Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon
Official portrait, 1972
37th President of the United States
In office January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974
Vice President	Spiro Agnew (1969–1973) None (Oct–Dec 1973) Gerald Ford (1973–1974)
Preceded by	Lyndon B. Johnson
Succeeded by	Gerald Ford
36th Vice President of the United States
In office January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Alben W. Barkley
Succeeded by	Lyndon B. Johnson
United States Senator from California
In office December 1, 1950 – January 1, 1953
Preceded by	Sheridan Downey
Succeeded by	Thomas Kuchel
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 12th district
In office January 3, 1947 – November 30, 1950
Preceded by	Jerry Voorhis
Succeeded by	Patrick J. Hillings
Personal details
Born	Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-01-09)January 9, 1913 Yorba Linda, California, U.S.
Died	April 22, 1994(1994-04-22) (aged 81) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Pat Ryan ​ ​ (m. 1940; died 1993)​
Children	Tricia Julie
Parents	Francis A. Nixon Hannah Milhous
Education	Whittier College (BA) Duke University (LLB)
Occupation	Author lawyer politician
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1942–1946 (active) 1946–1966 (inactive)
Rank	Commander
Battles/wars	World War II (Pacific War[1])
Awards	Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal American Campaign Medal Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal Armed Forces Reserve Medal
Richard Nixon's voice Nixon speaks on peace in Vietnam Recorded November 3, 1969

This article is part of a series about Richard Nixon
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Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and as the 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.

Nixon was born into a poor family of Quakers in Yorba Linda, Southern California. He graduated from Duke Law School in 1937, practiced law in California, and then moved with his wife Pat to Washington, D.C., in 1942 to work for the federal government. After serving active duty in the Naval Reserve during World War II, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. His work on the Alger Hiss case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist. In 1950, he was elected to the Senate. Nixon was the running mate of Eisenhower, the Republican Party's presidential nominee in the 1952 election, and served for eight years as vice president. He narrowly lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy. After his loss in the 1962 race for governor of California, he announced his retirement from politics. However, in 1968, he made another run for the presidency and narrowly defeated the Democratic incumbent vice president Hubert Humphrey.

Seeking to bring the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table, Nixon ordered military operations and carpet bombing campaigns in Cambodia. He ended American combat involvement in Vietnam in 1973 and the military draft the same year. His visit to China in 1972 eventually led to diplomatic relations between the two nations, and he then finalized the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. Domestically, Nixon pushed for the Controlled Substances Act and began the war on drugs. Nixon's first term took place at the height of the American environmental movement and enacted many progressive environmental policy shifts; his administration created the Environmental Protection Agency and passed legislation such as the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Acts. He implemented the ratified Twenty-sixth Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, and enforced the desegregation of Southern schools. Under Nixon, relations with Native Americans improved, seeing an increase in self-determination for Native Americans and his administration rescinded the termination policy. Nixon imposed wage and price controls for 90 days, began the war on cancer, and presided over the Apollo 11 Moon landing, which signaled the end of the Space Race. He was re-elected in 1972, when he defeated George McGovern in one of the largest landslide victories in American history.

In his second term, Nixon ordered an airlift to resupply Israeli materiel losses in the Yom Kippur War, a conflict which led to the oil crisis at home. From 1973, ongoing revelations from the Nixon administration's involvement in Watergate eroded his support in Congress and the country. The scandal began with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee office, ordered by administration officials, and escalated despite cover-up efforts by the Nixon administration, of which he was aware. On August 9, 1974, facing almost certain impeachment and removal from office, Nixon resigned. Afterward, he was issued a controversial pardon by his successor, Gerald Ford. During nearly 20 years of retirement, Nixon wrote nine books and undertook many foreign trips, rehabilitating his image into that of an elder statesman and leading expert on foreign affairs. On April 18, 1994, he suffered a debilitating stroke, and died four days later. Rankings of his time in office have proven complex, with the successes of his presidency contrasted against the circumstances of both his ascension and his departure from office.