Richard Nixon (1913-1994) was the 37th president (1968-1974) of United States of America. (Nixon foundation) He was only president who resigned from the presidency of U.S. He was elected to the office in 1968. His second term as president was over shadowed by scandals like Water Gate. He resigned from the office in 1974.
Early Years
Richard Nixon was born in California on Jan. 9, 1913 from wedlock of Hannah Milhous Nixon and Francis A. Nixon. The Nixon's were Scots-Irish and the Milouses, of Irish and English descent. They had five sons and Richard Nixon was second amongst his brothers. When Richard was nine they shifted to Whittier Calif. His father Francis owned a country store and a gasoline pump [1]. They were a devoted religious Christian Quaker family. Richard often visited the Friends Churches along with his mother. His mother brought him up as a conservative Quaker and hoped that Richard would join missionary. His father Francis was not so strictly religious he focused more to his store. Richard attended a local public school in Whittier. He was a good student. At seventeen he joined Whittier College. He attended local public schools and was an excellent student. He joined Whittier College a small institution at the age of seventeen. He actively took part in student political activities winning many prizes in inter-college debates. In Whittier Richard meet met his future wife, Thelma ("Pat") Ryan. They married on June 21, 1940, and had two daughters: Patricia, born in 1946, and Julie, born in 1948. [3]
Education
After schooling Richard Nixon entered Whittier College he was a very active student here (Ambrose, 1987) He was an active member of theatrical society here. He graduated in 1934 from here and took second position in his class, which earned him a scholarship to Duke University Law School in Durham. N.C. During his stay at the university he had to work part time in National Youth administration to make his ends meet. In 1937 he passed his law exams, He stud third in a class of 25 and was elected as the president of Duke Bar association he got admission to the Order of Coif, The Honorary legal fraternity. Nixon returned to Whittier and joined an old law firm. (Ambrose, 1987) He worked in the same firm as a government legal adviser in a near by small town of La Habra. Working here he gained experience as police prosecutor as well. He also worked for Pepsi Cola as a legal advisor. Prior to joining Navy Nixon worked for six months in thee Emergency Management Office. (Ambrose, 1987) During World War II joined U.S. armed forces as a junior Lieutenant in the Navy and worked as Naval Air Transport officer. After the World War II in 1946 he left the armed forces as a lieutenant commander.
Congress
Richard Nixon seriously joined politics after he returned to Whittier. He took part in the election of Congress as a candidate of Republicans in the year 1944. (Reedy) There were many points on which his electoral campaign was based upon, the core one being anti-communism. Nixon won this election and became the member of congress. He was working in the committee on European Recovery Program where he gained considerable and quite helpful experience about international affairs. It was just the beginning of his political existence. He played an important role in the investigation of Alger case, and gained fame on the national level. Alger was a former official of U.S. State department and was accused of espionage for Russia (former USSR). Nixon again contested for congress in 1948, and this time he won comparatively easily. (Microsoft Encarta) The Republicans chose Nixon as the candidate for U.S. senate in 1950. He won from California. In Senate due to his oratorical skill was regarded as a bright young star of Republican Party. He played important role for the fund raising drive of his party as a senator- this was highly appreciated. This act was appreciated so much that he was nominated by the Republicans as a Vice-Presidential candidate in 1952 at the age of only 39 [4]. He was strongly opposed by his opponents for his fund raising campaign and was accused of getting finances from business community in exchange of promised favors. Nobody was able to produce any concrete evidence for the misuse of the funds or granting of special favors to the contributors. He made an emotional television address, this speech is known as "Checkers" referring to his dog Checker. In this speech, he also chose to disclose details of his finances. In
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