Richard Nixon served as the 37th president of the United States. He is well known for the infamous Watergate scandal and was remembered by the American people as the first president to resign from office. However, he is also undoubtedly one of the most influential political figures when it comes to guiding the nation through one of its toughest time periods in history, as well as breaking the ice on foreign diplomacy with socialist countries such as China and the Soviet Union. Despite his downfall involving the Watergate Hotel, he had dedicated a tremendous amount of effort in domestic and world politics; and made numerous contributions during his life as a politician, which would give enough reason for future historians to believe that the second half of the twentieth century is truly “the age of Nixon”.
Richard Milhous Nixon was born into a poor family on January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California, and was raised in the nearby small town of Whittier. His mother, Hannah Milhous, was well educated and a religious member of the Quaker Society, while his father Francis Anthony Nixon was uneducated, had no steady jobs, and was accused of being quarrelsome with nearly everyone around him (American President, http://www.americanpresident.org/history/). Nixon was very introvert as a child. He had a difficult early life with series of hardships, which made a lasting effect on his character and personality. He did not fit in with most of his peers and had a lifelong difficulty of trusting people outside of his family (Nixon, 1978, 5-15). His anger was kept inside of him, which motivated him to develop a sense of competition and struggle, and inspired him to excel in school. He became the valedictorian of his grammar school and was an excellent debater in Whittier High School. It was also there that he met first long-term girlfriend, Ola Florence Welch. Ola Florence was known for her beauty and strong character, with a brain to match. The two quickly fell in love and stayed together for six years. Ola Florence became engaged to Nixon in 1933. However, their romance fizzled as Ola Florence broke off their engagement in 1935 (Aitken, 1993, 58-65).
Nixon studied at Whittier College in California and graduated in 1934. He went on to pursue his study of law at Duke University Law School in North Carolina. After graduating third in his class in 1937 (American President,...
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Nixon, Richard. 1978. The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. New York: Grossett & Dunlap
Publishers.
Nixon's reputation went back to his first run for Congress in 1946, when, according to American Heritage, he had call registered Democrats and ask about his opponent, "Did you know that Jerry Voorhis is a up the theme in his 1950 Senate race." The point f this was to show how carrot he really was. (In return, Douglas called Nixon "Tricky Dick," a nickname that stuck.) Year's later, would mentor Bush's Karl Rove.
The documentary entitled, Watergate Plus 30: Shadow of History, documents the political decisions and environment within the Nixon Administration from 1969-1974. The documentary specifically details and describes the environment and culture in which the Watergate scandal could occur and the events and abuses of power that lead to its occurrence. Setting the tone and the political climate of the Nixon Administration was the Vietnam War; making him a wartime President, a war that he inherited from his predecessor. The Vietnam War faced a lot of opposition from the general public, with massive protests and political demonstrations by the younger generations and overall general public. Nixon’s presidency was surrounded by this climate amidst the
The recent scandal in the White House has brought my attention to the American Presidents as people and Presidents. Looking into the American history and her presidents I have found out that presidents are not just political figures but that they are also people. In my research I will compare and contrast two of the American presidents - Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon.
Richard Nixon was in one of the most controversial issues that the United States has ever seen. The Watergate Scandal is now well known throughout history today. This issue led to Nixon resigning only 2 years in his 2nd term. Did President Nixon make the right decisions? Can anyone really trust the government after a situation like this? Some Historians believe that this changed the course of history, and that we can never truly trust the government again. While others believe that Nixon didn’t make the right decisions; however, this should not change the way the people look at our government. The government and the people need to keep a strong trust.
On January 20, 1969 our 37th president, Richard Milhous Nixon, was sworn into Presidency. His main focus as president was to pull forces out of Vietnam in order to end the War that began in 1961. Nixon began this process by pulling 75,000 troops out of Vietnam in the first year he was president. Nixon also worked to improve US relations with China as well as with the Soviet Union. He was the first president to visit China. He also imposed a wage price freeze to combat inflation that was replaced by a system of wage price controls, to be later removed. Nixon?s term as President will forever be remembered due to his resignation from presidency over the Watergate scandal.
The politics of the ultratight resonated deeply with Richard Nixon. Nixon had cut his political teeth as a young Red-hunting member of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. His home district in Orange Country, California, was widely known as a Birch Society stronghold. The Los Angeles-area Birch Society claimed the membership of several political and economic elites, including members of the Chandler family, which owned and published the Los Angeles Times. According to the writer David Halberstam (1979, 118) the Times, which was once described as “the most rabid Labor-bating, Red-hating paper in the United States,” virtually created Richard Nixon.
Another very important factor was Nixon’s previous experience in politics. After graduating from Duke University, Nixon joined the navy during World War II. After returning from the war Nixon jumped right into politics. He answered a Republican Party call in the newspaper. They were looking for someone to run against the five-term Democratic Congressman Jerry Voorhis. John Ehrlichman once said of Richard Nixon, “He is like a race horse specially trained to run a particular race and no good for pulling wagons. He’s for running the race to be president, and that’s what he lived for (Matusow 1).” That just gives you an idea about Nixon’s attitude. He would do whatever it took in order to win. The style of Nixon’s first campaign for congressman set the tone for the early part of his political career. An example would be that while running against Voorhis he accused him of being a communist. He even had campaign workers make calls to voter...
Ronald Reagan grew up with an alcoholic father, Jack Reagan (“Life Before the”). After his death, Ronald’s mother, Nelle, nurtured and encouraged him and his brother, Neil (“Life Before the”). Nelle taught her sons that alcoholism is a disease and she did not want her boys to blame their father for the bad habit (“Life Before the”). Growing up with an alcoholic father made Ronald take a different path and become the well rounded man that he was. In his high school years, Reagan excelled on both the football and basketball teams. Reagan even acted in plays, and he was also a writer for the school newspaper (“Life Before the”). Reagan was also an excellent swimmer, he worked as a lifeguard and according to newspaper reports, he rescued 77 people from drowning (“Life Before the”). He had lots of integrity and he had the commitment to do what is right regardless of the impact. Reagan was even the student body president which shows his early leadership qualities.
Richard Milhouse Nixon was born of a Quaker family on January 9,1913 in Yorba Linda, California. He graduated second in his class from local Whittier College in 1934 and later graduated third in his class from Duke University Law School. From there Nixon joined a law firm, and then briefly worked for the tire-rationing section of the Office of Price Administration, in Washington, D.C. Eight months into World War II, he enlisted in the Navy and moved to the Pacific to become a supply ...
[1] Watching Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995) and the director’s earlier film JFK (1991), it is difficult to have kind thoughts about Richard Nixon. Stone’s investment in the figure of the president manifests itself in two ways: first, in the director’s fixation on Nixon as a symbol of the corrupt political landscape after President John Kennedy’s assassination, and, second, his fixation on Nixon as a symbol of a failed patriarch or an ineffective father figure who led the country into further turmoil. Stone has argued that he hoped to elicit sympathy for Nixon, but I will show that the director’s emphasis on Nixon as an epic tragedy, especially in conjunction with the Beast thesis, does not allow for sympathy or understanding of the man or his politics.
Nixon is a very well-remembered president, however, he isn’t remembered for all the good things he did rather all the trouble he caused the country. Richard Nixon was born January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California to his parents Frank and Hannah Nixon. Nixon was the second of five kids. Richard’s father was a service station owner while his mom was a Quaker who had strongly influenced Nixon (Richard Nixon). Nixon went to Fullerton High School then later transferred to Whittier High School and ran for the student body president. He attended Whittier College and graduated in 1934. He then received a full scholarship to Duke University Law School in Durham, N.C. After completion of law school he returned to Whittier to begin practicing
At first, he was a strong supporter of the Vietnam War but then became a strong opponent. The Department of Defense continued to lie to the people about the hype about the war. The government continued to say that the war was under control. The Pentagon Papers already have statistics on the Vietnam War. As soon as Nixon saw the paper, he went to his Attorney General right away to stop the printing of the New York Times newspaper. Daniel Ellsberg knew that he would get arrested for making copies of the papers.
The years leading up to the 1972 election were filled with new political tactics. Going into the election year, President Nixon seemed like he could never lose the second term election after successfully negotiating with Vietnam, Beijing, and Russia to improve international relations (Emery 4). Raising international toughness made Nixon seem like the most worthy person to stay president. Fred Emery analyses in his novel Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon, the president was also setting up the first summit meeting in history with Soviet Union Presidents (3). There seemed to be nothing capable of holding the seemingly responsible man back. However, this assurance came with massive consequences. The absolute certainty that Nixon would be reelected fueled the lies and abuse of power by the Nixon government (Emery 195). As the outlook of landslide winnings took over the White House, the moral reasoning, “the end justifies the means” became more prevalent. Nixon was obsessed with winning and being successful. Under his command his staff did whatever possible to ...
He was the first modern President to bring out globalized criticism, and where the White House conflicts became the household problems. If anyone wonders where America stands, or even how we got here, Nixonland is a good place to start. “I am not a crook” President Nixon.
Nixon was long associated with American politics before his fall from grace. He was along time senator before finally being elected president in 1968. During his first term, his United States went through the Vietnam War and a period of economic inflation. In 1972 he was easily re-elected over Democrat nominee George McGovern. Almost unnoticed during his campaign was the arrest of five men connected with Nixon’s re-election committee. They had broken into the Democrats national head quarters in the Watergate apartment complex, in Washington D.C. They attempted to steal documents and place wire taps on the telephones. By March of 1973, through a federal inquiry, it had been brought to light that the burglars had connections with high government officials and Nixon’s closest aids. Despite Nixon and his lawyers best efforts, it was shown that the president had participated in the Watergate cover-up. On August 8, 1974 Nixon announced, without admitting guilt, that he would resign. He left the Oval Office the next day: an obvious fall from grace.