Richard Nixon

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{{Infobox_President|name=Richard Milhous Nixon| image=Nixon 30-0316a.jpg| order=37th President of the United States, [1969, [1974| successor=[Gerald Ford| death_date=| death_place= [New York City| signature=Richard M. Nixon signature.png| spouse=[Pat Nixon| occupation=Lawyer
[Duke University School of Law| vicepresident=[Spiro Agnew (1969–1973)vacant (Oct.–Dec. 1973)Gerald Ford (1973–1974)]| term_start2=January 20, 1953, [1961| successor2=[Lyndon B. Johnson| order3 = [List of United States Senators from California
from California, [1950, [1953| successor3 = [Thomas Kuchel from [California's 12th congressional district, [1947, [1950| successor4 = [Patrick J. Hillings, [1913 – April 22, 1994) was the thirty-seventh President of the United States, and was the only U.S. President to resign the office. Elected twice to the presidency, he served from 1969 to 1974. He was also the thirty-sixth Vice President of the United States, serving in the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961). During World War II, he served as a United States Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific, before being elected to the United States Congress, and later serving as Vice President. After an unsuccessful United States presidential election, 1960, Nixon was elected in United States presidential election, 1968.

Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. His centrism domestic policies combined conservative rhetoric and Liberalism in the United States action in civil rights, environmental and economic initiatives. As a result of the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned the presidency in the face of likely Impeachment in the United States by the United States House of Representatives. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a controversial pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed.

Nixon experienced a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81.

Early years Richard Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. His father was Francis A. Nixon and his mother was Hannah M. Nixon (born Hannah Milhous Nixon). She was a Religious Society of Friends, and his upbringing is said to have been marked by conservative Quaker observances such as refraining from drinking, dancing and swearing. His father converted from Methodism to Quaker after his marriage. Richard Nixon's great-grandfather George Nixon III had been killed at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War while serving in the 73rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Through his mother, he was a second cousin of the writer Jessamyn West (writer).

Nixon's parents had five children, all boys:

Harold Nixon (June 1, 1909–March 7, 1933)
Richard (January 9, 1913–April 22, 1994)
Donald Nixon (November 23, 1914–June 27, 1987)
Arthur Nixon (May 26, 1918–August 10, 1925)
Edward Nixon (May 3, 1930)

Nixon attended Fullerton High School (California), from 1926 to 1928, in Fullerton, California, and later, Whittier High School, from 1928 to 1930, in Whittier, California. He graduated second in his class from Whittier, showing a penchant for William Shakespeare and Latin. Although he was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to Harvard University, he declined, due to insufficient financial means for attendance. Instead, he chose to enroll at Whittier College, a local Quaker school, where he co-founded a friendly society called the Orthogonian Society. Nixon was a formidable debater, a stand out in collegiate drama productions, and was elected student-body president. While at Whittier, he taught Sunday school at East Whittier Friends Church, where he remained a member all his life. A lifelong American football fan, Nixon practiced with the team assiduously, but spent most of his time on the bench. In 1934, he graduated second in his class from Whittier, and went on to Duke University Duke University School of Law, where he received a full scholarship and graduated third in his class.

In 1937, Nixon returned to California, was admitted to the bar (law), and began working in the law office of a family friend in a nearby small town. The work was mostly routine, and Nixon generally found it to be dull. He later wrote that family law cases caused him particular discomfort, since his reticent Quaker upbringing was severely at odds with the idea of discussing intimate marital details with strangers.

During World War II, Nixon served as a reserve officer in the United States Navy. He received his training at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island and Ottumwa, Iowa, before serving in the supply corps on several islands in the South Pacific, commanding cargo handling units in the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command.Hove, Duane T. American Warriors: Five Presidents in the Pacific Theater of WWII, Burd Street Press, 2003 ISBN 1-57249-307-0; summary accessed at August 2, 2006 There he was known as "Nick" and for his prowess in poker, banking a large sum that helped finance his first campaign for United States Congress.

Marriage and children , Julie Nixon, and Pat NixonRichard Nixon met Pat Nixon, a high school teacher native to California. The two became acquainted at a Little Theater group when they were cast in the same play. Nixon asked Pat Ryan to marry him the first night they went out, and they were married on June 21, 1940. "I thought he was nuts or something," she recalled."Diplomat in High Heels: Thelma Ryan Nixon", The New York Times, 28 July 1959, page 11 The Nixons had two daughters: Tricia Nixon, born in 1946, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, born two years later.

House and Senate: 1946–1952

Nixon was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1946, defeating Democratic Party (United States) five-term incumbent Jerry Voorhis in the 12th Congressional district in southern California. Nixon's campaign alleged that his opponent's Congress of Industrial Organizations Political action committee support showed that Voorhis was collaborating with communist-controlled labor unions.

Nixon's first major breakthrough came in his two terms in Congress, where his dogged investigation on the House Un-American Activities Committee broke the impasse of the Alger Hiss spy case in 1948. Nixon believed Whittaker Chambers, who alleged that Hiss, a high United States Department of State official, was a Soviet spy. Nixon discovered that Chambers had saved microfilm reproductions of incriminating documents by hiding the film in a pumpkin (these became known as the "Pumpkin Papers"). These documents were alleged both to be accessible only by Hiss, and to have been typed on Hiss's personal typewriter. The discovery that Hiss, who had been an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, could have been a Soviet spy, thrust Nixon into the public eye and made him a hero to many of FDR's enemies, and an enemy to many of FDR's supporters. In reality, his support for internationalism put him closer to the center of the Republican party.

In the 1950 mid-term elections, Nixon defeated Democratic Congresswoman Helen Gahagan to win a seat in the United States Senate. Accusing her of being a fellow traveler with Communism sympathies, Nixon called her "the Pink Lady" and said she was "pink right down to her underwear." Gahagan, for her part, bestowed upon Nixon one of the most enduring nicknames in American politics: "Tricky Dick".

Vice Presidency In United States presidential election, 1952, Nixon was elected Vice President of the United States on Dwight Eisenhower's ticket; he was 39 years old. In September 1952, during the campaign, the New York Post and other publications reported that Nixon had kept a "slush fund" for personal use. Democrats and leading Republicans pressured Eisenhower to remove Nixon from the ticket. Nixon convinced Eisenhower to let him defend himself. Nixon went on TV on September 23, and defended himself in a famous speech. He provided an independent third-party review of the fund's accounting along with a personal summary of his finances, which he cited as exonerating him from wrongdoing, and he noted that the Democratic Party (United States) Presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson, also had a similar fund. This speech would, however, become better known for its rhetoric, such as when he stated that his wife Pat did not wear mink, but rather "a respectable Republican cloth coat," and that although he had been given an American Cocker Spaniel named "Checkers" in addition to his other campaign contributions, he was not going to give it back because his daughters loved it. As a result, this speech became known as the "Checkers speech." At the end of the broadcast, Nixon intended to appeal to viewers to write to the Republican National Committee to voice their support or opposition. Although the broadcast was cut off before he could make this appeal, his speech resulted in a flood of support, prompting Eisenhower to keep Nixon on the ticket.

Nixon greatly expanded the office of Vice President. Although he had little formal power, he had the attention of the media and the Republican Party. He demonstrated that the office could be a springboard to the White House as it had not been since the 19th century; most Vice Presidents since have followed his lead and sought the presidency. Nixon was the first Vice President to step in temporarily to run the government. He did so three times when Eisenhower was ill: on the occasions of Eisenhower's myocardial infarction on September 24, 1955; his ileitis in June 1956; and his stroke on November 25, 1957. Despite this, Nixon was forced to announce his own inclusion on the 1956 Eisenhower re-election campaign, which highlighted the lack of rapport he and Eisenhower shared. Nixon's quick thinking was on display on July 24, 1959, at the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow where he and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had an impromptu "kitchen debate" about the merits of capitalism versus communism.

1960 election and post-Vice Presidency In U.S. presidential election, 1960, Nixon ran for President against John F. Kennedy in a race that remained close all year. Kennedy-Nixon Presidential Debates, 1960 — Erika Tyner Allen, Museum of Broadcast Communications, accessed April 4, 2006 Nixon campaigned on his experience, but Kennedy called for new blood and claimed that the Eisenhower-Nixon administration had allowed the Soviet Union to overtake the U.S. in offensive missiles (the "missile gap"). Kennedy also made much of the stagnant American economy of 1960, telling voters it was time to "get the country moving again." Nixon's frosty relationship with Eisenhower also hurt him. When asked about major policy decisions that Nixon had helped shape, the President responded: "Give me a week and I might think of one." In the first of four televised debates, Kennedy not only looked better physically, he also came off as polished, articulate and mature. The performance dispelled many people's worries that the young senator was too inexperienced to be President. Nixon, for his part, was recovering from an illness, and, with the stubble on his face visible, looked unimpressive. (Nixon's performance in the debate was perceived to be mediocre only in the visual medium of television, though; many people listening on the radio considered that Nixon had won).{{cite book | last =Foner | first =Eric | title =Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Vol. 2 | publisher = W. W. Norton & Company | date = 2006 | location = New York | pages = 843 | id =ISBN 0-3939-2784-9-->

Nixon lost the 1960 election narrowly. It is often argued by American historians that Nixon in fact lost primarily due to the invention of the televised debate. There were charges of vote fraud in Texas and Illinois, and Nixon supporters challenged the results in both states as well as nine others. All of these challenges failed. The Kennedy camp challenged Nixon's victory in Hawaii. That challenge succeeded, and after all the court battles and recounts were done, Kennedy had a greater number of electoral votes than he had held after Election Day.

Nixon wrote Six Crises (1962), a book dealing with his political involvement as a congressman, senator and as Vice-President. The book used six different crises Nixon had experienced throughout his political career to illustrate his political memoirs. It was not supposed to be an academic work on the subject of crises, rather a method of depicting his political biography in a personal manner. The work won praise from many policy experts and critics. Ironically, as Margaret MacMillan would discuss in her book Nixon in China (2006), Six Crises found a favorable critic in Mao Zedong, who referred to the book when in preparation for Nixon's visit in 1972.

In 1962, against the advice of many friends and supporters, Nixon chose to challenge the popular Pat Brown for Governor of California. Nixon had never before shown any interest in the office and biographers still disagree on his precise motive in seeking it. In all likelihood, he was looking for a reason not to run for president again in 1964. With John F. Kennedy's popularity strong, it was likely to be a losing effort. Therefore, if Nixon won in 1962, he would have the excuse that he was too busy running the state. If he lost, he could plead a desire not to campaign again so soon. In either case, Brown won handily.

Nevertheless, years of campaigning and losing had worn Nixon down. In an impromptu concession speech the morning after the election, Nixon famously blamed the media for favoring his opponent. At a postelection press conference, a bitter Nixon lashed out at reporters who, he said "are so delighted that I have lost." He added: {{cquote] case, you've had a lot of—a lot of fun—that you've had an opportunity to attack me and I think I've given as good as I've taken.....But as I leave you I want you to know—just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference. William A. De Gregorio, "The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents" (2005) 6th edition, Barricade Books|20px|20px|Richard Nixon 1962-->Nixon's loss in the California gubernatiorial election was widely believed to be the end of his career. However, just one year later, John Kennedy was John F. Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Texas. The events that defined the tumultuous 1960s were beginning, and before the decade closed, a "New Nixon," one who was "tanned, rested and ready," would win the presidency in another close election.

1968 election , 1968Seeking a fresh start after the 1962 governor defeat, Nixon moved to New York City, where he became a senior partner in the leading law firm Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander. During the U.S. House election, 1966, he stumped the country in support of Republican candidates, rebuilding his base in the party. In the U.S. presidential election, 1968, he completed a remarkable political comeback by taking the nomination. Nixon's success in the nomination might be attributed to Robert F. Kennedy's assassination after he won the California Democratic primary in June 1968. Nixon appealed to what he called the "silent majority" of socially conservative Americans who disliked the hippie counterculture and the anti-war demonstrations. Nixon promised peace with honor, and, though never claiming to be able to win the war, Nixon did say that "new leadership will end the war and win the peace in the Pacific". He did not explain in detail his plans to end the war in Vietnam, causing Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey to allege that he must have had some "election promise#Case study: Richard Nixon's Election promises." Nixon didn't invent the phrase, but because he did not disavow the term, it soon became part of the campaign. In his memoirs, Nixon wrote that he actually had no such plan. In a three-way race between Nixon, Humphrey, and independent candidate George Wallace, Nixon defeated Humphrey by less than 1% of the popular vote, along to become the 37th President of the United States.

The Nixon presidency (1969 – 1974) , 1969, with the new First Lady, Pat, holding the family Bibles. Foreign policies In his book "Real Peace" in 1983 Nixon wrote that: "Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war"."Real peace", Little Brown & Co (T) (January 1984), ISBN-10: 0316611492, ISBN-13: 978-0316611497, 107 pages

Vietnam War Lieutenant Commander#United States Navy and Coast Guard John McCain, future United States Senator, upon his return from years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, 1973Once in office, he proposed the Nixon Doctrine, a strategy of replacing American troops with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, also called "Vietnamization." In July 1969, he visited South Vietnam, and met with President Nguyen Van Thieu and with U.S. military commanders. American involvement in the war declined steadily until all American troops were gone in 1973. After the withdrawal of U.S. troops, fighting was left to the South Vietnamese army. Although the South Vietnamese were well supplied with modern arms, their fighting capability was limited by inadequate funding, low morale, and corruption. The lack of funding was primarily because of large funding cutbacks by the U.S. Congress. Nixon was widely praised in the United States for having delivered 'peace with honor', and ended American involvement in the war in Vietnam. However, a part of his strategy was the resumption of the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam should they violate the Peace agreement, which Nixon was confident they would. Watergate, however, made it impossible to carry this out. Nixon, along with his National Security Advisor (United States) Henry Kissinger also sought a 'decent interval' solution to the problem of South Vietnam, so that the country would survive for long enough for him not to be personally blamed for its ultimate collapse.

Nixon ordered secret bombing campaigns in Cambodia in March 1969 (code-named Operation Menu) to destroy what was believed to be the headquarters of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam, and later escalated the conflict with secretly bombing Laos before Congress cut the funding for the conflict in Vietnam. Another goal of the bombings was to Air interdiction the Ho Chi Minh trail that passed through Laos and Cambodia. In ordering the bombings, Nixon realized he would be extending an unpopular war as well as breaching Cambodia's stated neutrality. In a televised speech on April 30, 1970, Nixon announced the Cambodian Campaign to disrupt so-called North Vietnamese sanctuaries.

During deliberations over Nixon's impeachment, his unorthodox use of executive (government) in ordering the bombings was considered as an article of impeachment, but the charge was dropped as not a violation of constitutional powers.

China and the Soviet Union Chairman Mao Zedong (left) in a historic visit to the People's Republic of China, 1972International relations between the Western powers and Eastern Bloc changed dramatically in the early 1970s. In 1960, the People's Republic of China (PRC) publicly split from its main ally, the Soviet Union, in the Sino-Soviet Split. As tension along the border between the two communist nations Sino-Soviet border conflict in 1969 and 1970, Nixon decided to use their conflict to shift the balance of power towards the West in the Cold War. In what later would be known as the "China Card", the Nixon administration deliberately improved relations with China in order to gain a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, but also gave Moscow a chance to improve relations so as not to be squeezed by a U.S.-China détente. In 1971, a move was made to improve relations when China invited an American table tennis team to China; hence the term "Ping Pong Diplomacy". Nixon sent Henry Kissinger on a secret mission to China in July 1971, after which a stunned world was told that Nixon intended to visit Communist China in 1972. As a result, many countries that had previously opposed the PRC's entry into the United Nations changed their stance. Despite frantic lobbying by the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, George H.W. Bush, in October 1971 the UN United Nations General Assembly voted to give to the PRC the seat that had been held since 1945 by America's ally, the Republic of China (ROC), and expel the ROC from the UN. In February 1972 Nixon grabbed the world's attention by himself going Nixon visit to China 1972 to have direct talks with Mao Zedong. During this visit he privately stated that he believed “There is one China, and Taiwan is a part of China.”Victor S. Kaufman; Confronting Communism: U.S. and British Policies toward China (2001), 228–31; Anthony Kubek, "The 'Opening' of China: President Nixon's 1972 Journey." American Asian Review 1992 10(4): 1–22. ; Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, "Taiwan Expendable? Nixon and Kissinger Go to China," Journal of American History (2005) 92(1): 109–135. Fearing the possibility of a Sino-American alliance, the Soviet Union yielded to American pressure for détente.

Nixon used the improving international environment to address the topic of nuclear peace. The first Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were finally concluded the same year with the SALT I treaty. To win American friendship both China and the Soviet Union cut back on their diplomatic support for North Vietnam and advised Hanoi to come to terms. They did not, however, cut back their military aid to North Vietnam — in fact Chinese military aid to North Vietnam increased during this period.John Lewis Gaddis, Strategies of Containment (1982), pp. 294 and 299; Ang Cheng Guan, Ending the Vietnam War: The Vietnamese Communists' Perspective (2003), pp. 61, 69 and 77–79; Qiang Zhai China and the Vietnam Wars, p. 136 Nixon later explained his strategy:{{cquote|I had long believed that an indispensable element of any successful peace initiative in Vietnam was to enlist, if possible, the help of the Soviets and the Chinese. Though rapprochement with China and détente with the Soviet Union were ends in themselves, I also considered them possible means to hasten the end of the war. At worst, Hanoi was bound to feel less confident if Washington was dealing with Moscow and Beijing. At best, if the two major Communist powers decided that they had bigger fish to fry, Hanoi would be pressured into negotiating a settlement we could accept. Nixon, ''No More Vietnams'' (1987), pp. 105–106. |30px|30px|Richard Nixon-->

Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 Yahya Khan during Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan

Nixon strongly supported General Yahya Khan of Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 despite widespread 1971 Bangladesh atrocities against the Bengali peoples, particularly Hindus, by the Pakistan Army. Though Nixon claimed that his objective was to prevent a war, and safeguard Pakistan's interests (including the issue of refugees), in reality the U.S. President was fearful of an Indian invasion of West Pakistan that would lead to Indian domination of Indian subcontinent and strengthen the position of the Soviet Union, which had recently signed a Treaty of Friendship with India. He also sought to demonstrate his reliability as a partner to the People's Republic of China, with whom he had been negotiating a rapprochement, and 1972 Nixon visit to China just a few months later. President Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger downplayed reports of Pakistani genocide in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and risked a confrontation with Moscow to look tough. NSA archives on South Asia crisis Many, including Kissinger, Harold H. Saunders, “Memorandum of Conversation: Kenneth Keating, Henry A. Kissinger and Harold H. Saunders,” June 3 1971, The National Security Archive] have mentioned that the foreign policy "tilt" towards Pakistan had more to do with Nixon's personal like for the dictator and the support to Pakistan was influenced by sentimental considerations and a long standing anti-Indian bias.Detente and Confrontation: American-Soviet Relations from Nixon to Reagan, — Raymond L Garthodd, p 298 The Nixon administration was also responsible for illegally providing military supplies to the Military of Pakistan despite Congressional objections, The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971 — Sajit Gandhi, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 79, December 16, 2002 and against American public opinion, which was concerned with the atrocities against East Pakistanis.Thornton, The Nixon-Kissinger Years: Reshaping American’s Foreign Policy, pp.113–115 His decision to help Pakistan in a war at any cost prompted him to send the nuclear-equipped USS Enterprise (CVN-65) to the Indian Ocean to try to threaten the Military of India. Though it did little to turn the tide of war, it has been viewed as the trigger for India's subsequent India and weapons of mass destruction. http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=may91sharma During the crisis Nixon was vocal in abusing the Prime Minister of India [Indira Gandhi as an "old [witch" in private conversations with Henry Kissinger, who is also recorded as making derogatory comments against Indians.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4633263.stm Nixon's dislike of 'witch' Indira — [BBC News. Ultimately Nixon's foreign policy initiatives in this matter largely failed as his attempt at a show of strength to impress China was at the cost of dismembering their mutual ally, Pakistan, who felt that once again United States had fallen short as an ally in failing to prevent [Bangladeshi independence. [Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli, The United States and Pakistan: the Evolution of an Influence Relationship, pp.49

Other wars and crises Nixon encouraged Augusto Pinochet's military overthrow of the elected Salvador Allende in 1973.

Israel, a powerful American ally in the Middle East, was supported by the Nixon administration during the Yom Kippur War. When an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria — allies to the Soviets — attacked in October 1973 Israel suffered initial losses and pressed European powers for help, but the Europeans responded with inaction. Not so with Nixon, who, cutting through inter-departmental squabbles and bureaucracy, initiated an air lift of American arms. By the time the U.S. and the Soviet Union negotiated a truce, Israel had penetrated deep into enemy territory. A long term effect was the movement of Egypt away from the Soviets toward the U.S. But the victory for its ally and the support provided to them by the U.S. came at the cost of the 1973 oil crisis.

On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned amidst charges of bribery, tax evasion and money laundering. Nixon chose Representative Gerald Ford to replace Agnew.

Domestic policies Although often viewed as a conservative by his contemporaries, Nixon's domestic policies often appear centrist, or even liberal, to later observers. As President, Nixon imposed price controls, indexed Social Security (United States) for inflation, and created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The number of pages added to the Federal Register each year doubled under Nixon. He eradicated the last remnants of the gold standard, created the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), promoted the Legacy of parks program and implemented the Philadelphia Plan, the first significant federal affirmative action program, and dramatically improved salaries for US federal employees worldwide. In the wake of racial tensions that had sometimes erupted into urban violence before he assumed the Presidency, Nixon's policy on race relations and civil rights was perceived to be influenced by a doctrine commonly referred to as "benign neglect." As a party leader, Nixon helped build the History of United States Republican Party (GOP), but he ran his 1972 campaign separately from the party, which perhaps helped the GOP escape some of the damage from Watergate. The Nixon White House was the first to organize a daily press event and daily message for the media, a practice that all subsequent staffs have performed.

Nixon is credited with creating the modern day The Imperial Presidency, in which the presidency retains a high level of control over government policy and decisions. In the early 1970s, Nixon impoundment billions of dollars in federal spending and expanded the power of the Office of Management and Budget. These encroachments on the power of Congress led to the passage of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

On January 2, 1974, Nixon signed a bill that lowered the National Maximum Speed Law to 55 miles per hour (90 kilometers per hour) in order to conserve gasoline during the 1973 energy crisis. This law remained in effect until 1995, though states had been allowed to raise the limit to 65 miles per hour in rural areas since 1987.

Committed to wide-ranging bureaucratic reforms, in a last-minute bid to save his presidency, Nixon signed a significant reform of the federal budgeting process and granted wide authority to Congress in shaping the final budget.

School integration The Nixon years witnessed the first large-scale integration of public schools in the South, after the region had stalled in compliance with the 1954 Supreme Court of the United States's Brown v. Board of Education. Strategically, Nixon sought a middle way between the Racial segregation George C. Wallace and liberal Democrats, whose support of integration was alienating some Southern white Democrats. His plan has since been known as the Southern strategy. Nixon concentrated on the principle that the law must be Race-blind. "I am convinced that while legal segregation is totally wrong, forced Racial integration of housing or education is just as wrong."Kotlowski (2001) p. 8

Though Nixon thought of appealing to southern whites by slowing school desegregation, he decided to enforce the law after the Supreme Court, in Alexander v. Holmes County (1969), prohibited further delays. Nixon's Cabinet committee on school desegregation, under the leadership of Labor Secretary George P. Shultz, quietly set up local biracial committees to assure smooth compliance without violence or political grandstanding. By fall of 1970, two million southern black children enrolled in newly created unitary fully integrated school districts. "In this sense, Nixon was the greatest school desegregator in American history," historian Dean Kotlowski concluded.Kotlowski (2001) p. 37 and Richard Nixon at Washington, D.C. in 1973.

U.S. space program On July 20, 1969, Nixon addressed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin live via radio during their historic Apollo 11. Nixon also made humanity's longest distance phone call to Neil Armstrong on the moon. (All U.S. Project Apollo moon landings, and the attempted moon landing of Apollo 13, took place during Nixon's first term.) On January 5, 1972, Nixon approved the development of NASA Space Shuttle program, a decision that profoundly influenced American efforts to explore and develop space for several decades thereafter.

Landslide re-election In United States presidential election, 1972, Nixon was re-elected in one of the biggest landslide election victories in US political history, defeating Senator George McGovern and garnering over 60% of the popular vote. He carried 49 of the 50 states, losing only in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

Major initiatives During the Nixon Administration, the United States established many government agencies, including the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Supplemental Security Income program the Minority Business Development Agency; the Post Office Department was abolished as a cabinet department and reorganized as a government-owned corporation: the United States Postal Service. Nixon proposed in 1971 to create four new government departments superseding the current structure: departments organized for the goal of efficient and effective public service as opposed the thematic bases of Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Agriculture, et al. Departments like State, Treasury, Defense and Justice would remain under this proposal. The American Presidency Project archives Nixon also suspended the Gold standard, a central point of the Bretton Woods system, allowing its value to Floating currency in world markets.

In international affairs, President Nixon Sino-American relations with the People's Republic of China, enacted détente, or the peaceful pause in the Cold War, with the Soviet Union (later abolished by President Ronald Reagan). He signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, following the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (also known as SALT I).

On April 3, 1974, Nixon announced he would pay $432,787.13 in back taxes plus interest after a Congressional committee reported that he had inadvertently underpaid his 1969 and 1972 taxes.

After the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee gave a favorable vote on articles of impeachment, (due to the Watergate scandal), Nixon resigned, on August 9, 1974.

Administration and Cabinet {| cellpadding="1" cellspacing="2" style="float: left; margin:1em 1em 1em 0; border:1px solid #000000;font-size:85%;" align="left"!bgcolor="#dcdcdc" colspan="3"|The Nixon Cabinet|-|align="left"|OFFICE||align="left"|NAME||align="left"|TERM|-!bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"||-|align="left"|President of the United States||align="left" |Richard Nixon||align="left"|1969–1974|-|align="left"|Vice President of the United States||align="left"|Spiro Agnew]||align="left"|1973–1974|-!bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"||-|align="left"|United States Secretary of State||align="left"|William P. Rogers]||align="left"|1973–1974|-|align="left"|United States Secretary of the Treasury||align="left"|David M. Kennedy]||align="left"|1971–1972|-|align="left"| ||align="left"|George Shultz]||align="left"|1974|-|align="left"|United States Secretary of Defense||align="left"|Melvin R. Laird]||align="left"|1973|-|align="left"| ||align="left"|James Schlesinger]||align="left"|John N. Mitchell]||align="left"|1972–1973|-|align="left"| ||align="left"|Elliot Richardson]||align="left"|1974|-|align="left"|Postmaster General of the United States||align="left"|Winton M. Blount]||align="left"|Walter Joseph Hickel]||align="left"|1971–1974|-|align="left"|United States Secretary of Agriculture||align="left"|Clifford M. Hardin]||align="left"|1971–1974|-|align="left"|United States Secretary of Commerce||align="left"|Maurice Stans]||align="left"|1972–1973|-|align="left"| ||align="left"|Frederick B. Dent]||align="left"|George Shultz]||align="left"|1970–1973|-|align="left"| ||align="left"|Peter J. Brennan]||align="left"|Robert Finch]||align="left"|1970–1973|-|align="left"| ||align="left"|Caspar Weinberger]||align="left"|George W. Romney||align="left"|1969–1973|-|align="left"| ||align="left"|James Thomas Lynn]||align="left"|John A. Volpe]||align="left"|1973–1974|-|align="left" colspan="3"|1. Postmaster General removed from the Cabinet on July 1, 1971.
Winton M. Blount was continued as Postmaster General until December 31, 1971.|}

The Nixon Administration comprised an impressive array of talent both in the cabinet and in the White House staff. Among the many people who came to Washington to serve in the administration were one future President (George H. W. Bush); two future Vice President of the United States (Dick Cheney and Bush again); six future secretaries of state (Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, George P. Shultz, James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Colin Powell); five future secretaries of defense (James Schlesinger, Donald Rumsfeld, Casper Weinberger, Frank Carlucci and Cheney again); a future chairman of the joint chiefs of staff (Powell again), two future secretaries of the treasury (William Simon and Baker again); a future secretary of energy (Schlesinger again); and three future chiefs of staff (Rumsfeld, Cheney and Baker again). Indeed a member of the Nixon Administration has held a cabinet post or been a senior advisor within the subsequent six presidential administrations. That so many key figures of the Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Bush (41) and George W. Bush Administrations first entered government service in the Nixon White House is arguably the most profound and long-lasting legacy of Richard Nixon.

Supreme Court appointments Nixon appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:

Warren E. Burger (Chief Justice of the United States) — 1969
Harry Andrew Blackmun — 1970
Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. — 1972
William Rehnquist — 1972

Watergate The term Watergate has come to encompass an array of illegal and secret activities undertaken by Nixon or his aides during his administration. Some of these began as early as 1969, when Nixon and Kissinger tapped the phones of numerous journalists and administration officials in an effort to stop internal administration information leaks to the press. Other major or well-known episodes of wrongdoing included the 1971 burglary of Dr. Lewis Fielding in search of the psychiatric records of Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press; Nixon's order to have the FBI investigate CBS News reporter Daniel Schorr after he reported critically on the administration; and talk by Nixon's aide G. Gordon Liddy about having the newspaper columnist Jack Anderson assassinated.

These episodes did not come to light until several of Nixon's men were caught breaking into United States Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC in June 1972. In October 1972, The Washington Post reported that the FBI had determined Nixon's aides had spied on and sabotaged numerous Democratic presidential candidates as a part of the operations that led to the Watergate scandal. takes the oath of office, August 9, 1974During the campaign five burglars were arrested on June 17, 1972 in the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate office complex. They were subsequently linked to the White House. This became one of a series of major scandals involving the Committee to Re-Elect the President (known as CRP, but referred to by his opponents as CREEP), including the White House Nixon's Enemies List and assorted "dirty tricks." The ensuing Watergate scandal exposed the corruption, illegality and deceit displayed by some of those within the Nixon Administration.Dean, John. Blind Ambition, Simon and Shuster, New York, 1976. ISBN 978-0671224387.

Nixon himself downplayed the scandal as mere politics, but when his aides resigned in disgrace, Nixon's role in ordering an illegal cover-up came to light in the press, courts, and congressional investigations. Nixon owed back taxes, President Nixon's Troublesome Tax Returns The Tax History Project, April 11, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2007. A quote from this reference:
"Nixon's greatest concern with the IRS audit and the JCT investigation was that fraud might be charged, thereby imposing a civil fraud penalty of 50 percent of the tax deficiency, increasing his chances for impeachment. Amazingly, fraud was not mentioned either by the IRS or by the committee report. However, the House Judiciary Committee, which was considering the impeachment of Nixon, stated that it might investigate the possibility of tax fraud. By agreeing to pay $465,000, Nixon's wealth was reduced to half of the previous $988,522." had accepted illicit campaign contributions, Stans, Maurice H. The Terrors of Justice: The Untold Side of Watergate (W. Clement Stone, PMA Communications, Inc. Northbrook, IL, U.S.A.) 1978. ISBN 978-0895268280 and had harassed opponents with executive agencies, telephone tappings, and break-ins. In addition, he had ordered the Operation Menu.William Shawcross, Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia (New York: Simon and Schuster). 1979. ISBN 978-0671230708 Unlike the tape recordings by earlier Presidents, his secret recordings of White House conversations were revealed and subpoenaed and showed details of his complicity in the cover-up. Nixon was named by the grand jury investigating Watergate as "an unindicted co-conspirator" in the Watergate scandal.

One piece of evidence, an audio tape of conversations held in the White House between the President and various aides on the 20 June 1972, features an unexplained 18½ minute gap,Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, The Final Days (London: Simon and Schuster) 197

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