RICHARD M. NIXON | 1969-1974
During his presidency, Richard Milhous Nixon succeeded in ending American fighting in Viet Nam and improving relations with the U.S.S.R. and China. But scandal brought fresh divisions to the country and ultimately led to his resignation.
Born in Yorba Linda, California, on January 9, 1913, Nixon had a brilliant record at Whittier College and Duke University Law School before beginning the practice of law. In World War II, he 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.
Nominated for president by acclamation in 1960, he lost by a narrow margin to John F. Kennedy. In 1968 he won the election. His accomplishments while in office included revenue sharing, the end of the draft, new anticrime laws, and a broad environmental program. One of the most dramatic events of his first term occurred in 1969, when American astronauts made the first moon landing.
During 1972 visits to Beijing and Moscow, Nixon reduced tensions with China and the U.S.S.R. His meetings with Russian leader Leonid I. Brezhnev produced a treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons. In 1973, he announced an accord with North Viet Nam to end American involvement in Indochina. His secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, negotiated disengagement agreements between Israel and its opponents, Egypt and Syria in 1974.
In his 1972 bid for office, Nixon won by one of the widest margins on record. But within a few months, his administration was embattled over the "Watergate" scandal, stemming from a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee traced to officials of the Committee to Re-elect the President. 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. Then, on August 8, 1974, faced with impeachment, Nixon announced that he would resign.
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.
