The Demise of Richard Nixon

The Demise of Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States and the only president to resign from office.

This is the story of his political career, his resignation, and the years following where he was left a desperately sad man, excluded from all serious US politics 

Politics was his life and in all respects he was a good politician, he achieved so much however he will for ever be remembered for the Watergate scandal. A scandal that left his life shattered, a man in pieces, who never would be allowed to make an impact on america ever again. 

 "Nixon was a soul in torment"--he was at his desk by 7 a.m.—with little to do

But lets explain how this man fell from from the glory of re-election to the gutter of despair.

Early life- 1913-1946

In 1913 Nixon was born to strong Quakers Francis A. Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon. His early life was fraught with hardships. In 1922 the Nixon ranch failed, forcing the family to uproot and move. In 1925 Nixon’s younger brother Arthur died after a short illness, this was a big change in Nixon’s life and affected the whole family greatly. He said once, "For weeks after Arthur's funeral, there was not a day that I did not think about him and cry. For the first time, I learned what death was like and what it meant." this would not be Nixon's only experience of death in his youth, his older brother Harold died of tuberculosis in 1933.Despite various catastrophes Nixon performed well academically throughout his school life and eventually received a full scholarship to Duke University School of Law, he graduated in 1937. After graduation Nixon went on to practice with the law firm Wingert and Bewley in Whittier, working on commercial litigation for local petroleum companies and other corporate matters. By 1939 Nixon would become a full partner at this form. it was whilst working this firm where Nixon would meet his future wife and mother of two children, Pat Nixon. In August 1942 with the start of Americans involvement in the war effort, Nixon decided to join the United States Navy. He was Given the rank of lieutenant and was sent to the Pacific as an operations officer with the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command. He left the Navy in January 1946. 

Early political years- 

After leaving the navy Nixon returned to Whittier and under recommendation by a republican committee, he ran for congress against Voorhis. After year of intensive campaigning Nixon won, receiving 65,586 votes to Voorhis' 49,994. He first gained national attention in 1948 when as a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAAC)  he took a leading role in the investigation of Alger Hiss, a former State Department official accused of spying for the Soviet Union. his hostile questioning of hiss gained his a reputation of being fiercely anti-communist. In 1950 Nixon successfully ran for the United States Senate, it was after this campaign he gained his 'illustrious' nickname, Tricky Dick. 





Vice Presidency-
Two years later, in 1952, Nixon won the nomination for the vice presidency alongside General Eisenhower primarily because of his strong anti-communist ideals. The Eisenhower-Nixon campaign defeated the Democratic candidates with just under 34 million popular votes to their 27.3 million. Nixon was strongly criticized as during his two terms he did not assume significant responsibilities. when Eisenhower was asked to describe Nixon's contributions he said “If you give me a week, I might think of one.”

However Whilst Eisenhower was incapacitated (due to illnesses), Nixon was called on to take up many duties such as overseeing meetings and cabinet sessions. This lead the way for legislation into the formalized duties of the vice president whilst the president is unable to for fill roles due to disability. 


Presidential election of 1960-

Nixon showed him self to be a confident orator in these debates, on radio it even appeared as if he had won the debates. However on TV Nixon did not come across as well, he looked pale and was sweating desperately, whilst Kennedy remained cool and composed, conveying an image of youthful confidence. Nixon eventually lost to Kennedy by fewer than 120,000 popular votes, the closest margin since the election of 1884. Nixon was urged to contest the results by prominent republicans, as a question mark lurked over whether Kennedy had won Illinois and Texas legally. However he decided not to, he would later be praised for this decision due to his dignity in defeat.


Wilderness Years-

Following the defeat Nixon returned to California and began to practice law again. Nixon reluctantly ran for governor in 1962 to keep his hand in the political pie, however he marginally lost, and to many (including Nixon) this was viewed as the end of his political life. Later Nixon said this "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."

Whilst he remained mostly out of the political spotlight he continued to comment on the political stance of America and was still widely respected amongst republicans.


Presidential Election-


In 1968 Nixon won the Republican nomination for presidency, he would run with Spiro Agnew who would serve as his vice president. Nixon's campaign was based on the credentials that he could end the war in Vietnam with his 'secret plan'. Hubert H. Humphrey ran as democratic candidate however he was heavily burdened by the previous government's policies (to which he served as vice president). Nixon won the election by a narrow margin, 31.7 million popular votes to Humphrey's nearly 30.9 million; Nixon was the 37th President of the United States.

Presidential years- 1969-1974


Domestic policies-

Nixon’s administration undertook a number of important reforms in welfare policy, civil rights, law enforcement, the environment, and other areas. Nixon proposed a Family Assistance Program (FAP), this would have provided a guaranteed income to working and non-working families, a policy close to Nixon due to his family being particularly poor through his upbringing. Although the measure was defeated in the Senate, its failure helped to generate support for other legislation of similar ideas.

In the area of civil rights, Nixon’s administration setup policies to reserve a percentage of jobs for minorities on federally funded construction projects. Also during his administration the percentage of African American students attending all-black school drastically reduced.

Foreign policy- 

Nixon claimed he had a “secret plan” to end the war in Vietnam during his campaign and so this was his first foreign objective. But despite hopefulness Nixon failed to negotiate, or bargain for, an end to the Vietnam War Despite repeated attempts. In June he began replacing American troops with South Vietnamese troops under his policy of “Vietnamization”. By the end of 1969, Nixon had ordered 110,000 troops home. Nixon also resumed the bombing of North Vietnam and expanded the air and ground war to neighboring Cambodia and Laos.

There were intensive negotiations between Kissinger and Le Duc Tho and it seemed the two sides reached an agreement in October 1972, and Kissinger announced, “Peace is at hand.” However these negotiations quickly broke down and an intensive 11 day bombing of North Vietnam, the Christmas bombings, followed. A new agreement was finally reached in January 1973 and signed in Paris. 

China and the Soviet Union-

Nixon’s most significant achievement in foreign affairs was the establishment of direct relations with the People's Republic of China after a 21-year estrangement. China indicated they would welcome high level discussions and for this Nixon sent his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger. The talks went well and relations thawed. Nixon visited to China in February–March 1972, the first by an American president while in office, this concluded with the USA formally recognising the “one China” principle.

In May 1972 Nixon paid a state visit to Moscow to sign 10 formal agreements, the most important of which were the nuclear arms limitation treaties known as SALT I, this summarized the new era of détente in US-soviet relations.

The Watergate scandal-


In 1972 Nixon won a landslide victory, but lets finally explain how this man fell from from the glory of re-election to the gutter of despair. 


The scandal was the illegal activities conducted by Nixon and his aides related to the burglary and wiretapping of the national headquarters of the Democratic Party at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. The five men involved in the burglary were hired by the republican re election committee. They were arrested and charged on June 17, 1972. Nixon was quick to cover up the administrations involvement and was obstructive in the FBI’s inquiries by bribing the Watergate burglars to prevent them from implicating the administration.

The story was scrupulously analysed by top newspapers such as the Washington post. With information from an informant called “deep throat” the newspapers began to accuse the president of involvement in the scandal. With the presidents involvement called into question the investigators demanded tapes of oval office conversations. The president offered transcripts, these were declined. In a news conference Nixon protested his innocence with the infamous line “I am not a crook”, and later released 7/9 of the tapes requested, one of which contained a suspicious gap of 18 and one-half minutes. Although damning, the tapes did not contain the “smoking gun” that would prove that the president himself ordered the break-in or attempted to obstruct justice.

Nixon claimed to keep all 64 tapes now requested on grounds of “executive privilege,” grounds that were claimed invalid by the Supreme Court. By this time the House Judiciary Committee had voted to recommend three articles of impeachment, relating to obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and failure to comply with congressional subpoenas. On August 5^th Nixon was forced to comply and gave a transcript of a conversation taped on June 23, 1972. It was in these the smoking gun had finally been found. Evidence that Nixon had covered up his own involvement. Faced with impeachment and conviction, Nixon resigned on the evening of Aug. 8, 1974. Gerald Ford became president, and on Sept. 8, 1974 Nixon was pardoned by the new President. 

Retirement and death-

Nixon led a moderately sad life of seclusion after his resignation, a life of exile from political life.  A close aides said  "Nixon was a soul in torment"--he was at his desk by 7 a.m.—with little to do. Nixon maintained an ambitious schedule of speaking engagements and writing, traveled, and met with many foreign leaders.  This helped Nixon  rehabilitate his public reputation and earned respect as an elder statesman and foreign-policy expert. Despite this he sill felt excluded from political life and felt shunned by many prominent politicians. Nixon died of a massive stroke in New York City in April 1994, 10 months after his wife's death from lung cancer.

Five presidents and their first ladies attend the funeral