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By Benjamin Snow
Richard M. Nixon's career seemed to thrive on paradox.
He was a man famous for his lack of personal grace, yet he became the only candidate in U.S. history who was twice elected president and vice president.
Nixon was born in 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, and attended Whittier College and Duke University. When his school years were over, he began practicing law, which eventually led him into his political career.In 1950, Nixon ran for the U.S. Senate in California and won a seat.
In 1952, General Dwight Eisenhower, who was then running for president, selected Nixon to be his running mate. The pair was elected and was victorious both in 1952 and 1956.
In 1960, as Eisenhower's presidency was drawing to a close, Nixon ran as the Republican nominee for president and was narrowly defeated by his Democratic opponent John F. Kennedy.
In 1962, Nixon ran for governor in California against Pat Brown and was defeated again. The loss infuriated him, and he decided to leave politics. He told reporters, "You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.”
For several years after that, Nixon slipped from view. However, in 1968, he made a comeback, winning the Republican nomination for president again. This time he defeated then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey and third-party candidate George C. Wallace.
During his presidency, American astronauts made their first landing on the moon, and some of Nixon's most acclaimed achievements came in his journey to stabilize the world for peace. Though Nixon had some great triumphs, he would eventually begin going downhill.
In November 1972, Nixon defeated Democratic opponent George McGovern in a landslide. Voters obviously liked Nixon, but in the midst of that election campaign, Nixon's paranoia and distrust led to his downfall.
In June 1972, intruders broke into the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate office complex. When Nixon found out about the burglary, he authorized payments of hush money. It marked the beginning of an investigation, which would take two years to unravel. Several months went by, and Nixon’s administration began enduring the troubles of what came to be known as the Watergate scandal.
In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned, for reasons unrelated to Watergate. In the aftermath of Agnew’s resignation, Nixon selected Gerald R. Ford to succeed Agnew as vice president.
With impeachment almost inevitable because of the Watergate scandal, Nixon announced on August 8, 1974 that he would resign the presidency at noon the next day to begin “that process of healing, which is so desperately needed in America.”
Nixon became the author of many books and earned fame as an elder statesman until his death in 1994.
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