Remembering Richard Nixon
On April 22, 1994 (just 20 years ago today) Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, died at his home in New York City at the age of 81. Nixon served as President from 1969 to 1974, when he became the only president to resign the office. Nixon had previously served as a Representative and Senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. He graduated from Whittier College in 1934 and Duke University School of Law in 1937. He returned to California to practice law. He and his wife, Pat Nixon, moved to Washington to work for the federal government in 1942. Nixon served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was elected in California to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. His pursuit of the Alger Hiss case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and propelled him to national prominence.
Nixon was selected as the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as Eisenhower's vice president. He was unsuccessful in his first bid for the presidency in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy. When he lost a race for Governor of California in 1962, it looked as if his political career was dead. But in 1968, he ran once again for president and defeated Hubert Humphrey.
Nixon initially escalated America's involvement in the Vietnam War, but he ended U.S. involvement in 1973. His visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972 opened communications between the two nations and eventually led to the normalization of diplomatic relations. Nixon initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union the same year.
Domestically, he launched programs to fight cancer and illegal drugs, he imposed wage and price controls, he enforced desegregation of Southern schools, he implemented environmental reforms, and he introduced legislation to reform healthcare and welfare. As one observer noted, Nixon was criticized by liberals for being too conservative and by conservatives for being too liberal. He presided over the lunar landings beginning with Apollo 11, but he replaced manned space exploration with shuttle missions. He was re-elected by a landslide in 1972.
Nixon's second term saw a crisis in the Middle East, resulting in an oil embargo and the restart of the Middle East peace process. His Vice-President, Spiro Agnew, resigned after suggestions of corruption. A continuing series of revelations about the Watergate scandal then dominated the rest of his term. The scandal escalated, costing Nixon much of his political support, and on August 9, 1974, he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office. After his resignation, he received a pardon from his successor, Gerald Ford.
In retirement, Nixon's work as an elder statesman, authoring nine books and undertaking many foreign trips, helped to rehabilitate his public image. Nixon suffered a severe stroke on April 18, 1994, while preparing to eat dinner in his Park Ridge home. A blood clot resulting from his heart condition had formed in his upper heart, broken off, and traveled to his brain. He was taken to New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, initially alert but unable to speak or to move his right arm or leg. Damage to the brain caused swelling (cerebral edema), and Nixon fell into a deep coma. He died at 9:08 p.m. on April 22, 1994, with his daughters at his bedside. He was 81 years old.
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. He graduated from Whittier College in 1934 and Duke University School of Law in 1937. He returned to California to practice law. He and his wife, Pat Nixon, moved to Washington to work for the federal government in 1942. Nixon served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was elected in California to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. His pursuit of the Alger Hiss case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and propelled him to national prominence.
Nixon was selected as the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as Eisenhower's vice president. He was unsuccessful in his first bid for the presidency in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy. When he lost a race for Governor of California in 1962, it looked as if his political career was dead. But in 1968, he ran once again for president and defeated Hubert Humphrey.
Nixon initially escalated America's involvement in the Vietnam War, but he ended U.S. involvement in 1973. His visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972 opened communications between the two nations and eventually led to the normalization of diplomatic relations. Nixon initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union the same year.
Domestically, he launched programs to fight cancer and illegal drugs, he imposed wage and price controls, he enforced desegregation of Southern schools, he implemented environmental reforms, and he introduced legislation to reform healthcare and welfare. As one observer noted, Nixon was criticized by liberals for being too conservative and by conservatives for being too liberal. He presided over the lunar landings beginning with Apollo 11, but he replaced manned space exploration with shuttle missions. He was re-elected by a landslide in 1972.
Nixon's second term saw a crisis in the Middle East, resulting in an oil embargo and the restart of the Middle East peace process. His Vice-President, Spiro Agnew, resigned after suggestions of corruption. A continuing series of revelations about the Watergate scandal then dominated the rest of his term. The scandal escalated, costing Nixon much of his political support, and on August 9, 1974, he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office. After his resignation, he received a pardon from his successor, Gerald Ford.
In retirement, Nixon's work as an elder statesman, authoring nine books and undertaking many foreign trips, helped to rehabilitate his public image. Nixon suffered a severe stroke on April 18, 1994, while preparing to eat dinner in his Park Ridge home. A blood clot resulting from his heart condition had formed in his upper heart, broken off, and traveled to his brain. He was taken to New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, initially alert but unable to speak or to move his right arm or leg. Damage to the brain caused swelling (cerebral edema), and Nixon fell into a deep coma. He died at 9:08 p.m. on April 22, 1994, with his daughters at his bedside. He was 81 years old.