[256] Nixon was in the hospital when the 1974 midterm elections were held, and Watergate and the pardon were contributing factors to the Republican loss of 49seats in the House and four in the Senate.[257]. [131] His slogan of "Nixon's the One" proved to be effective. [58], In his memoirs, Nixon wrote that he joined the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) "at the end of 1947". [250], Throughout the 1980s, Nixon maintained an ambitious schedule of speaking engagements and writing,[250] traveled, and met with many foreign leaders, especially those of Third World countries. The rapprochement with China, undertaken in part to take advantage of the growing Sino-Soviet rift in the late 1960s, gave Nixon more leverage in his dealings with the Soviet Union. [29] It paid high salaries to its professors, many of whom had national or international reputations. He began to withdraw American [248] It was termed "a masterpiece" by Conrad Black, one of his biographers. President Nixon was the first President to visit the Peoples Republic of China, where he issued the Shanghai Communiqu, announcing a desire for open, normalized relations. WebAnswer: Mr Nixons legacy is smeared by the Watergate affair, but his presidency should also be remembered for foreign policy successes. Cronin shared with Nixon his 1945 privately circulated paper "The Problem of American Communism in 1945",[59] with much information from the FBI's William C. Sullivan who by 1961 headed domestic intelligence under J. Edgar Hoover. [1][23] Nixon played for the basketball team; he also tried out for football, and though he lacked the size to play, he remained on the team as a substitute and was noted for his enthusiasm. - Allende was elected so the CIA tried to de-stabilise his government Nixon and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, envisioned a world in which the United States would not be the sole defender of freedom but would share that responsibility with its most-powerful allies. [253][254], In October 1974, Nixon fell ill with phlebitis. [185] The embargo caused gasoline shortages and rationing in the United States in late 1973, and was eventually ended by the oil-producing nations as peace in the Middle East took hold.[186]. [216] Nixon had campaigned as an ERA supporter in 1968, though feminists criticized him for doing little to help the ERA or their cause after his election. Believing his first choice, John Connally, would not be confirmed by Congress,[237] Nixon chose Gerald Ford, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to replace Agnew. Still, Ronald Reagans foreign policy is considered nowadays more successful, because of the range of factors. After a honeymoon in Mexico, the Nixons began their married life in Whittier. Nixon and Brezhnev proclaimed a new era of "peaceful coexistence". - He wanted negotiations with big super powers like China and USSR, - In 1970 Kissinger and Nixon feared that the Socialist Salvador Allende might win the presidential election 1943)", "Official Military Personnel File for Richard M. Nixon", "Final Report on Foreign Aid of the House Select Committee on Foreign Aid", "The Problem of American Communism in 1945: Facts and Recommendations", Museum of Broadcast Communications, "KennedyNixon Debates", Museum of Broadcast Communications, "Smith, Howard K.", "42% of GOP Rank and File on Lodge Bandwagon", "Johnson Leads Nixon, 3 To 1 In Latest Presidential Poll", "Goldwater Looks to California and Oregon Primaries as Crucial to His Chances", "ROCKEFELLER WINS OREGON PRIMARY, UPSETTING LODGE", Nixon Tried to Spoil Johnson's Vietnam Peace Talks in '68, Notes Show, "Biden Had To Fight For The Presidential Nomination. As part of that effort, a "Pink Sheet" was distributed by the Nixon campaign suggesting that Douglas's voting record was similar to that of New York Congressman Vito Marcantonio, reputed to be a communist, and their political views must be nearly identical. He also was prescribed sleeping pills. He won every state but Massachusetts. He defeated McGovern with over 60percent of the popular vote, losing only in Massachusetts and D.C.[232], The term Watergate has come to encompass an array of clandestine and often illegal activities undertaken by members of the Nixon administration. Nixon's options were to limit fiscal and monetary expansionist policies that reduced unemployment or end the dollar's fixed exchange rate; Nixon's dilemma has been cited as an example of the Impossible trinity in international economics. Judge John Sirica excused Nixon's presence despite the defendants' objections. Nixon was far more interested in foreign affairs than domestic policies, but he believed that voters tend to focus on their own financial condition and that economic conditions were a threat to his reelection. [26] In 1933, he became engaged to Ola Florence Welch, daughter of the Whittier police chief, but they broke up in 1935. [107], Televised presidential debates made their debut as a political medium during the campaign. Although he thought Goldwater unlikely to win, Nixon campaigned for him loyally. - he wanted to wait till the election was over, - He was a Harvard Uni prof "[192], After Nixon won re-election, inflation was returning. And they twisted it with relish. By basing the US foreign policy on realist rather than moral principles, Nixon pursued a policy of [127] Fearing the possibility of a USChina alliance, the Soviet Union yielded to pressure for dtente with the United States. [246] He defended his record as president, quoting from Theodore Roosevelt's 1910 speech Citizenship in a Republic: Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes I have failed, but always I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, "whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly". [181] He arrived in Moscow on June 27 to a welcome ceremony, cheering crowds, and a state dinner at the Grand Kremlin Palace that evening. Nixon then released a statement: I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate, particularly when it reached the stage of judicial proceedings and grew from a political scandal into a national tragedy. Given the immense attention to Watergate down to the present, it is no wonder that we forget how effective Richard M. Nixon was as a president. - Nixon sold the news of peace to the American public as a victory [122], At the end of 1967, Nixon told his family he planned to run for president a second time. But Most VPs Have To", "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, Volume I Foundations of Foreign Policy, 1969-1972", "Vietnam War Deaths and Casualties By Month", "Making More Enemies than We Kill? Harold was diagnosed with tuberculosis the previous year; when their mother took him to Arizona hoping to improve his health, the demands on Nixon increased, causing him to give up football. - Nixon and Mao discussed Taiwan, Vietnam and trade, - Nixon administration had successfully opened a dialogue with an enemy and Beijing encouraged North Vietnam to agree to peace But one of the new tapes, recorded soon after the break-in, demonstrated that Nixon had been told of the White House connection to the Watergate burglaries soon after they took place, and had approved plans to thwart the investigation. [125] He selected Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew as his running mate, a choice which Nixon believed would unite the party, appealing both to Northern moderates and to Southerners disaffected with the Democrats. [104] When announcing his California campaign, Nixon had pledged not to run for president in 1964; even if he had not, he believed it would be difficult to defeat Kennedy, or after his assassination, Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson. [181] Nixon and Brezhnev met in Yalta, where they discussed a proposed mutual defense pact, dtente, and MIRVs. [309] In surveys of historians and political scientists, Nixon is generally ranked as a below-average president. - He believed in Realpolitik. He chose not to present any defense. He campaigned for many Republicans, seeking to regain seats lost in the Johnson landslide, and received credit for helping the Republicans make major gains that year. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. He maintained an office in a Coast Guard station 300 yards from his home, at first taking a golf cart and later walking the route each day; he mainly worked on his memoirs. [143], In February 1972, Nixon and his wife traveled to China after Kissinger briefed Nixon for over 40hours in preparation. [286] In keeping with his wishes, his funeral was not a full state funeral, though his body did lie in repose in the Nixon Library lobby from April 26 to the morning of the funeral service. It was announced during the Vietnam War (195475), at the beginning of a global tour by Nixon, in an informal discussion with reporters on the island of Guam. The Nixon Doctrine influenced the U.S. decision to sell arms to Iran and to Israel in the 1970s. At the same time, however, Nixon resumed the bombing of North Vietnam (suspended by President Johnson in October 1968) and expanded the air and ground war to neighbouring Cambodia and Laos. The diplomatic tour de force brought more than a billion people out of isolation. - 74% thought that the South should not fall to communists, - North Vietnam was being driven to peace settlement by US bombings, Senio-Soviet relations and Nixons likelihood of being reelected [236] On July 24, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the full tapes, not just selected transcripts, must be released. [224] Virtually assured the Republican nomination,[225] the President had initially expected his Democratic opponent to be Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy (brother of the late President), who was largely removed from contention after the July 1969 Chappaquiddick incident. [71] Nixon tried to focus attention on Douglas's liberal voting record. The price increase hurt U.S. consumers of oil and gasoline. Nevertheless, with Michael Gorbachev coming to power in the USSR, Reagan decided to warmer the relations with the Soviet Union. [127] He soon instituted phased U.S. troop withdrawals,[158] but also authorized incursions into Laos, in part to interrupt the Ho Chi Minh trail passing through Laos and Cambodia and used to supply North Vietnamese forces. [97], On April 27, 1958, Richard and Pat Nixon reluctantly embarked on a goodwill tour of South America. - In 1975 a US senate committee investigation concluded that US economic policy under Nixon was a significant factor in contributing to Chile's economic problems WebWhat did Nixon do in response to the possibility of Allende being elected, which would prevent his coming to power or would unseat him if he succeeded? Nixon also took dilantin, recommended by Jack Dreyfus. He clung to the idea of being "tough". [93], His spirits buoyed, Nixon sought a second term, but some of Eisenhower's aides aimed to displace him. The President and First Lady arrived in Moscow on May 22, 1972, and met with Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party; Alexei Kosygin, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers; and Nikolai Podgorny, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, among other leading Soviet officials. [276] He wrote guest articles for many publications both during the campaign and after Reagan's victory. Biographer Irwin Gellman, who chronicled Nixon's congressional years, said of his vice presidency: Eisenhower radically altered the role of his running mate by presenting him with critical assignments in both foreign and domestic affairs once he assumed his office. Both policies came into effect once Nixon became president. Nixons foreign policy was not even a little as successful as Reagans. Told by his doctors that he could either be operated on or die, a reluctant Nixon chose surgery, and President Ford visited him in the hospital. Nixon believed that with the Democrats torn over the issue of the Vietnam War, a Republican had a good chance of winning, although he expected the election to be as close as in 1960. These losses caused Nixon to contemplate leaving politics once he had served out his term. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [251] His former press secretary, Ron Ziegler, sat with him alone for hours each day.[252]. During nearly 20 years of retirement, Nixon wrote his memoirs and nine other books. - The US gave financial, organisational and technical aid to Operation Condor, What criticism did the US get for their involvement in Chile and Argentina, - Relations between China and US had been hostile since the Korean War in 1950-3 [44][45], In October 1942, after moving his home of record to Alexandria, Virginia, he was given his first assignment as aide to the commander of the Naval Air Station Ottumwa in Iowa until May 1943. Omissions? Biographer Elizabeth Drew summarized Nixon as a "smart, talented man, but most peculiar and haunted of presidents". It also gave him the opportunity to snub the print journalists he despised. [90], Despite intense campaigning by Nixon, who reprised his strong attacks on the Democrats, the Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress in the 1954 elections. Nixon used the Middle East crisis to restart the stalled Middle East Peace Negotiations; he wrote in a confidential memo to Kissinger on October 20: I believe that, beyond a doubt, we are now facing the best opportunity we have had in 15 years to build a lasting peace in the Middle East. - Kissinger offered a committee of National Recognition (one third south, one third north and one third neutral to oversee discussions), What was the outcome of the 1972 Peace negotiations, - In October 1972 Nixon backed out of peace, fearing he did not have peace with honour - Detente did not stop all weapons testing or stop arms race Both presidents can be considered prominent figures of the political arena. Nixon". [104] Nixon hoped a successful run would confirm his status as the nation's leading active Republican politician, and ensure he remained a major player in national politics. [303] According to his biographer Herbert Parmet, "Nixon's role was to steer the Republican party along a middle course, somewhere between the competitive impulses of the Rockefellers, the Goldwaters, and the Reagans. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Nixon supported Israel with massive aid, which Prime Minister Golda Meir later said saved her country. In 1945, they formed a "Committee of 100" to decide on a candidate, hoping to avoid internal dissensions which had led to previous Voorhis victories. [243], Even with support diminished by the continuing series of revelations, Nixon hoped to fight the charges. Nixon used many risky strategies in order to improve the relationship between the US and the communist countries. [57] Advocacy by Herter Committee members, including Nixon, led to congressional passage of the Marshall Plan. He graduated from Duke Law School in 1937, practiced law in California, then moved with his wife Pat to Washington in 1942 to work for the federal government. [195] The controls produced food shortages, as meat disappeared from grocery stores and farmers drowned chickens rather than sell them at a loss. - Congress threatened to cut Nixon's money for the war because of the imperial presidency. Because of this successful diplomatic policy, the US get extrication from threat of Cold War, although it was temporary. [182] Nixon's onetime opponent George McGovern commented in 1983, "President Nixon probably had a more practical approach to the two superpowers, China and the Soviet Union, than any other president since World WarII With the exception of his inexcusable continuation of the war in Vietnam, Nixon really will get high marks in history. Nonetheless, Nixon acted in Eisenhower's stead during this period, presiding over Cabinet meetings and ensuring that aides and Cabinet officers did not seek power. In 1976, Nixon was disbarred by the New York State Bar Association for obstruction of justice in the Watergate affair. [99] According to Ambrose, Nixon's courageous conduct "caused even some of his bitterest enemies to give him some grudging respect". [224], On June 10, McGovern won the California primary and secured the Democratic nomination. He served as floor manager for the Republican Party. [139] He spoke about turning partisan politics into a new age of unity: In these difficult years, America has suffered from a fever of words; from inflated rhetoric that promises more than it can deliver; from angry rhetoric that fans discontents into hatreds; from bombastic rhetoric that postures instead of persuading. In June, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a Democratic candidate, was assassinated just moments after his victory in the California primary. On July 24, Nixon was touring the exhibits with Soviet First Secretary and Premier Nikita Khrushchev when the two stopped at a model of an American kitchen and engaged in an impromptu exchange about the merits of capitalism versus communism that became known as the "Kitchen Debate". Through his first term, he pursued a Southern Strategy with policies, such as his desegregation plans, that would be broadly acceptable among Southern whites, encouraging them to realign with the Republicans in the aftermath of the civil rights movement. If my paper needs 12 pages, they will write 12 excellent pages. What was US intervention in Arab-Israeli war? He did not agree with the ideas of Nixon and Kissinger, whose goal was to find a common ground with Soviet countries, and not to defeat them. The influential article burnished Nixons foreign policy credentials. "[241], The legal battle over the tapes continued through early 1974, and in April Nixon announced the release of 1,200 pages of transcripts of White House conversations between himself and his aides. What was the outcome of what happened in 1972? [135] In his victory speech, Nixon pledged that his administration would try to bring the divided nation together. [286] A blood clot resulting from the atrial fibrillation he had suffered for many years had formed in his upper heart, broken off, and traveled to his brain. [47][48][49] On October 1, 1943, Nixon was promoted to lieutenant. [171], Nixon used the improving international environment to address the topic of nuclear peace. He maintained close relations with the Cuban-American exile community through his friend, Bebe Rebozo, who often suggested ways of irritating Castro. [199][198] Nixon vetoed the Clean Water Act of 1972objecting not to the policy goals of the legislation but to the amount of money to be spent on them, which he deemed excessive. "[301] Aitken feels that "Nixon, both as a man and as a statesman, has been excessively maligned for his faults and inadequately recognised for his virtues. If the US could not control Latin America, it could not expect "to achieve a successful order elsewhere in the world," Nixon's National Security Council concluded in 1971 while considering the paramount importance of destroying Chilean democracy. - In 1973 the Soviets tested multiple warheads on missile this suggested that the soviets may take a lead in the number of warheads He claimed that in order to prevent armed conflicts, the USA and the Western countries should try to cooperate with the Muslim world, instead of confronting it (McGovern 167). [127][134] He became the first non-incumbent vice president to be elected president. These included paper and microfilm copies that Chambers turned over to House investigators after hiding them overnight in a field; they became known as the "Pumpkin Papers". To pay for the weapons, the shah raised the price of Iranian oil beyond the already high price charged by OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), of which Iran was a member. By basing the US foreign policy on realist rather than moral principles, Nixon pursued a policy of d;tente and developed more cordial relations with the Soviet Union. [277] After eighteen months in the New York City townhouse, Nixon and his wife moved in 1981 to Saddle River, New Jersey. [293], Ambrose said of the reaction to Nixon's death, "To everyone's amazement, except his, he's our beloved elder statesman. [209] Nixon sought a middle way between the segregationist Wallace and liberal Democrats, whose support of integration was alienating some Southern whites. The work has been hard, and I have had to study virtually all the time. Also by early February 1947, fellow U.S. Representative Charles J. Kersten had introduced him to Father John Francis Cronin in Baltimore. [123], An exceptionally tumultuous primary election season began as the Tet Offensive was launched in January 1968. On October 22, 1968, candidate Nixon received information that Johnson was preparing a so-called "October surprise", abandoning three non-negotiable conditions for a bombing halt, to help elect Humphrey in the last days of the campaign. NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine drew up ambitious plans for the establishment of a permanent base on the Moon by the end of the 1970s and the launch of a crewed expedition to Mars as early as 1981. [77], General Dwight D. Eisenhower was nominated for president by the Republicans in 1952. Yet even in a spirit of historical revisionism, no simple verdict is possible. His mother was a Quaker, and his father converted from Methodism to the Quaker faith. [190] According to political economist Nigel Bowles in his 2011 study of Nixon's economic record, the new president did little to alter Johnson's policies through the first year of his presidency.[191]. [120] Nevertheless, as late as two months before the 1964 Republican National Convention, Nixon fulfilled his promise to remain out of the presidential nomination process and instead gave his support to the eventual Republican nominee, Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. Though Nixon had no official credentials, as a former president he was seen as the American presence at its former ally's funeral. What were the limitations of the detente? - In March the communists attacked South Vietnam. On taking office in 1969, he stepped up covert operations against Cuba and its president, Fidel Castro. Richard Nixon in 1969, whereby the United States would thereafter support allies facing military John F. Stacks of Time magazine said of Nixon shortly after his death, An outsize energy and determination drove him on to recover and rebuild after every self-created disaster that he faced. In his second term, Nixon ordered an airlift to resupply Israeli losses in the Yom Kippur War, a conflict which led to the oil crisis at home. He was also the first American President to visit China. In reality, this translated into Nixons famous opening to China in 1972. The agreement implemented a cease fire and allowed for the withdrawal of remaining American troops without requiring withdrawal of the 160,000 North Vietnam Army regulars located in the South. [146] He said he was suspicious of Kissinger,[146] though the National Security Advisor referred to their meeting as his "encounter with history". - Kissinger talked Nixon out of withdrawing from Vietnam in 1971 for the 1972 election [35], In January 1938 Nixon was cast in the Whittier Community Players production of The Dark Tower. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In reaction to the oil embargo of 1973, Nixon initiated Project Independence, which set a timetable to end reliance on foreign oil by 1980. [94] Eisenhower and Nixon were reelected by a comfortable margin in the November 1956 election. [75] He maintained friendly relations with his fellow anti-communist, controversial Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy, but was careful to keep some distance between himself and McCarthy's allegations. Some people are different. - Detente would demonstrate that Nixon was a peace loving world statesman and help him to win the election in 1972 When Eisenhower announced his reelection bid in February 1956, he hedged on the choice of his running mate, saying it was improper to address that question until he had been renominated. Nixon advised the President to sign the bill, which he did. Through his mother, Nixon was a descendant of the early English settler Thomas Cornell, who was also an ancestor of Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell University, as well as of Jimmy Carter and Bill Gates. [121], Nixon was one of the few leading Republicans not blamed for the disastrous results, and he sought to build on that in the 1966 Congressional elections. Nixon founded the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 as a response to the rising concern over conservation and pollution. WebForeign policy is the area in which Richard Nixon's unprecedented resignation as president over Watergate has least obscured his achievements. - Brezhnev planned to visit annually but this stopped due to Watergate, he was unable to form a strong relationship with Ford, Carter or Reagan, - Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in 1973 and an Israeli counter attack in. According to Ambrose, "Nixon wanted to be judged by what he accomplished. During the Nixon administration, the U.S. greatly increased arms sales to the Middle East, particularly Israel, Iran and Saudi Arabia. [298], Historian and political scientist James MacGregor Burns asked of Nixon, "How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic president, so brilliant and so morally lacking? [92] According to Nixon biographer Stephen Ambrose, Nixon had "earned the high praise he received for his conduct during the crisis he made no attempt to seize power". [220] NASA cancelled the last three planned Apollo lunar missions to place Skylab in orbit more efficiently and free money up for the design and construction of the Space Shuttle. [148] This was one component of triangular diplomacy. [180], During the previous two years, Nixon had made considerable progress in U.S.Soviet relations, and he embarked on a second trip to the Soviet Union in 1974. - The US stopped all aid to Chile and World bank loans ($70 million in American aid was cut) The price controls became unpopular with the public and businesspeople, who saw powerful labor unions as preferable to the price board bureaucracy. [69] Nixon and Douglas won the primary elections[70] and engaged in a contentious campaign in which the ongoing Korean War was a major issue. "Nixon and the Environment" in, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, diplomatic relations between the two nations, South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command, 1946 California's 12th congressional district election, 1950 United States Senate election in California, 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, Foreign policy of the Richard Nixon administration, to visit China and play against top Chinese players, Role of the United States in the Vietnam War, an impromptu, early morning meeting with them, the stalled Middle East Peace Negotiations, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, joint mission of an American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, one of the largest landslide election victories in American history, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, addressing the nation on television the previous evening, List of awards and honors received by Richard Nixon, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Richard Nixon's Presidential Library and Museum, surveys of historians and political scientists, "Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum", "Lincoln Wins: Honest Abe tops new presidential survey", "Richard Nixon in the U.S. Census Records", "The Ancestors of Senator John Forbes Kerry (b. [128], Nixon waged a prominent television advertising campaign, meeting with supporters in front of cameras. Calculating U.S. [136] Nixon said: "I have received a very gracious message from the Vice President, congratulating me for winning the election. [16] His older brother Harold had attended Whittier High School, which his parents thought resulted in Harold's dissolute lifestyle, before he contracted tuberculosis (that killed him in 1933). In November, Nixon's lawyers revealed that a tape of conversations held in the White House on June 20, 1972, had an .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}18+12minute gap. "[199] Other initiatives supported by Nixon included the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Environmental Policy Act required environmental impact statements for many Federal projects. Although he faced difficulty with Congress, Nixon was able to overcome his own partys views in order to fight for the best policies and his determination and successful policies earn him an A in this area. [54] Nixon won the election, receiving 65,586 votes to Voorhis's 49,994. President of the United States from 1969 to 1974, "Nixon" redirects here. 9 Questions About the Vietnam War Answered, 11 PopularOr Just Plain OddPresidential Pets. In December 1974, Nixon began planning his comeback despite the considerable ill will against him in the country. [182] The Nixon administration strongly supported Israel, an American ally in the Middle East, but the support was not unconditional.