Nixon Richard

American lawyer who entered politics in 1946, became a U.S. Senator in 1950, was elected V.P. under Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, and was elected President of the U.S. on 5 November 1968. After the eruption of the Watergate scandal, he resigned his office on 9 August 1974. He is the author of "Six Crises," published in 1962. His parents Frances Anthony Nixon and Hannah Milhous were married on 25 June 1908. His dad, a strict disciplinarian, was an oil field worker, street car motorman, service station and store owner. The second of five sons, Nixon was named Richard after Richard the Lion-Hearted With his older brother and three younger brothers, he grew up in a prim Quaker household. Nixon did well in school and worked in his fathers grocery store. His simple beginnings and innate shyness made him a socially ill-at-ease introvert. After graduating second in his class from Whittier College on 9 June 1934 he enrolled at Duke Law School where he graduated third in his class. He returned to Whittier to set up a law practice. While auditioning for a part in a play at the Whittier Community Theater, he met Thelma Catherine (Pat) Ryan who eventually consented to marry him in June 1940. They were married on 21 June 1940 in Riverside, CA. Two years later Nixon began a four-year stint in the Navy during WW II. After the war, he returned to California where he sought and won a seat in Congress, 1946. Once in Washington he quickly gained a reputation for his zealous pursuit of communists working in the federal government. While on the House Un-American Activities Committee he was involved in two of the most famous cases; Whittaker Chambers, a confessed Communist Party courier and the former State Dept. official Alger Hiss, who was accused by Chambers of passing secrets to Soviet agents. Popular back in California, he won the 1950 campaign for the U.S. Senate which brought him into national recognition. In 1952 Nixon worked for Dwight Eisenhowers presidential candidacy and was selected as Eisenhowers vice presidential running mate. He was 39 years old. Nixon was accused of personally benefiting from a "slush fund" backed by millionaires. Defending himself against the charges he went on nationwide radio and TV on 23 September 1952 to deliver what became known as the "Checkers" speech. He detailed modest personal items belonging to him and his family, including Checkers, a spaniel given to his children by an admirer. He urged the audience to express their views to the Republican National Committee about whether he should be taken off the GOP ticket or not. The public responded with more than two million letters and telegrams by a margin of 350 to 1 urging him to stay. He was elected Vice President on 4 November 1952. In 1953 he took on an extensive goodwill tour of Asia and in 1955, Central America, followed by South America in 1958. Nominated to run for president on 28 July 1960 against John F. Kennedy, Nixon narrowly lost. His political fortune continued to sink as he lost the gubernatorial race to Brown in 1962. In January of 1963 he joined a New York law firm and kept his hand in politics by campaigning for Barry Goldwater. Known as an effective fund-raiser, he was nominated on 8 August 1968 as the Republican presidential candidate. He won by a narrow margin in the 5 November 1968 election against Hubert Humphrey. Nixon told his supporters that his goal was to "bring the American people together" under Read less