Richard Nixon

Born: Yorba Linda, California on January 9, 1913 to Frank and

Hannah Nixon

Nixon Library and Museum

Nixon Library and Museum

Education of Nixon

Duke University

Law School

1930 1934

Personal Successes

• Jan. 9, 1937 is admitted into the California Bar.

• Joins law firm Wingert and Bewley and in a little over a year is a full partner

• June 21, 1940 marries Thelma Catherine (Pat) Ryan

Gravesite of Richard and Pat Nixon

He died in NYC on April 22, 1994 from a massive stroke

but is buried back in California in his home town

of Yorba Linda

Served in WWII (Navy)(1942 – 1946)

• 1942 - Moves to Washington DC to join the Office of Price Admin – agency in charge with regulating wartime prices and rationing

• 1943 – Applies for and is accepted into the Navy – serves as a ground officer

• 1945 through ‘46 – He begins to work on Navy contracts

Start of Political CareerNeeded an issue:

US House of Representatives (1947)

Anti-Communist Stance

House Term

• Is elected as the Representative for the 12th Congressional District in California– Member of the House Un-American Activities

Committee– Investigates Alger Hiss: lawyer, young Harvard grad

who worked for the State Dept. but was also a member of the communist party

– Nixon pursues case even though he is pressured to drop it. Succeeds in convicting Hiss of perjury (lying under oath).

• The case and conviction captivate Americans and propels Nixon’s political career

Senate Term

• Due to his popularity, he runs for Senate. Defeats another incumbent Helen Douglas in 1950

• 1952 – Allegations arose that he misused campaign funds. He and his campaign funds purchase a tv spot to defend his use of funds.

• In his “Fund Crisis” speech or as it is commonly called “Checkers” speech, he tells America that the only gift he received during the election was…

…Checkers -a cocker spaniel

Senate RaceNeeded an issue:

Senator (1951)

Anti-Communist Stance

Earned the Nickname:

“Tricky Dick”For his derisive

comments directed at Helen Douglas after he accused her of being a left-wing (communist)

sympathizer

Vice-President Nixon (1953-1961)

• His “Checkers” speech came right in the middle of his campaigning as the potential VP for Dwight Eisenhower

•Afterwards, thousands of telegrams came to the campaign headquarters asking Eisenhower to keep him on the ticket.

•November 4, 1952 – Elected VP with Eisenhower

•November 6, 1956 – Elected VP again with Eisenhower

Political Defeats / Setbacks

• 1960 Presidential Election Lost to JFK

• Participated in the first televised presidential debate

• 1962 Gubernatorial Race Lost to Jerry Brown• Afterwards, Nixon reports, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.”

President Nixon (1969 – 1974)

Indecision on future

• 1963 - Practiced Law in NY• 1966 – campaigns on behalf of Republican

candidates for the 1966 Congressional elections and takes extensive trips to S. America and the Middle East (’67)

• Towards end of ’67, he is really undecided about whether to run for President again– Consults Bill Graham, who urges him to run;

gets support from Pat and formally announces his bid for President on Feb. 1, 1968

1968 Campaign: “Bring Us Together”

End Fighting in:

Vietnam and Streets of America

“The Great Silent Majority” Speech

November 3, 1969

“Silent Majority”• Appealed to the

socially conservative Americans who disliked the hippie counterculture and anti-war demonstrators

• His VP candidate-Spiro Agnew-was also a very vocal critic of these group

• Together, Nixon and Agnew solidified the support of the Conservatives

Democratic Troubles

• LBJ was consumed with the Vietnam War and had already announced that he would not seek re-election – Democratic hopefuls – Hubert Humphrey and

Robert Kennedy – battled in a tight race with Humphrey having a narrow edge

• Kennedy was assassinated before the election

• As the Dems were digging deeper into the mud of Vietnam, Nixon was promising peace with honor – His campaign slogan was “Nixon’s the One”

Presidential Election

• National election was a three-way race– Nixon, Humphrey, and

George Wallace (3rd party candidate)

• Nixon defeats Humphrey by nearly 500,000 votes and becomes the 37th President of the US

Nixon Fun Facts

• First US President to visit all 50 states.

Bowling Alley (1969)

Julie Nixon married David EisenhowerDecember 22, 1968

Tricia Nixon and Edward CoxJune 12, 1971

• There have been 9 White House Weddings

President with most appearances on Time cover

56

2nd Lowest Approval Rating: 24%(August 2 – 5, 1974)

Lowest: Harry Truman – 22%

Only President who resigned and did not

finish his term

He was a practicing Quaker even until

his death. His mother had hoped

he’d become a missionary but his beliefs mellowed,

especially after the Navy

Nixon’s Domestic Affairs

Nixon’s Domestic Issues

• His administration marked the end of a long, post-WWII period of prosperity– Entered a period called stagflation

StagflationInflation Employment

Prices go up but less people are working to make money

Causes for the 1970s Stagflation Recession

• Vietnam spending• Tax cuts• Oil prices increased

New Economic Policy

• 90 day freeze on prices and wages

• Tax cuts

• Temporary closure of “gold window”

• 10% import tax

Economy

• Experienced an economic boom following Nixon’s NEP– Began in 1971 and lasted well into 1972 which

served him well during the 1972 elections

• However, 1973 saw the economy continue its downturn– Food shortage (massive Soviet purchases of

wheat)– Oil shock – rise in oil prices and Arab/OPEC oil

boycott

Energy Crisis• Worry about the dependency of foreign oil and

rising American consumption

Alaskan Oil

1969

Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (1973)

Alaskan Pipeline

Construction

Started: March 27, 1975

Completed: May 31, 1977

Length: 800 miles– Crosses 3 mountain ranges and over

800 rivers and streams

Cost: $8 billion

Speed: 5.4 mph

Time: 6.2 days

Barrels of oil per day:

1 million

Environmental Benefit?

OPEC Oil Embargo

• Oil could be used as a “weapon”

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Africa-Algeria (1969)-Angola (2007)-Libya (1962)-Nigeria (1971)

Middle East-Iran (1960)-Iraq (1960)-Kuwait (1960)-Qatar (1961)-Saudi Arabia (1960)-United Arab Emirates (1967)

South America-Ecuador (2007)-Venezuela (1960)

Southeast Asia-Indonesia (1962)

Energy Crisis Solutions

Emergency Highway Energy

Conservation Act

(1974)• National Speed Limit: 55

• Benefits: 400 lives saved

• Energy saved: ~1%

Environmental Concerns

Environmental Protection

Agency

National Air

Quality

Standards Act

Water Quality

Improvement Act

Equality and Civil Rights: African-Americans

The Philadelphia Plan: Affirmative Action

Equality and Civil Rights: Women

Drug Enforcement Agency

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

• Enforced rules and standards for workplace safety and health

Ended Military Draft (1973)

26th Amendment

Gave 18 year olds the right to vote in national elections

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Legalized abortion in the first trimester of a pregnancy

Apollo 11

• Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin

Moon Landing –July 20, 1969

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” -Armstrong

528 million people watched

Nixon’s Foreign Policy

Detente

Relaxation of tensions with communist nations

Triangular Diplomacy:

Pit everyone against each other

Why did all 3 major powers want to pursue detente ?

• China– fearful of isolation in the world– She was also fearful of what USA had done in Vietnam

• Stockpile of nuclear weapons was a lot smaller than that of USA– Worried by her worsening relations with USSR.

• USA – Realized there were better ways of containing communism than the

ways done in previous years– Cost of weapons production and maintaining a huge armed force– A peaceful relationship with the USSR would be very beneficial to

USA especially after the cost of the Vietnam War.• USSR

– was spending a huge amount on weapons at the expense of basic household goods

– Living standards were poor– Was aware that relations with China were poor while USA was

trying to improve hers with China.

Nixon could not get a breakthrough in peace negotiations

What helped sport

improved relations

with China?

Ping Pong

Championships

Nagoya, Japan

(April 4, 1971)

Glenn Cowan (19)

Nixon’s Visit to ChinaFebruary 21 – 28, 1972

Mao and NixonWidely televised and heavily viewed

Nixon’s Visit

to Russia

May 22-30, 1972

Soviet Leader

Leonid Brezhnev

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks(SALT) –May 26, 1972

• Limited offensive and defensive nuclear weapons

Why run in 1972?

Vietnam Policy

“Peace with Honor”

CeasefireJanuary 27, 1973

Success: Nixon and Detente

• China

• Russia

• North Vietnam

• Ping Pong Match

• Official Visit

• SALT

• Official Visit

• Cease-fire

Watergate

Watergate Complex

Hotel complex where the Democratic National Committee had

its offices

“Plumbers”Special Investigation Unit: a team created by Nixon to investigate potential leaks

about his foreign policy secrets

CREEP

(Committee to Re-Elect

the President)

June 17, 1972: The Break In

“The Break-in” - 2:30 am arrest

“Plumbers” –Ex-CIA and FBI Agents

October 10, 1972FBI Connected Break-In to CREEP

1972 Election: Nixon Landslide

Bumper Sticker: “Don't blame me – I'm from Massachusetts”

Low Level Nixon Aides Convicted in the Watergate Break In

January 30,1973

G. Gordon Liddy James McCord

High Level Government Officials Resigned April 30, 1973

White House Top Aides

H.R. Haldemann

John Ehrlichman

Attorney General

Richard Kleindienst

Senate Committee HearingsSummer of 1973

4/30/1973

White House fires John Dean

John Dean:Nixon discussed cover-up

over 35 times

White House Taping System

Nixon Refused to Turn Over TapesJuly 23, 1973

“I am not a crook”November 17, 1973

United States v. NixonJuly 24, 1974

US 8 – Nixon 0: subpoena to acquire tapes was upheld as legal

Smoking Gun Tape: August 5, 1974 (released)

Nixon: When you get in these people when you...get these people in, say: "Look, the problem is that this will open the whole, the whole Bay of Pigs thing, and the President just feels that”…ah…without going into the details... don't, don't lie to them to the extent to say there is no involvement, but just say this is sort of a comedy of errors, bizarre, without getting into it, "the President believes that it is going to open the whole Bay of Pigs thing up again. And…ah because these people are plugging for, for keeps and that they should call the FBI in and say that we wish for the country, don't go any further into this case", period!

This took place June 23, 1972--six days after the Watergate break-in

August 9, 1974 –Nixon resigned

August 9, 1974 –President Ford

Inauguration: Our long nightmare is over.

Grants Nixon a full pardon one month

later

Results of Watergate

Positive Negative

• Checks and balances worked– No one is above

the law not even the President

• President broke the law – lied

• Credibility gap widened