Richard Nixon: An

Overview
LUCAS FOSTER
Part 1: A Brief Introduction
Nixons Presidency
Nixon was as the 37th President of the United States, a position he occupied from 1969-1974.
In 1974, Nixon became the first (and only) president to resign from office, paving the way for
Gerald Ford to succeed him and assume the presidency.
Nixon from the Beginning
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California in 1913. Consequently, his Presidential Library was
built there. (Nixon Library)
Nixon attended Whittier College, and later Duke Law School. After obtaining his JD, Nixon
returned to California to practice law and was admitted to the California Bar in 1937.
(Nixon Library)
The next year, Nixon met his future wife Pat after the pair were cast opposite each other in a
community play.
Feeling limited by the confines of Whittier, Nixon and his wife decided to move to Washington
DC in order to help Nixon jumpstart his political career.
However, Nixons plans would have to wait: Nixon joined the Navy in 1942 and would remain in
active duty until 1946.
Nixon in the House
Nixons political career began in 1947, when he was elected to the House of Representatives,
where he represented Californias 12th Congressional District.
While in the House, Nixon supported the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which tempered and monitored
the power and actions of labor unions. (Nixon Library)
Nixon also served as a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and
gained national attention in 1948 when his investigation broke the Alger Hiss case.
(Nixon Library)
Nixon in the Senate
After a 1950 campaign tour (where his nefarious antics earned him the nickname Tricky Dick),
Nixon was elected to the US Senate.
As a 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 Library)
Nixon as VP
In 1952, Nixon ran alongside Dwight D. Eisenhower when the latter defeated the Democratic
candidate Adlai Stevenson. Nixon was chosen as the running mate by Republican party officials
in a smoke filled room and was considered to be a strong choice because of his political base
in California and history of strong positions against Communism. (Nixon Library)
In 1960, Nixon ran for the Presidency on the Republican ticket, but lost and returned to
California.
In 1962, Nixon was convinced to run for Governor of California, but he lost this race to the
Democratic Incumbent. (Nixon Library)
It looked as though Nixons political career was over and, looking back on this time, Nixon would
later refer to this period as the wilderness years. (Nixon Library)
Nixon Takes the White House
In 1968, Nixon ran for President again, this time defeating the Democratic candidate Hubert
Humphrey and a third party challenger, George Wallace.
Nixon was aided by tumult within the Democratic party, including LBJs decision not to seek re-
election, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and mass protests outside of the Democratic
National Convention in Chicago. (Nixon Library)
A brief interlude about Nixons
elections
1968 Campaign
Having already run for President in 1960, Nixon decided to run for President for a second time in
1968.
Given the rift in the Democratic party over the Vietnam War, Nixon believed that a Republican
had a chance to eek out a victory in a close election. (Parmet, 502)
The primary season was chaotic. The Tet Offensive was launched as the campaign began, Lyndon
B. Johnson withdrew from the race after a disappointing performance in the New Hampshire
primary, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated after winning the California primary.
1968 Campaign Contd
In the Republican Primary, Nixon was faced with fending off three powerful governors: Michigan
Governor George Romney, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and California Governor
Ronald Reagan. (https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/thelife/apolitician/thepresident/)
Nixon won the Republican primary on the first ballot and selected Maryland Governor Spiro
Agnew as his running mate.
Nixon believed that choosing Agnew would unite the party as it would satisfy Southerners (who
he hoped to steal away from the Democrats) and Northern Republicans. (Parmet, 509)
1968 Campaign Contd
In the general election, Nixon faced then Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who was nominated
by the Democrats after a chaotic DNC convention.
In the face of violent protests at the DNC convention and increasing social unrest and upheaval,
Nixon successfully presented himself as a figure of stability. (Nixon Library)
Nixon stressed that the countrys crime rate was too high and hammered his Democratic
predecessors for giving away Americas nuclear superiority in the Cold War (Black, 550)
The Silent Majority
Nixon also presented himself as the antithesis to anti-war demonstrators and hippie
counterculture, serving as the leader of the silent majority.
Nixon used this term to refer to the majority of Americans who were socially conservative and
opposed these groups and movements, but were less vocal than their liberal opponents.
Nixons posturing as the head of the silent majority was bolstered by his running mate Spiro
Agnew, who was an outspoken critic of both the anti-war demonstrators and hippie
counterculture.
Nixon, the Campaign, and
Vietnam
Nixons representatives told the South Vietnamese ambassador Bui Diem not to agree to a truce
while LBJ was president, claiming that Nixon would offer the South Vietnamese a better deal if
elected. (BBC)
LBJ was aware of this (and was furious) and had both Nixons representative and the South
Vietnamese ambassador bugged. (BBC)
The ambassador refused to attend peace talks and Nixon denied any involvement. (BBC)
1968: The Results
The general election was a three way race between Nixon, Democrat Hubert Humphrey, and
former Alabama Governor George Wallace, who ran as an independent. (270towin)
Nixon won the presidency with 301 electoral votes to Humphreys 191 and Wallaces 46.
(270towin)
1968: The Results Contd
http://www.270towin.com/1968_Election/
1972: The Results
http://www.270towin.com/1972_Election/
1972: What Happened
As you can see, 1972 provided Nixon with a substantially larger electoral victory. (270towin)
He had 520 electoral votes, while the Democratic challenger George McGovern had only 17.
(270towin)
Moreover, Nixon crushed McGovern in the popular vote, winning 46,740,323 to 28,901,598.
(270towin)
1972: What Happened Contd
Nixon was able to win the election in a landslide in large part because he was able to capitalize
on a good economy and his successes in foreign affairs, namely ending American involvement
in Vietnam and establishing relations with China (270towin)
McGovern was handicapped by his outsider status as well as the scandal and subsequent firing
of vice presidential nominee Thomas Eagleton (270towin)
Nixons winning margin of 23.2% in the popular vote was the fourth largest presidential victory
in US history. (270towin)
Additionally, his margin of victory in the popular vote (18 million votes) is the widest margin of
any US presidential election. (270towin)
Watergate
Interestingly, Nixon was able to achieve this enormous victory despite the fact that the
Washington Post broke the story of the break-in at the Democratic party headquarters at the
Watergate complex on June 17, 1972.
While it would become clear that the men were linked to the Nixon administration and that the
Committee to Re-elect President Nixon and the White House were involved in attempts to
sabotage the Democratic campaign, the unfolding story did not prevent Nixon from winning by
an enormous margin.
Nixon in the White House:
Vietnam
As President, Nixon immediately focused on the problem of how to end the Vietnam War, using
a nationally televised address to call on the silent majority of Americans to rise up and back
his governments policy of seeking a negotiated peace in Vietnam. (Nixon Library)
Nixon also supported a policy of Vietnamization, which entaled reducing American troop
levels in Vietnam and transferring the burden of fighting to South Vietnam. (Nixon Library)
However, although the Nixon administration reduced the presence of American troops, they also
drew criticism for stepping up bombing raids in Cambodia. (Nixon Library)
Nixon in the White House: China
and Russia
Nixon also sought to reduce international tensions with old rivals China and Russia.
Nixon traveled to China to talk to Chairman Mao Zedon and Premier Zhou Enlai, a trip that was
the first high-level contact between the United States and the Peoples Republic of China in
more than twenty years, and it ushered in a new era of relations between Washington and
Beijing. (Nixon Library)
Moreover, Nixon met with Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow and the two leaders talks led to the
signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). (Nixon Library)
Nixons Second Term
In 1972, Nixon won re-election, defeating Democratic challenger George McGovern by one of
the widest electoral margins ever. (Nixon Library)
However, the Watergate Scandal (which began in June of that year when a break-in at the DNC
offices at the Watergate office complex was discovered) revealed a broad pattern of abuse of
power by the Nixon administration and led to his resignation. (Nixon Library)
Nixon was succeeded by Gerald Ford, a Republican leader in the House of Representatives (not
Vice President Spiro Agnew who was being investigated by the Department of Justice).
Part 2: Nixon and the PressA Constant Struggle
Nixons Suspicions
Nixon stated that all the members of the press (were) so delighted that he had lost his 1962
bid for governor of California. (The Atlantic)
Nixons statement ran in the face of the fact that most of the states newspapers had actually
endorsed him, elucidating his (perhaps irrational) feeling that he was targeted and under attack.
(The Atlantic)
Nixons Suspicions Contd
This feeling of embattlement and being targeted was encapsulated by Nixons statement, You
wont have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.
(The Atlantic)
Nixons suspicions carried on into his presidential campaign against Humphrey, where he felt
that his predecessor Lyndon B. Johnson was was deliberately trying to sabotage his campaign
with a politically motivated peace effort meant mainly to boost the candidacy of his vice
president, Hubert H. Humphrey. (NY Times)
Consequently, Nixon told an aide that they should find a way to secretly monkey wrench
peace talks in Vietnam in the waning days of the 1968 campaign for fear that progress toward
ending the war would hurt his chances for the presidency. (NY Times)
Nixons Reactions
Nixon responded to the feeling of being targeted by targeting specific reporters in return.
Nixon read a summary of each mornings news and then directed his staff how to respond,
noting in the margins which reporters he liked and disliked. (The Atlantic)
For example, when Stuart Loory of the Los Angeles Times wrote about how much Nixons
vacation home cost taxpayers, the president angrily told his staff to ban Loory from the White
House. (The Atlantic)
Nixons Reactions Contd
Interestingly, Nixons attitudes and approaches towards the press actually mirror those of his
predecessor, Lyndon B. Johnson.
Nixon actually borrowed a tactic used by Nixon to stop negative stories, vowing to screw
around with the lucrative TV licenses of The Washington Post after it began investigating
Watergate. (The Atlantic)
Part 3: Nixons Death
Nixons Death
On April 18, 1994, Nixon suffered a stroke while at his home in Park Ridge, New Jersey
Nixon slipped into a deep coma and died four days later on April 20, 1994 at age 81.
Nixons Funeral
Nixons funeral took place five days later on April 27, 1994 in Yorba Linda, California.
The service was held at the Nixon Presidential Library.
Nixon was eulogized by a number of prominent politicians and major American figures including
Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Bob Dole, Billy Graham, and former California governor Pete Wilson.
(Washington Post)
Former Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and their wives also attended.
(Washington Post)
As he had requested, Nixon did not receive a full state funeral, though up to 42,000 are reported
to have waited to see Nixons body, forming a line that was three miles long. (Frick)
Nixons Legacy
Nixons Legacy was defined in large part by the number of self-created disasters that he faced.
However, as John F. Stacks of Time Magazine stated, Nixon worked hard to recover and rebuild
after each disaster. (Time)
Nixon attempted to reclaim a respected place in American public life and did so by traveling
and thinking and talking to the worlds leaders in an effort to be seen as an elder statesman.
(Time)
In some ways, Nixon did accomplish this goal, as he was consulted regularly by then President
Bill Clinton, who met with him frequently and openly sought his advice.
Nixons Legacy contd.
Nixons legacy as a respected elder statesman clashed with the fact that, to many, he was still
seen as a crook, a political monsterand a very dangerous enemy. (The Atlantic)
Almost all of the coverage of Nixons death mentioned Watergate and, although Nixon wanted
to be judged by what he accomplished, historians noted that what he will be remembered for
is the nightmare he put the country through in his second term and for his resignation.
(Ambrose)
Moreover, Nixons continuing of the Vietnam War was and is seen by many as inexcusable.
All in all, many historians agreed that no simple verdict regarding Nixon was possible, as he
was an idiosyncratic president. (Aitken)
Nixons Impact on the
Republican Party
One of Nixons most lasting accomplishments was his Southern Strategy, which some historians
credit for causing the South to become and remain a Republican Stronghold.
In terms of Foreign Policy, Nixon is credited for steering the Republican party along a middle
course, somewehre between the competitive impulses of the Rockefellers, the Goldwaters, and
the Reagans, which was considered to be a sensible anti-Communist course against the excess
of McCarthy. (Parmet, Gellman)
Moreover, Nixon is remembered for his impact on environmental and regulatory policynamely,
for his creation of the EPA and his enforcement of the 1973 Endangered Species Act.
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