger Hiss (1904-1996), a well-regarded former State Department official who was accused of spying for the Soviet Union in the late 1930s.

Nixon was re-elected to Congress in 1948 and two years later, in 1950, won a seat in the U.S. Senate .

An Unsuccessful Bid for the Presidency

Although Nixon’s attacks on alleged Communists and political opponents alarmed some people, they increased his popularity among conservative Republicans. In 1952, General Dwight Eisenhower selected the 39-year-old first-term senator to be his vice-presidential running mate. 

A few months after accepting the nomination, Nixon became the target of a negative campaign that raised questions about money and gifts he allegedly received from industry lobbyists. Nixon answered these charges in his famous “Checkers” speech, claiming that the only gift he ever accepted was a puppy named Checkers for his young daughter. The speech proved effective and preserved Nixon’s spot on the ticket.

Eisenhower and Nixon won the election of 1952 and were re-elected in 1956. In 1960, Nixon claimed the Republican presidential nomination but lost one of the closest elections in American history to U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The turning point of the campaign came in the first-ever nationally televised presidential debate. During the broadcast, Nixon appeared pale, nervous and sweaty compared with his tan, well-rested and vigorous opponent.

The loss to Kennedy dealt a terrible blow to Nixon’s ego. He claimed that the media disliked him and had slanted campaign coverage in favor of his handsome and wealthy opponent. Nixon returned home to California, where he practiced law and launched a campaign for governor in 1962. When he lost this election as well, many observers believed that his political career was over. As a disgusted Nixon told reporters, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.”

Winning the White House

Six years after losing the governorship in his home state, Nixon made a remarkable political comeback and once again claimed his party’s presidential nomination. He prevailed in the 1968 U.S. presidential election, defeating Democrat Hubert Humphrey (1911-78) and third-party candidate George Wallace (1919-98). 

Nixon took office at a time of upheaval and change in the U.S. The American people were bitterly divided over the Vietnam War (1954-75), while women marched for equal rights and racial violence rocked the nation’s cities.

Declaring his intention to achieve “peace with honor” in Vietnam, Nixon introduced a strategy known as Vietnamization , which called for gradually withdrawing American troops from the war while training South Vietnamese army forces to take over their own defense. In January 1973, Nixon administration officials reached a peace agreement with Communist North Vietnam. 

The last American combat troops left Vietnam in March of that year. The hostilities continued, however, and in 1975 North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam and reunited the country under Communist rule. 

In addition to dealing with the Vietnam War, Nixon made historic visits, in 1972, to China and the Soviet Union. He reduced tensions between these Communist nations and the U.S., helping to set the stage for establishing formal diplomatic relations. Nixon also signed important treaties to limit the production of nuclear weapons.

The Watergate Scandal and Beyond

While Nixon was running for re-election in 1972, operatives associated with his campaign broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Several members of Nixon’s administration had knowledge of the burglary and while Nixon denied any involvement, secret tapes of White House conversations later revealed that the president had participated in efforts to cover up the criminal activity.

Facing impeachment by Congress, Nixon resigned from office on August 9, 1974. He was replaced by Vice President Gerald Ford (1913-2006), who a month later pardoned Nixon for any wrongdoing. A number of administration officials were eventually convicted of crimes related to the Watergate affair.

After leaving the White House, Nixon retired to California (he and his wife later moved to New Jersey) and quietly worked to rehabilitate his image, writing books, traveling extensively and consulting with Democratic and Republican presidents. By the time he died on April 22, 1994, at age 81 in New York City, after suffering a stroke, some people viewed him as a respected elder statesman. Other Americans, however, rejected efforts to paint him as anything but a disgraced criminal.

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Main Content

Richard M. Nixon

When Richard Nixon was elected in 1968, he declared that his goal was “to bring the American people together.” The nation was divided, with turbulence in the cities and war overseas. During his presidency, Nixon ended American fighting in Vietnam, improved relations with the Soviet Union, and transformed American's relationship China. But the Watergate scandal brought fresh divisions to the country and ultimately led to his resignation.

Born in Yorba Linda, California, on January 9, 1913, Nixon studied at Whittier College and Duke University Law School before beginning the practice of law. In 1940, he married Thelma Catherine (Patricia) Ryan; they had two daughters, Patricia (Tricia) and Julie. During World War II, Nixon served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific.

On leaving the service, he was elected to Congress from his California district. In 1950, he won a Senate seat. Two years later, General Eisenhower selected Nixon, age 39, as his vice-presidential running mate.

Nominated for president by acclamation in 1960, he lost by such a narrow margin to John F. Kennedy that he privately wondered whether the election had been stolen. After a failed effort in 1962 to become governor of California, he went on in 1968 to defeat Vice President Hubert Humphrey and a third-party candidate, Alabama Governor George Wallace, to become president.

Nixon’s accomplishments while in office included the end of the draft, new anticrime laws, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As he had promised, he appointed justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court. In 1969, he welcomed back the astronauts who had executed the first moon landing.

In 1972, Nixon flew to Beijing and met with Mao Zedong. His summit meetings with Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev produced a treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons. In January 1973, he announced an accord with North Vietnam that ended American involvement in Indochina.

In 1972, dismissing his opponent as too far left, Nixon defeated South Dakota Senator George McGovern by one of the widest margins on record. But within a few months, his administration was embattled over what was soon called the Watergate scandal, stemming from a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee during the 1972 campaign. The break-in was traced to Nixon campaign officials. Nixon denied any personal involvement, but the courts forced him to yield tape recordings he had made of his private Oval Office conversations, which indicated that he had, in fact, tried to divert the investigation and thus obstruct justice.

As a result of unrelated scandals in Maryland, Vice President Spiro Agnew had resigned in 1973. Nixon had nominated, and Congress approved, House Minority Leader Gerald Ford as vice president.

Faced with what seemed almost certain impeachment, Nixon announced on August 8, 1974, that he would resign the next day to begin “that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.”

A pardon by Nixon’s successor spared him the ordeal of a criminal trial and possible prison sentence. Nixon spent the two decades before his death in 1994 trying to restore his reputation through books and speeches.

At Nixon’s behest, his gravestone in Yorba Linda bears a quotation from his first Inaugural Address that he hoped would be accepted as his epitaph: “The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker.”

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Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., the nation’s only unelected president and vice president, served thirteen terms in Congress before rising to national attention in 1973, when President Richard Nixon nominated him as vice president. Less than a year later, Ford became president, following President Nixon's resignation from office. The Fords made and celebrated history during their time in the White House, fr

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Richard M. Nixon

The 37th President of the United States

The biography for President Nixon and past presidents is courtesy of the White House Historical Association.

Richard Nixon was elected the 37th President of the United States (1969-1974) after previously serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from California. After successfully ending American fighting in Vietnam and improving international relations with the U.S.S.R. and China, he became the only President to ever resign the office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.

Reconciliation was the first goal set by President Richard M. Nixon. The Nation was painfully divided, with turbulence in the cities and war overseas. During his Presidency, Nixon succeeded in ending American fighting in Viet Nam and improving relations with the U.S.S.R. and China. But the Watergate scandal brought fresh divisions to the country and ultimately led to his resignation.

His election in 1968 had climaxed a career unusual on two counts: his early success and his comeback after being defeated for President in 1960 and for Governor of California in 1962.

Born in California in 1913, Nixon had a brilliant record at Whittier College and Duke University Law School before beginning the practice of law. In 1940, he married Patricia Ryan; they had two daughters, Patricia (Tricia) and Julie. During World War II, Nixon served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific.

On leaving the service, he was elected to Congress from his California district. In 1950, he won a Senate seat. Two years later, General Eisenhower selected Nixon, age 39, to be his running mate.

As Vice President, Nixon took on major duties in the Eisenhower Administration. Nominated for President by acclamation in 1960, he lost by a narrow margin to John F. Kennedy. In 1968, he again won his party’s nomination, and went on to defeat Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and third-party candidate George C. Wallace.

His accomplishments while in office included revenue sharing, the end of the draft, new anticrime laws, and a broad environmental program. As he had promised, he appointed Justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court. One of the most dramatic events of his first term occurred in 1969, when American astronauts made the first moon landing.

Some of his most acclaimed achievements came in his quest for world stability. During visits in 1972 to Beijing and Moscow, he reduced tensions with China and the U.S.S.R. His summit meetings with Russian leader Leonid I. Brezhnev produced a treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons. In January 1973, he announced an accord with North Viet Nam to end American involvement in Indochina. In 1974, his Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, negotiated disengagement agreements between Israel and its opponents, Egypt and Syria.

In his 1972 bid for office, Nixon defeated Democratic candidate George McGovern by one of the widest margins on record.

Within a few months, his administration was embattled over the so-called “Watergate” scandal, stemming from a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee during the 1972 campaign. The break-in was traced to officials of the Committee to Re-elect the President. A number of administration officials resigned; some were later convicted of offenses connected with efforts to cover up the affair. Nixon denied any personal involvement, but the courts forced him to yield tape recordings which indicated that he had, in fact, tried to divert the investigation.

As a result of unrelated scandals in Maryland, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in 1973. Nixon nominated, and Congress approved, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford as Vice President.

Faced with what seemed almost certain impeachment, Nixon announced on August 8, 1974, that he would resign the next day to begin “that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.”

In his last years, Nixon gained praise as an elder statesman. By the time of his death on April 22, 1994, he had written numerous books on his experiences in public life and on foreign policy.

For more information about President Nixon, please visit The Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Learn more about Richard M. Nixon’s spouse, Patricia Ryan Nixon .

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8 Best Books On Richard Nixon 

“In a crisis, be aware of the danger – but recognize the opportunity.”

Richard Milhous Nixon is one of the twentieth century’s most compelling characters. The scars of the Watergate scandal led to him becoming the only US President to resign, bringing to an end a political career that had, up until that point, been a stellar example in overcoming early setbacks to forge a path towards greatness.

His presidency saw the end of segregation in the South, the end of the Vietnam War , economic recovery, the Apollo Moon Landings and improved relations with the Communist world, and yet the enduring image of Richard Nixon, for the bulk of the world, remains that of ‘tricky Dickie’, a scheming crook who made a mockery of the Oval Office. To better understand one of history’s most complex and nuanced men, join us at What We Reading for the best Richard Nixon books! 

Richard Milhous Nixon: The Rise Of An American Politician – Roger Morris  

Published back in 1990, Roger Morris’ Richard Milhous Nixon: The Rise Of An American Politician remains the best biography on the early and formative years of the US’ 37th President.

A renowned journalist, writer and former staff member of the National Security Council during the LBJ and Nixon administrations, Morris chronicles the lives of Nixon’s parents as well as the first forty years of his own life in this first entry in a trilogy on the man. In it, he highlights the early victories, defeats, setbacks and triumphs of the influences that would later follow Nixon to the White House. 

Being Nixon – Evan Thomas

Capturing a figure that was so nuanced as Richard Nixon is no easy feat, however, author Evan Thomas does a stellar job in his biography, Being Nixon: A Man Divided .

In it, the New York Times bestselling author captures the paradoxes and complications behind this layered individual, bringing Nixon to life in a way few other books can. With cutting precision, detailed analysis and expert insights, he dispels some of the most common myths about Nixon to paint a more human and intimate portrait of Nixon. Engaging and enthralling in its delivery, it is one of the best books on Nixon going. 

Nixonland – Rick Perlstein

Rick Perlstein’s Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America details the turbulent years of the ‘60s and ‘70s in the US, and how Richard Nixon was able to fasten an ascent from the political graveyard to the White House.

Perlstein masterfully explores how a nation split at the seams gave way to a wide array of colourful politicians, and how one disgraced former vice president was able to successfully foster a message of unity. For understanding the brilliance and resilience of the man at his height, Nixonland is one of the best Richard Nixon books up for grabs.

President Nixon: Alone In The White House – Richard Reeves

In President Nixon: Alone In The White House , Richard Reeves illuminates a presidency that was doomed from the start. Utilising new interviews and recently declassified source material, he explores how Nixon’s office was one of the most corrupt and suspicion-driven offices in US history.

Aides, ministers, generals, admirals and even the President himself were constantly spying on one another, rifling through briefcases and tapping phones to the point where no one knew who to trust. It is a stunning look into life inside the Nixon administration and helps to explain how the controversy that was Watergate found its origins. 

Richard M. Nixon: A Life In Full – Conrad Black

Conrad Black received critical acclaim for his works on FDR, and the author returns with a fascinating look into the contrasts and complexities of Richard Nixon. In his analysis of Nixon’s impact on US politics from the 1940s to the 1970s, Black skillfully deconstructs the favorable aspects of the 39th President and skillfully balances them against the unfavorable elements.

From his foreign initiatives and liberal domestic policies, his resilience in the face of political setbacks to the sinister scheming that followed him whichever position he held, A Life in Full is a Presidential biography sure to generate plenty of conversation. 

Check Out The Best Books On FDR

Kennedy And Nixon – Chris Matthews

The 1960 Presidential Election was one of the most closely-fought and significant elections in American history. Both Richard Nixon and John F Kennedy were regarded as the trailblazing futures of their parties, and both entered the race for the White House knowing that their presidency would profoundly shape the country.

In Kennedy and Nixon: The Rivalry That Shaped Postwar America , author Chris Matthews explores how an amicable friendship descended into a bitter feud that would last for far longer than the close of election night in 1960. 

Check Out The Best Books On JFK

The Invisible Bridge – Rick Perlstein

From the bestselling author of Nixonland , The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan is an enthralling look at the turbulent economic and political era of 1970s America. Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan are two of the Republican Party’s most titanic names , and Rick Perlstein details masterfully how the baton was passed from one to the other during these tumultuous years.

Asking huge questions about American identity that are just as relevant now, is a powerful look at the lasting legacy of Nixon’s era. 

Check Out The Best Books On Dwight D Eisenhower

Frost/Nixon – David Frost

The Nixon interviews remain one of the most fascinating feats of journalism ever conducted in the world of politics and continue to influence the legacy of Richard Nixon as a President and as a character. Frost/Nixon depicts the behind-the-scenes events when David Frost, a person often deemed easily persuadable, successfully convinces a President who had suffered a loss of respect to engage in a series of interviews. In the end, people would acclaim these interviews as one of the most astonishing moments in television history.

Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).

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President Nixon

Born on January 9, 1913, on his parents' citrus farm in Yorba, Linda, California, Richard Milhous Nixon's life spanned eight decades. Follow the links below to learn more about the events in Nixon's life. 

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, on the citrus farm of his parents, Francis Anthony Nixon (1878-1956) and Hannah Milhous Nixon (1885-1967), in a house his father built in Yorba Linda, California. Richard was the second of five brothers: Harold (1909-1933), Donald (1914-1987), Arthur (1918-1925), and Edward (1930-2019).

His early life was marked by financial hardship and by the deaths of his brothers Harold and Arthur. In 1922, after the failure of the Nixons' ranch (today the site of the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum), the family moved to be nearer Hannah's relatives in Whittier, California. There, Frank Nixon opened a combination grocery store and gas station in which the entire Nixon family worked in order to make ends meet.

Richard Nixon enrolled at Whittier College in September 1930. He was an active student, pursuing his interests in student government, drama, and football while living at home and helping to run the family's store. Nixon won a scholarship to attend Duke University School of Law in May 1934, where he was president of the Student Bar Association and a member of the law review. He graduated in June 1937.

Nixon returned to Whittier and joined the law firm Wingert and Bewley. On January 16, 1938, he met a schoolteacher named Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan at a rehearsal for a community play in which they were both acting. Smitten, Nixon pursued Ryan. They were married on June 21, 1940, in the Presidential Suite of the Mission Inn in Riverside, California, and honeymooned in Mexico.

In January 1942, the Nixons moved to Washington, D.C., where Nixon joined the Office of Price Administration. On June 15, 1942, he accepted an appointment as a lieutenant junior grade in the United States Naval Reserve and entered the Naval Training School, Naval Air Station in Quonset Point, Rhode Island on August 17, 1942.

Upon completing the training in October 1942, Nixon served as Aide to the Executive Officer at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base in Ottumwa, Iowa until May 1943. He volunteered for sea duty and was assigned to the Commander, Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. He served as Officer in Charge of the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command on the island of New Caledonia at Bougainville, Vella Lavella and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and later at Green Island.

Nixon was promoted to Lieutenant on October 1, 1943. He went on to serve with Fleet Air Wing EIGHT and at various military offices throughout the United States. He was promoted again in June 1953 to the rank of Commander in the Naval Reserve.

For his service, Richard Nixon was awarded a Letter of Commendation, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

After fifteen months overseas, Nixon was transferred to the Fleet Air Wing at Alameda, California and later, the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington, D.C.

At the end of the war he was engaged in negotiating the termination of Navy contracts with aircraft manufacturers in Baltimore, Maryland. For his performance on this assignment Nixon received a second Letter of Commendation. He was released from active duty as a Lieutenant Commander in March, 1946 and  retired from the Naval Reserve on June 1, 1966.

His full naval biographical profile is available via the U.S. Navy's Naval History and Heritage Command website . 

Following the end of the war, prominent Republicans in Whittier approached Nixon about running for Congress in 1946. Nixon accepted their offer, and, on November 6, 1946, defeated Democratic Congressman Jerry Voorhis by more than fifteen thousand votes. He moved to Washington with his wife Pat and their young daughter, Patricia (known as "Tricia"), who had been born on February 21, 1946. (Their second daughter, Julie, was born on July 5, 1948.)

As a congressman, he served on the Education and Labor Committee and supported the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Act, which greatly restricted the powers of labor unions. Nixon also served on the Herter Committee, which traveled to Europe to prepare a preliminary report on the Marshall Plan.

In 1948, as a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), he took the lead in investigating charges against former State Department official Alger Hiss of spying for the Soviet Union before and during World War II. The case turned the young congressman into a national figure—and a controversial one, because many prominent figures asserted Hiss's innocence. Not until decades later, after the end of the Cold War, would intelligence information released both by the U.S. government and the Russian government confirm Hiss' guilt.

Nixon was easily re-elected in 1948.

In 1950, he defeated Democratic Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas to win California's vacant U.S. Senate seat by more than half a million votes. The campaign was fierce. Nixon, who thought the former actress was too sympathetic to left-wing causes, said Douglas was "pink right down to her underwear." In response, Douglas labeled Nixon "Tricky Dick."

As senator, Nixon criticized President Harry S. Truman's handling of the Korean War and gave speeches across the nation warning of the threat of global Communism.

Nixon's prominence as an anti-Communist soon brought him to greater national attention. General Dwight Eisenhower, the Republican candidate for president in 1952, selected Nixon as his running mate at the Republican convention in Chicago on July 11, 1952.

Two months later, the New York  Post  ran an article claiming that campaign donors were buying influence with Nixon by providing him with a secret cash fund for his personal expenses. Nixon defended himself against the accusations, noting that the fund was neither secret nor unusual and produced an independent audit showing that the funds had been used only for political purposes. To rebut his critics, Nixon appeared on television to the largest audience in history to date. In the live, nationwide broadcast, Nixon detailed his personal financial history and then outflanked his detractors by saying that his family had accepted one campaign gift for themselves: a beloved black-and-white cocker spaniel named Checkers whom they intended to keep. The speech was a great success, shoring up his support with the Republican Party's base, demonstrating his appeal to the wider public, and thus keeping him on the Republican ticket-and proving the importance of television as a political medium.

In November 1952, Eisenhower and Nixon defeated the candidates on the Democratic ticket, presidential nominee Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson and running mate Alabama Senator John Sparkman, by seven million votes.

Under Eisenhower, Nixon made the vice presidency a visible and important office. Nixon chaired National Security Council meetings in the president's absence and undertook many goodwill tours of foreign countries in an effort to shore up support for American policies during the Cold War. On one such trip to Caracas, Venezuela, on May 13, 1958, protesters first spat on the vice president and Mrs. Nixon at the airport. Later that day, rioters assaulted Nixon's motorcade, injuring Venezuela's foreign minister and making Nixon realize that he might actually be killed. Nixon attracted international notice for his coolness in the face of anti-American demonstrations.

In July 1959, Eisenhower sent Nixon to the Soviet Union to represent the United States at the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, the Soviet capital. While touring the exhibit with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the pair stopped at a model of an American kitchen. There they engaged in an impromptu discussion about the American standard of living that quickly escalated into an exchange over the two countries' ideological and military strength. Nixon's performance in the "Kitchen Debate" further raised his stature back in the United States.

In 1960, facing little competition, Nixon won the Republican nomination for president and chose former Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, to be his running mate. The election of 1960 was a hard-fought contest between Nixon and the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, who had also been elected to Congress in 1946. Many observers then and later concluded that the turning point came during the first-ever televised debates. Nixon, wearing little make-up, looked wan and uncomfortable, while Kennedy appeared to be cool, composed, and confident. In November, Nixon lost to Kennedy by less than 120,000 votes, or 0.2 percent of the popular vote.

Following the 1960 election defeat, the Nixon family left Washington in January 1961 and returned to Southern California, where Nixon practiced law and wrote a bestselling memoir,  Six Crises . Throughout 1961, local and national Republican leaders encouraged Nixon to run for governor in 1962 against Democratic incumbent Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr., arguing that staying on the sidelines would mean the end of Nixon's political life. Despite initial reluctance, Nixon entered the race.

His gubernatorial campaign was hobbled by a combination of the public's suspicion that Nixon viewed the office as a stepping-stone, opposition from the far right of his own party, and his own lack of interest in being governor. He lost to Brown by nearly 300,000 votes. At the time, even Nixon viewed the defeat as the end of his career in politics, telling reporters the Wednesday morning following election night 1962 that "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."

The Nixon family then moved to New York City, where Nixon resumed his practice as a lawyer. Later, after he had become president, Nixon called this period his "wilderness years," comparing his time out of office to similar interludes in the lives of leaders such as Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. Although largely out of the public eye, Nixon remained active in politics, commenting on the policies of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and campaigning for Republican candidates. Nixon retained the support of many Republicans across the country who respected his knowledge of politics and international affairs, a reputation enhanced in 1967 by Nixon's article "Asia After Vietnam" in the eminent journal  Foreign Affairs . Nixon's strenuous efforts on behalf of Republican congressional candidates around the country in 1966 further solidified his support among members of the party.

1968 Campaign

In January 1968, Nixon decided to once again seek the nomination of the Republican Party for president. Portraying himself as a figure of stability in a time of national upheaval, Nixon promised a return to traditional values and "law and order." He fended off challenges from other candidates such as California Governor Ronald Reagan, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and Michigan Governor George Romney to secure the nomination at the Republican convention in Miami. Nixon unexpectedly chose Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland as his running mate.

Nixon's campaign was helped by the tumult within the Democratic Party in 1968. Consumed by the war in Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced on March 31 that he would not seek re-election. On June 5, immediately after winning the California primaries, former attorney general and then-U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy (brother of the late president John F. Kennedy) was assassinated in Los Angeles. The campaign of Vice President Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic nominee for president, went into a tailspin after the Democratic national convention in Chicago was marred by mass protests and violence. By contrast, Nixon appeared to represent a calmer society, and his campaign promised peace at home and abroad. Despite a late surge by Humphrey, Nixon won by nearly 500,000 popular votes. Third-party candidate George Wallace, the once and future governor of Alabama, won nearly ten million popular votes and 46 electoral votes, principally in the Deep South.

Once in office, Nixon and his staff faced the problem of how to end the Vietnam War, which had broken his predecessor's administration and threatened to cause major unrest at home. As protesters in America's cities called for an immediate withdrawal from Southeast Asia, Nixon made a nationally televised address on November 3, 1969, calling on the "silent majority" of Americans to renew their confidence in the American government and back his policy of seeking a negotiated peace in Vietnam. Earlier that year, Nixon and his Defense Secretary Melvin Laird had unveiled the policy of "Vietnamization," which entailed reducing American troop levels in Vietnam and transferring the burden of fighting to South Vietnam; accordingly, U.S. troop strength in Vietnam fell from 543,000 in April 1969 to zero on March 29, 1973. Nevertheless, the Nixon administration was harshly criticized for its use of American military force in Cambodia and its stepped-up bombing raids during the later years of the first term.

Nixon's foreign policy aimed to reduce international tensions by forging new links with old rivals. In February 1972, Nixon traveled to Beijing (Peking), Hangzhou (Hangchow), and Shanghai in China for talks with Chinese leaders Chairman Mao Zedong (Mao Tse Tung) and Premier Zhou Enlai (Chou En-lai). Nixon's trip was the first high-level contact between the United States and the People's Republic of China in more than twenty years, and it ushered in a new era of relations between Washington and Beijing. Several weeks later, in May 1972, Nixon visited Moscow for a summit meeting with Leonid Brezhnev, general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and other Soviet leaders. Their talks led to the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT), the first comprehensive and detailed nuclear weapons limitation pact between the two superpowers.

Foreign policy initiatives represented only one aspect of Nixon's presidency during his first term. In August 1969, Nixon proposed the Family Assistance Plan, a welfare reform that would have guaranteed an income to all Americans. The plan, however, did not receive congressional approval. In August 1971, spurred by high inflation rates, Nixon imposed wage and price controls in an effort to gain control of price levels in the U.S. economy; at the same time, prompted by worries over the soundness of U.S. currency, Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard and let it float against other countries' currencies.

On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. became the first humans to walk on the Earth's moon, while fellow astronaut Michael Collins orbited in the Apollo 11 command module. Nixon made what has been termed the longest-distance telephone call ever made to speak with the astronauts from the Oval Office. And on September 28, 1971, Nixon signed legislation abolishing the military draft.

In addition to such weighty affairs of state, Nixon's first term was also full of lighter-hearted moments. On April 29, 1969, Nixon awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to Duke Ellington and then led hundreds of guests in singing "Happy Birthday" to the famed band leader.

On June 12, 1971, Tricia Nixon became the sixteenth White House bride when she and Edward Finch Cox of New York married in the Rose Garden. Theirs was the first wedding held in the Rose Garden. Julie Nixon had wed Dwight David Eisenhower II, grandson of President Eisenhower, on December 22, 1968, in New York's Marble Collegiate Church, while her father was President-elect. 

Perhaps most famous was Nixon's meeting with Elvis Presley on December 21, 1970, when the President and the King of Rock 'n' Roll discussed the drug problem facing American youth.

Re-election, Second Term, and Watergate

In his 1972 bid for re-election, Nixon defeated South Dakota Senator George McGovern, the Democratic candidate for president, by one of the widest electoral margins ever, winning 520 electoral college votes to McGovern's 17 and nearly 61 percent of the popular vote. Just a few months later, investigations and public controversy over the Watergate scandal had sapped Nixon's popularity. The Watergate scandal began with the June 1972 discovery of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., but media and official investigations soon revealed a broader pattern of abuse of power by the Nixon administration, leading to his resignation.

The Watergate burglars were soon linked to officials of the Committee to Re-elect the President, the group that had run Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign. Soon thereafter, several administration officials resigned; some, including former attorney general John Mitchell, were later convicted of offenses connected with the break-in and other crimes and went to jail. Nixon denied any personal involvement with the Watergate burglary, but the courts forced him to yield tape recordings of conversations between the president and his advisers indicating that the president had, in fact, participated in the cover-up, including an attempt to use the Central Intelligence Agency to divert the FBI's investigation into the break-in. (For more information about Watergate, please visit the Ford Presidential Library and Museum's  online Watergate exhibit .)

Investigations into Watergate also revealed other abuses of power, including numerous warrantless wiretaps on reporters and others, campaign "dirty tricks," and the creation of a "Plumbers" unit within the White House. The Plumbers, formed in response to the leaking of the Pentagon Papers to news organizations by former Pentagon official Daniel Ellsberg, broke into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist.

Adding to Nixon's worries was an investigation into Vice President Agnew's ties to several campaign contributors. The Department of Justice found that Agnew had taken bribes from Maryland construction firms, leading to Agnew's resigning in October 1973 and his entering a plea of no contest to income tax evasion. Nixon nominated Gerald Ford, Republican leader in the House of Representatives, to succeed Agnew. Ford was confirmed by both houses of Congress and took office on December 6, 1973.

Such controversies all but overshadowed Nixon's other initiatives in his second term, such as the signing of the Paris peace accords ending American involvement in the Vietnam war in January 1973; two summit meetings with Brezhnev, in June 1973 in Washington and in June and July 1974 in Moscow; and the administration's efforts to secure a general peace in the Middle East following the Yom Kippur War of 1973.

The revelations from the Watergate tapes, combined with actions such as Nixon's firing of Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox, badly eroded the president's standing with the public and Congress. Facing certain impeachment and removal from office, Nixon announced his decision to resign in a national televised address on the evening of August 8, 1974. He resigned effective at noon the next day, August 9, 1974. Vice President Ford then became president of the United States. On September 8, 1974, Ford pardoned Nixon for "all offenses against the United States" which Nixon "has committed or may have committed or taken part in" during his presidency. In response, Nixon issued a statement in which he said he regretted "not acting more decisively and forthrightly in dealing with Watergate."

Richard Milhous Nixon

Birth Date:  January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California

Death Date:  April 22, 1994, in New York City, New York

Father:  Francis Anthony Nixon (1878-1956) Born: Dec. 3, 1878, Elk, Ohio Married: Hannah Milhous - June 25, 1908, Whittier, California Died: Sept. 4, 1956, La Habra, California Religion: Quaker

Mother:  Hannah Milhous Nixon (1885-1967) Born: March 7, 1885, near Butlerville, Indiana Married: Frank Nixon on June 25, 1908, Whittier, California Died: September 30, 1967, Whittier, California Father: Franklin Milhous, 1848-1919 Mother: Almira Park Burdg Milhous, 1849-1943 Grandfather: Joshua Vickers Milhous, 1820-1883 Grandmother: Elizabeth Price Griffith, 1827-1923 Religion: Quaker

Paternal Grandparents:  Samuel Brady Nixon (1847-1914) and Sarah Ann Wadsworth (1852-1886)

Maternal Grandparents:  Franklin Milhous (1848-1919) and Almira Park Burdg (1849-1943)

Brothers:  Harold Samuel Nixon - Born June 1, 1909; died March 7, 1933 at age 23 from tuberculosis Francis Donald Nixon - Born November 23, 1914; died June 27, 1987 at age 73 from cancer; m. Clara Jane Lemke, August 9, 1942 Arthur Burdg Nixon - Born May 26, 1918; died August 10, 1925 at the age of 7 of tubercular encephalitis Edward Calvert Nixon - Born May 3, 1930; died February 27, 2019; m. Gay Lynne Woods, June 1, 1957

Thelma Catherine (Patricia) Ryan

Birth Date:  March 16, 1912, in Ely, Nevada

Death Date:  June 22, 1993, in Park Ridge, New Jersey

Father:  William Martin Ryan (1866-1930)

Mother: Katharine "Kate" Halberstadt (1879-1926)

Siblings:  Children of William Martin Ryan and Kate Halberstadt: William George Ryan, 1910-1997 Thomas Sanford Ryan, 1911-1991 Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan, 1912-1993 Children of Kate Halberstadt by her first marriage to Matthew Bender (d. 1904): Matthew Gottfried Bender, 1903-1973 Neva Louise (Bender) Renter, 1904-1981

Wedding:  Thelma Catherine (Pat) Ryan and Richard Milhous Nixon married on June 21, 1940, in the Presidential Suite of the Mission Inn in Riverside, California, and honeymooned in Mexico.

Patricia (known as "Tricia") born on February 21, 1946 in Whittier, California. On June 12, 1971, Tricia became the sixteenth White House bride when she and Edward Finch Cox of New York married in the Rose Garden. They have one son: Christopher Nixon Cox (1979-).

Julie born on July 5, 1948 in Washington, D.C. Julie wed Dwight David Eisenhower II, grandson of President Eisenhower, on December 22, 1968, in New York's Marble Collegiate Church, while her father was President-elect. They have three children: Jennie Elizabeth Eisenhower (1978-); Alex Richard Eisenhower (1980-); and Melanie Catherine Eisenhower (1984-).

Checkers - Cocker Spaniel - given to Nixon Family in 1952, died 1964. Buried at Bide-a-wee Association Pet Cemetery Memorial Park, Wantagh, Nassau County, New York. White House Pets King Timahoe - Irish Setter - given to President Nixon by staff in January 1969 - died circa 1979 Vicky - Miniature Poodle - Julie Nixon Eisenhower's pet - died circa 1976 Pasha - Yorkshire Terrier - Trisha Nixon Cox's pet - died circa 1978

Timeline of Events

The following list illustrates the wide range of social, cultural, and political events that occurred during the years of Richard Nixon's life (1913-1994).

• January 9, 1913 Richard Nixon is born in Yorba Linda, California, to Frank and Hannah Milhous Nixon.  
• June 28, 1914 The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, leads within weeks to the outbreak of World War I.  
• November 7, 1917 The Bolsheviks overthrow the Russian government in Petrograd (later Leningrad, still later St. Petersburg), leading to the formation of a Communist government, the sparking of a civil war within the former Russian empire, and finally, in December 1922, the foundation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.  
• August 18, 1920 Upon the Tennessee legislature's approval of the 19th amendment to the constitution, the document becomes law, guaranteeing that neither the federal government nor the state governments can deny women the right to vote.  
• 1928-1930 Attends Whittier High School  
• October 29, 1929 Stock market crash; start of the Great Depression  
• 1930-1934 Nixon attends Whittier College in Whittier, California  
• 1934-1937 Nixon attends Duke University Law School in Durham, North Carolina.  
• November 9, 1937 Admitted to California Bar and joins law firm of Wingert and Bewley in Whittier  
• January 1, 1939 Becomes a partner in the reorganized law firm of Bewley, Knoop and Nixon; opens a branch office in La Habra, California  
• September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland; start of World War II  
• June 21, 1940 Nixon marries Thelma Catherine ("Pat") Ryan in Riverside, California.  
• December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor  
• January 9, 1942 Nixon moves to Washington, D.C., to join the Office of Price Administration, the federal agency charged with regulating wartime prices and and overseeing rationing.  
• June 15, 1942 Receives commission as United States Navy Lieutenant (junior grade)  
• 1943-1945 Nixon serves active duty in the U.S. Navy. Nixon is assigned to South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command as a ground officer; he serves at New Caledonia, Bougainville, and Green Island.  
• August 6, 1945 Following the end of hostilities in Europe, the war in the Pacific is brought to a close after the first military use of nuclear weapons against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan formally surrenders on September 2, 1945.  
• February 21, 1946 Daughter Patricia ("Tricia") Nixon is born.  
• March 10, 1946 Released from active duty in the United States Naval Reserve  
• November 5, 1946 Elected to Congress, defeating incumbent Jerry Voorhis  
• January 3, 1947 Nixon is sworn in as Representative for the Twelfth Congressional District of California. His tenure lasts until his resignation in November 1950 following his election to the Senate. Assigned to House Education and Labor Committee and House Committee on Un-American Activities  
• May 14, 1948 Manages passage of Mundt-Nixon bill, the first piece of legislation passed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities in ten years, providing for the annual registration of members of the Communist party  
• July 5, 1948 Daughter Julie Nixon is born.  
• August 5, 1948-December 15, 1948 Nixon brings former State Department official Alger Hiss to the witness stand of the House Un-American Activities Committee after Whittaker Chambers accuses Hiss of being a Soviet agent. The course of the Hiss case, which ended with Hiss' conviction for perjury, catapults Nixon into national attention.  
• October 1, 1949 People's Republic of China formally proclaimed  
• November 7, 1950 Nixon is elected as Senator for California and serves from December 1, 1950, until January 1, 1953.  
• May 1951 Attends the World Health Organization Conference in Geneva, Switzerland  
• July 11, 1952 Receives the Republican Vice-Presidential nomination  
• September 23, 1952 In a nationally televised speech, Nixon responds to charges of improper use of campaign funds, which had jeopardized his spot on the Republican national ticket. During his defense, and after refuting the charges, he states that his wife wears only a "respectable Republican cloth coat" and the only gift he has kept was Checkers, the family's cocker spaniel--giving the appearance its other name, the "Checkers speech".  
• November 4, 1952 Nixon is elected Vice President of the United States on the ticket of President Dwight Eisenhower.  
• January 20, 1953 Inaugurated as Vice President  
• June 1, 1953 Promoted to Commander in the Naval Reserve  
• June 2, 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II  
• August 13, 1953 Made chairman of the President's committee on government contracts  
• October 6, 1953-December 14, 1953 Goodwill tour of Asia and Africa  
• December 8, 1954 Supreme Court decides  Brown v. Board of Education , ordering integration of public schools in the United States.  
• June 2, 1955-March 5, 1955 Goodwill tour of the Caribbean  
• September 24, 1955 President Eisenhower suffers a heart attack  
• December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat, sparking Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott  
• January 1956-February 1956 Attends Brazilian presidential inauguration as the representative of the United States  
• June 30, 1956-July 11, 1956 Goodwill tour of Asia  
• October 23, 1956-November 10, 1956 Hungarian citizens revolt against the Hungarian government and Soviet influence in Hungary, leading to the occupation of the country by the Soviet Red Army.  
• October 29, 1956-November 7, 1956 Suez crisis  
• November 6, 1956 Nixon is re-elected Vice President of the United States to President Dwight Eisenhower.  
• December 18, 1956-December 24, 1956 Visits Austria to inspect conditions of Hungarian refugees who fled Hungary after the unsuccessful revolt against Communist rule there.  
• January 21, 1957 Public Inauguration  
• January 27, 1957 Elvis single "Heartbreak Hotel" released  
• February 28, 1957-March 21, 1957 Travels to Italy and Africa  
• September 25, 1957 National Guard troops escort African-American students to class in Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, as part of the desegregation of schools there.  
• October 4, 1957 Soviet Union launches Sputnik, Earth's first artificial satellite.  
• April 27, 1958-May 15, 1958 In Latin America trip, Nixon faces anti-Nixon riots in Lima, Peru, on May 8th and in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 13th.  
• November 24, 1958-November 29, 1958 Travels to England  
• January 31, 1959 Appointed chairman of Cabinet committee on price stability for economic growth  
• July 22, 1959-August 2, 1959 Travels to the Soviet Union  
• July 24, 1959 Nixon participates in spontaneous the "Kitchen Debate" with Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev in a model kitchen in the American National Exhibition in Moscow. Nixon's strong showing against the Soviet leader gives him a new standing in the United States.  
• August 2, 1959-August 5, 1959 Visits Poland  
• July 27, 1960 Nixon receives Republican nomination for President.  
• September 26, 1960-October 21, 1960 Nixon-Kennedy debates  
• November 8, 1960 Loses Presidential election  
• March 13, 1961 Joins Los Angeles law firm of Adams, Duque and Hazeltine  
• April 12, 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes first human in space.  
• April 15, 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion  
• March 29, 1962 Six Crises  published  
• November 6, 1962 Nixon is defeated in California gubernatorial race by Democratic incumbent Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. After his defeat becomes clear, Nixon tells reporters "You won't have Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."  
• 1963-1967 Nixon practices law in New York City. Joins the law firm of Mudge, Stern, Baldwin and Todd. Reorganized firm becomes Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie and Alexander in 1964.  
• June 16, 1963 Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes first woman in space.  
• November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy assassinated  
• February 9, 1964 The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show.  
• April 27, 1966 Argues first case before the Supreme Court  
• June 1, 1966 Retired from U.S. Naval Reserve  
• September 8, 1966 First episode of Star Trek broadcast on television.  
• April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated  
• June 5, 1968 Robert Kennedy assassinated  
• August 8, 1968 Nominated as Republican candidate for President  
• August 20, 1968 Soviet troops invade Czechoslovakia, ending the "Prague Spring"  
• September 16, 1968 Nixon appears on Rowan and Martin's "Laugh-in" delivering the famous phrase "Sock it to ME?"  
• November 5, 1968 Nixon is elected 37th President of the United States.  
• December 22, 1968 Nixon's daughter Julie marries Dwight David Eisenhower II, grandson of former president Dwight Eisenhower.

Reference:   Public Papers.   Inaugural Address (1)

• February 4 In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress, and takes command the next day.   

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks at Andrews Air Force Base on Departing for Europe (66) and Remarks at Andrews Air Force Base on Returning from Europe (94). See also items (67)-(93) for remarks made during the trip.

• February 24 The U.S. Supreme Court ( Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ) rules that the First Amendment applies to public schools.  
• March 1 Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees announces his retirement.   

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on Deployment of the Antiballistic Missile System (109)

Reference:   Henry Kissinger.    The White House Years . Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1979, pgs. 239-254 and H. R. Haldeman.    The Haldeman Diaries . New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1994, pgs. 40-41

• March 25 John Lennon and Yoko Ono marry in Gibraltar  
• March 28 General and 34th U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, dies after a long illness in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.  
• April 9 The Harvard University Administration Building is seized by close to 300 students, mostly members of the Students for a Democratic Society. Before the takeover ends, 45 will be injured and 184 arrested.  
• April 29 Nixon celebrates Duke Ellington's birthday and awards Ellington the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  
• May 1969 Nixon orders FBI wiretaps to track the sources of leaks revealing secret bombings of Cambodia.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Special Message to the Congress on Reforming the Military Draft (194)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Letter Accepting the Resignation of Abe Fortas as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (197)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks Announcing the Nomination of Judge Warren Earl Burger to be Chief Justice of the United States (209) and Facts on File 1969 pgs. 343F2; 390D2

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks at Honolulu en route to a Meeting with President Nguyen Van Thieu of the Republic of Vietnam at Midway Island (June 7, 1969) (230); Remarks Following Initial Meeting with President Thieu at Midway Island (231); Joint Statement Following the Meeting with President Thieu (232); Remarks at the Conclusion of Discussion with President Thieu (233); Remarks on Departure from Midway Island (234); Remarks on Return from Meeting with President Thieu at Midway Island (June 10, 1969) (235)

Reference:   Facts on File 1969 p. 376A1

Reference:   Facts on File 1969 p. 390D2

• June 28 The Stonewall riots in New York City mark the start of the modern gay rights movement in the U.S.   

Reference:   Public Papers.   Telephone Conversation with the Apollo 11 Astronauts on the Moon (272)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Informal Remarks in Guam with Newsmen (279)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Arrival at Manila, the Philippines (281); Remarks on Departure from Pakistan (306); see also items (282)-(305)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Arrival at Bucharest, Romania (307); Remarks on Departure from Romania (310); see also items 308 and 309

Reference:   Public Papers.   Address to the Nation on Domestic Programs (324)

• August 15-August 18 Woodstock Music and Art Festival  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Appendix A, August 18, Announcement by the Press Secretary of the nomination of Judge Clement F. Haynsworth, Jr., as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

• September 1 A coup in Libya ousts King Idris and installs Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi.  
• September 2 The first automatic teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Centre, New York.   
• September 13 Scooby-Doo, Where are You! (1969-1972) premieres on CBS Saturday Morning.  

Reference:   John Herbers.   "Vietnam Moratorium observed nationwide by foes of the war." New York Times, October 16, 1969, p.1

• October 21 Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany  

Reference:   Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education, 396 U.S. 1218 (1969)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam (425)

• November 9 A group of American Indians, led by Richard Oakes, seizes the Alcatraz island for 19 months, inspiring a wave of renewed Indian pride and government reform.  
• November 10 Sesame Street debuts  
• November 14 NASA launches Apollo 12 (Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon, Alan Bean), the second manned mission to the Moon.   

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement Following the Senate Vote on the Nomination of Judge Clement F. Haynsworth, Jr., as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (454) and Facts on File 1969 p. 759C2

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on Signing the Instrument of Ratification of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (458)

• December 2 The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its debut. It carries 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, from Seattle to New York City.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on Signing the Tax Reform Act of 1969 (501) and Facts on File 1969 p. 839D3

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Signing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (1)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Appendix A, January 19, Biographical data on Judge G. Harrold Carswell nominated as Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court and Robert Semple. "Southerner Named to Supreme Court; Carswell, 50, Viewed as Conservative," New York Times, January 20, 1970, p.1

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Vetoing the Labor-HEW-OEO Appropriations Bill (13) and Veto Message on the Labor-HEW-OEO Appropriations Bill (January 27, 1970) (14)

• January 26 Vetoes the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW)- Labor Appropriation Bill   

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement Announcing an Expanded Federal Program to Combat Drug Abuse (76)

• March 18 United States Postal Service workers in New York City go on strike; the strike spreads to the state of California and the cities of Akron, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and Denver; 210,000 out of 750,000 U.S. postal employees walk out. President Nixon assigns military units to New York City post offices. The strike lasts two weeks.   
• March 25 The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight (700 mph/1127 km/h).   
• April 1 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.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks to Reporters About Nominations to the Supreme Court (108) and Statement About Nominations to the Supreme Court (109) both made on April 9, as well as Facts on File 1970 p. 237D2

• April 11 Apollo 13 (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert) is launched toward the Moon. On April 13, an oxygen tank in the spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission. They return safely to Earth on April 17.   

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement About Nominations to the Supreme Court (108 ftn.) and Appendix A, April 14

• April 18 Nixon presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Apollo 13 astronauts.  
• April 22 The first Earth Day is celebrated.   

Reference:   Public Papers.   Address to the Nation on the Situation in Southeast Asia (139)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on the Deaths of Four Students at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio (140)

• May 9 One hundred thousand people demonstrate in Washington, DC against the Vietnam War.   

Reference:   Facts on File 1970 p. 326A1

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement Announcing Extensions of Welfare Reform Proposals (183) and Facts on File 1970 p. 420E2

• June 18 Edward Heath is elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the general election.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Special Message to the Congress about Reorganization Plans to Establish the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (215)

• September 1970 The Jordan Crisis, also known as "Black September," marks violence against Palestinian attempts to overthrow King Hussein's monarchy.  
• September 18 Jimi Hendrix, guitarist and singer, dies  
• September 21 NFL Monday Night Football premieres on ABC  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Arrival in Rome, Italy (304) and Remarks at Andrews Air Force Base on Returning from Europe (329). See also items (305)-(328)

• October 1970 The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) begins broadcasting.  
• October 4 Janis Joplin, singer, dies  
• October 17 Anwar Sadat officially becomes President of Egypt  

Reference:   Nixon Presidential Materials.   White House Central Files HE 5-1 [EX], December 21, 1970, memo for the President and the National Archives' exhibit  When Nixon Met Elvis

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Signing the Clean Air Amendments of 1970 (485). As enacted, the bill (H.R. 17255) is Public Law 91-604 (84 Stat. 1676).

• January 31 Apollo 14 (Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, Edgar Mitchell) lifts off on the third successful lunar landing mission.  
• February 5 Apollo 14 lands on the moon.  
• February 8 A new stock market index called the Nasdaq debuts.  
• February 9 Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  

Reference:   C. L. Arbelbide, "By George, It IS Washington's Birthday," Prologue Winter 2004: 31-37.

Reference:   John Powers, "The History of Presidential Audio Recordings and the Archival Issues Surrounding Their Use" (1996) available at:    the University of Virginia's Miller Center

• March 1 A bomb explodes in the men's room on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol; the Weather Underground claims responsibility.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on Signing Bill Increasing Social Security Benefits (107)

• April 1971-May 1971 "MayDay" demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and across the country   

Reference:   Swann v. Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1 (1971) and Facts on File 1971 p. 290C1

• April 24 Five hundred thousand people in Washington, DC and 125,000 in San Francisco march against the Vietnam War.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Appendix A, June 10, Statement: announcing termination of trade controls on nonstrategic U.S. exports to and imports from the People's Republic of China--by Press Secretary Ronald L. Ziegler

Reference:   Washington Post "TV Coverage" June 12, 1971 "There will be no live television coverage of the White House wedding of Tricia Nixon and Edward Finch Cox today" p. C2

Reference:   Sheehan, Neil. "Vietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces 3 Decades of Growing U. S. Involvement." New York Times, June 13, 1971, p. 1

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement about ratification of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution (219)

• July 3 Jim Morrison, is found dead in a bath tub in Paris, France aged 27.   
• July 9 Nixon sends National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger to Peking, China, to arrange with Prime Minister Chou en Lai a visit for President Nixon.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Signing the Emergency Employment Act of 1971 (227) and Statement about the Emergency Employment Act of 1971 (228)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks to the Nation Announcing Acceptance of an Invitation to Visit the People's Repbulic of China (231)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on Signing Executive Order Establishing the National Business Council for Consumer Affairs (252)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Address to the Nation Outlining a New Economic Policy: "The Challenge of Peace" (264) and Executive Order 11615

Reference:   Facts on File 1971 p. 686F3 "Envoys sign Berlin draft. The four envoys who negotiated the Berlin draft agreement in August signed the accord Sept. 3 after it had been approved by the governments of the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, the countries with responsibility for the future of Berlin."

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks at a Question-and-Answer Session with a 10-Member Panel of the Economic Club of Detroit (297 ftn. p. 976)

• October 1 Walt Disney World opens in Florida.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Address to the Nation Announcing Intention to Nominate Lewis F. Powell, Jr., and William H. Rehnquist to be Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (337)

Reference:   Facts on File 1971 p. 887A1. "Phase Two begins" and Executive Order 11627

Reference:   Facts on File 1971 pgs. 846, 863, 885, 901, 924, 941, 961-963, and 985

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement about Senate Confirmation of Lewis F. Powell, Jr., and William H. Rehnquist as Associate Justices of the Supreme Court (391) and Facts on File 1971 p. 947F2

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement about Senate Confirmation of Lewis F. Powell, Jr., and William H. Rehnquist as Associate Justices of the Supreme Court (391) and Facts on File 1971 p. 970F2

Reference:   Public Papers.   Letter Announcing Candidacy for Renomination and Reelection (6)

Reference:   Facts on File 1972 p. 9C1

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on Signing the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (46)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Chronology of Visit to the People's Republic of China (63A). See also items (64)-(73)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement about Signing the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (105)

• April 20 Bob Hope visits the White House.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Address to the Nation on the Situation in Southeast Asia (147)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement about Attempt on Life of Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama (151)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Chronology of Visit to Austria, the Soviet Union, Iran, and Poland (162A). See also items (163)-(188)

Reference:   Watergate: Chronology of a Crisis.   Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1975, p. xv

Reference:   Nixon Presidential Materials.   White House Tapes, June 23, 1972, Conversation Number 741-2

Reference:   Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement about Signing the Veterans' Compensation and Relief Act of 1972 (218)

• August 1 A $25,000 cashier check designated for the Nixon campaign is found in the bank account of a Watergate burglar.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Accepting the Presidential Nomination of the Republican National Convention (266)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks to Reporters about the Assault on Israeli Athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany (287)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Being Reelected to the Presidency (414)

• November 8 Home Box Office (HBO) is launched.  

Reference:   Information Please Almanac Atlas and Yearbook 1974.   New York: Simon and Schuster, 1973, p.68 and Facts on File 1972 p.1013A1

Reference:   Public Papers.   Appendix B, December 30, "...In a news briefing following the announcement, Deputy Press Secretary Gerald L. Warren stated, 'The President has ordered that all bombing will be discontinued above the 20th parallel as long as serious negotiations are under way.'" and Information Please Almanac Atlas and Yearbook 1974.   New York: Simon and Schuster, 1973, p.68

Reference:   Public Papers.   Special Message to the Congress Announcing Phase III of the Economic Stabilization Program and Requesting Extension of Authorizing Legislation (6) and Executive Order 11695

Reference:   Public Papers.   Oath of Office and Second Inaugural Address (8)

Reference:   Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)

• January 22 George Foreman beats Joe Frazier by a knockout in two rounds to lift the world's Heavyweight championship from Frazier. It is HBO Boxing's first telecast.   

Reference:   Public Papers.   Address to the Nation Announcing Conclusion of an Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam (12)

Reference:   Information Please Almanac Atlas and Yearbook 1974.   New York: Simon and Schuster, 1973, p.68 and Public Papers. Address to the Nation Announcing Conclusion of an Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam (12)

Reference:   Watergate: Chronology of a Crisis.   Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1975, p. xxi; 9-11;   Ford Library Watergate Exhibit  and United States v. George Gordon Liddy, Everett Howard Hunt, James W. Mccord, Bernard L. Barker, Eugenio R. Martinez, et al. (U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia CR 827-72)

Reference:   Watergate: Chronology of a Crisis.   Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1975, p. 3 and  Ford Library Watergate Exhibit

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on the Return of the First Group of American Prisoners of War from Southeast Asia (February 11) (38) and James P. Sterba, "Airlift is Begun." New York Times, February 12, 1973, p.1

Reference:   Nixon Presidential Materials.   White House Tapes, March 21, 1973, Conversation Number 886-8

Reference:   Public Papers.   Veto of the Vocational Rehabilitation Bill (91)

• April 4 Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the World Trade Center in NYC  
• April 17 Federal Express officially begins operations, with the launch of 14 small aircraft from Memphis International Airport.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement Announcing Resignation of the Attorney General and Members of the White House Staff, and Intention to Nominate Elliot L. Richardson to be Attorney General (133)

Reference:   Watergate: Chronology of a Crisis.   Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1975, p. 28 and Senate Resolution 105

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement about Signing a Bill Extending the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 (137)

• May 17-August 7 Each network aired coverage in rotation every third day (ABC was first, then CBS and NBC).  
• July 1 The United States Drug Enforcement Administration is founded.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement about Signing a Bill Increasing Social Security Benefits (200)

Reference:   Nixon Presidential Materials Staff, National Archives and Records Administration

Reference:   Hearings Before the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities of the United States Senate, Phase I: Watergate Investigation, Book 5. Washington: GPO, 1973

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement Announcing Measures to be Taken under Phase IV of the Economic Stabilization Program (207) and Executive Order 11730

Reference:   Information Please Almanac Atlas and Yearbook 1974.   New York: Simon and Schuster, 1973, p. 24 and Lyons, Richard L. "Impeachment Move Offered." Washington Post, August 1, 1973, p. A1

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on Signing the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (231)

• September 20 Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in a televised tennis match.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks at the Swearing In of Henry A. Kissinger as Secretary of State (268)

Reference:   Kissinger, Henry. Years of Upheaval. Boston: Little Brown, 1982 pgs. 450-575

Reference:   Public Papers.   Letter to Spiro T. Agnew about his Decision to Resign as Vice President (290)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks Announcing Intention to Nominate Gerald R. Ford to be Vice President (294)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Letter Accepting the Resignation of Elliot L. Richardson as Attorney General (308) and Letter Directing the Acting Attorney General to Discharge the Director of the Office of Watergate Special Prosecution Force (309)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Veto of the War Powers Resolution (311)

• November 17 To the Associated Press managing editors, Nixon says, "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."  
• November 29 Atari kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of their seminal arcade version of PONG, the first game to achieve commercial success  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Appendix B, December 6, "The President accompanied Gerald R. Ford to the House Chamber at the Capitol where Mr. Ford took the oath of office as the 40th Vice President of the United States."

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Signing a Bill Establishing the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (356) and (87 Stat. 697)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on Signing the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act (3)

Reference:   Watergate: Chronology of a Crisis.   Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1975, p. 521;  Ford Library Watergate Exhibit ; and House Resolution 803

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks Following a Meeting with Arab Foreign Ministers to Discuss Prospects for Peace in the Middle East (52)

• February 27 People magazine is published for the first time.  

Reference:   Public Papers.   Veto of the Energy Emergency Bill (69)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement on Signing the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1974 (104)

• April 8 Hank Aaron hits his career home run # 715, breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record.   

Reference:   Public Papers.   Address to the Nation Announcing Answer to the House Judiciary Committee Subpoena for Additional Presidential Tape Recordings (122)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Signing the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (130)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Departure for the Middle East (170). See also items (171)-(193)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Departure for Belgium and the Soviet Union (198). See also items (199)-(211)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Statement Announcing Intention to Comply with Supreme Court decision Requiring Production of Presidential Tape Recordings (228) and 418 U.S. 683 (1974)

Reference:   Watergate: Chronology of a Crisis.   Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1975, p. 752 and  Ford Library Watergate Exhibit

Reference:   Public Papers.   Address to the Nation Announcing Decision to Resign the Office of the President of the United States (244)

Reference:   Public Papers.   Remarks on Departure from the White House (245) and Nixon Presidential Materials. Daily Diary, August 9, 1974, Box RC 14

• September 8, 1974 Nixon accepts the pardon of President Gerald Ford "for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9,1974."  
• August 8-September, 1985 In a five-week fact-finding trip, Nixon visits and meets with top leaders in China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, Pakistan, Turkey, and Great Britain.  
• 1986 Nixon meets with Mikhail Gorbachev.  
• June 22, 1993 Mrs. Nixon dies at home in Park Ridge, New Jersey.  
• April 22, 1994 Nixon dies in New York City.

About the References

In many cases, the source cited is the  Public Papers of the Presidents:   Richard Nixon .

• The numbers in parentheses refer to the item number of the statement in the  Public Papers , not the page number.

The  Public Papers of the Presidents  volumes are available in print at many public or university libraries and on the following websites:

• The United States Government Printing Office Bookstore ( https://bookstore.gpo.gov/ )
• The American Presidency Project ( http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/index.php )
• The complete collection can be found at any  Federal Depository Library

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The Best Books To Learn About President Richard Nixon

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The Best Book About Richard Nixon (Tie) (Appear on 5 Lists)

Nixon, vol. 3: ruin and recovery, 1973-1990 by stephen e. ambrose.

• Best Presidential Bios
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• Mandi Lindner
• The Washington Post

Watergate is a story of high drama and low skulduggery, of lies and bribes, of greed and lust for power. With access to the central characters, the public papers, and the trials transcripts, Ambrose explains how Nixon destroyed himself through a combination of arrogance and indecision, allowing a “third-rate burglary” to escalate into a scandal that overwhelmed his presidency. Within a decade and a half however, Nixon had become one of America’s elder statesmen, respected internationally and at home even by those who had earlier clamoured loudest for his head. This is the story of Nixon’s final fall from grace and astonishing recovery.

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Richard Milhous Nixon: The Rise of An American Politician by Roger Morris

• Presidents USA
• The Tailored Man

#3-5 (Appear on 4 Lists)

Being nixon: a man divided by evan thomas.

• Presidential History

Evan Thomas delivers the best single-volume biography of Richard Nixon to date, a radical, unique portrait of a complicated figure who was both determinedly optimistic and tragically flawed. The New York Times bestselling author of Ike’s Bluff andSea of Thunder, Thomas brings new life to one of American history’s most infamous, paradoxical, and enigmatic politicians, dispensing with myths to achieve an intimate and nuanced look at the actual man.

Nixon, Vol. 1: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962 by Stephen E. Ambrose

From acclaimed biographer Stephen E. Ambrose comes the life of one of the most elusive and intriguing American political figures, Richard M. Nixon. From his difficult boyhood and earnest youth to bis ruthless political campaigns for Congress and Senate to his defeats in ’60 and ’62,

Nixon, Vol. 2: The Triumph of a Politician 1962-1972 by Stephen E. Ambrose

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Nixonland: the rise of a president and the fracturing of america by richard perlstein.

Between 1965 and 1972, America experienced no less than a second civil war. Out of its ashes, the political world we know now was born. It was the era not only of Nixon, Johnson, Spiro Agnew, Hubert H. Humphrey, George McGovern, Richard J. Daley, and George Wallace but Abbie Hoffman, Ronald Reagan, Angela Davis, Ted Kennedy, Charles Manson, John Lindsay, and Jane Fonda. There are tantalizing glimpses of Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Jesse Jackson, John Kerry, and even of two ambitious young men named Karl Rove and William Clinton — and a not so ambitious young man named George W. Bush.

President Nixon: Alone in the White House by Richard Reeves

Even as he dreamed of presidential greatness, Nixon could trust no one. His closest aides spied on him as he spied on them, while cabinet members, generals, and admirals spied on all of them — rifling briefcases and desks, tapping each other’s phones in a house where no one knew what was true anymore. Reeves shows a presidency doomed from the start by paranoia and corruption, beginning with Nixon and Kissinger using the CIA to cover up a murder by American soldiers in Vietnam that led to the theft and publication of the Pentagon Papers, then to secret counterintelligence units within the White House itself, and finally to the burglaries and cover-up that came to be known as Watergate. President Nixon is the astonishing story of a complex political animal who was as praised as he was reviled and who remains a subject of controversy to this day.

Richard Nixon: A Life in Full by Conrad Black

From the late 1940s to the mid-1970s, Richard Nixon was a polarizing figure in American politics, admired for his intelligence, savvy, and strategic skill, and reviled for his shady manner and cutthroat tactics. Conrad Black, whose epic biography of FDR was widely acclaimed as a masterpiece, now separates the good in Nixon—his foreign initiatives, some of his domestic policies, and his firm political hand—from the sinister, in a book likely to generate enormous attention and controversy.

#9-12 (Appear on 2 Lists)

Kennedy & nixon: the rivalry that shaped postwar america by christopher j matthews.

John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon each dreamed of becoming the great young leader of their age. First as friends, then as bitter enemies, they were linked by a historic rivalry that changed both them and their country. Fresh, entertaining, and revealing, Kennedy and Nixon reveals that the early fondness between the two men—Kennedy, for example, told a trusted friend that if he didn’t receive the Democratic nomination in 1960, he would vote for Nixon—degenerated into distrust and bitterness. Using White House tapes, this book exposes Richard Nixon’s dread of a Kennedy “restoration” in 1972 drove the dark deeds of Watergate.

One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream by Tom Wicker

From his seemingly “poor boy makes good” childhood to his college years, this piercing, perceptive examination of the people, places, and events that shaped the character of Richard Nixon gives the reader a rare and a fair glimpse of the forces that shaped him.

The Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon by Stanley I. Kutler

Richard M. Nixon by Elizabeth Drew

• All The Presidents Books

In this provocative and revelatory assessment of the only president ever forced out of office, the legendary Washington journalist Elizabeth Drew explains how Richard M. Nixon’s troubled inner life offers the key to understanding his presidency. She shows how Nixon was surprisingly indecisive on domestic issues and often wasn’t interested in them. Turning to international affairs, she reveals the inner workings of Nixon’s complex relationship with Henry Kissinger, and their mutual rivalry and distrust. The Watergate scandal that ended his presidency was at once an overreach of executive power and the inevitable result of his paranoia and passion for vengeance.

#13-36 (Appear on 1 List)

Abuse of power: the new nixon tapes by stanley i. kutler.

All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein

With a new introduction by the authors for the fortieth anniversary of its publication, the most devastating political detective story of the century, two Washington Post reporters, whose brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation smashed the Watergate scandal wide open, tell the behind-the-scenes drama the way it really happened.

Fatal Politics: The Nixon Tapes, the Vietnam War, and the Casualties of Reelection by Ken Hughes

While Nixon publicly promised to keep American troops in Vietnam only until the South Vietnamese could take their place, he privately agreed with his top military, diplomatic, and intelligence advisers that Saigon could never survive without American boots on the ground. Afraid that a preelection fall of Saigon would scuttle his chances for a second term, Nixon put his reelection above the lives of American soldiers. Postponing the inevitable, he kept America in the war into the fourth year of his presidency. At the same time, Nixon negotiated a “decent interval” deal with the Communists to put a face-saving year or two between his final withdrawal and Saigon’s collapse. If they waited that long, Nixon secretly assured North Vietnam’s chief sponsors in Moscow and Beijing, the North could conquer the South without any fear that the United States would intervene to save it. The humiliating defeat that haunts Americans to this day was built into Nixon’s exit strategy. Worse, the myth that Nixon was winning the war before Congress “tied his hands” has led policy makers to adapt tactics from America’s final years in Vietnam to the twenty-first-century conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, prolonging both wars without winning either.

Frost/Nixon (book) by David Frost

Published to satisfy the massive renewed interest in Sir David Frost’s astounding feat of journalism following the huge success of the eponymous West End and Broadway play, “Frost/Nixon” tells the extraordinary story of how Frost pursued and landed the biggest fish of his career. When he first conceived the idea of interviewing Richard Nixon and trying to bring the ex-President to confront his past, he was told on all sides that the project would never get off the ground. Nobody believed that Nixon would agree to Frost’s editorial control, or even to talk about Watergate at all. Yet in the end the project succeeded, and the series drew larger audiences than any news programme ever had in the United States, before being shown all over the world.Including hilarious tales of the people he encountered along the way and fascinating insights into the making of the television series itself, this is Sir David’s own story of his pursuit of disgraced ex-President Richard Nixon one that is no less revealing of his own toughness and pertinacity than of the ex-President’s elusiveness. Frost provides an account of the only public trial that Nixon will ever have, and a revelation of the man’s character as it appeared in the stress of eleven gruelling sessions before the cameras. Fully revised and updated with historical perspective, and including transcripts of the edited interviews, “Frost/Nixon” describes Sir David Frost’s quest to produce one of the most dramatic pieces of television ever broadcast.

Just Plain Dick by Kevin Mattson

It all started with some businessmen bankrolling Richard Nixon to become a “salesman against socialization.” But in this precursor to current campaign finance scandals, Nixon had some explaining to do to keep his place on Dwight Eisenhower’s Republican ticket, so he took to the airwaves. The “Checkers” speech saved and bolstered Nixon’s political career and set the tone for the 1952 campaign. Just Plain Dick is political history and more. It’s the story of a young man nearing a nervous breakdown and staging a political comeback. While the narrative focuses tightly, almost cinematically, on the 1952 election cycle-from the spring primary season to the summer conventions, then to the allegations against Nixon through to the speech in September, and finally the election in November-Mattson also provides a broad-stroke depiction of American politics and culture during the Cold War.

Nixon by Iwan W. Morgan

This book examines Richard Nixon’s place in history, from his many achievements to his notable shortcomings to the Watergate scandal which has often defined his presidency. In his lifetime Nixon attempted to change perspectives to remodel his shattered image and portray himself as a great leader brought down by one mistake. Since his death in 1994, historians have been reassessing his achievements and in this latest addition to the Reputations series the Nixon presidency is reexamined to discern how Nixon’s reputation has evolved and how far it corresponds to his actions and their effects. Can we give credence to his self-promotion as ‘world statesman’? Should we re-evaluate the domestic record of a president whose policies had more in common with those of his liberal predecessors than his conservative successors? These and other issues that contribute to a fresh understanding of the ways in which Richard Nixon’s historical image has been fashioned are at the heart of this incisive new study.

Nixon Agonistes by Gary Wills

From one of America’s most distinguished historians comes this classic analysis of Richard Nixon. By considering some of the president’s opinions, Wills comes to the controversial conclusion that Nixon was actually a liberal. Both entertaining and essential, Nixon Agonistes captures a troubled leader and a struggling nation mired in a foolish Asian war, forfeiting the loyalty of its youth, puzzled by its own power, and looking to its cautious president for confidence. In the end, Nixon Agonistes reaches far beyond its assessment of the thirty-seventh president to become an incisive and provocative analysis of the American political machine

Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power by Robert Dallek

Working side by side in the White House, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger were two of the most compelling, contradictory, and powerful figures in America in the second half of the twentieth century. While their personalities could hardly have seemed more different, both were largely self-made men, brimming with ambition, driven by their own inner demons, and often ruthless in pursuit of their goals.

Nixon Reconsidered by Joan Hoff

An eye-opening look at the man whose notoriety over Watergate and whose accomplishments in foreign policy have made us foget that he was one of our most innovative modern presidents on matters of domestic policy. Hoff shows that Nixon’s reforms in welfare, civil rights, economic and environmental policy, and reorganization of the federal bureaucracy all greatly outweigh those things for which we tend to remember him.

Nixon: A Life by Jonathan Aitken

The rise, fall, and rebirth of Richard Nixon is perhaps the most fascinating story in American politics—and perhaps the most misunderstood. Nixon: A Life is the first entirely objective biography of Richard Nixon. Former British Defense Minister Jonathan Aitken conducted over sixty hours of interviews with the impeached former president and was granted unprecedented access to thousands of pages of Nixon’s previously sealed private documents. Nixon reveals to Aitken why he didn’t burn the Watergate tapes, how he felt when he resigned the presidency, his driving spiritual beliefs, and more.Nixon: A Life breaks important new ground as a major work of political biography, inspiring historians to recognize the outstanding diplomatic achievements of a man whose journey from tainted politician to respected foreign policy expert and elder statesman was nothing short of remarkable.

One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon by Tim Weiner

Based largely on documents declassified only in the last few years, One Man Against the World paints a devastating portrait of a tortured yet brilliant man who led the country largely according to a deep-seated insecurity and distrust of not only his cabinet and congress, but the American population at large. In riveting, tick-tock prose, Weiner illuminates how the Vietnam War and the Watergate controversy that brought about Nixon’s demise were inextricably linked. From the hail of garbage and curses that awaited Nixon upon his arrival at the White House, when he became the president of a nation as deeply divided as it had been since the end of the Civil War, to the unprecedented action Nixon took against American citizens, who he considered as traitorous as the army of North Vietnam, to the infamous break-in and the tapes that bear remarkable record of the most intimate and damning conversations between the president and his confidantes, Weiner narrates the history of Nixon’s anguished presidency in fascinating and fresh detail.

Pat and Dick – The Nixons, An Intimate Portrait of a Marriage by Will Swift

When Americans remember the controversial Nixons, they usually focus on the political triumphs, the turbulent White House years, and the humiliating public downfall. But a very different image of the polarizing president emerges in this fascinating portrait of the relationship between Richard and Pat Nixon. Now, the couple’s recently released love letters and other private documents reveal that as surely as unremitting adversity can fray the fabric of a marriage, devotion can propel it to surmount disgrace and defeat.

Richard Nixon by Vamik D. Volkan

Richard Nixon and His America by Herbert S. Parmet

“Richard Nixon and His America” is an informed portrait of a commanding political figure of our day. The first view to utilize the newly opened files from the White House, and with the advantage of exclusive cooperation from the former President and interviews with important political figures of the time (friends and enemies), this work offers a comprehensive coverage of events and personalities that explains both the country and the man. Exploring such important issues as Communism and America’s place in global politics, it exposes the mind and personality of Richard Nixon and discovers what he represents in American history and culture. Parmet neither builds up nor attacks Nixon’s reputation but studies the ways he reflected long-standing strains and strong sentiments in American life. The book aims to provide both an understanding of what led to the Watergate scandal and a knowledge of the America of the past 20 years.

Richard Nixon: The Shaping of His Character by Fawn McKay Brodie

RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon by Richard Nixon

The former president recounts his life and political rises and falls, concentrating on the events, domestic and international, of his presidency and those leading up to his unprecedented resignation.

Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate by Bob Woodward

“Twenty-five years ago, after Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, Gerald Ford promised a return to normalcy. “”My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over,”” President Ford declared. But it was not.”

Six Crises by Richard Nixon by Richard Nixon

Six Crises is the first book written by Richard M. Nixon, the 37th President of the United States. This book was published in 1962. It recounts Nixon’s recollections of six major political situations that required crisis management on his part. Why did Nixon write this book? Nixon was motivated to write this book in order to enhance his faltering public image which sorely needed enhancement. In 1962 Nixon was at a low point in his life, yet he was planning a political comeback. His efforts were successful because of the intensity of his will and his dogged determination. In just six years he became President of the United States and leader of the free world. Tragically in another six years his character flaws caused him to lose everything. His career started in 1946 when he was elected to the U.S. Congress and to the Senate four years later. President Eisenhower selected him to be Vice President in 1952. In 1960 he was doing well. Then in 1960, he lost the presidential election to John F. Kennedy. This blow seemed to end his public life. The next January, after his Vice Presidential term ended, he returned home to California. He intended to retire from politics and practice law.

The Conviction of Richard Nixon by James Reston, Jr.

The Watergate scandal began with a break-in at the office of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel on June 17, 1971, and ended when President Gerald Ford granted Richard M. Nixon a pardon on September 8, 1974, one month after Nixon resigned from office in disgrace. Effectively removed from the reach of prosecutors, Nixon returned to California, uncontrite and unconvicted, convinced that time would exonerate him of any wrongdoing and certain that history would remember his great accomplishments—the opening of China and the winding down of the Vietnam War—and forget his “mistake,” the “pipsqueak thing” called Watergate.

The Final Days: The Classic, Behind-The-Scenes Account of Richard Nixon’s Dramatic Last Days in the White House by Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein

THE FINAL DAYS is the classic, behind-the-scenes account of Richard Nixon’s dramatic last months as president. Moment by moment, Bernstein and Woodward portray the taut, post-Watergate White House as Nixon, his family, his staff, and many members of Congress strained desperately to prevent his inevitable resignation. This brilliant book reveals the ordeal of Nixon’s fall from office — one of the gravest crises in American presidential history. Both devastating character study and essential insight into the workings of a corrupted White House, THE FINAL DAYS is an essential companion volume to the authors’ classic ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN.

The Nixon Presidency: Power and Politics in Turbulent Times by Michael A. Genovese

Although much material concerning the Nixon presidency remains unavailable to scholars, Michael A. Genovese has successfully pieced together the many puzzles that make up Richard Nixon and his presidency. A study of the Nixon presidency, it is also a study of the nature of the presidency broadly defined that is informed by the concerns of both traditional political biography and of contemporary presidential scholarship. As such, the volume raises many vital issues and questions relating to the office of president. Focusing on Nixon as a political leader and on his style of decision-making and management, The Nixon Presidency is the first book to bring together all the key elements of Nixon’s presidency into an integrated and interrelated whole, tracing Nixon’s rise and fall and the how and why of Watergate.

The Presidency of Richard Nixon by Melvin Small

Twenty-five years after Richard Nixon resigned from office, his legacy remains shrouded in controversy. His was a complex, inconsistent, and even contradictory presidency, shaped by the man’s personality and political practices and played out during one of America’s most turbulent eras. Melvin Small now draws on the latest archival releases to take a fresh look at Nixon and place his administration in proper historical perspective.

The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate’s Deep Throat by Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein

The mysterious source who helped Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein break open the Watergate scandal in 1972 remained hidden for thirty-three years. In The Secret Man, Woodward tells the story of his long, complex relationship with W. Mark Felt, the enigmatic former No. 2 man in the FBI who helped end the presidency of Richard Nixon. The Secret Man brings to a close one of the last chapters of Watergate.

The Selling of the President by Joe McGinniss

The Selling of the President is the enduring story of the 1968 campaign that wrote the script for modern Presidential politicking—and how that script came to be.

The Best Richard Nixon Book Lists Consulted

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Biography of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States

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Richard M. Nixon (January 9, 1913–April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a U.S. senator from California and vice president under Dwight Eisenhower. As a result of his involvement in the Watergate scandal, a cover-up of illegal activities connected with his reelection committee, Nixon became the first and only U.S. president to resign from office.

Fast Facts: Richard Nixon

• Known For : Nixon was the 37th president of the United States and the only president to resign from office.
• Also Known As : Richard Milhous Nixon, “Tricky Dick”
• Born : January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California
• Parents : Francis A. Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon
• Died : April 22, 1994 in New York, New York
• Education : Whittier College, Duke University Law School
• Spouse : Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan (m. 1940–1993)
• Children : Tricia, Julie
• Notable Quote : “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.”

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 19, 1913, to Francis A. Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon in Yorba Linda, California. Nixon’s father was a rancher, but after his ranch failed he moved the family to Whittier, California, where he opened a service station and grocery store.

Nixon grew up poor and was raised in a very conservative, Quaker household. Nixon had four brothers: Harold, Donald, Arthur, and Edward. Harold died of tuberculosis at age 23 and Arthur died at age 7 of tubercular encephalitis.

Nixon was an exceptional student and graduated second in his class at Whittier College, where he won a scholarship to attend Duke University Law School in North Carolina. After graduating from Duke in 1937, Nixon was unable to find work on the East Coast and decided to move back to Whittier, where he worked as a small-town lawyer.

Nixon met his wife, Thelma Catherine Patricia “Pat” Ryan, when the two played opposite one another in a community theater production. He and Pat were married on June 21, 1940, and had two children: Tricia (born in 1946) and Julie (born in 1948).

World War II

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor , ushering the United States into World War II . Shortly afterward, Nixon moved from Whittier to Washington D.C., where he took a job at the Office of Price Administration (OPA).

As a Quaker, Nixon was eligible to apply for an exemption from military service. He was bored with his role at the OPA, however, so he applied to the Navy and joined in August 1942 at the age of 29. Nixon was stationed as a naval control officer in the South Pacific Combat Air Transport.

While Nixon did not serve in a combat role during the war, he was awarded two service stars and a citation of commendation and was eventually promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander. Nixon resigned his commission in January 1946.

Congressional Service

In 1946, Nixon ran for a seat in the House of Representatives for the 12th Congressional District of California. To beat his opponent, five-term Democratic incumbent Jerry Voorhis, Nixon used a variety of smear tactics, insinuating that Voorhis had communist ties because he had once been endorsed by the labor organization CIO-PAC. Nixon won the election.

Nixon’s tenure in the House of Representatives was notable for his anti-communist crusading. He served as a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which was responsible for investigating individuals and groups with suspected ties to communism.

Nixon was also instrumental in the investigation and conviction for perjury of Alger Hiss, an alleged member of an underground communist organization. Nixon’s aggressive questioning of Hiss at the HUAC hearing was central to securing Hiss’ conviction and won Nixon national attention.

Nixon ran for a seat in the Senate in 1950. Once again, he used smear tactics against his opponent, Helen Douglas. Nixon was so overt in his attempt to tie Douglas to communism that he even had some of his flyers printed on pink paper.

In response to Nixon's smear tactics and his attempt to get Democrats to cross party lines and vote for him, a Democratic committee ran a full-page ad in several papers with a political cartoon of Nixon shoveling hay labeled “Campaign Trickery” into a donkey labeled "Democrat." Under the cartoon was written, “Look at Tricky Dick Nixon’s Republican Record.” Despite the ad, Nixon went on to win the election—but the nickname "Tricky Dick" stuck with him.

Run for Vice President

When Dwight D. Eisenhower decided to run as the Republican Party's candidate for president in 1952, he needed a running mate. Nixon’s anti-communist position and strong base of support in California made him an ideal choice.

During the campaign, Nixon was nearly removed from the ticket when he was accused of financial improprieties for allegedly using an $18,000 campaign contribution for personal expenses.

In a televised address that became known as the “Checkers” speech delivered on September 23, 1952, Nixon defended his honesty and integrity. In a bit of levity, Nixon stated that there was one personal gift that he just wasn't going to return—a little Cocker Spaniel dog, whom his 6-year-old daughter had named "Checkers."

The speech was enough of a success to keep Nixon on the ticket.

Vice Presidency

After Eisenhower won the presidential election in November 1952, Nixon, now vice president, focused much of his attention on foreign affairs. In 1953, he visited several countries in the Far East. In 1957 he visited Africa, and in 1958 he visited Latin America. Nixon was also instrumental in helping push the Civil Rights Act of 1957 through Congress.

In 1959, Nixon met with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow. In what became known as the “Kitchen Debate,” an impromptu argument erupted over the ability of each nation to provide good food and a good life to its citizens. The profanity-laced argument soon escalated as both leaders defended their country's way of life.

After Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in 1955 and a stroke in 1957, Nixon was called on to assume some of his high-level duties. At the time, there was no formal process for the transfer of power in the event of a presidential disability.

Nixon and Eisenhower worked out an agreement that became the basis for the 25th Amendment to the Constitution , which was ratified on February 10, 1967. The amendment detailed the procedure for presidential succession in the event of the president's incapacitation or death.

Failed Presidential Run of 1960

After Eisenhower completed his two terms in office, Nixon launched his own bid for the White House in 1960 and easily won the Republican nomination. His opponent on the Democratic side was Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy, who campaigned on the idea of bringing a new generation of leadership to the White House.

The 1960 campaign was the first to make use of the new medium of television for advertisements, news, and policy debates. For the first time in American history, citizens were afforded the ability to follow the presidential campaign in real time.

For the first debate, Nixon chose to wear little makeup, wore a badly selected gray suit, and came across looking old and tired compared to the younger and more photogenic Kennedy. The race remained tight, but Nixon eventually lost the election to Kennedy by 120,000 votes.

Nixon spent the years between 1960 and 1968 writing a bestselling book, "Six Crises," which recounted his role in six political crises. He also ran unsuccessfully for governor of California against Democratic incumbent Pat Brown.

1968 Election

In November 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the office of the presidency and easily won re-election in 1964.

In 1967, as the 1968 election approached, Nixon announced his own candidacy and easily won the Republican nomination. Faced with mounting disapproval ratings, Johnson withdrew as a candidate during the campaign. The new Democratic front-runner became Robert F. Kennedy, the younger brother of John.

On June 5, 1968, Robert Kennedy was shot and killed following his victory in the California primary. Rushing now to find a replacement, the Democratic Party nominated Johnson’s vice president, Hubert Humphrey , to run against Nixon. Alabama Governor George Wallace had also joined the race as an independent.

In another close election, Nixon won the presidency by 500,000 popular votes.

Major domestic accomplishments during Nixon's presidency included Neil Armstrong 's and Buzz Aldrin's historic walk on the moon in 1969; the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970; and the passage of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1971, which granted 18-year-olds the right to vote.

Nixon's focus on foreign relations had him initially escalating the Vietnam War as he implemented a controversial bombing campaign against the neutral nation of Cambodia to disrupt North Vietnamese supply lines. Later, however, Nixon was instrumental in withdrawing all combat units from Vietnam, and by 1973 he had ended mandatory military conscription. Fighting within Vietnam finally ceased when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese in 1975.

In 1972, with the help of his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, President Nixon and his wife Pat embarked on a week-long trip to China in order to establish diplomatic relations. Resentment between China and the U.S. had lingered following the Korean War, during which China had fought against U.S. forces. The visit marked the first time a U.S. president had visited the communist nation, which was then under the control of Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong . Nixon's visit was an important step in improving relations between these two powerful nations.

Watergate Scandal

Nixon was reelected in 1972 in what is considered one of the largest landslide victories in U.S. history. Unfortunately, Nixon was willing to use any means necessary to ensure his re-election.

On June 17, 1972, five men were caught breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., to plant listening devices. Nixon’s campaign staff believed the devices would provide information that could be used against Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern .

While the Nixon administration initially denied involvement in the break-in, two young newspaper reporters for the Washington Post, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, obtained information from a source known as “Deep Throat,” who became instrumental in tying the administration to the break-in.

Nixon remained defiant throughout the Watergate scandal , and in a televised statement on November 17, 1973, he infamously stated, “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.”

During the investigation that followed, it was revealed that Nixon had installed a secret tape-recording system in the White House. A legal battle ensued, with Nixon reluctantly agreeing to the release of 1,200 pages of transcripts from what became known as the “Watergate Tapes.”

Mysteriously, there was an 18-minute gap on one of the tapes, which a secretary claimed she had accidentally erased.

Impeachment Proceedings and Resignation

With the release of the tapes, the House Judiciary Committee opened impeachment proceedings against Nixon. On July 27, 1974, with a vote of 27-11, the Committee voted in favor of bringing articles of impeachment against Nixon.

On August 8, 1974, having lost the support of the Republican Party and facing impeachment, Nixon delivered his resignation speech from the Oval Office. At noon the next day, Nixon became the first president in United States history to resign from office.

Nixon’s vice president Gerald R. Ford assumed the office of president. On September 8, 1974, Ford granted Nixon a “full, free and absolute pardon,” ending any chance of an indictment against Nixon.

After his resignation from office, Nixon retired to San Clemente, California. He wrote both his memoirs and several books on international affairs. With the success of his books, he became somewhat of an authority on American foreign relations, improving his public reputation. Toward the end of his life, Nixon actively campaigned for American support and financial aid for Russia and other former Soviet republics.

On April 18, 1994, Nixon suffered a stroke and died four days later at the age of 81.

In his time, Nixon was known for his uneasy public persona and intense secrecy. He is now best remembered for his involvement in the Watergate scandal and his resignation from office, a presidential first. He has been depicted in a variety of dramatic films and documentaries, including "Frost/Nixon," "Secret Honor," "The Assassination of Richard Nixon," and "Our Nixon."

• Ambrose, Stephen E. "Nixon." Simon and Schuster, 1987.
• Gellman, Irwin F. "The Contender, Richard Nixon: the Congress Years, 1946-1952." Free Press, 1999.
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Presidential Libraries

Richard Nixon (January 9, 1913 - April 22, 1994)

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 on the lemon ranch of his parents, Francis and Hannah Nixon in Yorba Linda, California and raised in nearby Whittier. He attended Whittier College and Duke University School of Law and then joined a law firm in his hometown. He and Patricia "Pat" Ryan met in 1938 at rehearsal for a community play in which they were both acting. They were married in 1940, and would later have two daughters, Patricia (Tricia) (1946) and Julie (1948). In 1942 he received a Navy commission and served in the Pacific theatre.

Nixon won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946. In 1948, as a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), he led the investigation of Alger Hiss, a former State Department official accused of spying for the Soviet Union. After two terms he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1950.

In 1952, General Dwight D. Eisenhower selected Nixon as his running mate. Two months later, an article was published claiming that campaign donors were buying influence with Nixon. To rebut his critics, Nixon appeared on television to the largest audience in history to date. In the live, nationwide broadcast, Nixon said that his family had accepted one campaign gift for themselves: a beloved dog named Checkers whom they intended to keep. The speech was a great success, proving the importance of television as a political medium.

The Eisenhower-Nixon ticket won the 1952 Presidential election and was re-elected to a second term in 1956.  Vice President Nixon undertook many goodwill tours of foreign countries in an effort to increase support for American policies during the Cold War. After losing the 1960 Presidential election to John F. Kennedy and an unsuccessful bid for governor of California in 1962, he practiced law, wrote, and traveled extensively in Europe and Asia.

In 1968 Nixon was elected the 37th President of the U.S. Nixon’s foreign policy aimed to reduce international tensions by forging new links with old rivals. He began normalizing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, established the policy of détente with the Soviet Union and pursued domestic initiatives that included establishing the Environmental Protection Agency and bringing about the peaceful desegregation of public schools in the South.

On July 20, 1969, Nixon made what has been termed the longest-distance telephone call ever when he spoke from the Oval Office to astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during man’s first landing on the moon.

Following Vice President Spiro Agnew's resignation in October 1973, Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford to succeed Agnew. Following revelations from the Watergate tapes, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. Vice President Ford then became president of the United States.

In retirement, Nixon traveled throughout the United States and dozens of countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Mideast. In addition to his travels, Nixon kept up a full schedule of speaking and writing, completing ten books during his post-presidential lifetime. Nixon died on April 22, 1994, in New York City and was buried in Yorba Linda, California on April 27, 1994.

My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies

Review of “Richard Nixon: The Life” by John Farrell

28 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by Steve in President #37 - R Nixon

≈ 11 Comments

American history , biographies , book reviews , Clarence Darrow , John Farrell , presidential biographies , Richard Nixon , Tip O'Neill , US Presidents

This 558-paged biography proves balanced, lucid and consistently captivating. It begins with Nixon’s run for Congress in 1945 before back-tracking briefly to review his early life. In more-or-less chronological fashion, the book proceeds through his Senatorial career, his service as vice president, his “wilderness” years, his now-infamous presidency and his fascinating two-decade retirement.

In a world well-stocked with Nixon biographies, Farrell’s claim-to-fame involves his discovery of notes penned by Nixon’s chief of staff that show Nixon sabotaged LBJ’s peace initiative with North Vietnam in 1968 for political gain. But beyond that notable revelation, Farrell provides other fresh insights…and he saturates the narrative with clever quips and brilliant one-liners.

Farrell describes Nixon’s wilderness years more colorfully than I have seen elsewhere and his examination of Nixon’s efforts to enhance America’s relationship with China is excellent. Also included is a particularly thoughtful review of civil rights issues during the course of Nixon’s political career, and Farrell is able to distill the complicated decades-long conflict in Vietnam to its most comprehensible essence.

But the best aspect of this biography is probably its review of Watergate. Farrell moves through this sordid tale efficiently, providing just enough detail to inform a Nixon-era novice while providing an engrossing narrative for readers already familiar with this political tragedy. These sixty or so pages are refreshingly clear, cogent and convincing.

Although some readers have proclaimed this the new “definitive” biography of Nixon, it has its share of flaws. In the interest of efficiency much of Nixon’s life is covered too quickly. His first three decades, for instance, only receive about forty pages of coverage – not nearly enough to fully examine these critical years when his character was being forged.

Other important moments are considered with comparative haste or only modest scrutiny: the Checkers speech, his vice presidential trip to Asia and his Cabinet selection as president-elect, to name a few. In addition, Farrell’s inclusion of historical context is rather uneven. At times this book seems to be more history than biography while at others times context is almost entirely lacking.

But the most disappointing aspect of this biography for some will be that despite its compelling insights, revealing quotes and keen observations, Nixon remains stubbornly enigmatic. Farrell’s reluctance to psychoanalyze the man will please purists but leave others searching for a better sense for the origin and evolution of Nixon’s pernicious personality.

Overall, “Richard Nixon: The Life” is a mostly-familiar story which proves nicely balanced and quite well-told. Readers familiar with Nixon’s life are likely to find just enough fresh insights and good writing to justify “one more” Nixon biography while readers new to Nixon will find Farrell’s biography a terrific introduction to this oddly fascinating and sadly self-destructive politician.

Overall rating: 4 stars

11 thoughts on “Review of “Richard Nixon: The Life” by John Farrell”

January 28, 2018 at 2:04 pm

I have this book in my shopping cart. The only other bio I have read on Nixon was Black’s book, which you reviewed last time. I can’t quite remember why I didn’t like that one so much since I really liked his treatment of FDR, but I’m looking forward reading Farrell’s book.

January 28, 2018 at 2:12 pm

Although I rated Farrell’s book more highly than Black’s, reading Farrell’s made me better appreciate some of the detail which was embedded in Black’s and which was missing here. I never would have thought of 558 pages as “too short” but I think Farrell could have used an extra 50 or so to flesh out a few areas.

January 28, 2018 at 3:10 pm

“Fleshing out” is a good point for any of these presidential biographies. Going too far may detract some (for instance, Caro’s treatment on LBJ which I also have on my bookshelf), but also going in the other direction can be a minus, too. I finished reading Jean Edward Smith’s Bush and came away wanting more. Although the book is something like 700 pages, I felt that he could have extended it even farther in some places like the handling of the war and so forth. I guess it’s a pendulum that swings from one end to the other, and very hard to get it to that sweet spot, personal tastes notwithstanding.

January 28, 2018 at 8:41 pm

Really liked this one. I don’t know that it has a lot of fresh info (besides the Haldeman memo you mention), but Farrell does a lot better job grappling with Nixon’s contradictions and the strangeness of his personality than most other writers. It’s my favorite single volume bio by a pretty wide margin.

*single volume Nixon bio

January 28, 2018 at 9:08 pm

I’ve never read anything by Farrell yet. But I do have this book in my shopping cart and I already have his bio on Darrow sitting on my bookshelf. Looking forward to his writing!

February 14, 2018 at 11:38 am

I enjoyed this book. The other nixon books I’ve read are Ambrose’s 3 volume nixon set. You haven’t gotten there yet, but I felt the same about Ambrose’s RN series the way you did about his eisenhower books.

This one was solid and balanced. Nixon is someone I always enjoy reading about, because there’s a lot to unpack in his presidency and personality. I’ve got Perlstein’s ‘Nixonland’ on the shelf, which is more of a political history of the time than a standard bio. Looking forward to reading more of your reviews!

April 10, 2018 at 7:57 pm

Just starting the book. So far it seems to be well written. Will let you know what I think when I finish it.

June 4, 2018 at 1:39 pm

Completed it a month ago. Thought it gave the best explanation of how ‘Nixon became NIxon’. Farrell goes through NIxon’s life methodically to give the reader on how NIxon became the President he did by 1969. Recommend it for lovers of presidential biographies.

June 5, 2018 at 6:09 am

I’ve just finished the final volume in the Ambrose trilogy, so I’ve wrapped up a dozen biographies of Nixon….and Farrell’s still stands out (not by a huge margin, but by a discernible one) as my favorite biography of this controversial man. I, too, recommend it both for lovers of great bios as well as anyone interested in learning about Nixon(!)

August 15, 2018 at 1:13 am

I must admit, I had low expectations for this book because I’ve known the author for a few years and know the depth of his loathing for Nixon. Knowing his extreme prejudice against Nixon caused me to have legitimate doubts about his objectivity in writing this book. I finally checked it out from my library and while I haven’t read the whole book, I read the final chapter (which felt far too brief for a period spanning 20 years) and was pleased to see him include some excellent balancing points in Nixon’s favor. Overall, this chapter seemed to be fairly balanced. He even discussed the fact that the Watergate prosecutors, and even trial judge Sirica himself, were engaged in illegal collusion as they coordinated their efforts to achieve convictions at any cost. Having read that chapter, I may cave and buy this book to add to my collection and read it in its entirety in the future. Of course, one of its biggest flaws is his extremely overplayed hand on the Chennault affair and his treatment of that dubious letter as more legitimate than it is actually considered within the academic community, where it is viewed skeptically and of far less importance than Farrell makes it out to be.

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Richard Nixon: Impact and Legacy

Richard Nixon's six years in the White House remain widely viewed as pivotal in American military, diplomatic, and political history. In the two decades before Nixon took office, a liberal Democratic coalition dominated presidential politics, and American foreign policy was marked by large-scale military interventions; in the two decades after, a conservative Republican coalition dominated presidential politics, and direct military intervention was by and large replaced with aid (sometimes covert, sometimes not) to allied forces. Nixon intended his presidency to be epochal and, despite being cut short by Watergate, it was.

As President, Nixon was only as conservative as he could be and only as liberal as he had to be. He took credit for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency while privately noting that if he had not taken this liberal step, the Democratic Congress would have forced more liberal environmental legislation on him. This was a President who could philosophically oppose wage and price controls and privately express the conviction that they would not work, while still implementing them for election-year effect. Still his tactical flexibility should not obscure his steadiness of political purpose. He meant to move the country to the right, and he did.

Nixon's most celebrated achievements as President—nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and the diplomatic opening to China—set the stage for the arms reduction pacts and careful diplomacy that brought about the end of the Cold War. Likewise, the Nixon Doctrine of furnishing aid to allies while expecting them to provide the soldiers to fight in their own defense paved the way for the Reagan Doctrine of supporting proxy armies and the Weinberger Doctrine of sending U.S. armed forces into combat only as a last resort when vital national interests are at stake and objectives clearly defined.

But even these groundbreaking achievements must be considered within the context of Nixon's political goals. He privately viewed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the China initiative as ways to blunt criticism from the political left. And while his slow withdrawal from Vietnam appeared to be a practical application of the Nixon Doctrine, his secretly recorded White House tapes reveal that he expected South Vietnam to collapse after he brought American troops home and prolonged the war to postpone that collapse until after his reelection in 1972.

Ultimately, the White House tapes must shape any assessment of Nixon's impact and legacy. They ended his presidency by furnishing proof of his involvement in the Watergate cover-up, fueled a generation's skepticism about political leaders, and today provide ample evidence of the political calculation behind the most important decisions of his presidency. They make his presidency an object lesson in the difference between image and reality, a lesson that each generation must learn anew.

Researcher Miller Center, University of Virginia

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Richard nixon presidency page, richard nixon essays, life in brief, life before the presidency, campaigns and elections, domestic affairs, foreign affairs, life after the presidency, family life, impact and legacy (current essay).

• World Biography

Richard Nixon Biography

Born: January 9, 1913 Yorba Linda, California Died: April 22, 1994 Yorba Linda, California American president and vice president

Richard Nixon was the thirty-seventh president of the United States. He successfully served as a member of the House of Representatives and of the Senate and was vice president under Dwight Eisenhower (1890–1969). Despite all his political triumphs, Nixon will probably best be remembered as the first president to resign from office.

Young Nixon in California

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on his father's lemon farm in Yorba Linda, California, on January 9, 1913. Of the four other sons in the family, two died in childhood. After the farm failed, the family moved to Whittier, California, where Nixon's father ran a grocery store. Nixon had a troubled childhood. Raised by a sometimes abusive father and a controlling mother, Nixon adopted parts of both his parents' personalities. Some historians have believed that, as a result of his childhood, Nixon had a drive to succeed and felt he had to pretend to be "good" while using any tactics necessary to achieve his goals.

At Whittier College, Nixon excelled as a student and a debater. He was president of his freshman class and, as a senior, president of the student body. Graduating second in his class in 1934, he won a scholarship to Duke University Law School. Although he was a member of the national scholastic law fraternity, he failed to find a job in one of the big New York law firms. This failure, along with the views of his father, left him with a strong dislike of the "eastern establishment."

Reluctantly, Nixon returned to Whittier and began practicing law. Soon afterward, Nixon met Thelma Catherine Patricia (Pat) Ryan (1912–1993), a high school teacher. The two were married in 1940 and would have two daughters, Patricia and Julie.

Public service, then soldier

Shortly before the United States entered World War II (1939–45), where Americanled forces faced-off against Germany, Japan, and Italy, Nixon began working for the federal government in the Office of Emergency Management. Nixon soon left this post and entered the navy as a lieutenant junior-grade in August 1942. He was sent to the Pacific as an operations officer with the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command. Fourteen months later he returned to the United States to work as a lawyer in uniform.

In September 1945 a group of Republicans in Whittier asked him to run for Congress. He jumped at the opportunity. Nixon left the navy in January 1946 and began his victorious campaign, in which he defeated a five-term congressman.

Congressional activities and national fame

As congressman, Nixon was assigned to the House Labor Committee and to the Select Committee on Foreign Aid. In 1947 he and other committee members toured Europe. Nixon quickly established a reputation as an internationalist in foreign policy, proving that he worked well with foreign nations.

As a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Nixon became a leading anti-Communist crusader. (Communism is a political system where goods and services are owned and controlled by the government.) He first attracted national attention as a member of HUAC when he led the suit that resulted in the conviction of Alger Hiss (1904–1996), a former State Department official charged with Communist connections. While Nixon gained national attention fighting the threat of Communism, he also caught the attention of General Dwight Eisenhower (1890–1969), who chose him as his running mate in his successful presidential campaign of 1952. Eisenhower in part recruited Nixon in hopes of drawing valuable support in the West.

The vice presidency

As vice president, Nixon continued to please his supporters and anger his critics. He acted as the chief political spokesman in Eisenhower's administration. Among Nixon's assignments was foreign travel. In office less than a year, Nixon made an extended trip through Asia, visiting, among other places, Hanoi, North Vietnam, then under French control. He established many useful relationships on these trips and impressed critics at home with his knowledge of foreign affairs.

On a trip to Latin America in 1958, he was set upon by mobs but handled himself coolly. In 1959 he visited Poland and the Soviet Union, a former Communist nation made up of Russia and other states. While in Moscow, his meeting with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) prepared the way for Khrushchev's later visit to the United States to meet with Eisenhower.

Running for president

In 1960 Nixon won the Republican presidential nomination and chose Henry Cabot Lodge (1902–1985) as his running mate. The campaign against the Democratic team of Senators John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) and Lyndon Johnson (1908–1973) was close from the beginning. In the first of four televised debates with Kennedy, Nixon did not sharply challenge his opponent and appeared cold and distant, a far cry from the charming Kennedy. But the election was still close, and he lost by some one hundred thousand votes out of the sixty-eight million cast.

After the defeat, Nixon returned to Los Angeles to practice law. In 1964, after the Republican defeat by President Lyndon Johnson, it became clear that Nixon again considered himself a serious presidential contender. In 1968, winning his party's presidential nomination, he picked Governor Spiro T. Agnew (1918–1996) of Maryland as his running mate. Nixon and Agnew ran against the Democratic team of Hubert Humphrey (1911–1978) and Edmund Muskie (1914–). Third-party candidate George Wallace (1919–1998) of Alabama, a threat to both sides, eventually drew support away from Humphrey and cleared a path for Nixon's successful election to the White House.

The presidency

Nixon took the oath of office on January 20, 1969. In his inaugural address, or first speech as president, he appealed for harmony among American society. At that time American society was divided over the issues of domestic racial unrest and the Vietnam War (1955–75; a war in which American forces were aiding South Vietnam's fight against Communist North Vietnam). He promised to bring the nation together again.

Nixon's first foreign objective—to negotiate, or bargain for, an end to the Vietnam War—was unsuccessful. Despite repeated attempts, negotiations with North Vietnam at the Paris peace talks were unproductive. Meanwhile, in June he began replacing American troops with South Vietnamese troops. After a conference with South Vietnam president Nguyen Van Thieu (1923–2001), Nixon ordered 25,000 American combat troops brought home. By the end of 1969, having ordered 110,000 troops home, he expressed hope that all American combat troops would be out of Vietnam by the end of 1970. It would take two more years until most American ground troops had been withdrawn from Vietnam.

International relations

In his second month in office, Nixon embarked on a tour of Western Europe. His official visit to Romania made him the first American president to visit a Communist country. While on an Asian tour, the president called for cooperative efforts and promised American material aid but said that Asian countries must defend their freedoms with their own troops. In his first year, the president signed a treaty with the Soviet Union that worked toward placing limits on the production of nuclear arms.

In 1971 Nixon made the dramatic announcements that he would visit Peking, China, and Moscow, Soviet Union, in the first half of 1972. He also announced progress in the negotiations with the Soviet Union on an arms limitation treaty. The visit to Peking took place in February and he was invited to meet Chairman Mao Zedong (1893–1976), a mark of high respect.

The fall from grace

In the presidential election of 1972, Nixon and Agnew ran against Democrats George McGovern (1922–) and Sargent Shriver (1915–). The election was a landslide for Nixon, but no one was expecting what would happen next. During his last election campaign, what first appeared as a minor burglary was to become the beginning of the end of Nixon's political career. A break-in at Democratic national headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex in Washington, D.C., was linked to Republicans.

During the trial of six men charged in the crime, the existence of the cover-up began to emerge and government officials fell like dominos in its path. By October 1973, as the Watergate investigation continued, Nixon lost several top aides as well as his vice president. Agnew resigned before pleading no contest to federal charges of receiving bribes, failing to pay his taxes properly, and other crimes while serving as governor of Maryland.

Soon the U.S. Supreme Court forced Nixon to turn over tape recordings he made during the election. The tapes showed he obstructed, or blocked, justice in stopping a Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) probe of the Watergate burglary. On August 9, 1974, in national disgrace, he became the first president of the United States to choose to leave office before the end of his term. He boarded a plane with his wife and returned to his California home, ending his public career. A month later, in a controversial move, President Gerald Ford (1913–) issued an unconditional pardon for any offenses Nixon might have committed while president.

Private citizen

Nixon led a quiet life until the criticism from the Watergate scandal had softened. Nixon then emerged in a role of elder statesman, visiting countries in Asia as well as returning to the Soviet Union and China. He also consulted with the administrations of George Bush (1924–) and Bill Clinton (1946–) and wrote his memoirs, or a book of his memories, and other books on international affairs and politics.

The Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace opened in the early 1990s in Yorba Linda. On January 20, 1994, in what would be his last public appearance, ceremonies honoring him on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his first inauguration were held. He also announced the creation of the Center for Peace and Freedom, a policy center at the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace.

Richard Nixon died of a stroke on April 22, 1994. A state funeral was held five days later in Yorba Linda, where President Clinton and others praised Nixon and his achievements. However Nixon is remembered, he will most likely never escape the shadow of Watergate.

For More Information

Ambrose, Stephen E. Nixon. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987.

Bernstein, Carl, and Bob Woodward. All the President's Men. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974. Reprint, 1999.

Nixon, Richard. RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. New York: Grosset, 1978. Reprint, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990.

Reeves, Richard. President Nixon: Alone in the White House. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001.

Ripley, C. Peter. Richard Nixon. New York: Chelsea House, 1987.

Wicker, Tom. One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream. New York: Random House, 1991.

Woodward, Bob, and Carl Bernstein. The Final Days. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976.

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