Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974, when he became the only president to resign the office. Nixon had previously served as a Republican U.S. Representative and Senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. More
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. He graduated from Whittier College in 1934 and Duke University School of Law in 1937, returning to California to practice law. He and his wife, Pat Nixon, moved to Washington to work for the federal government in 1942. He subsequently served in the United States Navy during World War II. Nixon was elected in California to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. His pursuit of the Alger Hiss case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and elevated him to national prominence. He was the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as vice president. He waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California in 1962. In 1968, he ran again for the presidency and was elected.
Richard Nixon timeline
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Richard Nixon is Born
Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, to Francis A. Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon in a house his father had built in Yorba Linda, California.... Read more
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Richard Nixon Attends Whittier College
Nixon initially attended Fullerton High School in Fullerton, but later transferred to Whittier High School, where he graduated second in his class... Read more
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Richard Nixon Attends Duke University Law School
In 1934, he graduated second in his class from Whittier and received a full scholarship to Duke University School of Law. His future plans at this... Read more
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Richard Nixon Marries Thelma "Pat" Ryan
In January 1938, Nixon was cast in the Whittier Community Players production of The Dark Tower. There he played opposite a high school teacher... Read more
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Richard Nixon Serves Active Duty in the U.S. Navy
Nixon was eligible for an exemption from military service, both as a Quaker and through his job working for the OPA, but he did not seek one and... Read more
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Richard Nixon is Sworn into the House of Representatives
Soon after World War II ended, a group of Whittier Republicans approached Nixon about running for a seat in the United States House of... Read more
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Richard Nixon is Elected as Senator for California
In the 1950 mid-term elections, Nixon ran against Democratic Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas for a seat in the U.S. Senate, representing... Read more
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Richard Nixon Delivers his 'Checkers' Speech
The Checkers speech or Fund speech was an address made by United States Senator from California and Republican vice presidential candidate Richard... Read more
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Richard Nixon Serves as Vice President
In part because of his reputation as an ardent anti-communist, 39-year-old Nixon was selected by Republican party nominee General Dwight D.... Read more
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Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th president of the United States
The Republican Party successfully promoted the candidacy of the popular General of the Army in the 1952 election over the Democratic candidate,... Read more
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Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy Appear in First Televised Presidential Debate
The 1960s were a significant changing of the guard in U.S. leadership and also in how Americans chose their leader. During the 1960 debates... Read more
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Final Debate Airs Between Vice President Richard M. Nixon And Senator John F. Kennedy
On October 21, 1960, American viewers were riveted to their television sets for the broadcast of the fourth and final debate between Vice President... Read more
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Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th president of the United States
An almost-winner of the 1960 election, and a close winner of the 1968 election, the former Vice President and California Senator and Congressman... Read more
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Kent State Shootings
The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre or Kent-State massacre, occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and... Read more
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President Nixon Approves Plan to Expand Domestic Intelligence-Gathering
July 23, 1970 Nixon approves a plan for greatly expanding domestic intelligence-gathering by the FBI, CIA and other agencies. He has second... Read more
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The "White House Plumbers" Burglarize a Psychiatrist's Office to Find Files on Daniel Ellsberg
The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, were a covert White House Special Investigations Unit established July 24, 1971... Read more
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Richard Nixon Arrives In China For An Official Visit
On February 21, 1972, Richard M. Nixon arrived in China for an eight-day official visit. He was the first U.S. president to visit the People's... Read more
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Five Men are Arrested for Trying to Bug the Watergate Complex
On June 17, 1972, Frank Wills, a security guard at the Watergate Complex, noticed tape covering the latch on locks on several doors in the complex... Read more
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James McCord, Security Coordinator for President Nixon, is Named in Watergate Bugging Arrests
One of the five men arrested early Saturday in the attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters is the salaried security... Read more
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Richard Nixon's second inauguration
The election of 1972 consolidated the gains that the President had made with the electorate in 1968. Although the Democratic Party maintained... Read more
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Spiro Agnew Resigns as the Vice President
On October 10, 1973, Spiro Agnew became the second Vice President to resign the office. Unlike John C. Calhoun, who resigned to take a seat in the... Read more
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President Richard Nixon Nominates Gerald Ford to be Vice President
On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and then pleaded no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering, part... Read more
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Richard M. Nixon Resigns the Office of the President of the United States
On March 1, 1974, former aides to the president, known as the "Watergate Seven" — Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, Charles Colson, Gordon C.... Read more
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Gerald Ford Issues Unconditional Presidential Pardon to Richard Nixon
President Ford granted former President Richard M. Nixon an unconditional pardon today for all Federal crimes that he "committed or may have... Read more
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Pat Nixon Dies
Pat Nixon died on June 22, 1993 of health problems, including emphysema and lung cancer. Her funeral services were held on the grounds of the... Read more