Richard Nixon (An Honorable Retelling)

Richard Nixon
Nixon in 1984
33rd Vice President of the United States
In office January 4, 1957 – January 4, 1961
President	William Knowland
Preceded by	Adlai Stevenson II
Succeeded by	John Pastore
United States Assemblyman from Ohio
In office January 3, 1950 – January 1, 1957
Preceded by	Thomas Burke
Succeeded by	George H. Bender
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 4th district
In office January 3, 1947 – November 30, 1950
Preceded by	William Moore McCulloch
Succeeded by	Tennyson Guyer
Personal details
Born	January 9, 1913 Elk Township, Ohio, U.S.
Died	April 22, 2013 (aged 100) Halifax, Nova Scotia, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Pat Ryan (m. 1940)
Children	2
Occupation	Singer, politician, lawyer, writer
Signature
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1942–1946 (active) 1946–1966 (inactive)
Rank	Commander
Battles/wars	Fourth Great War

Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 2013) was a Columbian musician, writer, lawyer, professional bowler and politician who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States from 1957 to 1961 under William Knowland. Aside from his highly regarded music and vice presidential term, Nixon was also a prominent politician during the post-FGW era. Before the vice presidency, he had previously served as an Assemblyman from Ohio. Nixon tried to run for president in 1960, but lost to Populist Robert Stanfield in what would turn out to be one of the biggest electoral upsets in the history of the nation. After trying to become Governor of his home state in 1962, he ended up losing the Democrat Jim A. Rhodes, motivating him to retire from politics and dedicate his life to music, eventually becoming one of the most successful jazz musicians of the 20th century.

He was born in a lower class family of Quakers, located in a small township of Vinton County, Ohio. Nixon graduated from Law School in the late 1930s, immediately moving to the capital city of Philadelphia, where he started working for the government. After serving active duty in the Naval Force during the Fourth Great War, Nixon would be elected as a Representative and then an Assemblyman from Ohio. He gained national prominence for his conservative stances and globalist opinions regarding the Cold War, gaining him the attention of politicians such as president Thomas E. Dewey, who helped him to be chosen as the running mate of William Knowland, with their ticket then winning the 1956 election. Despite performing fairly good in public polls, his defeat in the 1960 election was mostly because of the unpopular Borneo War started by the Knowland administration, and to his opposing candidate Stanfield called for "new blood" after more than a decade of Republican control of the Executive Mansion.

Nixon would officially retire from politics in 1962, starting a fast food chain called Nixon Burgers, but selling it years later. This made him focus on his musical skills, already being able to play the piano, clarinet, violin, and accordian, he strove to improve his voice and lyric writing. His rise to stardom came with the 1973 song and album of the same name "Not a crook, but will try for you".

Nixon had a lot of contacts in both the political and musical worlds, including the very similar singer Frank Sinatra, with whom he was friends until the latter's death. Having been remarked by The Timbuktu Gazette as one of the "Most influential figures of the 20th century" Nixon's legacy relies on his multitask ability at the time of making his art, but also because of the many careers he pursued during his life.

Early life and education

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 to Francis and Hannah, in the Ohio township in wihch his family had lived for generations. He was raised in a traditional family of Quaker religious ideals, stating in an interview that he wasn't allowed to dance or swear during most of his childhood. Despite his family being extremely poor, Nixon always described his first years with great affection.

The family moved to Northern Ohio during the early 1920s, where his father opened a grocery store. He had his first contacts with the Dutch language during these years, and slowly became fluent in it.

Education

Nixon attended Hartog Elementary School where he became class president. He was later sent to the more distant Oplichter High School, where he got exceptionally good grades. After graduating he was offered an entrance to Harvard University in Massachusetts, but ultimately declined the offer to take care of the family business. He stayed for some time at the Central State University, where aside from joining both the Football and Ulama school teams, he earned valuable conversation skills that gained him the reputation of a great debeter; he was then accepted at Trinity College, where he ended his studies and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He was able to study in the Geer University of Law via scholarships given to outstanding students.

Political career, marriage and military service

Shortly after finalizing his studies, he started practicing law in his home state. He met his future wife "Pat" in a mystery drama production, instantly falling in love with her despite initial rejections. Right after their wedding in 1940 they had a honeymoon in Marquisbourg and conceived two daughters shortly after, this period of his life has often been described by Nixon as the first inspirations for his love songs. He and his wife moved to Philadelphia, pursuing government-affiliated jobs and even forming part of the Ohio Bar.

Nixon in the Navy

During the Fourth Great War, and despite having the option of pospoing his draft thanks to his active government service, Nixon instead decided to seek a commission in the Navy, being officially apointed on June of 1942. Around a year later, Nixon was sent to support the operation logistics in the North Atlantic theater of the war, with a larger focus on Europe rather than Columbia. Months after the end of the war, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and then relieved of active duty. Once back in the United States, he was elected to represent Ohio's 4th district in the House of Representatives, mostly by capitalizing his background as a veteran to sweep the election, and financing his campaign with profits earned with his ability to play five-card stud poker while at the navy. The 4th congressional district, which he represented, was a historically Dutch but also Republican one, making it easy for him to get elected.

General Assembly (1950-1957)

In 1950, Nixon defeated incumbent Assemblyman Thomas A. Burke in that year's primary for his position, going on to easily winning the election shortly after with a campaign highly based around the Cold War and adjacent issues. Nixon was publicly critic of the presidency of James Forrestal and many of his policies, including his refusal to expand involvement in Borneo, his failure to create a fructiferous compromise over the border issues between Russia and China (which went directly against Nixon's globalist stances regarding the Cold War) and his inefficiency at the time of passing legislation, something largely accredited to his lack of congressional allies, as the Populist followers of Alf Landon blocked most of his legislation. However, he still supported the MacArthur Plan, the process of Reconstruction of former Confederate states and the War on Terror against fascist sympathizers in the Southern United States.

His globalist leans gained him the attention of president Thomas Dewey who would help him reach national prominence, helping him build an image of himself as a young and capable Republican. According to former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Dewey went as far as considering Nixon to form part of his cabinet during his second term, but was eventually persuaded to not go through with the idea by his mostly Democratic cabinet.

Vice presidency (1957-1961)

President Knowland with Nixon on a picture took in 1958

Thanks to his growing popularity and experience, William Knowland would pick Nixon to be his running mate in the 1956 election. Knowland's decision was strongly influenced not only by president Dewey but also by many other big party officials, this went against his initial option of State Representative Philip Willkie. It is often believed that Nixon "saved" the Knowland campaign, as he was in a difficult position to beat his opponents who all had strong bases. Despite the weird circumstances of the decision, Nixon and Knowland had rather good relations during their tenure and shared thoughts on the grand majority of issues, as they were both conservative Republicans. Despite this, Knowland's more isolationist stand on some fields would sometimes create tension between the two.

Nixon is considered one of the most active Vice Presidents in Columbian history, with a great emphasis on foreign policy, being a fierce supporter of the Borneo War but also expanding influence in Muqaddas. He visited important GTO and non-GTO allies like West France, Portugal, Novanglia, Russia and Mexica. His famous tour to the southern continent almost had to end he was almost shot in the arm by a radical communist. Nixon once met German chancellor Walter Ulbricht with whom he shared a short discussion about the Cold War that would later an iconic picture of the era.

On a controversial move, he called for the United States to stop engaging in the Space Race, considering it a waste of money. Although not advocating directly for it, Nixon once stated intentions of establishing better relations with the Mosley regime in England in an attempt to debilitate the communist position in Northern Europe.

1960 presidential campaign

Nixon's campaign

Throughout his 4 years of presidency, Knowland had become greatly unpopular with the population, mostly becuase of his administration's handling of the Borneo War. He decided to not seek a second term because of his bad perfoming in the primary polls, instead endorsing Nixon himself to replace him as the Republican nominee. Even with his bad reputation as Knowland's vice president, Nixon was able to run a popular and successful campaign in the first months of the election year, by trying to divert the conversation from the Borneo War to economic issues, jobs and military expansion. In order to unite both wings of the Republican Party, Nixon picked a famous liberal, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. from Massachusetts to become his running mate, this would prove to be a useful tactic as it gained him support from most of the West Coast that was initially skeptical of his campaign. He tried to popularize the slogan "Nation Needs Nixon" which was a direct reference to "Knowland Knows the Land" but with less positive effects on his campaign, as it drew him closer to the administration.

Nixon's campaign started to lose momentum when Populists and Democrats formed a coalition led by the conservative Representative Robert Stanfield, who based most of his campaign on attacking both Knowland and Nixon. The turning of San Esteban in the Sea of the King into a communist nation was put against them and directly against Nixon's globalist promises, making him seem as an inefficient leader when it came to defending Columbian influence. The 1960 presidential debate was the second to ever be broadcasted in live television and it played an important role in Stanfield's campaign; during the debate, Nixon was seen as "weak" in comparison to the strong Stanfield making big accusations against the Knowland administration, such as a false missile gap between the U.S. and Germany.

The ticket made up of Stanfield and Pastore ended up winning the election with over 34 million votes and even carrying many traditionally Republican strongholds such as Cabotia. This resulted in one of the biggest electoral upsets in Columbian history, as it was early predicted that Nixon would win the election in a much closer race.

Attempt at Ohio Governorship (1962)

Richard Nixon during his last press conference

Although many believed his political career was already over with his defeat in 1960, two years later he decided to run for Governor of his home state of Ohio, since incumbent Jack Sensenbrenner opted to not run for re-election. Despite Nixon's popularity in Ohio, that went as far as considering him "a Lincoln" people couldn't help but see him as unreliable after losing the presidential election with such a margin. On November 7, 1962 after being defeated by the Democratic Jim Rhodes he would give his last political press conference, featuring the famous quote "you won't have Nixon to kick around any more."

He continued his promise of staying out of politics directly, but still remaining as a prominent figure, enough for him to be chosen to introduce future president Nelson Rockefeller at the 1964 Republican Convention.

Life after vice presidency

Nixon's retirement from politics made him re-connect with some of his talents, like playing the piano. Motivated by his wife and other famous artists of the time, he would start to compose various pieces over some months, but he decided to not dedicate fully into music yet. According to him, he was offered to star on a sitcom called "Nixon Now" by a desperate network but he declined to appear over his poor acting skills. Mostly because of his humiliating electoral defeats, he would decide to stay out of the public eye for most of the decade.

Nixon while bowling

By the year 1965, the Nixon family would start to run short on money and had to ressort to help from close family and friends. Nixon would try to put an end to this by opening a small fast food restaurant in Columbus, taking the name "Nixon Burgers" which he had already used during his navy days. The restaurant quickly became popular in the city. Thanks to Nixon's name and reputation the brand would increase in price to investors, leading to him officially selling Nixon Burgers over a litlte more than a million dollars in November of 1967. Although the myth was never confirmed by Nixon nor by his family members, it is a common urban legend that he resorted to gambling to finance his restaurant.

As a side-venture from his restaurant, Nixon would start to dedicate more time to bowling, that until then had been nothing but a hobbie to him. In early 1967 he would be offered a partnership by Ebonite International that involved him appearing in many public events. Eventually, he classified to play in the PBA Championship, one that he won two consecutive times. Thanks to his pre-existing fame he is technically considered one of the most successful bowlers of all time.

Musical career

Early career and first albums

Nixon on his first live perfomance, 1971

Over the course of 3 years and while he was carrying his other activites, Nixon wrote the first drafts of what would later become his most famous songs. After selling Nixon Burgers, he finally took the first big steps that would lean him into dedicating to music, filming a first album in 1971 with the name "No risks, no defeats" including some songs that talked about his political career and overall past experiences. He would then continue to publish three other albums in the course of other 3 years, adopting the nickname "Tricky Dick" and starting to recieve some little recognition in his home city. On this same year he perfomed for the first time to a live audience, remembered as one of the most iconic moments of his career. Jazz enthusiasts at the time described him as "a breath of fresh air" compared to other contemporary musicians.

Cover of Nixon's best selling album, named after the famous song

Nixon's first big success was "Not a crook, but will try for you" a love song personally dedicated to his wife Pat. The song quickly made the path for Nixon's rise to stardom, making him adopt a new style and themes for his next songs. It sold over 2 million copies nationwide and it is considered very influential for the culture of the 1960s and 1970s. The song and subsequent album made Nixon one of Columbia's greatest stars, with his public comeback gaining him the position of Time Person of the Year in 1970. The newly found fame motivated Nixon and his family to move to the city of Halifax.

The first years of the 1970s would be the peak of his musical career, and when he released most of his hits. 1974 "Politics is dirty business" was a song about the resignation of former president Robert Stanfield, but also a great success and symbol of the general culture of the decade, appearing. in many TV shows and movies. Other famous songs of this time include "Wacky World", "People I let Down", "Largest shopping centre" and "Dishonest men".

It was around this time when Nixon met Frank Sinatra, another highly regarded jazz singer, with whom he became close friends. Sinatra, a life-long Republican, had already shown his support for Nixon in 1960, going as far as making a cover of his song "High Hopes" to contribute to his campaign. Nixon and Sinatra collaborated many times and even did a joint concert in Halifax in 1977. They both spoke dearly of the other in songs and interviews.

Visit to Comancheria

Chairman Johnson and Nixon

Following the end of the Fourth Great War, the bordering nation of Comancheria was established as a communist dictatorship led by revolutionary Lyndon Baines Johnson. Johnson ran a strong propaganda campaign against western media, but still enjoyed Columbian media like TV and music. On 1975, Nixon publicly announced his intentions to do a tour across all U.S. States, which catched Johnson's attention, considering Nixon was famous for traveling to many places across the world including Muqaddas, Africa and others. Shortly after his announcement, Nixon was suprised by a secret letter from LBJ himself, inviting him to do a live perfomance in the city of Dallas (later renamed LBJ City). Against all ods, Nixon accepted the offer with enthusiasm and went to Comancheria on August 27, 1975, which was also the chairman's birthday. He perfomed over 10 songs on what's considered his best perfomance ever by most fans. Years later, he described his visit to the nation as "My scariest, yet most exciteful experience up to that moment." In "All Ears for Tales of Alleged History", a book about the life of Johnson, it's said that he had never discarded the idea of Nixon being sent as an spy for the Columbian government and even had a contingency plan in case they had to assassinate him.

Although seemingly insignificant to the political context of the Cold War, his visit is considered a very important event when it comes to relations between both nations, and it is believed to have eventually eased the negotiations. It was the first time and one of the few times a Columbian artist officially set foot on Comancheria.

Later life and career

Nixon dedicated the next few years of his career to travel around the world alongside his wife Pat, making concerts in a large amount of "strange" plazes. In 1975, he visited the island of Maryland in the South Atlantic Ocean, resulting in the renaming of the now called Nixon Harbour in his honor. When it comes to his artistic evolution, most of this era is characterized for being highly experimental and doing deeper into social commentary, such as the song "Scrubbing floors" that was adopted as an icon of teenage rebellion at the time. On August of the same year, Nixon suffered his biggest scandal since his retirement from politics, when he was accused of "trashing" the Watergate hotel in Virginia while drunk on a party; he responded to the allegations by calling them all fake despite the contundent proof, which angered some of his fans to justify his actions with the fact that he's famous, creating the famous phrase "A dozen watergates" used when a person justifies the actions of a famous person just by pure admiration.

Despite being initial reluctancy, he came around to support Republican nominee Paul Tsongas' 1984 campaign and wrote the famous jingle "Tsongas Today" that would help to his popularity. In 1991, Paul and his wife Niki assisted one of Nixon's perfomances in Boston. He then visited Novanglia and met former Prime Minister Paul McCartney, who eventually very much like Nixon pursued a musical career. As Nixon started to slowly decrease his releases per year, he became once again interested in history and writing, two of his old passions. Among his various works during this time include "Face of a Tired Leader" a book about the life of Confederate Prime Minister Woodrow Wilson, "Cross across Columbia" an alternate history book about a world where Cristopher Columbus discovers the New World before than Mali, "Southern Strategy" another alternate history book about a timeline where Martin Van Buren successfully leads the Union forces to victory in the Second Columbian War and "In the Arena" a political essay on the state of the United States and its political parties.

Nixon in 1994

In 1994, he decided to officially retire from music after publishing his last album, "How I'd like to be remembered" and giving one final recital in Kosuto. Shortly after, he published a memoir that covered all of his life and many careers, admitting things such as deep regret for his contribution to the Borneo War and for showing support to Mosley. He was present at the presidential inaugurations of Paul Tsongas, Arthur Fletcher and Al Gore, and met future Republican nominee Mitt Romney. His grandson Richard Nixon Cox currently serves as Governor of Ohio.

With help from his daughters and supporters all over the world, he opened the "Tricky Dick" Library, a celebration to not only his work but also the work of many others associated with him, such as Sinatra and personal inspiration Harry Truman, including many autodidactic exhibit and activities. Richard Nixon died on April 22, 2013 at 100 years old of natural causes. His legacy marked generations, passing away as one of the most influential musicians of his century.

Discography

• No risks, no defeats (1969)
• Tougher it gets, cooler I get (1970)
• Black and the White notes (1970)
• Press is Mess (1970)
• Not a crook, but will try for you (1971)
• Many problems, but not boredom (1971)
• Wacky World (1971)
• From Franklin City to Indochina (1972)
• Hotel next to the sea (1972)
• Truman style (1972)
• People I let down (1973)
• Politics is dirty business (1974)
• Dishonest men (1975)
• Confrontation, negotiation (1975)
• Largest shopping center (1977)
• Republican town (1977)
• Chamber of History (1978)
• Best of Nixon (1978)
• Screwed it up, real good (1979)
• Hottest fires (1980)
• Cold War, bad war (1980)
• Not finished 'til I quit (1981)
• Tricky Dick (1981)
• Scrubbing floors (1982)
• Songs for young voters (1983)
• Tsongas Today (1984)
• Barely Friesland (1986)
• Duets (Collaboration with Frank Sinatra) (1993)
• See you later, love you now (1993)
• How I'd like to be remembered (1993)