FREE ESSAY ON RICHARD NIXON

RICHARD NIXON

Richard Nixon was known as the 37th president that resigned from office. I'm going to tell
you the whole story. Nixon was born in 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, the second of
five sons of Francis Nixon and Hannah Nixon. The Nixons were Scots-Irish and the
Milhouses were of Irish and English descent, were known as Quakers. Richard Nixon
attended public schools in Whittier, California, and went to Whittier College, a Quaker
institution, where he majored in history. He won a scholarship to Duke University Law
School and received his law degree in 1937. Nixon joined an established law firm in
Whittier and there met his future wife, Thelma Ryan. They married on June 21, 1940, and
had two daughters; Patricia in 1946 and Julie in 1948.
In 1946 Nixon was persuaded by California Republicans to be their candidate to challenge
the popular Democratic Congressman Jerry Voorhis for his seat in the United States House
of Representatives. Nixon's campaign was an example of the vigorous and aggressive style
characteristic of his political career. He accused Voorhis of being soft on Communism.
The two men confronted each other in a series of debates, and Voorhis was forced into a
defensive position. Nixon won the election by a vote of 65,586 to 49,994. As a new member
of the Congress of the United States, Nixon 
gained valuable experience in international affairs while serving on a special committee
that helped establish the European Recovery Program. Nixon also served on the House of
Education and Labor Committee, where he helped draft the Taft-Hartley Act on
labor-management relations. In 1948, he was reelected to Congress after winning both the
Republican and Democratic nominations.
In 1950 the Republicans chose Nixon as their candidate for the U.S. Senate from
California. His opponent was the liberal Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas. In another
bitterly fought campaign, Nixon linked her voting record with American-Labor-Party
congressman Vito Marcantonio, who was widely regarded as pro-Communist. Nixon won the
election by 680,000 votes. In 1952 Nixon was selected to be the running mate of General
Dwight Eisenhower, who had won the Republican presidential nomination. Shortly after
Nixon's vice-presidential nomination it was reported that a fund had been collected to
meet his expenses as a senator. No evidence was produced that Nixon had misused the fund
or given special favors to contributors, but many of Eisenhower's advisers wanted Nixon
to resign his candidacy. In response Nixon made an 
impassioned reply on national television in a speech known as the 'Checkers' speech,
because it contained a sentimental reference to Nixon's dog, Checkers. Eisenhower then
kept him as his running mate. In the campaign that followed, Nixon once again attacked
the Democrats and their presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson as being soft on
Communism. The Eisenhower-Nixon ticket won a resounding victory. In 1956, Eisenhower an
Nixon were reelected, after Nixon survived an attempt by some Republicans to replace him.
Much of Nixon's time as vice president was spent in representing the president before
Congress and on trips abroad as goodwill ambassador.
As President Eisenhower neared the end of his second term, his vice president emerged as
his logical successor, and the president indorsed Nixon. Nixon received an impressive
vote in the party primaries. Nixon chose Henry Cabot as his running mate. There was a
series of face-to-face discussions between Nixon and hi opponent John F. Kennedy. Kennedy
was regarded as the winner of the debates and ended up winning the elections by 112,803
votes. 
After losing the election, Nixon returned to California and in
1962 became the Republican candidate for governor opposing Edmund Brown. Again the
campaign involved Nixon's argument that democrats were not concerned about Communism.
This time it didn't work and Brown won easily. After this lose Nixon moved to New York
City, where he joined a large law firm.
In seeking nomination for being president, Nixon found handicaps to overcome. He did not
have much support, but he did get help from Governor Ronald Reagan. With his help Nixon
won the nomination. For his running mate he chose Spiro Agnew. The election was close,
but Nixon won. While being president, Nixon was successful in areas of foreign policy.
In 1972, Nixon and Agnew sought reelection. This election was a blowout with Nixon easily
winning. During has second term Nixon demanded to cease fire in Vietnam. At this time was
Nixon's popularity was at it's peak. Nixon's popularity fell when the Watergate scandal
became known. Investigators started pointing fingers at Nixon and were thinking of
impeachment. After this Nixon resigned.
After he resigned, Nixon wrote many books. Richard Nixon died from a stroke in 1994 and
was buried next to his wife in Yorba Linda, California.