Biography of President Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913. He was the 37th President of the United States and served from 1969 until 1974. He is the only president to ever resign from office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States serving from 1953 until 1961.

Richard Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University School of Law and returned to California to practice law in La Mirada. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the United States Navy and quickly rose to the rank of lieutenant commander during World War II. In 1946, he was elected to the House of Representatives representing California's 12th Congressional district, then in 1950 was elected to the United States Senate. He was chosen by Republican Party nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower to be his running mate. Despite announcing his retirement from politics after losing the 1960 general election and a failed run for Governor of California in 1962, Nixon was elected to the presidency in 1968, and was re-elected four years later.

Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and rapprochement with the People's Republic of China. Nixon successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam which effectively ended American involvement in the Vietnam War. Due to his likely impeachment and conviction for his role in the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.

Nixon is the only person in American history to appear on the Republican Party's presidential ticket five times, to secure the Republican nomination for president three times, and to have been elected twice to both the vice presidency and the presidency.

Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later, at the age of 81.

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