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Ella Reintsma
Mr. Douville
English 8
November 17, 2014
President Nixon
You've got to learn to survive a defeat. That's when you develop character.
(Richard Nixon). The President had a poor and tragic childhood. He was born as
Richard Milhous Nixon 30 miles from Los Angeles, California. He was the second oldest
of five siblings. His father was very bad tempered and had little belief in America
(Memoirs of Nixon). He hated political machines that destroyed family businesses such
as his own. The family experienced tragedy twice early in Richard's life: His younger
brother died in 1925 after a short illness, and soon after in 1933, his older brother,
whom he looked up to, died of tuberculosis. (Infoplease.com) His family was very
devastated and still had little income.
Richard was very smart and couldve had an amazing education, but didnt have
the money for it. He attended Whittier high school and graduated as second in his class
receiving a scholarship to Harvard. He however did not attend due to living expenses
and instead went to Whittier College where he shone in debate class. (World Book
Online) Upon graduation from Whittier, Nixon received a full scholarship to Duke
University Law School in Durham, N.C. He soon met Thelma Catherine ("Pat") Ryan, a
teacher and amateur actress, after the two were cast in the same play at a local
community theater. The two were married and went on to have two daughters (World
Book Online). He went on practicing law and became well known and one of the greats.

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Nixon could have had it all at Harvard, but still managed to get a good education at his
local college and Duke University.
In 1948, Nixon started his involvement in politics in the House of
Representatives. By one of those curious coincidences of history, John F. Kennedy was
also elected as a Representative that same year, but as a Democrat. Nixon quotes in
his book of memoirs: Kennedy drew the shortest straw among the Democrats, and I
drew the shortest straw among the Republicans. As a result, he and I shared the
dubious distinction of sitting at the opposite ends of the committee table, like a pair of
unmatched bookends. (Richard Nixon) In other words, Nixon and Kennedy didnt get
along from the beginning. After his first term in Congress, he was reelected during the
Hiss case (the case of determining if American government official Alger Hiss was a
communist spy). Nixon played the role of finding papers that were proof of Alger Hiss
becoming communist. He gained a lot of fame once Hiss was convicted. Nixon was
greatly appreciated by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who said: "a man who has a
special talent and an ability to ferret out any kind of subversive influence wherever it
may be found, and the strength and persistence to get rid of it." (Six Crises) Eisenhower
always stuck by Nixon, and therefore asked him to run as Vice President under him and
served two terms along side Eisenhower from 1953-1961. Eisenhower was so thankful
and had said: Anyone who attempts to drive a wedge of any kind between Dick Nixon
and me has just as much chance as if he tried to drive it between my brother and me
(President Dwight D. Eisenhower). Nixon had gone very far in his political career since
his beginning in Congress.

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Although Nixons career seemed to be only going up from his Vice Presidency,
he hit a series of bumps in the road before he finally was elected President. In his
running against Kennedy, it was a very close fight. They did the unusual event of four
televised debates, but he ended up losing in 1960 (World Book Online). After going
through the tough defeat, he tried for a smaller political area: The Governor of
California. Although this position was less significant than being President, he had an
even more tragic loss. The results were embarrassing; he lost completely to Shell, the
most favored Republican runner (Infoplease.com). This time in Nixons career was a
time of political defeat.
The legacy of Richard Nixon was positive because he had success with foreign
policy, but his career was flawed because of the Watergate Scandal and people lost
trust in the Government.
Nixon decided to run again for President in 1968; it was a success. His
campaigning was strong; signs everywhere read: America needs Nixon. He defeated
his two opponents: Hubert H. Humphrey and George C. Wallace, but won only a
plurality of the popular vote. His running mate Spiro Agnew was elected the 39th vice
president of the United States. During Agnews first term, he became known for his
outspoken speeches criticizing protesters of the Vietnam War, and for accusing
Democrats of being "soft on Communism (Bibliography.com). For his first term as the
37th President, Nixon started off with some bumps in the road. In the beginning of the
1970s, intense inflation arouse. People had started making more money than ever, but
prices rose dramatically. He also lowered American excitement when he approved the
the ABM system. This system was made to guard underground missile bases from

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Soviet Union attacks. He was confident when making this system, but it was barely
approved (World Book Online).Towards the end of his first term, he won supporters
back when he became the first president to visit China while in office in 1972. He began
limiting American travel to China, although he had relaxed tensions with them and
encouraged trade. He had success with foreign policy, as he also went to the SALT 1
meetings with the USSR. Nixon and Leonid Brezhev met and signed seven
agreements; they agreed on covering arms control, cooperative research with space
exploration (Miller Center). Nixon eventually ended his presidency on a positive note,
which helped him when he ran for a second term.
President Nixon has won an overwhelming victory in the US presidential
elections for a second term in the White House, but it didnt last long due to some
drastic mistakes: including the famous Watergate Scandal. He took the election with
61% of the popular vote, compared to 38% for his Democratic rival Senator George
McGovern on November 7, 1972 (BBC News). Although it seemed as if nixon was going
to be staying awhile, Early in the morning of June 17, 1972, several burglars were
arrested at the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate
building in Washington, D.C. The robbers were connected to President Richard Nixons
reelection campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and
steal secret documents. (History.com) There was also evidence of an attempted coverup. Nixon denied involvement with both of these. When the investigator, Archibald Cox,
asked for tapes from the White House which contained conversations from the White
House, Nixon refused. He offered summaries of the tapes, but of course that would not
suffice in court. Vice President Agnew refused to resign if indicted, stating that he would

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only leave his office by impeachment. When Agnew was indicted, his lawyers bargained
with a federal judge; he ultimately agreed to resign on October 10, 1973. Nixon ordered
his attorney, Elliot Richardson, to fire Cox, but Richardson refused and resigned
(Washington Post). Nixon hired a new attorney who fired Cox but still the nation
understood that a true crime was going on. Nixon realized he was going to be
impeached, but instead of facing it he cowardly became the first president to ever resign
from office on August 9, 1974 (World Book Online). Nixon remained in his second term
for less than a year; it was a short term which was disastrous due to the Watergate
scandal.
Nixon does have a positive and negative legacy, although he is mainly
remembered for the negative actions which took place such as the Watergate scandal.
He did secure strong relations with China which is a very important relation for America
to have. China is in fact a world leader of production, and we receive oil, coal, and
multitudes of other natural resources from them. Nixon also signed the Anti Ballistic
Missile system treaty, which most citizens did not agree with at the time, but the U.S.
remained apart of it until recently in 2002 (Bibliography.com). Of course, along with
these things there was the Watergate scandal which lost all trust in him. Back then it
was a different time; no one expected a dirty politician. They had not seen a President
who stole and cheated and most everyone was simply disappointed and in
astonishment. Nixons legacy lives on today, all the positives and negatives included.
Nixon was a very smart man, but chose to use his knowledge in unwise ways. To
conclude, The legacy of Richard Nixon was positive because he had success with

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foreign policy, but his career was flawed because of the Watergate Scandal and people
lost trust in the Government.