Richard Milhouse Nixon (1913-1994) - 37th President of the United States (1969-1974) from the Republican Party, 36th Vice President of the United States (1953-1961). The only American president to step down before the end of his term.
There are many interesting facts in Nixon's biography, which we will tell about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Richard Nixon.
Biography of Nixon
Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in California. He grew up in a poor family of grocer Francis Nixon and his wife Hannah Milhouse. He was the second of 5 sons of his parents.
Childhood and youth
In the Nixon family, all the boys were named after famous British monarchs. By the way, the future president got his name in honor of Richard the Lionheart, who came from the Plantagenet dynasty.
After graduating from college, Richard continued his education at Duke University Law School. An interesting fact is that after graduation he wanted to become an FBI employee, but he still decided to return to California.
In 1937, Nixon was admitted to the bar. At this time of his biography, he was engaged in the resolution of controversial cases between oil companies. The following year, the young specialist was entrusted with the position of head of the branch of a law firm in the city of La Habra Heights.
Richard's mother was a Quaker member of the Protestant Christian movement. Later, the head of the family and, as a consequence, all the children adopted this belief. When the boy was about 9 years old, he and his family moved to the California city of Whittier.
Here Nixon Sr. opened a grocery store and a gas station. Richard continued to attend a local school, receiving high marks in all disciplines. After graduation in 1930, he became a student at Whittier College.
It is worth noting that the young man was offered to enter Harvard, but the parents did not have the money to pay for their son's studies. By that time, his younger brother, Arthur, had passed away after a short illness. In 1933, another tragedy occurred in the Nixon family - the eldest son Harold died of tuberculosis.
A few months later, Richard Nixon managed to acquire part of the company's shares and become its full member. The development of his career was hampered by the Second World War (1939-1945). After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he joined the Air Force.
Nixon served as an officer at ground based airbases in the Pacific Ocean. By the end of the war, he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander.
Politics
In 1946, Richard, at the suggestion of one of the leaders of the California Republicans, took part in the elections to the House of Representatives. At the end of that year, he was able to secure a seat in the House, and then become a member of the Commission of Inquiry on Un-American Activities.
In 1950, the politician received the mandate of a senator from the state of California, after which he settled in the US capital. Three years later, he became Deputy Prime Minister in the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration.
Nixon constantly accompanied the head of the White House in meetings with Congress and the Cabinet. He often spoke to the public announcing presidential and government decrees. An interesting fact is that during the period of his biography 1955-1957. he was acting president three times due to Eisenhower's illness.
In 1960, in the upcoming elections, Richard competed with John F. Kennedy, but the voters gave the majority of votes for his opponent. After a couple of years, following his resignation from the White House, he returned to California, where for a time he was engaged in advocacy.
The man later ran for governor of California, but this time, too, failed. Then he thought that his political career was already over. In this regard, he wrote an autobiographical work "Six Crises", in which he described his activities in the American government.
In 1968, Richard Nixon announced his nomination for the presidency of the United States and on August 7 was able to outstrip all competitors, including Ronald Reagan.
President Nixon
The internal policy of the newly elected head of state was based on conservative principles. He obstructed the development of social programs aimed at helping citizens in need. He also did not promote the development of farming and opposed the liberalization of the Supreme Court.
Under Nixon, the famous American moon landing took place. It is worth noting that the country's foreign policy was handled by Henry Kissinger, whose task was to withdraw the United States from the Vietnam War.
Richard Nixon managed to improve relations with China. In addition, during his reign, a policy of detente with the Soviet Union began. In 1970, he sent American troops to Cambodia, where the new Lon Nol government began fighting the Communists.
Such actions led to anti-war rallies in the United States, as a result of which, after a couple of months, American soldiers left Cambodia by order of the president.
In the spring of 1972, Nixon visited the USSR, where he met with Leonid Brezhnev. The leaders of the two superpowers signed the SALT-1 agreement, which limited the strategic armament of the two states. In addition, Richard constantly visited various states.
An interesting fact is that he was the first president to visit all 50 states of America. In 1972, the Watergate scandal broke out, which lasted about 2 years and ended with Nixon's resignation from the presidency.
About 4 months before the elections, 5 people were arrested who installed a wiretapping system at the headquarters of the Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern. The headquarters was located at the Watergate facility, which gave the incident the appropriate name.
The police found cassettes with recordings of politicians' conversations, as well as photographs of classified documents at the arrested people. The scandal gained worldwide popularity, putting an end to the further political biography of Richard Nixon.
Investigators have proven the involvement of the head of state in the sensational case. As a result, on August 9, 1974, fearing impeachment, Nixon submitted his resignation. As of today, this is the only case in the history of the United States when the president resigned ahead of schedule.
Personal life
When Richard was about 25, he began courting a schoolteacher named Thelma Pat Ryan. Initially, the girl refused to meet the guy because she did not show sympathy for him.
However, Nixon was persistent and literally pursued his beloved wherever she was. As a result, Thelma reciprocated the young man and agreed to become his wife in 1940. In this boat, the couple had 2 girls - Trishia and Julie.
Death
After retiring, the man became interested in writing. It is worth noting that due to the Watergate scandal, he was prohibited from engaging in legal and political affairs. Richard Nixon died on April 22, 1994 at the age of 81 from a stroke.
Nixon Photos
