Richard Nixon

Early Life and Education

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on 9 January 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, into a Quaker family. After the family farm failed, they moved to Whittier, where he attended Whittier College, graduating in 1934, and then Duke University Law School, earning his law degree in 1937 before returning to Whittier to practise law. During the Second World War he joined the US Naval Reserve in 1942 as a lieutenant junior grade, serving in the South Pacific theatre in charge of combat air transport operations at Guadalcanal and other locations.

Congressional Career and Anti-Communist Political Rise

In 1946, Nixon was elected to the US House of Representatives. As a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee, he led the investigation into former State Department official Alger Hiss over allegations of Soviet espionage, a case that brought him national prominence and cemented his image as a committed anti-communist. In 1950 he was elected to the US Senate, defeating Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas in a campaign that relied on controversial 'red-baiting' tactics.

Vice Presidency and the "Kitchen Debate"

In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower selected the 39-year-old Nixon as his running mate. During the campaign, after press allegations about a political expense fund, Nixon delivered a televised address on 23 September, the famous 'Checkers Speech,' whose personal, emotional appeal won public sympathy and saved his place on the ticket. Following Eisenhower's victory, Nixon served two terms as Vice President from 1953 to 1961. In July 1959, during a visit to Moscow, he engaged in the celebrated 'Kitchen Debate' with Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev at the American National Exhibition, sparring over the merits of capitalism and communism. In the 1960 election he lost by an extremely narrow margin to Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy.

Political Nadir, Comeback, and "Vietnamization"

In 1962, Nixon lost the California gubernatorial race to incumbent Democrat Pat Brown, and at his concession press conference angrily told reporters, 'you won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because this is my last press conference' — a moment widely seen at the time as marking the end of his political career. He subsequently moved to New York to practise law while quietly maintaining his party connections in preparation for a comeback. In the 1968 election he defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey and independent candidate George Wallace to win the presidency, completing one of the most improbable comebacks in American politics. Facing rising domestic opposition to the Vietnam War, he announced the policy of 'Vietnamization' in November 1969, under which US forces would gradually withdraw while South Vietnamese forces assumed the main combat role, and delivered his 'Silent Majority' speech to rally public support.

Opening the Door to China: The 1971–72 Diplomatic Breakthrough

From 9 to 11 July 1971, Nixon's National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger made a secret trip to Beijing to lay the groundwork for a presidential visit; on 15 July, Nixon announced the news on national television, stunning the world. As a politician whose anti-communist credentials had long been beyond question, Nixon's move was seen as one of the great paradoxes of Cold War diplomacy, giving rise to the phrase 'only Nixon could go to China' — the observation that only someone whose ideological credentials are unimpeachable can afford to pursue policies that reverse their own previously stated positions. From 21 to 28 February 1972, Nixon travelled to Beijing, meeting Mao Zedong and holding talks with Zhou Enlai; on 27 February the two sides signed the Shanghai Communiqué, establishing the basic framework for the normalisation of Sino-American relations and remaining his most historically significant diplomatic legacy. That May, he also visited Moscow, signing the SALT I treaty with Leonid Brezhnev, further advancing détente with the Soviet Union in tandem with the opening to China.

The Watergate Scandal and Resignation

On 17 June 1972, operatives connected to Nixon's re-election campaign broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington to plant wiretaps, and were arrested — the opening episode of the Watergate scandal. That November, Nixon won re-election in a landslide over Democratic candidate George McGovern. As the investigation deepened, however, evidence steadily emerged of a White House effort to cover up the break-in. On 27 July 1974 the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment; on 9 August, before the full House could vote on impeachment, Nixon resigned, becoming the only US president in history to resign from office. On 8 September that year, his successor, President Gerald Ford, issued a full pardon absolving Nixon of any federal criminal liability arising from Watergate.

Later Years and Legacy

After resigning, Nixon withdrew from public office but spent the following two decades writing extensively on foreign policy and international strategy, gradually rehabilitating his reputation as an elder statesman whose counsel on foreign affairs was sought by successive administrations. He suffered a severe stroke on 18 April 1994 and died in New York on 22 April, aged 81. Historical assessments of Nixon remain sharply divided: his opening to China and détente with the Soviet Union fundamentally reshaped the Cold War order, while the damage Watergate inflicted on American constitutional norms and presidential credibility makes him one of the most controversial presidents in US history.