Very interesting person. Too long to paste, but check this website, Marcia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon
Monday, August 25, 2008
Napa Valley
It is with no doubt my favorite place in the world. Go visite if you have a chance. Marcia
www.NapaValley.org
www.NapaValley.org
Born into Brothels
Hi guys, I watched this movie and I really enjoyed. It is very sad, but very real too. Let's think about about our lives and see if we can do anything about them. Marcia
Born into Brothels
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
Film poster
Directed by
Zana BriskiRoss Kauffman
Produced by
Zana BriskiRoss Kauffman
Written by
Zana BriskiRoss Kauffman
Starring
Shanti DasPuja MukerjeeAvijit HalderSuchitra
Music by
John McDowell
Cinematography
Zana BriskiRoss Kauffman
Editing by
Ross Kauffman
Release date(s)
17 January 2004 (premiere at Sundance) 8 December 2005 (NYC only) 2 September 2005
Running time
85 min.
Language
BengaliEnglish
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Calcutta's red light district. The widely acclaimed film, written and directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, won a string of accolades including the Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 2004.
Contents[hide]
1 Production
2 Aftermath
3 Criticisms
4 Awards
5 Nominations
6 Notes
7 External links
//
[edit] Production
Briski, a documentary photographer, went to Kolkata (Calcutta) to photograph prostitutes. While there, she befriended their children and offered to teach the children photography to reciprocate being allowed to photograph their mothers. The children were given cameras so they could learn photography and possibly improve their lives. Much of their work was used in the film, and the filmmakers recorded the classes as well as daily life in the red light district. The children's work was exhibited, and one boy was even sent to a photography conference in Amsterdam. Briski also recorded her efforts to place the children in boarding schools.
[edit] Aftermath
There is debate about the extent to which the documentary has improved the lives of the children featured in it.[citation needed]
The film-makers claim that the lives of children appearing in Born into Brothels have been transformed by money earned through the sale of photos and a book on them. Ross Kauffman, co-director of the documentary, says that the amount earned is $100,000 (about Rs.4.5 million), which will pay for their tuition and for a school in India for children of prostitutes. Briski has started a non-profit organization to continue this kind of work in other countries, named Kids with Cameras [1]. A film is being made on the life story of a high profile trio call girl sisters, Shaveta,Khushboo and Himani, born in one of the brothels of Haryana.
However, Partha Banerjee, who worked on the film as an interpreter, has disputed the claim that the children's lives have been improved. In a February 2005 letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he says that many of them ended up in worse circumstances than they had been in before their involvement in photography classes.[2] Critics argued that the lives and family circumstances of these children were too complex to be revolutionized by educating one family member in photography, or even by sending them to boarding school[citation needed]. The documentary itself acknowledges that many of those saved from the red light district and put into boarding school ended up leaving the school and returning to their families before long.
In November 2006, Kids with Cameras provided an update on many of the children's conditions, asserting that they had entered high schools or universities in India and the United States, or found employment outside of prostitution.Kids with Cameras continues to work towards improving the lives of children from the Calcutta Red light district with the a plan to build a Hope House( http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/school/)
[edit] Criticisms
A secretary of the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a prostitutes' organization active in Sonagachi, has criticized Briski for using hidden camera work to present the children's parents as uncaring, for ignoring the prostitutes' substantial efforts to unite, and for harming the global movement for sex worker rights and dignity.[citation needed]
[edit] Awards
2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Bermuda International Film Festival - Audience Choice Award - Briski, Kauffman
Documentary Prize - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Cleveland International Film Festival - Best Film - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Audience Award - Briski, Kauffman (tied with World Wars
2004 National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary
2004 Seattle International Film Festival Golden Space Needle Award - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award - Documentary - Kauffman
[edit] Nominations
Directors Guild of America 2005 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary - Briski, Kauffman
2005 Golden Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture - Documentary
2004 International Documentary Association Award for Feature Documentaries - Briski, Kauffman, Dreyfous-White, Boll
2004 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film
2004 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - Documentary - Kauffman, Briski
Born into Brothels
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
Film poster
Directed by
Zana BriskiRoss Kauffman
Produced by
Zana BriskiRoss Kauffman
Written by
Zana BriskiRoss Kauffman
Starring
Shanti DasPuja MukerjeeAvijit HalderSuchitra
Music by
John McDowell
Cinematography
Zana BriskiRoss Kauffman
Editing by
Ross Kauffman
Release date(s)
17 January 2004 (premiere at Sundance) 8 December 2005 (NYC only) 2 September 2005
Running time
85 min.
Language
BengaliEnglish
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Calcutta's red light district. The widely acclaimed film, written and directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, won a string of accolades including the Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 2004.
Contents[hide]
1 Production
2 Aftermath
3 Criticisms
4 Awards
5 Nominations
6 Notes
7 External links
//
[edit] Production
Briski, a documentary photographer, went to Kolkata (Calcutta) to photograph prostitutes. While there, she befriended their children and offered to teach the children photography to reciprocate being allowed to photograph their mothers. The children were given cameras so they could learn photography and possibly improve their lives. Much of their work was used in the film, and the filmmakers recorded the classes as well as daily life in the red light district. The children's work was exhibited, and one boy was even sent to a photography conference in Amsterdam. Briski also recorded her efforts to place the children in boarding schools.
[edit] Aftermath
There is debate about the extent to which the documentary has improved the lives of the children featured in it.[citation needed]
The film-makers claim that the lives of children appearing in Born into Brothels have been transformed by money earned through the sale of photos and a book on them. Ross Kauffman, co-director of the documentary, says that the amount earned is $100,000 (about Rs.4.5 million), which will pay for their tuition and for a school in India for children of prostitutes. Briski has started a non-profit organization to continue this kind of work in other countries, named Kids with Cameras [1]. A film is being made on the life story of a high profile trio call girl sisters, Shaveta,Khushboo and Himani, born in one of the brothels of Haryana.
However, Partha Banerjee, who worked on the film as an interpreter, has disputed the claim that the children's lives have been improved. In a February 2005 letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he says that many of them ended up in worse circumstances than they had been in before their involvement in photography classes.[2] Critics argued that the lives and family circumstances of these children were too complex to be revolutionized by educating one family member in photography, or even by sending them to boarding school[citation needed]. The documentary itself acknowledges that many of those saved from the red light district and put into boarding school ended up leaving the school and returning to their families before long.
In November 2006, Kids with Cameras provided an update on many of the children's conditions, asserting that they had entered high schools or universities in India and the United States, or found employment outside of prostitution.Kids with Cameras continues to work towards improving the lives of children from the Calcutta Red light district with the a plan to build a Hope House( http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/school/)
[edit] Criticisms
A secretary of the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a prostitutes' organization active in Sonagachi, has criticized Briski for using hidden camera work to present the children's parents as uncaring, for ignoring the prostitutes' substantial efforts to unite, and for harming the global movement for sex worker rights and dignity.[citation needed]
[edit] Awards
2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Bermuda International Film Festival - Audience Choice Award - Briski, Kauffman
Documentary Prize - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Cleveland International Film Festival - Best Film - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Audience Award - Briski, Kauffman (tied with World Wars
2004 National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary
2004 Seattle International Film Festival Golden Space Needle Award - Briski, Kauffman
2004 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award - Documentary - Kauffman
[edit] Nominations
Directors Guild of America 2005 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary - Briski, Kauffman
2005 Golden Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture - Documentary
2004 International Documentary Association Award for Feature Documentaries - Briski, Kauffman, Dreyfous-White, Boll
2004 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film
2004 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - Documentary - Kauffman, Briski
Compare and Contrast Two media sources
I choose two very common, a newspaper and TV. Check those, Marcia
www.boston.com/bostonglobe/
www.cnn.com
www.boston.com/bostonglobe/
www.cnn.com
Sunday, August 24, 2008
2008 Olympic
Look this 2008 olympic website and enjoy www.en.beijing2008.cn .Don't forget to see 1936 olympics and compare de two of them. Marcia
Olympics 1936
Look in the Olympics of 1936 and compare to 2008. We need to be so happy how free we are. Marcia 1936 - Berlin, Germany
The IOC had awarded the Games to Berlin in 1931 with no idea that Adolf Hitler was to take power in Germany two years later. By 1936, the Nazis had control over Germany and had already begun to implement their racist policies. There was international debate as to whether the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany should be boycotted. The United States was extremely close to boycotting but at the last minute decided to accept the invitation to attend.
The Nazis saw the event as a way to promote their ideology. They built four grandiose stadiums, swimming pools, an outdoor theater, a polo field, and an Olympic Village that had 150 cottages for the male athletes. Throughout the Games, the Olympic complex was covered in Nazi banners. Leni Riefenstahl, a famous Nazi propaganda filmaker, filmed these Olympic Games and made them into her movie Olympia.
These Games were the first ones televised and were the first to use telex transmissions of the results. Also debuting at these Olympics was the torch relay.
Jesse Owens, a black athlete from the United States, was the star of the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens, the "Tan Cyclone," brought home four gold medals: the 100-meter dash, the long jump (made an Olympic record), the 200-meter sprint around a turn (made a world record), and part of the team for the 400-meter relay.
About 4,000 athletes participated, representing 49 countriesand .
The IOC had awarded the Games to Berlin in 1931 with no idea that Adolf Hitler was to take power in Germany two years later. By 1936, the Nazis had control over Germany and had already begun to implement their racist policies. There was international debate as to whether the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany should be boycotted. The United States was extremely close to boycotting but at the last minute decided to accept the invitation to attend.
The Nazis saw the event as a way to promote their ideology. They built four grandiose stadiums, swimming pools, an outdoor theater, a polo field, and an Olympic Village that had 150 cottages for the male athletes. Throughout the Games, the Olympic complex was covered in Nazi banners. Leni Riefenstahl, a famous Nazi propaganda filmaker, filmed these Olympic Games and made them into her movie Olympia.
These Games were the first ones televised and were the first to use telex transmissions of the results. Also debuting at these Olympics was the torch relay.
Jesse Owens, a black athlete from the United States, was the star of the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens, the "Tan Cyclone," brought home four gold medals: the 100-meter dash, the long jump (made an Olympic record), the 200-meter sprint around a turn (made a world record), and part of the team for the 400-meter relay.
About 4,000 athletes participated, representing 49 countriesand .
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Book I liked
If you a book lover, you need to read this one. It is a very good book. This book changed my point of view about Afghanistan. Since Sep. 11 happed I always wanted to know more about this country and The kite runner gave me the knowledge I was looking for. Check this website
www.khaledhosseini.com and I hope you enjoy. Marcia
www.khaledhosseini.com and I hope you enjoy. Marcia
Monday, July 28, 2008
Dick Gregory
Very interesting person. Marcia, Dick Gregory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.Please improve this article if you can. (August 2006)
Dick Gregory
Dick Gregory in 1964
Born
October 12, 1932 (1932-10-12) (age 75)St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Medium
Stand-up, film, books
Nationality
American
Years active
1956 - Present
Genres
Satire/Political satire, Observational comedy
Subject(s)
American civil rights, American politics, American culture, African-American culture, racism, race relations, vegetarianism, healthy diet
Influences
Mort Sahl
Influenced
Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Nichols and May, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock
Notable works and roles
In Living Black and WhiteNigger: An AutobiographyWrite Me In!
Website
www.dickgregory.com
Dick Gregory (born Richard Claxton Gregory on October 12, 1932) is an American comedian, social activist, writer and entrepreneur.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Dick Gregory is an influential American comic who has used his performance skills to convey to both white and black audiences his political message on civil rights. Influenced to stand up for civil rights by his early surroundings of poverty and violence, Gregory became the first comedian to successfully perform for both black and white audiences.[citation needed]
Contents[hide]
1 Overview
1.1 Early life
1.2 Career
1.3 Post career and personal life
2 Albums
3 Books
4 Filmography
5 References
6 See also
7 External links
//
[edit] Overview
[edit] Early life
As a poor student who excelled at running, Gregory was aided by teachers at Sumner High School such as Warren St. James and earned a track scholarship to Southern Illinois University Carbondale.[1] There he set records as a half-miler and miler. His college career was interrupted by two years in the U.S. Army where he got his start in comedy, entering and winning several Army talent shows at the urging of his commanding officer, who had taken notice of his penchant for joking.
[edit] Career
After completing military service, he performed as a comedian in small, primarily black nightclubs while working for the United States Postal Service during the daytime. In 1961, while working at the Black-owned Roberts Show Bar in Chicago, he was hired by Hugh Hefner to work at the Chicago Playboy Club after Hefner heard him wow a largely-white audience with the following routine:
Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I understand there are a good many Southerners in the room tonight. I know the South very well. I spent twenty years there one night.
Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant and this white waitress came up to me and said, "We don't serve colored people here." I said, "That's all right. I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken."
Then these three white boys came up to me and said, "Boy, we're givin' you fair warnin'. Anything you do to that chicken, we're gonna do to you." So I put down my knife and fork, I picked up that chicken and I kissed it. Then I said, "Line up, boys!" [1]
Active in the civil rights movement, he came to Selma, Alabama and spoke for two hours on a public platform two days before the voter registration drive known as "Freedom Day" (October 7, 1963) (Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train [Beacon Press, 1994; rev. ed. 2002], p. 58).
Dick Gregory's first TV appearance was on the Jack Paar late night show. He soon began appearing nationally and on television and his 1964 autobiography, Nigger, sold seven million copies. At the same time, he became more involved in struggles for civil rights, activism against the American War in Vietnam, economic reform, anti-drug issues, conspiracy theories, and others. As a part of his activism, he went on several hunger strikes. Gregory began his political career by running against Richard J. Daley for the mayoralty of Chicago in 1967. Though he did not emerge victorious, this would not prove to be the end of Dick Gregory's dalliances with electoral politics.
Gregory unsuccessfully ran for President of the United States in 1968 as a write-in candidate of the Freedom and Peace Party, which had broken off from the Peace and Freedom Party. He won 47,097 votes (including one from Hunter S. Thompson) with fellow activist Mark Lane as his running mate in some states, David Frost in others, garnering more than the party he had left.[2] The Freedom and Peace Party also ran other candidates, including Beulah Sanders for New York State Senate and Flora Brown for New York State Assembly.[3] His efforts landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents.
He then wrote Write Me In about his presidential campaign. One interesting anecdote in the book related the story of a publicity stunt which came out of Operation Breadbasket in Chicago where the campaign had printed $1 bills with Gregory's image on them. Some of these bills made it into circulation in cash transactions causing considerable problems, but priceless publicity.
Dick Gregory Dollar Bill
The majority of these bills were quickly seized by the Federal Govt. A large contributing factor to the seizure came from the bills resembling authentic US currency enough that they worked in many dollar cashing machines of the time. Gregory avoided being charged with a federal crime, later joking that the bills couldn’t really be considered US currency because everyone knows a black man will never be on a US bill.
On July 21, 1979, Gregory appeared at the Amandla Festival where Bob Marley, Patti LaBelle and Eddie Palmieri, amongst others, had performed. Gregory held a speech before Marley's performance, blaming President Carter and the political failures, and showed his support for the international Anti-Apartheid movements. Gregory and Mark Lane did landmark research into the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which helped move the U.S. House Assassinations Committee to investigate the murder along with that of John F. Kennedy. Lane was author of conspiracy theory books such as Rush to Judgment. The pair wrote the MLK conspiracy book Code Name Zorro, which postulated that convicted assassin James Earl Ray did not act alone.
Gregory was an outspoken activist during the US Embassy Hostage Crisis in Iran. In 1980 he traveled to Tehran to attempt to negotiate the hostages' release and engaged in a public hunger strike there, weighing less than 100 pounds (45 kg) when he returned to the United States.
In recent years, Gregory has been a figure in the health food industry, becoming better known as a nutrition guru during the 1980s, advocating for a raw fruit and vegetable diet. Gregory first became a vegetarian in the 1960s, and has lost a considerable amount of weight by going on extreme fasts, some lasting upwards of 50 days. He developed a diet drink called "Bahamian Diet Nutritional Drink" and went on TV shows advocating for his diet and to help the morbidly obese. He is probably best remembered for his attempts, chronicled in the media on daytime talk shows in early 1988, at helping 1,200 pound (540 kg) Long Island man Walter Hudson drop nearly 600 pounds (270 kg) in only a few months on a liquid diet. Mr. Hudson shortly gained the weight back and later died from complications from his extreme obesity. Nonetheless, Gregory claims his diet has kept him in good health and continues to advocate for a natural diet lifestyle.
In early June 2005, during the late stages of the 2005 trial of Michael Jackson, he was invited by Jackson's father, Joseph Jackson, to advise Jackson on his health. On June 4, Gregory brought a blood-circulating machine to Jackson's house, but Jackson refused to use it. On February 26, 2006, in Atlanta, Georgia, while making a speech at Soul Vegetarian, he fainted; paramedics arrived soon afterwards.
Gregory married his wife Lillian in the 1960s, and they now have ten children. One of his sons, Dr. Christian Gregory, is a private Chiropractor at Advance Family Chiropractic. As of 2008, he resides in Washington, DC.
At a Civil Rights rally marking the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Gregory criticized the United States, calling it "the most dishonest, ungodly, unspiritual nation that ever existed in the history of the planet. As we talk now, America is 5 percent of the world's population and consumes 96 percent of the world's hard drugs", Gregory said. [4]
[edit] Post career and personal life
He is number 81 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Standups of all time and has his own star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. There is a grassroots effort afoot to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, spearheaded by Radio One host Joe Madison.
Gregory is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
Gregory was a former co-host with radio magnate Cathy Hughes, and is still a frequent morning guest, on WOL 1450 AM talk radio's "The Power", the flagship station of Hughes' Radio One. Gregory appears as "Mr. Sun" in the television show Wonder Showzen (the third episode, titled "Ocean", aired in 2005). As Chauncey, a puppet character, imbibes a hallucinogenic substance, Mr. Sun warns, "Don't get hooked on imagination, Chauncey. It can lead to terrible, horrible things." Gregory also provides guest commentary on the Wonder Showzen Season One DVD. Large segments of his commentary were intentionally bleeped out, including the names of several dairy companies, as he makes possibly slanderous remarks concerning the ill effects that consumption of cow milk has on human beings.
Gregory attended and spoke at the funeral of James Brown on December 30, 2006, in Augusta, Georgia.
[edit] Albums
In Living Black and White (1961)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.Please improve this article if you can. (August 2006)
Dick Gregory
Dick Gregory in 1964
Born
October 12, 1932 (1932-10-12) (age 75)St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Medium
Stand-up, film, books
Nationality
American
Years active
1956 - Present
Genres
Satire/Political satire, Observational comedy
Subject(s)
American civil rights, American politics, American culture, African-American culture, racism, race relations, vegetarianism, healthy diet
Influences
Mort Sahl
Influenced
Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Nichols and May, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock
Notable works and roles
In Living Black and WhiteNigger: An AutobiographyWrite Me In!
Website
www.dickgregory.com
Dick Gregory (born Richard Claxton Gregory on October 12, 1932) is an American comedian, social activist, writer and entrepreneur.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Dick Gregory is an influential American comic who has used his performance skills to convey to both white and black audiences his political message on civil rights. Influenced to stand up for civil rights by his early surroundings of poverty and violence, Gregory became the first comedian to successfully perform for both black and white audiences.[citation needed]
Contents[hide]
1 Overview
1.1 Early life
1.2 Career
1.3 Post career and personal life
2 Albums
3 Books
4 Filmography
5 References
6 See also
7 External links
//
[edit] Overview
[edit] Early life
As a poor student who excelled at running, Gregory was aided by teachers at Sumner High School such as Warren St. James and earned a track scholarship to Southern Illinois University Carbondale.[1] There he set records as a half-miler and miler. His college career was interrupted by two years in the U.S. Army where he got his start in comedy, entering and winning several Army talent shows at the urging of his commanding officer, who had taken notice of his penchant for joking.
[edit] Career
After completing military service, he performed as a comedian in small, primarily black nightclubs while working for the United States Postal Service during the daytime. In 1961, while working at the Black-owned Roberts Show Bar in Chicago, he was hired by Hugh Hefner to work at the Chicago Playboy Club after Hefner heard him wow a largely-white audience with the following routine:
Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I understand there are a good many Southerners in the room tonight. I know the South very well. I spent twenty years there one night.
Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant and this white waitress came up to me and said, "We don't serve colored people here." I said, "That's all right. I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken."
Then these three white boys came up to me and said, "Boy, we're givin' you fair warnin'. Anything you do to that chicken, we're gonna do to you." So I put down my knife and fork, I picked up that chicken and I kissed it. Then I said, "Line up, boys!" [1]
Active in the civil rights movement, he came to Selma, Alabama and spoke for two hours on a public platform two days before the voter registration drive known as "Freedom Day" (October 7, 1963) (Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train [Beacon Press, 1994; rev. ed. 2002], p. 58).
Dick Gregory's first TV appearance was on the Jack Paar late night show. He soon began appearing nationally and on television and his 1964 autobiography, Nigger, sold seven million copies. At the same time, he became more involved in struggles for civil rights, activism against the American War in Vietnam, economic reform, anti-drug issues, conspiracy theories, and others. As a part of his activism, he went on several hunger strikes. Gregory began his political career by running against Richard J. Daley for the mayoralty of Chicago in 1967. Though he did not emerge victorious, this would not prove to be the end of Dick Gregory's dalliances with electoral politics.
Gregory unsuccessfully ran for President of the United States in 1968 as a write-in candidate of the Freedom and Peace Party, which had broken off from the Peace and Freedom Party. He won 47,097 votes (including one from Hunter S. Thompson) with fellow activist Mark Lane as his running mate in some states, David Frost in others, garnering more than the party he had left.[2] The Freedom and Peace Party also ran other candidates, including Beulah Sanders for New York State Senate and Flora Brown for New York State Assembly.[3] His efforts landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents.
He then wrote Write Me In about his presidential campaign. One interesting anecdote in the book related the story of a publicity stunt which came out of Operation Breadbasket in Chicago where the campaign had printed $1 bills with Gregory's image on them. Some of these bills made it into circulation in cash transactions causing considerable problems, but priceless publicity.
Dick Gregory Dollar Bill
The majority of these bills were quickly seized by the Federal Govt. A large contributing factor to the seizure came from the bills resembling authentic US currency enough that they worked in many dollar cashing machines of the time. Gregory avoided being charged with a federal crime, later joking that the bills couldn’t really be considered US currency because everyone knows a black man will never be on a US bill.
On July 21, 1979, Gregory appeared at the Amandla Festival where Bob Marley, Patti LaBelle and Eddie Palmieri, amongst others, had performed. Gregory held a speech before Marley's performance, blaming President Carter and the political failures, and showed his support for the international Anti-Apartheid movements. Gregory and Mark Lane did landmark research into the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which helped move the U.S. House Assassinations Committee to investigate the murder along with that of John F. Kennedy. Lane was author of conspiracy theory books such as Rush to Judgment. The pair wrote the MLK conspiracy book Code Name Zorro, which postulated that convicted assassin James Earl Ray did not act alone.
Gregory was an outspoken activist during the US Embassy Hostage Crisis in Iran. In 1980 he traveled to Tehran to attempt to negotiate the hostages' release and engaged in a public hunger strike there, weighing less than 100 pounds (45 kg) when he returned to the United States.
In recent years, Gregory has been a figure in the health food industry, becoming better known as a nutrition guru during the 1980s, advocating for a raw fruit and vegetable diet. Gregory first became a vegetarian in the 1960s, and has lost a considerable amount of weight by going on extreme fasts, some lasting upwards of 50 days. He developed a diet drink called "Bahamian Diet Nutritional Drink" and went on TV shows advocating for his diet and to help the morbidly obese. He is probably best remembered for his attempts, chronicled in the media on daytime talk shows in early 1988, at helping 1,200 pound (540 kg) Long Island man Walter Hudson drop nearly 600 pounds (270 kg) in only a few months on a liquid diet. Mr. Hudson shortly gained the weight back and later died from complications from his extreme obesity. Nonetheless, Gregory claims his diet has kept him in good health and continues to advocate for a natural diet lifestyle.
In early June 2005, during the late stages of the 2005 trial of Michael Jackson, he was invited by Jackson's father, Joseph Jackson, to advise Jackson on his health. On June 4, Gregory brought a blood-circulating machine to Jackson's house, but Jackson refused to use it. On February 26, 2006, in Atlanta, Georgia, while making a speech at Soul Vegetarian, he fainted; paramedics arrived soon afterwards.
Gregory married his wife Lillian in the 1960s, and they now have ten children. One of his sons, Dr. Christian Gregory, is a private Chiropractor at Advance Family Chiropractic. As of 2008, he resides in Washington, DC.
At a Civil Rights rally marking the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Gregory criticized the United States, calling it "the most dishonest, ungodly, unspiritual nation that ever existed in the history of the planet. As we talk now, America is 5 percent of the world's population and consumes 96 percent of the world's hard drugs", Gregory said. [4]
[edit] Post career and personal life
He is number 81 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Standups of all time and has his own star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. There is a grassroots effort afoot to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, spearheaded by Radio One host Joe Madison.
Gregory is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
Gregory was a former co-host with radio magnate Cathy Hughes, and is still a frequent morning guest, on WOL 1450 AM talk radio's "The Power", the flagship station of Hughes' Radio One. Gregory appears as "Mr. Sun" in the television show Wonder Showzen (the third episode, titled "Ocean", aired in 2005). As Chauncey, a puppet character, imbibes a hallucinogenic substance, Mr. Sun warns, "Don't get hooked on imagination, Chauncey. It can lead to terrible, horrible things." Gregory also provides guest commentary on the Wonder Showzen Season One DVD. Large segments of his commentary were intentionally bleeped out, including the names of several dairy companies, as he makes possibly slanderous remarks concerning the ill effects that consumption of cow milk has on human beings.
Gregory attended and spoke at the funeral of James Brown on December 30, 2006, in Augusta, Georgia.
[edit] Albums
In Living Black and White (1961)
My Country
Thi is my home sweet home Brazil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the country. For other uses, see Brazil (disambiguation).
República Federativa do Brasil
Federative Republic of Brazil
Flag
Coat of arms
Motto: "Ordem e Progresso"(Portuguese)"Order and Progress"
Anthem: Hino Nacional Brasileiro(Portuguese)"National Anthem of Brazil"
National sealSelo Nacional do Brasil (Portuguese)"National Seal of Brazil"
Capital
Brasília15°45′S 47°57′W / -15.75, -47.95
Largest city
São Paulo
Official languages
Portuguese
Demonym
Brazilian
Government
Presidential Federal republic
-
President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
-
Vice-President
José Alencar
-
President of the Chamber of Deputies
Arlindo Chinaglia
-
President of the Senate
Garibaldi Alves Filho
-
Chief Justice
Gilmar Mendes
Independence
from Portugal
-
Declared
September 7, 1822
-
Recognized
August 29, 1825
-
Republic
November 15, 1889
Area
-
Total
8,514,877 km² (5th)3,287,597 sq mi
-
Water (%)
0.65
Population
-
2008 estimate
186,757,608 (5th)
-
2007 census
183,987,291
-
Density
22/km² (182nd)57/sq mi
GDP (PPP)
2007 estimate
-
Total
USD 1,804 trillion (9th)
-
Per capita
USD 11,873 (65)
GDP (nominal)
2007 estimate
-
Total
USD 1,313 trillion (10th)
-
Per capita
USD 6,842 (61st)
Gini (2008)
▼ 50.5 (high)
HDI (2005)
▲ 0.800 (high) (70th)
Currency
Real (R$) (BRL)
Time zone
BRT N1 (UTC-2 to -5)
-
Summer (DST)
BRST N2 (UTC-2 to -5)
Internet TLD
.br
Calling code
+55
Footnotes:[show]
^N1 Officially UTC-3 (Brasília time). From June 24, 2008, timezone change into UTC-2 to UTC-4.^N2 Officially UTC-2 (Brasília time). From June 24, 2008, DST will change into UTC-2 to UTC-3.
Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil) listen (help·info), is a country in South America.[1] It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world.[1][2] Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi).[1] It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and the overseas department of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.[1]
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until its independence in 1822.[3] Initially independent as the Brazilian Empire, the country has been a republic since 1889, even though its bicameral legislature (now called Congress) dates back to 1824, when the first constitution was ratified.[3] Its current Constitution defines Brazil as a Federal Republic.[4] The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.[4][5]
Brazil is the world's tenth largest economy at market exchange rates and the ninth largest in purchasing power.[6] Economic reforms have given the country new international projection.[7] It is a founding member of the United Nations and of the Union of South American Nations. A predominantly Roman Catholic, Portuguese-speaking and multiethnic society,[2] Brazil is also home to a diversity of wildlife, natural environments, and extensive natural resources in a variety of protected habitats.[1]ome.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the country. For other uses, see Brazil (disambiguation).
República Federativa do Brasil
Federative Republic of Brazil
Flag
Coat of arms
Motto: "Ordem e Progresso"(Portuguese)"Order and Progress"
Anthem: Hino Nacional Brasileiro(Portuguese)"National Anthem of Brazil"
National sealSelo Nacional do Brasil (Portuguese)"National Seal of Brazil"
Capital
Brasília15°45′S 47°57′W / -15.75, -47.95
Largest city
São Paulo
Official languages
Portuguese
Demonym
Brazilian
Government
Presidential Federal republic
-
President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
-
Vice-President
José Alencar
-
President of the Chamber of Deputies
Arlindo Chinaglia
-
President of the Senate
Garibaldi Alves Filho
-
Chief Justice
Gilmar Mendes
Independence
from Portugal
-
Declared
September 7, 1822
-
Recognized
August 29, 1825
-
Republic
November 15, 1889
Area
-
Total
8,514,877 km² (5th)3,287,597 sq mi
-
Water (%)
0.65
Population
-
2008 estimate
186,757,608 (5th)
-
2007 census
183,987,291
-
Density
22/km² (182nd)57/sq mi
GDP (PPP)
2007 estimate
-
Total
USD 1,804 trillion (9th)
-
Per capita
USD 11,873 (65)
GDP (nominal)
2007 estimate
-
Total
USD 1,313 trillion (10th)
-
Per capita
USD 6,842 (61st)
Gini (2008)
▼ 50.5 (high)
HDI (2005)
▲ 0.800 (high) (70th)
Currency
Real (R$) (BRL)
Time zone
BRT N1 (UTC-2 to -5)
-
Summer (DST)
BRST N2 (UTC-2 to -5)
Internet TLD
.br
Calling code
+55
Footnotes:[show]
^N1 Officially UTC-3 (Brasília time). From June 24, 2008, timezone change into UTC-2 to UTC-4.^N2 Officially UTC-2 (Brasília time). From June 24, 2008, DST will change into UTC-2 to UTC-3.
Brazil (Portuguese: Brasil), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil) listen (help·info), is a country in South America.[1] It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world.[1][2] Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi).[1] It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and the overseas department of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.[1]
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until its independence in 1822.[3] Initially independent as the Brazilian Empire, the country has been a republic since 1889, even though its bicameral legislature (now called Congress) dates back to 1824, when the first constitution was ratified.[3] Its current Constitution defines Brazil as a Federal Republic.[4] The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.[4][5]
Brazil is the world's tenth largest economy at market exchange rates and the ninth largest in purchasing power.[6] Economic reforms have given the country new international projection.[7] It is a founding member of the United Nations and of the Union of South American Nations. A predominantly Roman Catholic, Portuguese-speaking and multiethnic society,[2] Brazil is also home to a diversity of wildlife, natural environments, and extensive natural resources in a variety of protected habitats.[1]ome.
Domestic Violence
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www.domesticviolence.org
www.domesticviolence.org
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Richard Nixon
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Richard Nixon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Nixon" redirects here. For other uses, see Nixon (disambiguation).
Richard Milhous Nixon
37th President of the United States
In officeJanuary 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974
Vice President
Spiro T. Agnew (1969–1973)vacant (Oct.–Dec. 1973)Gerald Ford (1973–1974)
Preceded by
Lyndon B. Johnson
Succeeded by
Gerald Ford
Republican candidate forPresident of the United States
Election dateNovember 8, 1960
Running mate
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Opponent(s)
John F. Kennedy (D)
Incumbent
Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
Preceded by
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Succeeded by
Barry Goldwater
36th Vice President of the United States
In officeJanuary 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961
President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by
Alben W. Barkley
Succeeded by
Lyndon B. Johnson
United States Senatorfrom California
Preceded by
Sheridan Downey
Succeeded by
Thomas Kuchel
Member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 12th congressional district
In officeJanuary 2, 1947 – December 1, 1950
Preceded by
Jerry Voorhis
Succeeded by
Patrick J. Hillings
Born
January 9, 1913(1913-01-09)Yorba Linda, California
Died
April 22, 1994 (aged 81)New York City
Political party
Republican
Spouse
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan
Alma mater
Whittier CollegeDuke University School of Law
Occupation
Lawyer
Religion
Quaker
Signature
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913–April 22, 1994) was the thirty-seventh President of the United States (1969–1974) and the only American president to resign the office.
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California and developed an interest in music. In the mid-1930s, he passed the bar exam and practiced law with a family friend. Amidst the outbreak of war in the early 1940s, he joined the United States Navy and served as a lieutenant commander in the Pacific during World War II. He was elected to Congress following his military service, specifically the House of Representatives, first representing California's 12th Congressional district, and later the entire state as Senator. He was chosen by party nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower to be Vice President in 1952, a position he began serving in the following year, until 1961. After an unsuccessful presidential run in 1960 and an unsuccessful run for Governor of California in 1962, Nixon was elected to the presidency in 1968, and reelected four years later.
Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Nixon successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending the longest war in American history. Domestically, his administration faced resistance to the Vietnam War. In the face of likely impeachment by the United States House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate for the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a controversial pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. Nixon is the only person to be elected twice to the offices of the presidency and the vice presidency.
Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81.
Contents[hide]
1 Early life
1.1 Marriage and children
2 House and Senate: 1946–1952
3 Vice Presidency
4 1960 presidential election
5 Run for California Governorship
6 1968 presidential election
7 Presidency (1969 – 1974)
7.1 Foreign policy
7.1.1 Vietnam War
7.1.2 China and the Soviet Union
7.1.3 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
7.1.4 Other wars and crises
7.2 Domestic policy
7.2.1 School integration
7.2.2 U.S. space program
7.2.3 1972 Landslide re-election
7.3 Major initiatives
7.3.1 Health insurance
7.4 Views on media
7.5 Administration and Cabinet
7.6 Supreme Court appointments
7.7 Watergate
8 Later years
8.1 Presidential Library and Museum
8.2 Pat Nixon's death
9 Death and funeral
10 Legacy
11 Public perception
12 References
13 Notes
14 External links
//
Early life
Richard Milhous Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California to Francis A. Nixon and Hannah Milhous. His mother was a Quaker, and his upbringing is said to have been marked by conservative Quaker observances of the time such as refraining from drinking, dancing and swearing. His father converted from Methodist to Quaker after his marriage. During the American Civil War, Nixon's great-grandfather George Nixon III was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg, while serving in the 73rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Richard Nixon had four brothers: Harold Nixon (1909–1933), Donald Nixon (1914–1987), Arthur Nixon (1918–1925), and Edward Nixon (born 1930).
The infant Richard stands outside the Nixons' Yorba Linda Home (early 1914)
From 1926–1928, Nixon attended Fullerton High School in Fullerton, California, and later graduated second in his class from Whittier High School in Whittier, California in 1930. Due to insufficient financial means for attendance, Nixon declined a scholarship to Harvard University[1] and to Yale University [2]. Instead, Nixon chose to enroll at Whittier College, a local Quaker school, where he co-founded a fraternity called The Orthogonian Society. Nixon was a formidable debater, a stand out in collegiate drama productions, and was elected student-body president. While at Whittier, he taught Sunday school at East Whittier Friends Church, where he remained a member all his life. A lifelong American football fan, Nixon practiced with the team assiduously, but spent most of his time on the bench. In 1934, he graduated second in his class from Whittier, and went on to Duke University School of Law, where he received a full scholarship and graduated third in his class.
Lieutenant Commander Richard Nixon of the United States Navy, 1945
In 1937, Nixon returned to California, was admitted to the bar, and began working in the law office of a family friend in a nearby small town. The work was mostly routine, and Nixon generally found it to be dull. He later wrote that family law cases caused him particular discomfort, since his reticent Quaker upbringing was severely at odds with discussing intimate marital details with strangers.
During World War II, Nixon served as a reserve officer in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. He received training at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island and Ottumwa, Iowa, before serving in the supply corps on several islands in the South Pacific, commanding cargo handling units in the SCAT.[3] There he was known as "Nick" and for his prowess in poker, banking a large sum that helped finance his first campaign for Congress.
Marriage and children
When Nixon was cast in a play at a local theater, he met high school teacher Thelma "Pat" Ryan. On the first night they went out, Nixon asked Pat to marry him as a joke. "I thought he was nuts or something," she recalled.[4] They eventually married on June 21, 1940. The Nixons had two daughters: Tricia, born in 1946, and Julie, born in 1948.
House and Senate: 1946–1952
The 1947 HUAC hearings in session. On the right, committee chairman J. Parnell Thomas administers the oath; 34-year-old congressman Richard Nixon is seated immediately to Thomas's left.
Nixon while serving in Congress
The Nixon family in September 1952; pictured are Richard, Tricia, Julie, and Pat
Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon at a campaign stop for the presidential election of 1952
In 1946 Nixon defeated Democratic incumbent Jerry Voorhis in the election to represent southern California's 12th Congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. Nixon's campaign alleged that the Congress of Industrial Organizations' support for Voorhis showed that Voorhis was collaborating with communist-controlled labor unions.
Nixon first gained national attention in 1948 when his dogged investigation on the House Un-American Activities Committee ("HUAC") broke the impasse of the Alger Hiss spy case. Nixon believed Whittaker Chambers's allegations that Hiss, a high State Department official, was a Soviet spy. Nixon discovered Chambers saved microfilm reproductions of incriminating documents by hiding the film in a pumpkin (these became known as the "Pumpkin Papers"). These documents were alleged both to be accessible only by Hiss, and to have been typed on Hiss's personal typewriter. Hiss was convicted of perjury in 1950 for statements he made to the HUAC. The discovery that Hiss, who had been an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, could have been a Soviet spy thrust Nixon into the public eye and made him a hero to many of Roosevelt's enemies, and an enemy to many of Roosevelt's supporters. In reality, his support for internationalism put him closer to the center of the Republican party.
In the 1950 mid-term elections, Nixon defeated Democratic Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas to win a seat in the United States Senate. Nixon called Gahagan "the Pink Lady", accusing her of being a fellow traveler with Communist sympathies, and said she was "pink right down to her underwear." Gahagan, for her part, bestowed upon Nixon one of the most enduring nicknames in American politics: "Tricky Dick".
Vice Presidency
Main article: Eisenhower Administration
Vice President Richard M. Nixon's bust from the Senate collection
When Nixon was thirty nine years old, he was elected Vice President to Dwight Eisenhower's ticket in 1952. During the campaign in September 1952, the New York Post and other publications reported Nixon kept a personal "slush fund." Democrats and leading Republicans pressured Eisenhower to remove Nixon from the ticket. Nixon convinced Eisenhower to let him go on TV on September 23 to defend himself in a famous speech. He provided an independent third-party review of the fund's accounting along with a personal summary of his finances, which he cited as exonerating him from wrongdoing, and he noted the Democratic Presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson, had a similar fund. This speech, however, became better known for its rhetoric, such as when he stated his wife Pat did not wear mink, but rather "a respectable Republican cloth coat," and although he had been given an American Cocker Spaniel named "Checkers" in addition to his other campaign contributions, he was not going to give it back because his daughters loved him. As a result, this speech became known as the "Checkers speech." At the end of the broadcast, Nixon intended to appeal to viewers to write to the Republican National Committee to voice their support or opposition. Although the broadcast was cut off before he could make this appeal, his speech resulted in a flood of support, prompting Eisenhower to keep Nixon on the ticket.
Nixon greatly expanded the office of Vice President. Although he had little formal power, he had the attention of the media and the Republican Party. He demonstrated the office could be a springboard to the White House as it had not been since the 19th century[5]. Most Vice Presidents since have followed his lead and sought the presidency. Nixon was the first Vice President to step in temporarily to run the government. He did so three times when Eisenhower was ill: on the occasions of Eisenhower's heart attack on September 24, 1955; his ileitis in June 1956; and his stroke on November 25, 1957. Despite this, Nixon was forced to announce his own inclusion on the 1956 Eisenhower re-election campaign, which highlighted the lack of rapport he and Eisenhower shared. At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow on July 24, 1959, he and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had the impromptu "Kitchen Debate" about the merits of capitalism versus communism.
1960 presidential election
Main article: United States presidential election, 1960
In 1960, Nixon ran for President against John F. Kennedy in a race that remained close all year.[6] Nixon campaigned on his experience, but Kennedy called for new blood and claimed the Eisenhower-Nixon administration allowed the Soviet Union to overtake the U.S. in offensive missiles (the "missile gap"). Kennedy made much of the stagnant American economy of 1960, telling voters it was time to "get the country moving again." Nixon's frosty relationship with Eisenhower hurt him. When asked about major policy decisions Nixon helped shape, the President responded: "Give me a week and I might think of one." In the first of four televised debates, Nixon was recovering from illness and was unshaven, in contrast to the young Kennedy. The performance dispelled many people's worries that Senator Kennedy was too inexperienced. Nixon's performance in the debate was perceived to be mediocre in the visual medium of television, though many people listening on the radio thought Nixon won.[7]
Nixon lost the 1960 election narrowly. It is often argued by American historians that Nixon lost due to the invention of the televised debate. There were charges of vote fraud in Texas and Illinois, and Nixon supporters unsuccessfully challenged in both states as well as nine others. The Kennedy camp successfully challenged Nixon's victory in Hawaii; after all the court battles and recounts were done, Kennedy had a greater number of electoral votes than he held after Election Day.
Nixon wrote Six Crises in 1962, a book dealing with his political involvement as a congressman, senator and as Vice-President. The book used six different crises Nixon had experienced throughout his political career to illustrate his political memoirs. It was not supposed to be an academic work on the subject of crises, rather a method of depicting his political biography in a personal manner. The work won praise from many policy experts and critics. Ironically, as Margaret MacMillan would discuss in her book Nixon in China (2006), Six Crises found a favorable critic in Mao Zedong, who referred to the book when in preparation for Nixon's visit in 1972.
Run for California Governorship
In 1962, against the advice of many friends and supporters, Nixon chose to challenge the popular Pat Brown for Governor of California. He handily won the Republican nomination over the more conservative choice,[citation needed] state legislator Joseph C. Shell. Nixon polled 1,285,151 votes (65.4 percent) in the primary to Shell's 656,542 (33.4 percent). Nixon had never before shown any interest in the office and biographers still disagree on his precise motive in seeking it. In all likelihood, he was looking for a reason not to run for president again in 1964. With John F. Kennedy's popularity strong, it was likely to be a losing effort.[citation needed] Therefore, if Nixon won in 1962, he would have the excuse that he was too busy running the state. If he lost, he could plead a desire not to campaign again so soon. In either case, Brown won handily. Nixon's loss was widely believed to be the end of his career.
Years of campaigning and losing had worn Nixon down. In an impromptu concession speech the morning after the election, Nixon famously blamed the media for favoring his opponent. At a postelection press conference, a bitter Nixon lashed out at reporters who, he said "are so delighted that I have lost." He added:
“
For 16 years, ever since the Hiss case, you've had a lot of—a lot of fun—that you've had an opportunity to attack me and I think I've given as good as I've taken.....But as I leave you I want you to know—just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.[8]
”
—Richard Nixon 1962
However, one year later, John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The events that defined the tumultuous 1960s were beginning, and before the decade closed, a "New Nixon," one who was "tanned, rested and ready." Nixon moved to New York City, where he became a senior partner in the leading law firm Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander. During the 1966 Congressional elections, he stumped the country in support of Republican candidates, rebuilding his base in the party.
1968 presidential election
Main article: United States presidential election, 1968
Nixon campaigns in Pennsylvania, 1968
In the presidential primary election of 1968, he won the nomination. Nixon's success might be attributed to Robert F. Kennedy's assassination after he won the California Democratic primary in June 1968.[citation needed] Nixon appealed to what he called the "Silent Majority" of socially conservative Americans who disliked the hippie counterculture and the anti-war demonstrators.
Nixon's running mate, Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew, became an increasingly vocal critic of these groups, solidifying Nixon's position with the right.[9] Nixon promised peace with honor, and, though never claiming to be able to win the war, Nixon did say "new leadership will end the war and win the peace in the Pacific." He did not explain his plans to end the war, causing Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey to allege he must have some "secret plan." Nixon didn't invent the phrase, but because he did not disavow the term, it soon became part of the campaign. In his memoirs, Nixon wrote he had no plan. In a three-way race between Nixon, Humphrey, and independent candidate George Wallace, Nixon defeated Humphrey by less than 1% of the popular vote to become the 37th President of the United States.
Presidency (1969 – 1974)
Foreign policy
Nixon is sworn in as the 37th President on January 20, 1969, with the new First Lady, Pat, holding the family Bibles.
In his book Real Peace in 1983 Nixon wrote that: "Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war".[10] Nixon was the first president to visit all fifty states, as well as the first to visit the Soviet Union (and later the Peoples Republic of China). While in the Soviet Union, he engaged in intense negotiations with his Soviet counterpart, Leonid Brezhnev. Out of this "summit" meeting came agreements for increased trade and two landmark arms control treaties. SALT (named for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks underway since 1969) froze each country's arsenal of intercontinental missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty banned the development of systems designed to intercept incoming missiles, so that neither side would be tempted to attack the other without fearing devastating retaliation. Nixon and Brezhnev proclaimed a new era of "peaceful coexistence," in which "détente" (cooperation) would replace the hostility of the Cold War.[11]
Vietnam War
Main articles: Vietnam War and The United States and the Vietnam War
President Nixon greets released POW Lt. Commander John McCain, future U.S. Senator, upon his return from years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, 1973
Once in office, he proposed the Nixon Doctrine, a strategy of replacing American troops with the Vietnamese troops, also called "Vietnamization." In July 1969, he visited South Vietnam, and met with President Nguyen Van Thieu and with U.S. military commanders. American involvement in the war declined steadily until all American troops were gone in 1973. Although the South Vietnamese were well supplied with modern arms, their fighting capability was limited by inadequate funding, low morale, and corruption. The lack of funding was primarily because of large funding cutbacks by the U.S. Congress. Nixon was widely praised in the United States for having delivered 'peace with honor', and ended American involvement in the war in Vietnam. However, a part of his strategy was the resumption of the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam should they violate the Peace agreement, which Nixon was confident they would. Watergate, however, made it impossible to carry this out. Nixon, along with his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger also sought a 'decent interval' solution to the problem of South Vietnam, so that the country would survive for long enough for him not to be personally blamed for its ultimate collapse.
Nixon approved secret bombing campaigns in Cambodia in March 1969 (code-named Operation Menu) to destroy what was believed to be the headquarters of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam, and later escalated the conflict with secretly bombing Laos before Congress cut the funding for the conflict in Vietnam. Another goal of the bombings was to interdict the Ho Chi Minh trail that passed through Laos and Cambodia. In approving the bombings, Nixon realized he would be extending an unpopular war as well as breaching Cambodia's stated neutrality. In a televised speech on April 30, 1970, Nixon announced the incursion of U.S. troops into Cambodia to disrupt so-called North Vietnamese sanctuaries. The invasion of Cambodia, the subsequent killing, on 4 May, of four students during a protest at Kent State University in Ohio and Nixon's perceived callous reaction to the violence, provoked a national student strike that involved more than four million students and 450 universities, colleges and high schools.
During deliberations over Nixon's impeachment, his unorthodox use of executive powers in ordering the bombings was considered as an article of impeachment, but the charge was dropped as not a violation of constitutional powers.
China and the Soviet Union
Main article: 1972 Nixon visit to China
President Nixon greets Chinese Party Chairman Mao Zedong (left) in a historic visit to the People's Republic of China, 1972
President Nixon accompanies Chinese political leader, Director of the Cultural Revolution and head of the Gang of Four Jiang Qing to watch the modern revolutionary ballet Red Detachment of Women. (Beijing, 1972)
Relations between the Western powers and Eastern Bloc changed dramatically in the early 1970s. In 1960, the People's Republic of China publicly split from its main ally, the Soviet Union, in the Sino-Soviet Split. As tension along the border between the two communist nations reached its peak in 1969 and 1970, Nixon decided to use their conflict to shift the balance of power towards the West in the Cold War. In what later would be known as the "China Card", the Nixon administration improved relations with China in order to gain a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, but also gave Moscow a chance to improve relations so as not to be squeezed by a U.S.-China détente. In 1971, a move was made to improve relations when China invited an American table tennis team to China; hence the term "Ping Pong Diplomacy". Nixon sent Henry Kissinger on a secret mission to China in July 1971, after which a stunned world was told that Nixon intended to visit Communist China in 1972. As a result, many countries that had previously opposed the People's Republic's entry into the United Nations changed their stance. Despite frantic lobbying by the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, George H.W. Bush, in October 1971 the U. N. General Assembly voted to give to the Chinese seat, hitherto held by America's ally, the Republic of China, to the People's Republic and expel the Republic of China from the U. N. In February 1972 Nixon grabbed the world's attention by himself going to China to have direct talks with Mao. During this visit he privately stated that he believed “There is one China, and Taiwan is a part of China.”[12] Fearing the possibility of a Sino-American alliance, the Soviet Union yielded to American pressure for détente.
Nixon used the improving international environment to address the topic of nuclear peace. The first Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were finally concluded the same year with the SALT I treaty. To win American friendship both China and the Soviet Union cut back on their diplomatic support for North Vietnam and advised Hanoi to come to terms. They did not, however, cut back their military aid to North Vietnam — in fact Chinese military aid to North Vietnam increased during this period.[13] Nixon later explained his strategy:
“
I had long believed that an indispensable element of any successful peace initiative in Vietnam was to enlist, if possible, the help of the Soviets and the Chinese. Though rapprochement with China and détente with the Soviet Union were ends in themselves, I also considered them possible means to hasten the end of the war. At worst, Hanoi was bound to feel less confident if Washington was dealing with Moscow and Beijing. At best, if the two major Communist powers decided that they had bigger fish to fry, Hanoi would be pressured into negotiating a settlement we could accept.[14]
”
—Richard Nixon
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Nixon with Indian Premier Indira Gandhi, commander of Indian forces in the Indo-Pakistan War, in 1971.
The Nixon administration backed Pakistani President Yahya Khan during the 1971 crisis in East Pakistan
Nixon strongly supported General Yahya Khan of Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 despite widespread human rights violations against the Bengalis, particularly Hindus, by the Pakistan Army. Though Nixon claimed that his objective was to prevent a war, and safeguard Pakistan's interests (including the issue of refugees), in reality the U.S. President was fearful of an Indian invasion of West Pakistan that would lead to Indian domination of the sub-continent and strengthen the position of the Soviet Union, which had recently signed a Treaty of Friendship with India. He also sought to demonstrate his reliability as a partner to the People's Republic of China, with whom he had been negotiating a rapprochement, and where he planned to visit just a few months later. President Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger downplayed reports of Pakistani genocide in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and risked a confrontation with Moscow to look tough.[15] Many, including Kissinger,[16] have mentioned that the foreign policy "tilt" towards Pakistan had more to do with Nixon's personal like for the dictator and the support to Pakistan was influenced by sentimental considerations and a long standing anti-Indian bias.[17] The Nixon administration was also responsible for illegally providing military supplies to the Pakistani military despite Congressional objections,[18] and against American public opinion, which was concerned with the atrocities against East Pakistanis.[19] His decision to help Pakistan in a war at any cost prompted him to send the nuclear-equipped USS Enterprise to the Indian Ocean to try to threaten the Indian military. Though it did little to turn the tide of war, it has been viewed as the trigger for India's subsequent nuclear program.[20] During the crisis Nixon was vocal in abusing the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi as an "old witch" in private conversations with Henry Kissinger, who is also recorded as making derogatory comments against Indians.[21] Ultimately Nixon's foreign policy initiatives in this matter largely failed as his attempt at a show of strength to impress China was at the cost of dismembering their mutual ally, Pakistan, who felt that once again United States had fallen short as an ally in failing to prevent Bangladeshi independence.[22]
Other wars and crises
Nixon encouraged Augusto Pinochet's military overthrow of the elected socialist government of Chile in 1973.
Israel, a powerful American ally in the Middle East, was supported by the Nixon administration during the Yom Kippur War. When an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria—allies to the Soviets—attacked in October 1973 Israel suffered initial losses and pressed European powers for help, but (with the notable exception of the Netherlands) the Europeans responded with inaction. Not so with Nixon, who, cutting through inter-departmental squabbles and bureaucracy, initiated an air lift of American arms. By the time the U.S. and the Soviet Union negotiated a truce, Israel had penetrated deep into enemy territory. A long term effect was the movement of Egypt away from the Soviets toward the U.S. But the victory for its ally and the support provided to them by the U.S. came at the cost of the 1973 oil crisis.
President Hafez al-Assad of Syria greets President Nixon on his arrival at Damascus airport in 1974
On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned amidst charges of bribery, tax evasion and money laundering. Nixon chose Representative Gerald Ford (and Republican Minority Leader of the House of Representativees) to replace Agnew.
Domestic policy
Although often viewed as a conservative by his contemporaries, Nixon's domestic policies often appear centrist, or even liberal, to later observers. As President, Nixon imposed wage and price controls, indexed Social Security for inflation, and created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The number of pages added to the Federal Register each year doubled under Nixon. He eradicated the last remnants of the gold standard, created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), promoted the Legacy of parks program and implemented the Philadelphia Plan, the first significant federal affirmative action program, and dramatically increased spending on federal employees's salaries. In the wake of racial tensions that had sometimes erupted into urban violence before he assumed the Presidency, Nixon's policy on race relations and civil rights was perceived to be influenced by a doctrine commonly referred to as "benign neglect." As a party leader, Nixon helped build the Republican Party (GOP), but he ran his 1972 campaign separately from the party, which perhaps helped the GOP escape some of the damage from Watergate. The Nixon White House was the first to organize a daily press event and daily message for the media, a practice that all subsequent staffs have performed. Diaz_Ordaz_Nixon.gif Nixon is credited with creating the modern day Imperial Presidency, in which the presidency retains a high level of control over government policy and decisions. In the early 1970s, Nixon impounded billions of dollars in federal spending and expanded the power of the Office of Management and Budget. These encroachments on the power of Congress led to the passage of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
On January 2, 1974, Nixon signed a bill that lowered the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 miles per hour (90 km/h) in order to conserve gasoline during the 1973 energy crisis. This law remained in effect until 1995, though states had been allowed to raise the limit to 65 miles per hour in rural areas since 1987.
Committed to wide-ranging bureaucratic reforms, in a last-minute bid to save his presidency, Nixon signed a significant reform of the federal budgeting process and granted wide authority to Congress in shaping the final budget.
School integration
The Nixon years witnessed the first large-scale integration of public schools in the South, after the region had stalled in compliance with the 1954 Supreme Court's Brown ruling. Strategically, Nixon sought a middle way between the segregationist George C. Wallace and liberal Democrats, whose support of integration was alienating some Southern white Democrats. His plan has since been known as the Southern strategy. Nixon concentrated on the principle that the law must be color-blind. "I am convinced that while legal segregation is totally wrong, forced integration of housing or education is just as wrong."[23]
Though Nixon thought of appealing to southern whites by slowing school desegregation, he decided to enforce the law after the Supreme Court, in Alexander v. Holmes County (1969), prohibited further delays. Nixon's Cabinet committee on school desegregation, under the leadership of Labor Secretary George P. Shultz, quietly set up local biracial committees to assure smooth compliance without violence or political grandstanding. By fall of 1970, two million southern black children enrolled in newly created unitary fully integrated school districts. "In this sense, Nixon was the greatest school desegregator in American history," historian Dean Kotlowski concluded.[24]
Mobutu Sese Seko and Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, 1973.
U.S. space program
On July 20, 1969, Nixon addressed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin live via radio during their historic Apollo 11 moonwalk. Nixon also made humanity's longest distance phone call to Neil Armstrong on the moon. (All U.S. Project Apollo moon landings, and the attempted moon landing of Apollo 13, took place during Nixon's first term.) On January 5, 1972, Nixon approved the development of NASA's Space Shuttle program, a decision that profoundly influenced American efforts to explore and develop space for several decades thereafter.
Under the Nixon Administration, NASA's budget declined. NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine was drawing up ambitious plans for the establishment of a permanent base on the Moon by the end of the 1970s and the launch of a manned expedition to Mars as early as 1981. Nixon, however, rejected these ideas.
1972 Landslide re-election
Main article: United States presidential election, 1972
In 1972, Nixon was re-elected in one of the biggest landslide election victories in US political history, defeating Senator George McGovern and garnering over 60% of the popular vote. He carried 49 of the 50 states, losing only in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Major initiatives
During the Nixon Administration, the United States established many government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Supplemental Security Income program, and the Office of Minority Business Enterprise; the Post Office Department was abolished as a cabinet department and reorganized as a government-owned corporation: the U.S. Postal Service. Nixon proposed in 1971 to create four new government departments superseding the current structure: departments organized for the goal of efficient and effective public service as opposed the thematic bases of Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Agriculture, et al. Departments like State, Treasury, Defense and Justice would remain under this proposal.[25] Nixon also suspended the converting of the US dollar into gold, a central point of the Bretton Woods system, allowing its value to float in world markets.
In international affairs, President Nixon normalized diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, enacted détente, or the peaceful pause in the Cold War, with the Soviet Union (later abolished by President Ronald Reagan). He signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, following the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (also known as SALT I).
On April 3, 1974, Nixon announced he would pay $432,787.13 in back taxes plus interest after a Congressional committee reported that he had inadvertently underpaid his 1969 and 1972 taxes.
Health insurance
In his 1974 State of the Union address, Nixon called for comprehensive health insurance with the following remarks:
"Turning now to the rest of the agenda for 1974, the time is at hand this year to bring comprehensive, high quality health care within the reach of every American. I shall propose a sweeping new program that will assure comprehensive health insurance protection to millions of Americans who cannot now obtain it or afford it, with vastly improved protection against catastrophic illnesses. This will be a plan that maintains the high standards of quality in America's health care. And it will not require additional taxes."[26]
On February 6, 1974, he introduced the Comprehensive Health Insurance Act. Nixon's plan would have mandated employers to purchase health insurance for their employees, and in addition provided a federal health plan like Medicaid that any American could join by paying on a sliding scale based on income.[26][27]
The AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers lobbied to kill the plan, not because they were fundamentally opposed to universal health care, but because they hoped for an even better plan after the next election.[citation needed] With the collapse of the Nixon presidency, however, followed by his successor Ford's overarching concerns with the economy and government spending, the plan was put on the back burner and forgotten for a generation.[citation needed] Hillary Clinton proposed a very similar plan in 2007 while running for president.[28]
Views on media
Certain tapes show that Nixon saw widespread Jewish engagement in American media as somewhat of a problem for the country,[citation needed] saying "Newsweek is all run by Jews and dominated by them... does this mean all Jews are bad? No."[29]
Administration and Cabinet
The Nixon Cabinet
OFFICE
NAME
TERM
President
Richard Nixon
1969–1974
Vice President
Spiro Agnew
1969–1973
Gerald Ford
1973–1974
State
William P. Rogers
1969–1973
Henry Kissinger
1973–1974
Treasury
David M. Kennedy
1969–1971
John Connally
1971–1972
George Shultz
1972–1974
William Simon
1974
Defense
Melvin R. Laird
1969–1973
Elliot Richardson
1973
James Schlesinger
1973–1974
Justice
John N. Mitchell
1969–1972
Richard Kleindienst
1972–1973
Elliot Richardson
1973–1974
William B. Saxbe
1974
Postmaster General
Winton M. Blount
1969–1971 1
Interior
Walter Joseph Hickel
1969–1971
Rogers Morton
1971–1974
Agriculture
Clifford M. Hardin
1969–1971
Earl Butz
1971–1974
Commerce
Maurice Stans
1969–1972
Peter Peterson
1972–1973
Frederick B. Dent
1973–1974
Labor
George Shultz
1969–1970
James D. Hodgson
1970–1973
Peter J. Brennan
1973–1974
HEW
Robert Finch
1969–1970
Elliot Richardson
1970–1973
Caspar Weinberger
1973–1974
HUD
George Romney
1969–1973
James Thomas Lynn
1973–1974
Transportation
John A. Volpe
1969–1973
Claude Brinegar
1973–1974
1. Postmaster General removed from the Cabinet on July 1, 1971.Winton M. Blount was continued as Postmaster General until December 31, 1971.
Richard Nixon
The Nixon Administration comprised an impressive array of talent both in the cabinet and in the White House staff. Among the many people who came to Washington to serve in the administration were one future President (George H. W. Bush); two future Vice Presidents (Dick Cheney and Bush again); six future secretaries of state (Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, George P. Shultz, James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Colin Powell); five future secretaries of defense (James Schlesinger, Donald Rumsfeld, Casper Weinberger, Frank Carlucci and Cheney again); a future chairman of the joint chiefs of staff (Powell again), two future secretaries of the treasury (William Simon and Baker again); a future secretary of energy (Schlesinger again); and three future chiefs of staff (Rumsfeld, Cheney and Baker again). Indeed a member of the Nixon Administration has held a cabinet post or been a senior advisor within the subsequent six presidential administrations. That so many key figures of the Ford, Reagan, Bush (41) and Bush (43) Administrations first entered government service in the Nixon White House is arguably the most profound and long-lasting legacy of Richard Nixon.
Supreme Court appointments
Nixon appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
Warren E. Burger (Chief Justice) — 1969
Harry Andrew Blackmun — 1970
Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. — 1972
William Rehnquist — 1972
Watergate
Main article: Watergate scandal
Nixon's letter of resignation
The term Watergate has come to encompass an array of illegal and secret activities undertaken by Nixon or his aides during his administration. Some of these began as early as 1969, when Nixon and Kissinger tapped the phones of numerous journalists and administration officials in an effort to stop information leaks to the press. Other episodes of wrongdoing included the 1971 burglary of Dr. Lewis Fielding's office in search of the psychiatric records of Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press, Nixon's order to have the FBI investigate CBS News reporter Daniel Schorr after he reported critically on the administration, and talk by Nixon's aide G. Gordon Liddy about having the newspaper columnist Jack Anderson assassinated.
These activities did not come to light until several men were caught breaking into Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC on June 17, 1972.
The Fords escort the Nixons across the South Lawn of the White House to the waiting presidential helicopter before Gerald Ford takes the oath of office, August 9, 1974
The men were subsequently linked to the White House. This became one of a series of major scandals involving the Committee to Re-Elect the President (known as CRP, but referred to by his opponents as CREEP), including the White House enemies list and assorted "dirty tricks." The ensuing Watergate scandal exposed the corruption, illegality and deceit displayed by some of those within the Nixon Administration.[30]
Nixon himself downplayed the scandal as mere politics, but when his aides resigned in disgrace, Nixon's role in ordering an illegal cover-up came to light in the press, courts, and congressional investigations. Nixon owed back taxes,[31] had accepted illicit campaign contributions,[32] and had harassed opponents with executive agencies, wiretaps, and break-ins. In addition, he had ordered the secret bombing of Cambodia.[33] Unlike the tape recordings by earlier Presidents, his secret recordings of White House conversations were revealed and subpoenaed and showed details of his complicity in the cover-up. Nixon was named by the grand jury investigating Watergate as "an unindicted co-conspirator" in the Watergate scandal.
One piece of evidence, an audio tape of conversations held in the White House between the President and various aides on the 20 June 1972, features an unexplained 18½ minute gap,[34] which appears to be divided into two distinct portions (suggesting that the tape had been recorded over on two separate occasions). The first deleted section, of about five minutes, has been attributed to human error on the part of Rose Mary Woods, the President's personal secretary, who admitted accidentally wiping the section while transcribing the tape. No definitive explanation has been offered for the deletion of the second section, but contextual evidence suggests that Nixon and then-Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman discussed the Watergate problem in the conversation obliterated. The gap, while not conclusive proof of wrong-doing on the part of the President, cast doubt on Nixon's claim that he was unaware of the cover-up at this stage. Although not discovered until several years after he had left office, transcripts of an earlier June 20, 1972 conversation between Nixon and White House Special Counsel Charles Colson clearly show Nixon's early involvement in obstructing justice in the Watergate investigation.[35]
Nixon departing the White House aboard a H-3 Sea King helicopter after resigning
He lost support from some in his own party as well as much popular support after what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre of October 20, 1973, in which his demand that independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox be dismissed, was refused to be carried out by Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, who both resigned in protest. The then Solicitor General, the most senior officer remaining at the Department of Justice, Robert Bork, dismissed Cox.
As the Watergate story continued to dominate headlines, Nixon tried to reassure a suspicious public by continuing to deflect himself from any wrong doing. On November 17, 1973, at a televised question and answer session with the press, Nixon said,
“
People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.
”
The House Judiciary Committee controlled by Democrats opened formal and public impeachment hearings against Nixon on May 9, 1974. Despite his efforts, one of the secret recordings, known as the "smoking gun" tape, was released on August 5, 1974, and revealed that Nixon authorized hush money to Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt, and also revealed that Nixon ordered the CIA to tell the FBI to stop investigating certain topics because of "the Bay of Pigs thing." In light of his loss of political support and the near certainty of both his impeachment by the House of Representatives and his probable conviction by the Senate, he resigned on August 9, 1974, after addressing the nation on television the previous evening. listen (help·info) He never admitted to criminal wrongdoing, although he later conceded errors of judgment.
On September 8, 1974, a blanket pardon from President Ford, who served as Nixon's second Vice President, ended any possibility of indictment. The pardon was highly controversial and Nixon's critics claimed that the blanket pardon was quid pro quo for his resignation. No evidence of this "corrupt bargain" has ever been proven, and many modern historians dismiss any claims of overt collusion between the two men concerning the pardon. The pardon of Richard Nixon hurt Ford politically, and it was one of the many reasons cited for Ford's defeat in the election of 1976.[citation needed] The Democratic win in the 1974 mid-term elections provided a governing House majority that continued for two more decades.
Later years
Then-President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan at the White House with former President Nixon, 1988
In 1976, Nixon was disbarred by the State of New York,[36] and soon resigned his other law licenses.
In his later years Nixon worked hard to rehabilitate his public image. He gained great respect as an elder statesman in the area of foreign affairs, being consulted by both Democratic and Republican successors to the presidency. He made many foreign visits in his post-presidential years, including his final one, to Russia in March 1994 just one month before his death.
Nixon continued to author books after his departure from politics, writing ten, including his most-recent memoirs.
Presidential Library and Museum
Official White House portrait of Richard Nixon
Main article: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California opened as a private institution on July 19, 1990, with President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon in attendance, as well as former Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, as well as the current President at the time George H.W. Bush, and their First Ladies: Betty, Nancy, and Barbara.[37] From the time of its original dedication until July 11, 2007, the property was owned and operated by a private foundation and was not part of NARA's Presidential Libraries system. In January 2004, Congress passed legislation that provided for the establishment of a federally operated Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. In March 2005, the Archivist of the United States and the Reverend John H. Taylor, Executive Director of the privately run Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation, exchanged letters on the requirements that will allow the Nixon Library and Birthplace to become the twelfth federally funded Presidential Library operated and staffed by NARA. On October 16, 2006, Dr. Timothy Naftali began his tenure as director of the Materials Project; he assumed the directorship of the newly renamed Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum on July 11, 2007 when the institution was officially welcomed into the federal presidential library system.
Pat Nixon's death
First Lady Pat Nixon died June 22, 1993 of health problems, including two strokes and lung cancer. Her funeral services were held on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California during the week until her burial on June 26. Richard Nixon was in deep sadness the entire time, but was comforted by his family as well as former presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, and their First Ladies, Betty and Nancy, respectively.
Death and funeral
President Nixon's funeral on April 27, 1994 was attended by then incumbent US President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, accompanied by former US presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, with Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush respectively
Nixon suffered a severe stroke at 5:45 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 18, 1994, while preparing to eat dinner in his Park Ridge, New Jersey home. It was determined that a blood clot resulting from his heart condition had formed in his upper heart, then broke off and traveled to his brain. He was rushed by ambulance to New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, initially alert, but unable to speak or to move his right arm or leg. His vision was reportedly also impaired, but he was able to greet his private doctor and daughters on separate occasions with strong squeezes from his left hand and his renowned thumbs-up salute.[38] Nixon was reportedly also visited by longtime friend Reverend Billy Graham and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani the day after his stroke.
Doctors initially claimed Nixon's stroke was minor, but the damage to the brain caused swelling (cerebral edema). Less than 24 hours after his arrival at the hospital, Nixon's level of consciousness began falling sharply, and on Thursday, April 21, 1994, he slipped into a deep coma. Nixon's living will stipulated that he was not to be placed on a ventilator to sustain his life. On Friday, April 22, 1994, he died at 9:08 p.m., with his daughters at his bedside; he was 81.
The graves of President and Mrs. Nixon
Nixon's funeral took place on April 27, 1994, the first for an American President since that of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973, which was presided over by Nixon during his presidency. Speakers at the service, held at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace (now Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum), included then-President Bill Clinton, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, California Governor Pete Wilson, and the Reverend Billy Graham. Also in attendance were former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and their respective first ladies. Nixon was buried beside his wife, Pat (also 81 when she died ten months earlier, on June 22, 1993, of lung cancer), on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. He was survived by his two daughters, Tricia and Julie, and four grandchildren. The funeral was not a state funeral, therefore his body did not lie in state.
Legacy
Presidential scholars, both liberal and conservative, generally agree that Nixon presents a special problem when seeking to evaluate and determine his presidential ranking because his foreign policy and domestic policy successes stand in dramatic contradiction to the corrupt elements in his administration. Political scientist Walter Dean Burnham noted the "dichotomous or schizoid profiles. On some very important dimensions both Wilson and L.B. Johnson were outright failures in my view; while on others they rank very high indeed. Similarly with Nixon." Historian Alan Brinkley said: "There are presidents who could be considered both failures and great or near great (for example, Wilson, Johnson, Nixon)." James MacGregor Burns observed of Nixon, "How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic President, so brilliant and so morally lacking?"[39] Even George McGovern, eleven years after Nixon defeated him for the presidency, commented: "President Nixon probably had a more practical approach to the two superpowers, China and the Soviet Union, than any other president since World War II. ... I think, with the exception of his inexcusable continuation of the war in Vietnam, Nixon really will get high marks in history."[40]
Public perception
This section needs additional citations for verification.Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)
Nixon meets Elvis Presley in December 1970
Nixon's career was frequently dogged by his personality, and the public perception of it. Editorial cartoonists such as Herblock and comedians had fun exaggerating Nixon's appearance and mannerisms, to the point where the line between the human and the caricature version of him became increasingly blurred. He was often portrayed as a sullen loner, with unshaven jowls, slumped shoulders, and a furrowed, sweaty brow. He was also characterized as the epitome of a "square" and the personification of unpleasant adult authority.
Nixon tried to shed these perceptions by staging photo-ops with young people and even cameo appearances on popular TV shows such as Laugh-In and Hee Haw (before he was President). He also frequently brandished the two-finger V sign (alternately viewed as the "Victory sign" or "peace sign") using both hands, an act that became one of his best-known trademarks. Due to his uptight image, many Americans were shocked to hear that the President had a much gruffer, aggressive side, revealed by the sheer amount of swearing and vicious comments seen on the transcripts of the president's White House tapes. This did not help the public perception and fed the comedians even more. Nixon's sense of being persecuted by his "enemies," his grandiose belief in his own moral and political excellence, and his willingness to use power ruthlessly to achieve political goals led some experts to describe him as having a narcissistic and paranoid personality.[41] During the Watergate scandal, Nixon's approval rating had fallen to 23%.[42]
References
Further information: Richard Nixon Bibliography
Notes
^ Steel, Ronald (April 26, 1987) "I Had to Win": Review of 'Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962,' by Stephen E. Ambrose." New York Times Knowledge Network.
^ Nixon, Richard (1978) The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, p. 15
^ Hove, Duane T. American Warriors: Five Presidents in the Pacific Theater of WWII, Burd Street Press, 2003 ISBN 1-57249-307-0; summary accessed at [1] August 2, 2006
^ "Diplomat in High Heels: Thelma Ryan Nixon", The New York Times, 28 July 1959, page 11
^ Eisenhower, Dwight D. The White House Years: Waging Peace 1956-1961, Doubleday and Co., 1965, cf. pp.5-8
^ Kennedy-Nixon Presidential Debates, 1960 — Erika Tyner Allen, Museum of Broadcast Communications, accessed April 4, 2006
^ Foner, Eric (2006). Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 843. ISBN 0-3939-2784-9.
^ William A. De Gregorio, "The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents" (2005) 6th edition, Barricade Books
^ Morrow, L. "Naysayer to the nattering nabobs." Time Sep. 30, 1996
^ "Real peace", Little Brown & Co (T) (January 1984), ISBN-10: 0316611492, ISBN-13: 978-0316611497, 107 pages
^ Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History V2. W.W. Norton & Company. New York
^ Victor S. Kaufman; Confronting Communism: U.S. and British Policies toward China (2001), 228–31; Anthony Kubek, "The 'Opening' of China: President Nixon's 1972 Journey." American Asian Review 1992 10(4): 1–22. ISSN 0737-6650; Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, "Taiwan Expendable? Nixon and Kissinger Go to China," Journal of American History (2005) 92(1): 109–135. ISSN 0021-8723
^ John Lewis Gaddis, Strategies of Containment (1982), pp. 294 and 299; Ang Cheng Guan, Ending the Vietnam War: The Vietnamese Communists' Perspective (2003), pp. 61, 69 and 77–79; Qiang Zhai China and the Vietnam Wars, p. 136
^ Nixon, No More Vietnams (1987), pp. 105–106.
^ NSA archives on South Asia crisis
^ Harold H. Saunders, “Memorandum of Conversation: Kenneth Keating, Henry A. Kissinger and Harold H. Saunders,” June 3, 1971, The National Security Archive
^ Detente and Confrontation: American-Soviet Relations from Nixon to Reagan, — Raymond L Garthodd, p 298
^ The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971 — Sajit Gandhi, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 79, December 16, 2002
^ Thornton, The Nixon-Kissinger Years: Reshaping American’s Foreign Policy, pp.113–115
^ Sharma, Dhirendra (May 1991). "[[2] India's lopsided science]". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist 47 (4): 32–36. http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=may91sharma
^ Nixon's dislike of 'witch' Indira — BBC News.
^ Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli, The United States and Pakistan: the Evolution of an Influence Relationship, pp.49
^ Kotlowski (2001) p. 8
^ Kotlowski (2001) p. 37
^ The American Presidency Project archives
^ a b Richard Nixon, Address on the State of the Union Delivered Before a Joint Session of the Congress., Jan 30, 1974, hosted at "The American Presidency Project", UCSB
^ David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler. "I Am Not a Health Reform", The New York Times, December 15, 2007.
^ Hall, K. G. (28 November 2007). Democrats' health plans echo Nixon's failed GOP proposal. Retrieved on 2007-11-28 from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/22163.html.
^ CNN transcript
^ Dean, John. Blind Ambition, Simon and Shuster, New York, 1976. ISBN 978-0671224387.
^ President Nixon's Troublesome Tax Returns The Tax History Project, April 11, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
A quote from this reference:"Nixon's greatest concern with the IRS audit and the JCT investigation was that fraud might be charged, thereby imposing a civil fraud penalty of 50 percent of the tax deficiency, increasing his chances for impeachment. Amazingly, fraud was not mentioned either by the IRS or by the committee report. However, the House Judiciary Committee, which was considering the impeachment of Nixon, stated that it might investigate the possibility of tax fraud. By agreeing to pay $465,000, Nixon's wealth was reduced to half of the previous $988,522."
^ Stans, Maurice H. The Terrors of Justice: The Untold Side of Watergate (W. Clement Stone, PMA Communications, Inc. Northbrook, IL, U.S.A.) 1978. ISBN 978-0895268280
^ William Shawcross, Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia (New York: Simon and Schuster). 1979. ISBN 978-0671230708
^ Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, The Final Days (London: Simon and Schuster) 1976 (repr. 2006). ISBN 978-1-4165-2236-2
^ "This Will Be Forgotten" June 20, 1972 White House conversation of Richard Nixon and Charles Colson. Presidential Recordings Program, University of Virginia Miller Center of Public Affairs. Retrieved on 2000-09-16.
^ "Richard M. Nixon: Before and After Watergate", The History Channel
^ The Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation: Museum store
^ "[3]", A daughters reflection on Fathers Day: "he squeezed my hand one last time, let go, and gave me a jaunty thumbs-up salute.".
^ * Skidmore, Max J. "Ranking and Evaluating Presidents: The Case of Theodore Roosevelt" White House Studies. Volume: 1. Issue: 4. 2001. pp. 495+.
^ William Greider, The McGovern factor, Rolling Stone, 10 Nov. 1983, p.13.
^ Nixon: A Psychobiography — Vamik D. Volkan, Norman Itzkowitz, and Andrew W. Dod, book review by Michael A. Ingall, accessed April 4, 2006
^ Presidential Job Approval for Richard Nixon. The American Presidency Project. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
External links
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whitehousetapes.org: The Nixon Tapes
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Interactive Site on Nixon's Visit to China
of the day Nixon had his fatal stroke in April 1994
Nixon's will
Richard Nixon at the Internet Movie Database
Richard Nixon at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Works by Richard Nixon at Project Gutenberg
United States House of Representatives
Preceded byJerry Voorhis
Member from California's 12th congressional district1947 – 1950
Succeeded byPatrick J. Hillings
United States Senate
Preceded bySheridan Downey
Senator from California (Class 3)1950 – 1953Served alongside: William F. Knowland
Succeeded byThomas Kuchel
Political offices
Preceded byAlben W. Barkley
Vice President of the United StatesJanuary 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961
Succeeded byLyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byLyndon B. Johnson
President of the United StatesJanuary 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974
Succeeded byGerald Ford
Party political offices
Preceded byEarl Warren
Republican Party vice presidential candidate1952, 1956
Succeeded byHenry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Preceded byDwight D. Eisenhower
Republican Party presidential candidate1960
Succeeded byBarry Goldwater
Preceded byWilliam F. Knowland
Republican Party nominee for Governor of California1962
Succeeded byRonald Reagan
Preceded byBarry Goldwater
Republican Party presidential candidate1968, 1972
Succeeded byGerald Ford
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[show]
v • d • eUnited States presidential election, 1968
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LeMay
[show]
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This article needs additional citations for verification.Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)
Persondata
NAME
Nixon, Richard Milhous
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Richard Nixon
SHORT DESCRIPTION
American politician, 37th President of the United States (1969–1974)
DATE OF BIRTH
9 January 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH
Yorba Linda, California, United States
DATE OF DEATH
22 April 1994
PLACE OF DEATH
New York City, New York, United States
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon"
Categories: 1913 births 1994 deaths American anti-communists American lawyers American military personnel of World War II American people of the Vietnam War American Quakers Americans of Scots-Irish descent California Republicans Conservatives Deaths by stroke Disbarred American lawyers Duke University alumni History of the United States (1964–1980) Members of the United States House of Representatives from California Descendants of Stephen Bachiler People from Orange County, California Presidents of the United States Recipients of American presidential pardons Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees United States presidential candidates, 1960 United States presidential candidates, 1968 United States presidential candidates, 1972 Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees United States vice-presidential candidates, 1956 Richard Nixon Time magazine Persons of the Year United States Senators from California Vice Presidents of the United States Watergate figures Whittier College people Nishan-e-Pakistan
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Richard Nixon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Nixon" redirects here. For other uses, see Nixon (disambiguation).
Richard Milhous Nixon
37th President of the United States
In officeJanuary 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974
Vice President
Spiro T. Agnew (1969–1973)vacant (Oct.–Dec. 1973)Gerald Ford (1973–1974)
Preceded by
Lyndon B. Johnson
Succeeded by
Gerald Ford
Republican candidate forPresident of the United States
Election dateNovember 8, 1960
Running mate
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Opponent(s)
John F. Kennedy (D)
Incumbent
Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
Preceded by
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Succeeded by
Barry Goldwater
36th Vice President of the United States
In officeJanuary 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961
President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by
Alben W. Barkley
Succeeded by
Lyndon B. Johnson
United States Senatorfrom California
Preceded by
Sheridan Downey
Succeeded by
Thomas Kuchel
Member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 12th congressional district
In officeJanuary 2, 1947 – December 1, 1950
Preceded by
Jerry Voorhis
Succeeded by
Patrick J. Hillings
Born
January 9, 1913(1913-01-09)Yorba Linda, California
Died
April 22, 1994 (aged 81)New York City
Political party
Republican
Spouse
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan
Alma mater
Whittier CollegeDuke University School of Law
Occupation
Lawyer
Religion
Quaker
Signature
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913–April 22, 1994) was the thirty-seventh President of the United States (1969–1974) and the only American president to resign the office.
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California and developed an interest in music. In the mid-1930s, he passed the bar exam and practiced law with a family friend. Amidst the outbreak of war in the early 1940s, he joined the United States Navy and served as a lieutenant commander in the Pacific during World War II. He was elected to Congress following his military service, specifically the House of Representatives, first representing California's 12th Congressional district, and later the entire state as Senator. He was chosen by party nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower to be Vice President in 1952, a position he began serving in the following year, until 1961. After an unsuccessful presidential run in 1960 and an unsuccessful run for Governor of California in 1962, Nixon was elected to the presidency in 1968, and reelected four years later.
Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Nixon successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending the longest war in American history. Domestically, his administration faced resistance to the Vietnam War. In the face of likely impeachment by the United States House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate for the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a controversial pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. Nixon is the only person to be elected twice to the offices of the presidency and the vice presidency.
Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81.
Contents[hide]
1 Early life
1.1 Marriage and children
2 House and Senate: 1946–1952
3 Vice Presidency
4 1960 presidential election
5 Run for California Governorship
6 1968 presidential election
7 Presidency (1969 – 1974)
7.1 Foreign policy
7.1.1 Vietnam War
7.1.2 China and the Soviet Union
7.1.3 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
7.1.4 Other wars and crises
7.2 Domestic policy
7.2.1 School integration
7.2.2 U.S. space program
7.2.3 1972 Landslide re-election
7.3 Major initiatives
7.3.1 Health insurance
7.4 Views on media
7.5 Administration and Cabinet
7.6 Supreme Court appointments
7.7 Watergate
8 Later years
8.1 Presidential Library and Museum
8.2 Pat Nixon's death
9 Death and funeral
10 Legacy
11 Public perception
12 References
13 Notes
14 External links
//
Early life
Richard Milhous Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California to Francis A. Nixon and Hannah Milhous. His mother was a Quaker, and his upbringing is said to have been marked by conservative Quaker observances of the time such as refraining from drinking, dancing and swearing. His father converted from Methodist to Quaker after his marriage. During the American Civil War, Nixon's great-grandfather George Nixon III was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg, while serving in the 73rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Richard Nixon had four brothers: Harold Nixon (1909–1933), Donald Nixon (1914–1987), Arthur Nixon (1918–1925), and Edward Nixon (born 1930).
The infant Richard stands outside the Nixons' Yorba Linda Home (early 1914)
From 1926–1928, Nixon attended Fullerton High School in Fullerton, California, and later graduated second in his class from Whittier High School in Whittier, California in 1930. Due to insufficient financial means for attendance, Nixon declined a scholarship to Harvard University[1] and to Yale University [2]. Instead, Nixon chose to enroll at Whittier College, a local Quaker school, where he co-founded a fraternity called The Orthogonian Society. Nixon was a formidable debater, a stand out in collegiate drama productions, and was elected student-body president. While at Whittier, he taught Sunday school at East Whittier Friends Church, where he remained a member all his life. A lifelong American football fan, Nixon practiced with the team assiduously, but spent most of his time on the bench. In 1934, he graduated second in his class from Whittier, and went on to Duke University School of Law, where he received a full scholarship and graduated third in his class.
Lieutenant Commander Richard Nixon of the United States Navy, 1945
In 1937, Nixon returned to California, was admitted to the bar, and began working in the law office of a family friend in a nearby small town. The work was mostly routine, and Nixon generally found it to be dull. He later wrote that family law cases caused him particular discomfort, since his reticent Quaker upbringing was severely at odds with discussing intimate marital details with strangers.
During World War II, Nixon served as a reserve officer in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. He received training at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island and Ottumwa, Iowa, before serving in the supply corps on several islands in the South Pacific, commanding cargo handling units in the SCAT.[3] There he was known as "Nick" and for his prowess in poker, banking a large sum that helped finance his first campaign for Congress.
Marriage and children
When Nixon was cast in a play at a local theater, he met high school teacher Thelma "Pat" Ryan. On the first night they went out, Nixon asked Pat to marry him as a joke. "I thought he was nuts or something," she recalled.[4] They eventually married on June 21, 1940. The Nixons had two daughters: Tricia, born in 1946, and Julie, born in 1948.
House and Senate: 1946–1952
The 1947 HUAC hearings in session. On the right, committee chairman J. Parnell Thomas administers the oath; 34-year-old congressman Richard Nixon is seated immediately to Thomas's left.
Nixon while serving in Congress
The Nixon family in September 1952; pictured are Richard, Tricia, Julie, and Pat
Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon at a campaign stop for the presidential election of 1952
In 1946 Nixon defeated Democratic incumbent Jerry Voorhis in the election to represent southern California's 12th Congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. Nixon's campaign alleged that the Congress of Industrial Organizations' support for Voorhis showed that Voorhis was collaborating with communist-controlled labor unions.
Nixon first gained national attention in 1948 when his dogged investigation on the House Un-American Activities Committee ("HUAC") broke the impasse of the Alger Hiss spy case. Nixon believed Whittaker Chambers's allegations that Hiss, a high State Department official, was a Soviet spy. Nixon discovered Chambers saved microfilm reproductions of incriminating documents by hiding the film in a pumpkin (these became known as the "Pumpkin Papers"). These documents were alleged both to be accessible only by Hiss, and to have been typed on Hiss's personal typewriter. Hiss was convicted of perjury in 1950 for statements he made to the HUAC. The discovery that Hiss, who had been an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, could have been a Soviet spy thrust Nixon into the public eye and made him a hero to many of Roosevelt's enemies, and an enemy to many of Roosevelt's supporters. In reality, his support for internationalism put him closer to the center of the Republican party.
In the 1950 mid-term elections, Nixon defeated Democratic Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas to win a seat in the United States Senate. Nixon called Gahagan "the Pink Lady", accusing her of being a fellow traveler with Communist sympathies, and said she was "pink right down to her underwear." Gahagan, for her part, bestowed upon Nixon one of the most enduring nicknames in American politics: "Tricky Dick".
Vice Presidency
Main article: Eisenhower Administration
Vice President Richard M. Nixon's bust from the Senate collection
When Nixon was thirty nine years old, he was elected Vice President to Dwight Eisenhower's ticket in 1952. During the campaign in September 1952, the New York Post and other publications reported Nixon kept a personal "slush fund." Democrats and leading Republicans pressured Eisenhower to remove Nixon from the ticket. Nixon convinced Eisenhower to let him go on TV on September 23 to defend himself in a famous speech. He provided an independent third-party review of the fund's accounting along with a personal summary of his finances, which he cited as exonerating him from wrongdoing, and he noted the Democratic Presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson, had a similar fund. This speech, however, became better known for its rhetoric, such as when he stated his wife Pat did not wear mink, but rather "a respectable Republican cloth coat," and although he had been given an American Cocker Spaniel named "Checkers" in addition to his other campaign contributions, he was not going to give it back because his daughters loved him. As a result, this speech became known as the "Checkers speech." At the end of the broadcast, Nixon intended to appeal to viewers to write to the Republican National Committee to voice their support or opposition. Although the broadcast was cut off before he could make this appeal, his speech resulted in a flood of support, prompting Eisenhower to keep Nixon on the ticket.
Nixon greatly expanded the office of Vice President. Although he had little formal power, he had the attention of the media and the Republican Party. He demonstrated the office could be a springboard to the White House as it had not been since the 19th century[5]. Most Vice Presidents since have followed his lead and sought the presidency. Nixon was the first Vice President to step in temporarily to run the government. He did so three times when Eisenhower was ill: on the occasions of Eisenhower's heart attack on September 24, 1955; his ileitis in June 1956; and his stroke on November 25, 1957. Despite this, Nixon was forced to announce his own inclusion on the 1956 Eisenhower re-election campaign, which highlighted the lack of rapport he and Eisenhower shared. At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow on July 24, 1959, he and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had the impromptu "Kitchen Debate" about the merits of capitalism versus communism.
1960 presidential election
Main article: United States presidential election, 1960
In 1960, Nixon ran for President against John F. Kennedy in a race that remained close all year.[6] Nixon campaigned on his experience, but Kennedy called for new blood and claimed the Eisenhower-Nixon administration allowed the Soviet Union to overtake the U.S. in offensive missiles (the "missile gap"). Kennedy made much of the stagnant American economy of 1960, telling voters it was time to "get the country moving again." Nixon's frosty relationship with Eisenhower hurt him. When asked about major policy decisions Nixon helped shape, the President responded: "Give me a week and I might think of one." In the first of four televised debates, Nixon was recovering from illness and was unshaven, in contrast to the young Kennedy. The performance dispelled many people's worries that Senator Kennedy was too inexperienced. Nixon's performance in the debate was perceived to be mediocre in the visual medium of television, though many people listening on the radio thought Nixon won.[7]
Nixon lost the 1960 election narrowly. It is often argued by American historians that Nixon lost due to the invention of the televised debate. There were charges of vote fraud in Texas and Illinois, and Nixon supporters unsuccessfully challenged in both states as well as nine others. The Kennedy camp successfully challenged Nixon's victory in Hawaii; after all the court battles and recounts were done, Kennedy had a greater number of electoral votes than he held after Election Day.
Nixon wrote Six Crises in 1962, a book dealing with his political involvement as a congressman, senator and as Vice-President. The book used six different crises Nixon had experienced throughout his political career to illustrate his political memoirs. It was not supposed to be an academic work on the subject of crises, rather a method of depicting his political biography in a personal manner. The work won praise from many policy experts and critics. Ironically, as Margaret MacMillan would discuss in her book Nixon in China (2006), Six Crises found a favorable critic in Mao Zedong, who referred to the book when in preparation for Nixon's visit in 1972.
Run for California Governorship
In 1962, against the advice of many friends and supporters, Nixon chose to challenge the popular Pat Brown for Governor of California. He handily won the Republican nomination over the more conservative choice,[citation needed] state legislator Joseph C. Shell. Nixon polled 1,285,151 votes (65.4 percent) in the primary to Shell's 656,542 (33.4 percent). Nixon had never before shown any interest in the office and biographers still disagree on his precise motive in seeking it. In all likelihood, he was looking for a reason not to run for president again in 1964. With John F. Kennedy's popularity strong, it was likely to be a losing effort.[citation needed] Therefore, if Nixon won in 1962, he would have the excuse that he was too busy running the state. If he lost, he could plead a desire not to campaign again so soon. In either case, Brown won handily. Nixon's loss was widely believed to be the end of his career.
Years of campaigning and losing had worn Nixon down. In an impromptu concession speech the morning after the election, Nixon famously blamed the media for favoring his opponent. At a postelection press conference, a bitter Nixon lashed out at reporters who, he said "are so delighted that I have lost." He added:
“
For 16 years, ever since the Hiss case, you've had a lot of—a lot of fun—that you've had an opportunity to attack me and I think I've given as good as I've taken.....But as I leave you I want you to know—just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.[8]
”
—Richard Nixon 1962
However, one year later, John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The events that defined the tumultuous 1960s were beginning, and before the decade closed, a "New Nixon," one who was "tanned, rested and ready." Nixon moved to New York City, where he became a senior partner in the leading law firm Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander. During the 1966 Congressional elections, he stumped the country in support of Republican candidates, rebuilding his base in the party.
1968 presidential election
Main article: United States presidential election, 1968
Nixon campaigns in Pennsylvania, 1968
In the presidential primary election of 1968, he won the nomination. Nixon's success might be attributed to Robert F. Kennedy's assassination after he won the California Democratic primary in June 1968.[citation needed] Nixon appealed to what he called the "Silent Majority" of socially conservative Americans who disliked the hippie counterculture and the anti-war demonstrators.
Nixon's running mate, Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew, became an increasingly vocal critic of these groups, solidifying Nixon's position with the right.[9] Nixon promised peace with honor, and, though never claiming to be able to win the war, Nixon did say "new leadership will end the war and win the peace in the Pacific." He did not explain his plans to end the war, causing Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey to allege he must have some "secret plan." Nixon didn't invent the phrase, but because he did not disavow the term, it soon became part of the campaign. In his memoirs, Nixon wrote he had no plan. In a three-way race between Nixon, Humphrey, and independent candidate George Wallace, Nixon defeated Humphrey by less than 1% of the popular vote to become the 37th President of the United States.
Presidency (1969 – 1974)
Foreign policy
Nixon is sworn in as the 37th President on January 20, 1969, with the new First Lady, Pat, holding the family Bibles.
In his book Real Peace in 1983 Nixon wrote that: "Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war".[10] Nixon was the first president to visit all fifty states, as well as the first to visit the Soviet Union (and later the Peoples Republic of China). While in the Soviet Union, he engaged in intense negotiations with his Soviet counterpart, Leonid Brezhnev. Out of this "summit" meeting came agreements for increased trade and two landmark arms control treaties. SALT (named for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks underway since 1969) froze each country's arsenal of intercontinental missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty banned the development of systems designed to intercept incoming missiles, so that neither side would be tempted to attack the other without fearing devastating retaliation. Nixon and Brezhnev proclaimed a new era of "peaceful coexistence," in which "détente" (cooperation) would replace the hostility of the Cold War.[11]
Vietnam War
Main articles: Vietnam War and The United States and the Vietnam War
President Nixon greets released POW Lt. Commander John McCain, future U.S. Senator, upon his return from years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, 1973
Once in office, he proposed the Nixon Doctrine, a strategy of replacing American troops with the Vietnamese troops, also called "Vietnamization." In July 1969, he visited South Vietnam, and met with President Nguyen Van Thieu and with U.S. military commanders. American involvement in the war declined steadily until all American troops were gone in 1973. Although the South Vietnamese were well supplied with modern arms, their fighting capability was limited by inadequate funding, low morale, and corruption. The lack of funding was primarily because of large funding cutbacks by the U.S. Congress. Nixon was widely praised in the United States for having delivered 'peace with honor', and ended American involvement in the war in Vietnam. However, a part of his strategy was the resumption of the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam should they violate the Peace agreement, which Nixon was confident they would. Watergate, however, made it impossible to carry this out. Nixon, along with his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger also sought a 'decent interval' solution to the problem of South Vietnam, so that the country would survive for long enough for him not to be personally blamed for its ultimate collapse.
Nixon approved secret bombing campaigns in Cambodia in March 1969 (code-named Operation Menu) to destroy what was believed to be the headquarters of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam, and later escalated the conflict with secretly bombing Laos before Congress cut the funding for the conflict in Vietnam. Another goal of the bombings was to interdict the Ho Chi Minh trail that passed through Laos and Cambodia. In approving the bombings, Nixon realized he would be extending an unpopular war as well as breaching Cambodia's stated neutrality. In a televised speech on April 30, 1970, Nixon announced the incursion of U.S. troops into Cambodia to disrupt so-called North Vietnamese sanctuaries. The invasion of Cambodia, the subsequent killing, on 4 May, of four students during a protest at Kent State University in Ohio and Nixon's perceived callous reaction to the violence, provoked a national student strike that involved more than four million students and 450 universities, colleges and high schools.
During deliberations over Nixon's impeachment, his unorthodox use of executive powers in ordering the bombings was considered as an article of impeachment, but the charge was dropped as not a violation of constitutional powers.
China and the Soviet Union
Main article: 1972 Nixon visit to China
President Nixon greets Chinese Party Chairman Mao Zedong (left) in a historic visit to the People's Republic of China, 1972
President Nixon accompanies Chinese political leader, Director of the Cultural Revolution and head of the Gang of Four Jiang Qing to watch the modern revolutionary ballet Red Detachment of Women. (Beijing, 1972)
Relations between the Western powers and Eastern Bloc changed dramatically in the early 1970s. In 1960, the People's Republic of China publicly split from its main ally, the Soviet Union, in the Sino-Soviet Split. As tension along the border between the two communist nations reached its peak in 1969 and 1970, Nixon decided to use their conflict to shift the balance of power towards the West in the Cold War. In what later would be known as the "China Card", the Nixon administration improved relations with China in order to gain a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, but also gave Moscow a chance to improve relations so as not to be squeezed by a U.S.-China détente. In 1971, a move was made to improve relations when China invited an American table tennis team to China; hence the term "Ping Pong Diplomacy". Nixon sent Henry Kissinger on a secret mission to China in July 1971, after which a stunned world was told that Nixon intended to visit Communist China in 1972. As a result, many countries that had previously opposed the People's Republic's entry into the United Nations changed their stance. Despite frantic lobbying by the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, George H.W. Bush, in October 1971 the U. N. General Assembly voted to give to the Chinese seat, hitherto held by America's ally, the Republic of China, to the People's Republic and expel the Republic of China from the U. N. In February 1972 Nixon grabbed the world's attention by himself going to China to have direct talks with Mao. During this visit he privately stated that he believed “There is one China, and Taiwan is a part of China.”[12] Fearing the possibility of a Sino-American alliance, the Soviet Union yielded to American pressure for détente.
Nixon used the improving international environment to address the topic of nuclear peace. The first Strategic Arms Limitation Talks were finally concluded the same year with the SALT I treaty. To win American friendship both China and the Soviet Union cut back on their diplomatic support for North Vietnam and advised Hanoi to come to terms. They did not, however, cut back their military aid to North Vietnam — in fact Chinese military aid to North Vietnam increased during this period.[13] Nixon later explained his strategy:
“
I had long believed that an indispensable element of any successful peace initiative in Vietnam was to enlist, if possible, the help of the Soviets and the Chinese. Though rapprochement with China and détente with the Soviet Union were ends in themselves, I also considered them possible means to hasten the end of the war. At worst, Hanoi was bound to feel less confident if Washington was dealing with Moscow and Beijing. At best, if the two major Communist powers decided that they had bigger fish to fry, Hanoi would be pressured into negotiating a settlement we could accept.[14]
”
—Richard Nixon
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Nixon with Indian Premier Indira Gandhi, commander of Indian forces in the Indo-Pakistan War, in 1971.
The Nixon administration backed Pakistani President Yahya Khan during the 1971 crisis in East Pakistan
Nixon strongly supported General Yahya Khan of Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 despite widespread human rights violations against the Bengalis, particularly Hindus, by the Pakistan Army. Though Nixon claimed that his objective was to prevent a war, and safeguard Pakistan's interests (including the issue of refugees), in reality the U.S. President was fearful of an Indian invasion of West Pakistan that would lead to Indian domination of the sub-continent and strengthen the position of the Soviet Union, which had recently signed a Treaty of Friendship with India. He also sought to demonstrate his reliability as a partner to the People's Republic of China, with whom he had been negotiating a rapprochement, and where he planned to visit just a few months later. President Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger downplayed reports of Pakistani genocide in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and risked a confrontation with Moscow to look tough.[15] Many, including Kissinger,[16] have mentioned that the foreign policy "tilt" towards Pakistan had more to do with Nixon's personal like for the dictator and the support to Pakistan was influenced by sentimental considerations and a long standing anti-Indian bias.[17] The Nixon administration was also responsible for illegally providing military supplies to the Pakistani military despite Congressional objections,[18] and against American public opinion, which was concerned with the atrocities against East Pakistanis.[19] His decision to help Pakistan in a war at any cost prompted him to send the nuclear-equipped USS Enterprise to the Indian Ocean to try to threaten the Indian military. Though it did little to turn the tide of war, it has been viewed as the trigger for India's subsequent nuclear program.[20] During the crisis Nixon was vocal in abusing the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi as an "old witch" in private conversations with Henry Kissinger, who is also recorded as making derogatory comments against Indians.[21] Ultimately Nixon's foreign policy initiatives in this matter largely failed as his attempt at a show of strength to impress China was at the cost of dismembering their mutual ally, Pakistan, who felt that once again United States had fallen short as an ally in failing to prevent Bangladeshi independence.[22]
Other wars and crises
Nixon encouraged Augusto Pinochet's military overthrow of the elected socialist government of Chile in 1973.
Israel, a powerful American ally in the Middle East, was supported by the Nixon administration during the Yom Kippur War. When an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria—allies to the Soviets—attacked in October 1973 Israel suffered initial losses and pressed European powers for help, but (with the notable exception of the Netherlands) the Europeans responded with inaction. Not so with Nixon, who, cutting through inter-departmental squabbles and bureaucracy, initiated an air lift of American arms. By the time the U.S. and the Soviet Union negotiated a truce, Israel had penetrated deep into enemy territory. A long term effect was the movement of Egypt away from the Soviets toward the U.S. But the victory for its ally and the support provided to them by the U.S. came at the cost of the 1973 oil crisis.
President Hafez al-Assad of Syria greets President Nixon on his arrival at Damascus airport in 1974
On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned amidst charges of bribery, tax evasion and money laundering. Nixon chose Representative Gerald Ford (and Republican Minority Leader of the House of Representativees) to replace Agnew.
Domestic policy
Although often viewed as a conservative by his contemporaries, Nixon's domestic policies often appear centrist, or even liberal, to later observers. As President, Nixon imposed wage and price controls, indexed Social Security for inflation, and created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The number of pages added to the Federal Register each year doubled under Nixon. He eradicated the last remnants of the gold standard, created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), promoted the Legacy of parks program and implemented the Philadelphia Plan, the first significant federal affirmative action program, and dramatically increased spending on federal employees's salaries. In the wake of racial tensions that had sometimes erupted into urban violence before he assumed the Presidency, Nixon's policy on race relations and civil rights was perceived to be influenced by a doctrine commonly referred to as "benign neglect." As a party leader, Nixon helped build the Republican Party (GOP), but he ran his 1972 campaign separately from the party, which perhaps helped the GOP escape some of the damage from Watergate. The Nixon White House was the first to organize a daily press event and daily message for the media, a practice that all subsequent staffs have performed. Diaz_Ordaz_Nixon.gif Nixon is credited with creating the modern day Imperial Presidency, in which the presidency retains a high level of control over government policy and decisions. In the early 1970s, Nixon impounded billions of dollars in federal spending and expanded the power of the Office of Management and Budget. These encroachments on the power of Congress led to the passage of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
On January 2, 1974, Nixon signed a bill that lowered the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 miles per hour (90 km/h) in order to conserve gasoline during the 1973 energy crisis. This law remained in effect until 1995, though states had been allowed to raise the limit to 65 miles per hour in rural areas since 1987.
Committed to wide-ranging bureaucratic reforms, in a last-minute bid to save his presidency, Nixon signed a significant reform of the federal budgeting process and granted wide authority to Congress in shaping the final budget.
School integration
The Nixon years witnessed the first large-scale integration of public schools in the South, after the region had stalled in compliance with the 1954 Supreme Court's Brown ruling. Strategically, Nixon sought a middle way between the segregationist George C. Wallace and liberal Democrats, whose support of integration was alienating some Southern white Democrats. His plan has since been known as the Southern strategy. Nixon concentrated on the principle that the law must be color-blind. "I am convinced that while legal segregation is totally wrong, forced integration of housing or education is just as wrong."[23]
Though Nixon thought of appealing to southern whites by slowing school desegregation, he decided to enforce the law after the Supreme Court, in Alexander v. Holmes County (1969), prohibited further delays. Nixon's Cabinet committee on school desegregation, under the leadership of Labor Secretary George P. Shultz, quietly set up local biracial committees to assure smooth compliance without violence or political grandstanding. By fall of 1970, two million southern black children enrolled in newly created unitary fully integrated school districts. "In this sense, Nixon was the greatest school desegregator in American history," historian Dean Kotlowski concluded.[24]
Mobutu Sese Seko and Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, 1973.
U.S. space program
On July 20, 1969, Nixon addressed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin live via radio during their historic Apollo 11 moonwalk. Nixon also made humanity's longest distance phone call to Neil Armstrong on the moon. (All U.S. Project Apollo moon landings, and the attempted moon landing of Apollo 13, took place during Nixon's first term.) On January 5, 1972, Nixon approved the development of NASA's Space Shuttle program, a decision that profoundly influenced American efforts to explore and develop space for several decades thereafter.
Under the Nixon Administration, NASA's budget declined. NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine was drawing up ambitious plans for the establishment of a permanent base on the Moon by the end of the 1970s and the launch of a manned expedition to Mars as early as 1981. Nixon, however, rejected these ideas.
1972 Landslide re-election
Main article: United States presidential election, 1972
In 1972, Nixon was re-elected in one of the biggest landslide election victories in US political history, defeating Senator George McGovern and garnering over 60% of the popular vote. He carried 49 of the 50 states, losing only in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Major initiatives
During the Nixon Administration, the United States established many government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Supplemental Security Income program, and the Office of Minority Business Enterprise; the Post Office Department was abolished as a cabinet department and reorganized as a government-owned corporation: the U.S. Postal Service. Nixon proposed in 1971 to create four new government departments superseding the current structure: departments organized for the goal of efficient and effective public service as opposed the thematic bases of Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Agriculture, et al. Departments like State, Treasury, Defense and Justice would remain under this proposal.[25] Nixon also suspended the converting of the US dollar into gold, a central point of the Bretton Woods system, allowing its value to float in world markets.
In international affairs, President Nixon normalized diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, enacted détente, or the peaceful pause in the Cold War, with the Soviet Union (later abolished by President Ronald Reagan). He signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, following the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (also known as SALT I).
On April 3, 1974, Nixon announced he would pay $432,787.13 in back taxes plus interest after a Congressional committee reported that he had inadvertently underpaid his 1969 and 1972 taxes.
Health insurance
In his 1974 State of the Union address, Nixon called for comprehensive health insurance with the following remarks:
"Turning now to the rest of the agenda for 1974, the time is at hand this year to bring comprehensive, high quality health care within the reach of every American. I shall propose a sweeping new program that will assure comprehensive health insurance protection to millions of Americans who cannot now obtain it or afford it, with vastly improved protection against catastrophic illnesses. This will be a plan that maintains the high standards of quality in America's health care. And it will not require additional taxes."[26]
On February 6, 1974, he introduced the Comprehensive Health Insurance Act. Nixon's plan would have mandated employers to purchase health insurance for their employees, and in addition provided a federal health plan like Medicaid that any American could join by paying on a sliding scale based on income.[26][27]
The AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers lobbied to kill the plan, not because they were fundamentally opposed to universal health care, but because they hoped for an even better plan after the next election.[citation needed] With the collapse of the Nixon presidency, however, followed by his successor Ford's overarching concerns with the economy and government spending, the plan was put on the back burner and forgotten for a generation.[citation needed] Hillary Clinton proposed a very similar plan in 2007 while running for president.[28]
Views on media
Certain tapes show that Nixon saw widespread Jewish engagement in American media as somewhat of a problem for the country,[citation needed] saying "Newsweek is all run by Jews and dominated by them... does this mean all Jews are bad? No."[29]
Administration and Cabinet
The Nixon Cabinet
OFFICE
NAME
TERM
President
Richard Nixon
1969–1974
Vice President
Spiro Agnew
1969–1973
Gerald Ford
1973–1974
State
William P. Rogers
1969–1973
Henry Kissinger
1973–1974
Treasury
David M. Kennedy
1969–1971
John Connally
1971–1972
George Shultz
1972–1974
William Simon
1974
Defense
Melvin R. Laird
1969–1973
Elliot Richardson
1973
James Schlesinger
1973–1974
Justice
John N. Mitchell
1969–1972
Richard Kleindienst
1972–1973
Elliot Richardson
1973–1974
William B. Saxbe
1974
Postmaster General
Winton M. Blount
1969–1971 1
Interior
Walter Joseph Hickel
1969–1971
Rogers Morton
1971–1974
Agriculture
Clifford M. Hardin
1969–1971
Earl Butz
1971–1974
Commerce
Maurice Stans
1969–1972
Peter Peterson
1972–1973
Frederick B. Dent
1973–1974
Labor
George Shultz
1969–1970
James D. Hodgson
1970–1973
Peter J. Brennan
1973–1974
HEW
Robert Finch
1969–1970
Elliot Richardson
1970–1973
Caspar Weinberger
1973–1974
HUD
George Romney
1969–1973
James Thomas Lynn
1973–1974
Transportation
John A. Volpe
1969–1973
Claude Brinegar
1973–1974
1. Postmaster General removed from the Cabinet on July 1, 1971.Winton M. Blount was continued as Postmaster General until December 31, 1971.
Richard Nixon
The Nixon Administration comprised an impressive array of talent both in the cabinet and in the White House staff. Among the many people who came to Washington to serve in the administration were one future President (George H. W. Bush); two future Vice Presidents (Dick Cheney and Bush again); six future secretaries of state (Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, George P. Shultz, James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Colin Powell); five future secretaries of defense (James Schlesinger, Donald Rumsfeld, Casper Weinberger, Frank Carlucci and Cheney again); a future chairman of the joint chiefs of staff (Powell again), two future secretaries of the treasury (William Simon and Baker again); a future secretary of energy (Schlesinger again); and three future chiefs of staff (Rumsfeld, Cheney and Baker again). Indeed a member of the Nixon Administration has held a cabinet post or been a senior advisor within the subsequent six presidential administrations. That so many key figures of the Ford, Reagan, Bush (41) and Bush (43) Administrations first entered government service in the Nixon White House is arguably the most profound and long-lasting legacy of Richard Nixon.
Supreme Court appointments
Nixon appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
Warren E. Burger (Chief Justice) — 1969
Harry Andrew Blackmun — 1970
Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. — 1972
William Rehnquist — 1972
Watergate
Main article: Watergate scandal
Nixon's letter of resignation
The term Watergate has come to encompass an array of illegal and secret activities undertaken by Nixon or his aides during his administration. Some of these began as early as 1969, when Nixon and Kissinger tapped the phones of numerous journalists and administration officials in an effort to stop information leaks to the press. Other episodes of wrongdoing included the 1971 burglary of Dr. Lewis Fielding's office in search of the psychiatric records of Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press, Nixon's order to have the FBI investigate CBS News reporter Daniel Schorr after he reported critically on the administration, and talk by Nixon's aide G. Gordon Liddy about having the newspaper columnist Jack Anderson assassinated.
These activities did not come to light until several men were caught breaking into Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC on June 17, 1972.
The Fords escort the Nixons across the South Lawn of the White House to the waiting presidential helicopter before Gerald Ford takes the oath of office, August 9, 1974
The men were subsequently linked to the White House. This became one of a series of major scandals involving the Committee to Re-Elect the President (known as CRP, but referred to by his opponents as CREEP), including the White House enemies list and assorted "dirty tricks." The ensuing Watergate scandal exposed the corruption, illegality and deceit displayed by some of those within the Nixon Administration.[30]
Nixon himself downplayed the scandal as mere politics, but when his aides resigned in disgrace, Nixon's role in ordering an illegal cover-up came to light in the press, courts, and congressional investigations. Nixon owed back taxes,[31] had accepted illicit campaign contributions,[32] and had harassed opponents with executive agencies, wiretaps, and break-ins. In addition, he had ordered the secret bombing of Cambodia.[33] Unlike the tape recordings by earlier Presidents, his secret recordings of White House conversations were revealed and subpoenaed and showed details of his complicity in the cover-up. Nixon was named by the grand jury investigating Watergate as "an unindicted co-conspirator" in the Watergate scandal.
One piece of evidence, an audio tape of conversations held in the White House between the President and various aides on the 20 June 1972, features an unexplained 18½ minute gap,[34] which appears to be divided into two distinct portions (suggesting that the tape had been recorded over on two separate occasions). The first deleted section, of about five minutes, has been attributed to human error on the part of Rose Mary Woods, the President's personal secretary, who admitted accidentally wiping the section while transcribing the tape. No definitive explanation has been offered for the deletion of the second section, but contextual evidence suggests that Nixon and then-Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman discussed the Watergate problem in the conversation obliterated. The gap, while not conclusive proof of wrong-doing on the part of the President, cast doubt on Nixon's claim that he was unaware of the cover-up at this stage. Although not discovered until several years after he had left office, transcripts of an earlier June 20, 1972 conversation between Nixon and White House Special Counsel Charles Colson clearly show Nixon's early involvement in obstructing justice in the Watergate investigation.[35]
Nixon departing the White House aboard a H-3 Sea King helicopter after resigning
He lost support from some in his own party as well as much popular support after what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre of October 20, 1973, in which his demand that independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox be dismissed, was refused to be carried out by Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, who both resigned in protest. The then Solicitor General, the most senior officer remaining at the Department of Justice, Robert Bork, dismissed Cox.
As the Watergate story continued to dominate headlines, Nixon tried to reassure a suspicious public by continuing to deflect himself from any wrong doing. On November 17, 1973, at a televised question and answer session with the press, Nixon said,
“
People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.
”
The House Judiciary Committee controlled by Democrats opened formal and public impeachment hearings against Nixon on May 9, 1974. Despite his efforts, one of the secret recordings, known as the "smoking gun" tape, was released on August 5, 1974, and revealed that Nixon authorized hush money to Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt, and also revealed that Nixon ordered the CIA to tell the FBI to stop investigating certain topics because of "the Bay of Pigs thing." In light of his loss of political support and the near certainty of both his impeachment by the House of Representatives and his probable conviction by the Senate, he resigned on August 9, 1974, after addressing the nation on television the previous evening. listen (help·info) He never admitted to criminal wrongdoing, although he later conceded errors of judgment.
On September 8, 1974, a blanket pardon from President Ford, who served as Nixon's second Vice President, ended any possibility of indictment. The pardon was highly controversial and Nixon's critics claimed that the blanket pardon was quid pro quo for his resignation. No evidence of this "corrupt bargain" has ever been proven, and many modern historians dismiss any claims of overt collusion between the two men concerning the pardon. The pardon of Richard Nixon hurt Ford politically, and it was one of the many reasons cited for Ford's defeat in the election of 1976.[citation needed] The Democratic win in the 1974 mid-term elections provided a governing House majority that continued for two more decades.
Later years
Then-President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan at the White House with former President Nixon, 1988
In 1976, Nixon was disbarred by the State of New York,[36] and soon resigned his other law licenses.
In his later years Nixon worked hard to rehabilitate his public image. He gained great respect as an elder statesman in the area of foreign affairs, being consulted by both Democratic and Republican successors to the presidency. He made many foreign visits in his post-presidential years, including his final one, to Russia in March 1994 just one month before his death.
Nixon continued to author books after his departure from politics, writing ten, including his most-recent memoirs.
Presidential Library and Museum
Official White House portrait of Richard Nixon
Main article: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California opened as a private institution on July 19, 1990, with President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon in attendance, as well as former Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, as well as the current President at the time George H.W. Bush, and their First Ladies: Betty, Nancy, and Barbara.[37] From the time of its original dedication until July 11, 2007, the property was owned and operated by a private foundation and was not part of NARA's Presidential Libraries system. In January 2004, Congress passed legislation that provided for the establishment of a federally operated Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. In March 2005, the Archivist of the United States and the Reverend John H. Taylor, Executive Director of the privately run Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation, exchanged letters on the requirements that will allow the Nixon Library and Birthplace to become the twelfth federally funded Presidential Library operated and staffed by NARA. On October 16, 2006, Dr. Timothy Naftali began his tenure as director of the Materials Project; he assumed the directorship of the newly renamed Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum on July 11, 2007 when the institution was officially welcomed into the federal presidential library system.
Pat Nixon's death
First Lady Pat Nixon died June 22, 1993 of health problems, including two strokes and lung cancer. Her funeral services were held on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California during the week until her burial on June 26. Richard Nixon was in deep sadness the entire time, but was comforted by his family as well as former presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, and their First Ladies, Betty and Nancy, respectively.
Death and funeral
President Nixon's funeral on April 27, 1994 was attended by then incumbent US President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, accompanied by former US presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, with Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush respectively
Nixon suffered a severe stroke at 5:45 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 18, 1994, while preparing to eat dinner in his Park Ridge, New Jersey home. It was determined that a blood clot resulting from his heart condition had formed in his upper heart, then broke off and traveled to his brain. He was rushed by ambulance to New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, initially alert, but unable to speak or to move his right arm or leg. His vision was reportedly also impaired, but he was able to greet his private doctor and daughters on separate occasions with strong squeezes from his left hand and his renowned thumbs-up salute.[38] Nixon was reportedly also visited by longtime friend Reverend Billy Graham and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani the day after his stroke.
Doctors initially claimed Nixon's stroke was minor, but the damage to the brain caused swelling (cerebral edema). Less than 24 hours after his arrival at the hospital, Nixon's level of consciousness began falling sharply, and on Thursday, April 21, 1994, he slipped into a deep coma. Nixon's living will stipulated that he was not to be placed on a ventilator to sustain his life. On Friday, April 22, 1994, he died at 9:08 p.m., with his daughters at his bedside; he was 81.
The graves of President and Mrs. Nixon
Nixon's funeral took place on April 27, 1994, the first for an American President since that of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973, which was presided over by Nixon during his presidency. Speakers at the service, held at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace (now Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum), included then-President Bill Clinton, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, California Governor Pete Wilson, and the Reverend Billy Graham. Also in attendance were former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and their respective first ladies. Nixon was buried beside his wife, Pat (also 81 when she died ten months earlier, on June 22, 1993, of lung cancer), on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. He was survived by his two daughters, Tricia and Julie, and four grandchildren. The funeral was not a state funeral, therefore his body did not lie in state.
Legacy
Presidential scholars, both liberal and conservative, generally agree that Nixon presents a special problem when seeking to evaluate and determine his presidential ranking because his foreign policy and domestic policy successes stand in dramatic contradiction to the corrupt elements in his administration. Political scientist Walter Dean Burnham noted the "dichotomous or schizoid profiles. On some very important dimensions both Wilson and L.B. Johnson were outright failures in my view; while on others they rank very high indeed. Similarly with Nixon." Historian Alan Brinkley said: "There are presidents who could be considered both failures and great or near great (for example, Wilson, Johnson, Nixon)." James MacGregor Burns observed of Nixon, "How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic President, so brilliant and so morally lacking?"[39] Even George McGovern, eleven years after Nixon defeated him for the presidency, commented: "President Nixon probably had a more practical approach to the two superpowers, China and the Soviet Union, than any other president since World War II. ... I think, with the exception of his inexcusable continuation of the war in Vietnam, Nixon really will get high marks in history."[40]
Public perception
This section needs additional citations for verification.Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)
Nixon meets Elvis Presley in December 1970
Nixon's career was frequently dogged by his personality, and the public perception of it. Editorial cartoonists such as Herblock and comedians had fun exaggerating Nixon's appearance and mannerisms, to the point where the line between the human and the caricature version of him became increasingly blurred. He was often portrayed as a sullen loner, with unshaven jowls, slumped shoulders, and a furrowed, sweaty brow. He was also characterized as the epitome of a "square" and the personification of unpleasant adult authority.
Nixon tried to shed these perceptions by staging photo-ops with young people and even cameo appearances on popular TV shows such as Laugh-In and Hee Haw (before he was President). He also frequently brandished the two-finger V sign (alternately viewed as the "Victory sign" or "peace sign") using both hands, an act that became one of his best-known trademarks. Due to his uptight image, many Americans were shocked to hear that the President had a much gruffer, aggressive side, revealed by the sheer amount of swearing and vicious comments seen on the transcripts of the president's White House tapes. This did not help the public perception and fed the comedians even more. Nixon's sense of being persecuted by his "enemies," his grandiose belief in his own moral and political excellence, and his willingness to use power ruthlessly to achieve political goals led some experts to describe him as having a narcissistic and paranoid personality.[41] During the Watergate scandal, Nixon's approval rating had fallen to 23%.[42]
References
Further information: Richard Nixon Bibliography
Notes
^ Steel, Ronald (April 26, 1987) "I Had to Win": Review of 'Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962,' by Stephen E. Ambrose." New York Times Knowledge Network.
^ Nixon, Richard (1978) The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, p. 15
^ Hove, Duane T. American Warriors: Five Presidents in the Pacific Theater of WWII, Burd Street Press, 2003 ISBN 1-57249-307-0; summary accessed at [1] August 2, 2006
^ "Diplomat in High Heels: Thelma Ryan Nixon", The New York Times, 28 July 1959, page 11
^ Eisenhower, Dwight D. The White House Years: Waging Peace 1956-1961, Doubleday and Co., 1965, cf. pp.5-8
^ Kennedy-Nixon Presidential Debates, 1960 — Erika Tyner Allen, Museum of Broadcast Communications, accessed April 4, 2006
^ Foner, Eric (2006). Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 843. ISBN 0-3939-2784-9.
^ William A. De Gregorio, "The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents" (2005) 6th edition, Barricade Books
^ Morrow, L. "Naysayer to the nattering nabobs." Time Sep. 30, 1996
^ "Real peace", Little Brown & Co (T) (January 1984), ISBN-10: 0316611492, ISBN-13: 978-0316611497, 107 pages
^ Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History V2. W.W. Norton & Company. New York
^ Victor S. Kaufman; Confronting Communism: U.S. and British Policies toward China (2001), 228–31; Anthony Kubek, "The 'Opening' of China: President Nixon's 1972 Journey." American Asian Review 1992 10(4): 1–22. ISSN 0737-6650; Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, "Taiwan Expendable? Nixon and Kissinger Go to China," Journal of American History (2005) 92(1): 109–135. ISSN 0021-8723
^ John Lewis Gaddis, Strategies of Containment (1982), pp. 294 and 299; Ang Cheng Guan, Ending the Vietnam War: The Vietnamese Communists' Perspective (2003), pp. 61, 69 and 77–79; Qiang Zhai China and the Vietnam Wars, p. 136
^ Nixon, No More Vietnams (1987), pp. 105–106.
^ NSA archives on South Asia crisis
^ Harold H. Saunders, “Memorandum of Conversation: Kenneth Keating, Henry A. Kissinger and Harold H. Saunders,” June 3, 1971, The National Security Archive
^ Detente and Confrontation: American-Soviet Relations from Nixon to Reagan, — Raymond L Garthodd, p 298
^ The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971 — Sajit Gandhi, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 79, December 16, 2002
^ Thornton, The Nixon-Kissinger Years: Reshaping American’s Foreign Policy, pp.113–115
^ Sharma, Dhirendra (May 1991). "[[2] India's lopsided science]". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist 47 (4): 32–36. http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=may91sharma
^ Nixon's dislike of 'witch' Indira — BBC News.
^ Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli, The United States and Pakistan: the Evolution of an Influence Relationship, pp.49
^ Kotlowski (2001) p. 8
^ Kotlowski (2001) p. 37
^ The American Presidency Project archives
^ a b Richard Nixon, Address on the State of the Union Delivered Before a Joint Session of the Congress., Jan 30, 1974, hosted at "The American Presidency Project", UCSB
^ David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler. "I Am Not a Health Reform", The New York Times, December 15, 2007.
^ Hall, K. G. (28 November 2007). Democrats' health plans echo Nixon's failed GOP proposal. Retrieved on 2007-11-28 from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/22163.html.
^ CNN transcript
^ Dean, John. Blind Ambition, Simon and Shuster, New York, 1976. ISBN 978-0671224387.
^ President Nixon's Troublesome Tax Returns The Tax History Project, April 11, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
A quote from this reference:"Nixon's greatest concern with the IRS audit and the JCT investigation was that fraud might be charged, thereby imposing a civil fraud penalty of 50 percent of the tax deficiency, increasing his chances for impeachment. Amazingly, fraud was not mentioned either by the IRS or by the committee report. However, the House Judiciary Committee, which was considering the impeachment of Nixon, stated that it might investigate the possibility of tax fraud. By agreeing to pay $465,000, Nixon's wealth was reduced to half of the previous $988,522."
^ Stans, Maurice H. The Terrors of Justice: The Untold Side of Watergate (W. Clement Stone, PMA Communications, Inc. Northbrook, IL, U.S.A.) 1978. ISBN 978-0895268280
^ William Shawcross, Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia (New York: Simon and Schuster). 1979. ISBN 978-0671230708
^ Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, The Final Days (London: Simon and Schuster) 1976 (repr. 2006). ISBN 978-1-4165-2236-2
^ "This Will Be Forgotten" June 20, 1972 White House conversation of Richard Nixon and Charles Colson. Presidential Recordings Program, University of Virginia Miller Center of Public Affairs. Retrieved on 2000-09-16.
^ "Richard M. Nixon: Before and After Watergate", The History Channel
^ The Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation: Museum store
^ "[3]", A daughters reflection on Fathers Day: "he squeezed my hand one last time, let go, and gave me a jaunty thumbs-up salute.".
^ * Skidmore, Max J. "Ranking and Evaluating Presidents: The Case of Theodore Roosevelt" White House Studies. Volume: 1. Issue: 4. 2001. pp. 495+.
^ William Greider, The McGovern factor, Rolling Stone, 10 Nov. 1983, p.13.
^ Nixon: A Psychobiography — Vamik D. Volkan, Norman Itzkowitz, and Andrew W. Dod, book review by Michael A. Ingall, accessed April 4, 2006
^ Presidential Job Approval for Richard Nixon. The American Presidency Project. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
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This article needs additional citations for verification.Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)
Persondata
NAME
Nixon, Richard Milhous
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Richard Nixon
SHORT DESCRIPTION
American politician, 37th President of the United States (1969–1974)
DATE OF BIRTH
9 January 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH
Yorba Linda, California, United States
DATE OF DEATH
22 April 1994
PLACE OF DEATH
New York City, New York, United States
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon"
Categories: 1913 births 1994 deaths American anti-communists American lawyers American military personnel of World War II American people of the Vietnam War American Quakers Americans of Scots-Irish descent California Republicans Conservatives Deaths by stroke Disbarred American lawyers Duke University alumni History of the United States (1964–1980) Members of the United States House of Representatives from California Descendants of Stephen Bachiler People from Orange County, California Presidents of the United States Recipients of American presidential pardons Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees United States presidential candidates, 1960 United States presidential candidates, 1968 United States presidential candidates, 1972 Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees United States vice-presidential candidates, 1956 Richard Nixon Time magazine Persons of the Year United States Senators from California Vice Presidents of the United States Watergate figures Whittier College people Nishan-e-Pakistan
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