Historical Figure
Richard Nixon
1913–1994
President of the United States from 1969 to 1974
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"Resignation Address" — August 8, 1974
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Biography
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he represented California in both houses of the United States Congress before serving as the 36th vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. 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.
Timeline
The story of Richard Nixon, told in moments.
Delivers the "Checkers speech" on national television to save his spot as Eisenhower's running mate. He's been accused of maintaining a secret political fund. He denies it, itemizes his family's modest finances on live TV, and says the only gift he won't return is a cocker spaniel his daughter named Checkers. 60 million people watch. It works.
Loses the presidential election to Kennedy by 112,000 votes. Loses the California governor's race two years later. Tells reporters: "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." Moves to New York. Practices law. Everyone writes him off.
Lands in Beijing. Shakes hands with Zhou Enlai. Meets Mao Zedong. After 25 years of frozen relations, the trip opens diplomatic ties between the United States and China. "The week that changed the world," he calls it. For once, the self-promotion isn't exaggeration.
Resigns the presidency. The only US president to do so. The tapes prove he ordered the Watergate cover-up. "I have never been a quitter," he tells the nation. "To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body." Gerald Ford pardons him 30 days later.
Dies of a stroke at 81 in New York. Five former presidents attend the funeral. Bill Clinton, who protested against him in the 1960s, delivers the eulogy. Nixon spent his last 20 years writing books and advising presidents, rebuilding a reputation that could never be fully rebuilt.
In Their Own Words (20)
I could leave this room and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead.
As attributed in "The Case Against Donald Trump", by Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic, (10/2020), 2020
But by God, there are exceptions. But Bob, generally speaking, you can't trust the bastards. They turn on us.
On Jews, to H. R. Haldeman, as quoted in "Nixon: I Am Not an Anti-Semite" by Timothy Noah, in Slate (October 7, 1999), 1999
This administration has proved that it is utterly incapable of cleaning out the corruption which has completely eroded it and reestablishing the confidence and faith of the American people in the morality and honesty of their government employees.
Nixon as Senator, speaking of the Truman administration in 1951, as quoted in Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts (1992), p. 338, 1992
Nowdays, If a news report does not tie up loose ends as neatly as The A Team, it is considered a flop.
From In The Arena (1990), 1990
No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic.
No More Vietnams (1987), 1987
Artifacts (15)
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