Richard Nixon (Nixon '56)

Richard Nixon
Official portrait, 1960
35th president of the United States
In office September 24, 1955 – January 20, 1965
Vice President	None (1955-1956) Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (1956-1965)
Preceded by	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Succeeded by	Nelson Rockefeller
36th Vice President of the United States
In office January 20, 1953 – September 24, 1955
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Alben W. Barkley
Succeeded by	Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
United States Senator from California
In office December 1, 1950 – January 1, 1953
Preceded by	Sheridan Downey
Succeeded by	Thomas Kuchel
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 12th district
In office January 3, 1947 – November 30, 1950
Preceded by	Jerry Voorhis
Succeeded by	Patrick J. Hillings
Personal details
Born	January 9, 1913 Yorba Linda, California, U.S.
Died	April 22, 1994 (aged 81) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Pat Ryan (m. 1940; died 1993)
Children	2
Signature

Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 - April 22, 1994) was the 35th president of the United States, who served from 1955 to 1965, after holding office as the vice president of Dwight D. Eisenhower. He had previously served as both representative and senator from California, before being elected as Eisenhower's running mate on the 1952 Republican ticket. Before the General completed a first term, he suffered a heart attack that made Nixon succeed to the presidency in 1955. During his tenure, he gave special attention to foreign affairs, establishing strong policies regarding the Cold War like an Invasion of Cuba and supporting Egypt during the Suez Crisis, also being a key figure in the Division of Vietnam.

Born in Yorba Linda, California and raised by a poor family of Quakers, Nixon started practicing law in 1937, after graduating from Law School. Initially working on his home state, he and his wife decided to move to Washington, D.C. in order for him to work more closely with the federal government. He briefly participated in World War II as part of the Naval Reserve, which later helped him enter the House of Representatives in 1947. After years of gaining a good reputation as a staunch anti-communist, he was elected to the Senate. Thanks to various recommendations by important figures within the party, Nixon would be picked by General "Ike" Eisenhower as his running mate for the 1952 election, which they won in a landslide.

Eisenhower's heart attack in 1955 would unexpectedly make him seize power. Right after he took office, he started planning his presidential campaign, doing a big emphasis on his accomplishments as senator and vice president. Nixon was faced in the election with Adlai Stevenson II, who had also been the Democratic nominee in 1952. Winning once again in a landslide, he appointed Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. as his running mate and future vice president.

The first years of the Nixon administration would be convoluted, including many armed conflicts around the world. He established a détente policy with the Soviet Union, but also fought against the expansion of communist influence around the world, being a fierce defender of stopping the Vietnam War, achieving diplomatic negotiations that led to the division of the nation for over 20 years. Nixon oversaw the foundation of NASA, starting the Space Race between Americans and Soviets.

He was re-elected in 1960 after winning a very close race against the young senator John F. Kennedy. His second term was focused on a bigger balance between domestic and foreign affairs, making important decisions which would affect both, like the construction of the Interstate Highway System and the beggining of the Reconstrucción program. Akin to his predecessor, Nixon remained supportive of civil rights throughout his presidency, finally signing the Civil Rights Act of 1962, which put an end to segregation in the United States.

Nixon left the office in 1965 with a high rate of approval, and remained a prominent political figure during the rest of his life. He was succeded by another, more liberal Republican, Nelson Rockefeller, which continued much of his policies but disagreed with others. Historians and scholars rank Nixon as one of the best American presidents for his strong economic and political administration, despite his unexpected taking of the presidency. He died on April 22, 1994 shortly after suffering a stroke, leading to a state funeral with the presence of very important figures at the time.

Vice Presidency (1953-1955)

Once General Eisenhower was nominated for the Republican ticket in 1952, he was left with the decision of a running mate, one where he had mostly neutral opinions about all the candidates. Important Republican officeholders recommended Nixon to the general, because of his young age and strong views against communism, a proposal Ike would end up accepting.

Nixon while serving as Vice President

Despite his vice presidential term not being completed, Nixon was granted with more responsibilities than anyone in the office before him, especially compared to former president Harry Truman. He was sent to meetings the President couldn't attend and made a big amount of international trips, which would later inspire him to focus more on foreign affairs. With both candidates being extremely popular, the ticket led by Ike was already planning on running for re-election in 1956, until the General suffered a heart attack on September 24, 1955, one that would deteriorate his health and force him to resign.

Presidency

Assuming office

Nixon and his wife Pat at the 1956 Republican Convention

While serving as vice president, because of Eisenhower's age, Nixon was being prepared to replace the president in a series of matters, but some considered him unexperienced to take over the nation. He was able to mantain the support of most of the party, and decided to appoint Thomas E. Dewey, who had been the Republican nominee in the two past elections, as his Attorney General, an important move that allowed him to get a good reputation in New York. On the primaries, Nixon's only opponent was John W. Bricker from Ohio, who was only able to get around the 10% of the popular vote, assuring his nomination.

The choosing of a good running mate was crucial in the election, and Nixon was presented with many options; William F. Knowland from California, Charles A. Halleck from Ohio and even the conservative Robert A. Taft, but he finally went with the current Massachusetts senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who accepted the offer and helped the campaign in the North East. The ticket ended up carrying 39 states and over 35 million votes, meaning a 58.03% of the total percentage.

First term (1955-1960)

During the first four years, the domestic policies of his administration were mostly dedicated to expand Eisenhower's policies, playing an important role in the construction of the Interstate Highway System, which Nixon supported.

On the final months of 1956, a crisis between American allies and Egypt struck the Middle East. The administration originally sided with the United Kingdom and France against Egypt, but many officials feared that going against de-colonization could spark a communist wave in Africa and Asia, something that Nixon wanted to avoid at all costs. The lack of American support almost caused a split between NATO allies who wanted to hold onto african territories, but the idea lost momentum and avoided a new diplomatic crisis.

Nixon alongside the American soilders who would later fight in Cuba

The ongoing Cuban Revolution rapidly became one of the main focuses of Nixon's presidency, as he had stated his intentions of taking military action on the island, but lacked a real reason to start an invasion. When American intelligence determined the Cuban forces were about to collapse, the U.S. launched an amphibious landing around the city of Manuta in the Gulf of Mexico, which would be a total success. The war was unpopular among many GOP liberals, but was also supported by most conservatives, skyrocketing Nixon's approval rate.

After the intervention was over and the communist revolutionaries defeated, Nixon gave one of his most famous speeches, talking about the fate of Cuba and declaring that the island had to be urgently reformed into a functional democracy, starting a period of transition and military occupation, in a large process known as "Reconstrucción" (Spanish for "Reconstruction").

The Soviet launching of the Sputnik 1, the world's first ever artificial satellite, started a propaganda competence between them and the Americans to see who could achieve most things in terms of space technology. The fact that communists had the upper hand in the race and subsequently missile technology did nothing but increase the paranoia of the Red Scare, something Nixon was aware of, motivating him to bring to completion one of Ike's proposals, creating the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that would lead the American efforts in the Space Race.

1960 Election

Nixon ran for re-election in 1960, getting once again little to no opposition in the primaries or convention, this time his opponent was the Democratic senator John F. Kennedy, who got the nomination despite his young age of only 43 years.

Nixon-Lodge pin including the slogan "Experience Counts"

Despite being the incumbent presidency and being largely supported, Kennedy made strong arguments against his administration, spreading the rumour of an unexistent missile gap against the Soviets, related to the slow approach to the Space Race aside from creating NASA. Jack's age (And in a smaller scale, his catholic religion) was put against him by the Republican campaign, using the slogan "Experience Counts" which made refference to Nixon's record as vice president, senator and representative.

Kennedy's force was focused on his charisma and popular image, something that he used in TV commercials and jingles, but also the Presidential Debate, the first one to ever be broadcasted in Television. Said debates increased his popularity, as it was generally decided that Nixon had lost most of them.

Republicans still (closely) won the election with 278 electoral votes and 50.27% of the popular vote.

Second term (1960-1965)

His second term was more focused on internal affairs, as the nation's economy entered one of its most prosperous periods. The Reconstruction of Cuba proved to be effective for both nations, as trade between the both nations increased. In order to prove the missile gap theory wrong, Nixon exponentially increased military spending.

Map showcasing the Division of Vietnam

Since the end of World War II, what was once the French dominion of Indochina fell into a conflict known as the Vietnam War. Eisenhower took little action regarding the war and was limited to send aid to the South Vietnamese government, despite conservatives arguing for a full intervention. Nixon feard that an invasion of North Vietnam would anger China, and decided to conduct negotiations between both governments. Negotiations remained weak until his second term, where he made peace in Vietnam one of the main points of his campaign.

Thanks to Chinese and Soviet influence, negotiations would be realized in the Peace of Saigon, which made a truce that resulted in Vietnam being divided in two states, a democratic south and a communist north. Nixon invested heavily in the economic strengthening of the newly formed south republic to make it an important player in asian economics.

Throughout his political career, Nixon was supportive of the civil rights movement and approved Eisenhower's policies regarding it. During his first term, he remained mostly neutral on the subject in order to not look too liberal to conservative republicans, until he reached his second term, in a time where the movement started to gain more national prominence. On an unprecedented move, Nixon signed the Civil Rights Act of 1962, officially ending segregation in the United States, its signing also meant the vote of the black population would remain in what was Abraham Lincoln's Party (GOP).

President Nixon, moments before the attack

He suffered an assassination attempt on October 1963 while visiting the Governor of Indiana, Crawford F. Parker. The bullet missed Nixon and the shooter was arrested for life, stating that he was motivated by the president's policies on communism and Cuba.

Post-presidency (1965-1994)

Life after presidency and political involvement

After the presidency, Nixon remained mostly active in national politics, giving advice and endorsement to every president until his death. He fully supported his vice president Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in the 1964 Republican primary elections, which he barely lost to the future candidate Nelson Rockefeller, with whom Nixon had a positive relation, but would end up criticizing how his administration let the soviets complete the Moon Landing mission. He then supported Governor Spiro Agnew in the 1972 election, who would end up losing to Robert Kennedy. Despite calling Kennedy an inefficient leader, Nixon recognized he had made good management of foreign affairs and NASA.

President Reagan and Nixon

His most prominent relation with a president was with Ronald Reagan, calling him a great man and patriot. When Reagan made his polemic remarks about the 22nd amendment, he declared in a half-joking matter; "I understand someone who just wants to serve to his nation, if it was up to me, I'd still be president." Before dying, he publicly supported the campaign of Steve Forbes, calling him the future of the Republican Party.

On his memoir he made many never heard regards about his presidency and other political opinions.

Death and funeral

Nixon died on April 22, 1994 of a stroke that had been affecting him for days. Only 5 days later, a state funeral took place, one where important figures like Rockefeller, Bob Kennedy, Spiro Agnew, Jimmy Carter and many others. He left a legacy as one of the best US presidents, who led the nation during difficult Cold War times, and established many policies that continue to have effects into this day.