Reconciliation
was the first goal set by President Richard M. Nixon. The
Nation was painfully divided, with turbulence in the cities
and war overseas. During his Presidency, Nixon succeeded in
ending American fighting in Viet Nam and improving relations
with the U.S.S.R. and China. But the Watergate scandal brought
fresh divisions to the country and ultimately led to his
resignation.
His
election in 1968 had climaxed a career unusual on two counts:
his early success and his comeback after being defeated for
President in 1960 and for Governor of California in 1962.
Born in
California in 1913, Nixon had a brilliant record at Whittier
College and Duke University Law School before beginning the
practice of law. In 1940, he married Patricia Ryan; they had
two daughters, Patricia (Tricia) and Julie. During World War
II, Nixon served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the
Pacific.
On
leaving the service, he was elected to Congress from his
California district. In 1950, he won a Senate seat. Two years
later, General Eisenhower selected Nixon, age 39, to be his
running mate.
As Vice
President, Nixon took on major duties in the Eisenhower
Administration. Nominated for President by acclamation in
1960, he lost by a narrow margin to John F. Kennedy. In 1968,
he again won his party's nomination, and went on to defeat
Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and third-party candidate
George C. Wallace.
His
accomplishments while in office included revenue sharing, the
end of the draft, new anticrime laws, and a broad
environmental program. As he had promised, he appointed
Justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court. One
of the most dramatic events of his first term occurred in
1969, when American astronauts made the first moon landing.
Some of
his most acclaimed achievements came in his quest for world
stability. During visits in 1972 to Beijing and Moscow, he
reduced tensions with China and the U.S.S.R. His summit
meetings with Russian leader Leonid I. Brezhnev produced a
treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons. In January 1973, he
announced an accord with North Viet Nam to end American
involvement in Indochina. In 1974, his Secretary of State,
Henry Kissinger, negotiated disengagement agreements between
Israel and its opponents, Egypt and Syria.
In his
1972 bid for office, Nixon defeated Democratic candidate
George McGovern by one of the widest margins on record.
Within a
few months, his administration was embattled over the
so-called "Watergate" scandal, stemming from a
break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee
during the 1972 campaign. The break-in was traced to officials
of the Committee to Re-elect the President. A number of
administration officials resigned; some were later convicted
of offenses connected with efforts to cover up the affair.
Nixon denied any personal involvement, but the courts forced
him to yield tape recordings which indicated that he had, in
fact, tried to divert the investigation.
As a
result of unrelated scandals in Maryland, Vice President Spiro
T. Agnew resigned in 1973. Nixon nominated, and Congress
approved, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford as Vice
President.
Faced
with what seemed almost certain impeachment, Nixon announced
on August 8, 1974, that he would resign the next day to begin
"that process of healing which is so desperately needed
in America."
In his
last years, Nixon gained praise as an elder statesman. By the
time of his death on April 22, 1994, he had written numerous
books on his experiences in public life and on foreign policy
-
Richard
Nixon