Who was Richard Nixon?
Richard Nixon was born in 1913 and came from California. He first became known as a tough anticommunist in the House, then went on to the Senate and served as Dwight Eisenhower's vice president. He lost the 1960 race to John F. Kennedy, but won the presidency in 1968 and was re-elected by a landslide in 1972. He spoke for a 'silent majority' and promised law and order, yet at home he governed pragmatically and widened federal rules on the environment and workplaces. With Henry Kissinger he worked to ease the Cold War. The Watergate scandal forced him to resign in August 1974, and he died in 1994.
Political views
- He sought better ties with the Soviet Union and set up relations with the People's Republic of China.Source: millercenter.org
- He signed the law that created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and in 1970 he proposed the Environmental Protection Agency.Source: millercenter.org
- He signed Clean Air Act changes that forced cuts in car pollution and set up national air-quality testing.Source: millercenter.org
- In 1971 he froze wages and prices and temporarily closed the gold window to deal with inflation and pressure on the dollar.Source: millercenter.org
- He put forward a Family Assistance Plan to reform welfare and reward work. Congress never passed it.Source: millercenter.org
- His Vietnamization policy handed ground fighting to South Vietnamese troops, while the US secretly bombed supply routes in Cambodia.Source: millercenter.org
Legacy
Admirers point to the opening to China, arms control with Moscow, the end of American ground combat in Vietnam and domestic steps like the EPA. Some scholars find his domestic record milder than his speeches. Critics stress the Watergate cover-up, the secret spread of the war into Cambodia, his hostility to Chile's elected government and election tactics they say played on racial and cultural splits. With impeachment likely, he resigned in 1974, and Gerald Ford pardoned him. In later years he wrote about world affairs and won back some of his reputation.
In their own words
“North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that.”