Richard Nixon

• Vice President to:       General Dwight D. Eisenhower - Republican, from Texas.
  
  
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower served 1953 - 1961. He died in 1969, at the age of 79.
    
    
• Dates Served: Nixon served as Vice President from 1953 - 1961.
  
• Political Party: Nixon was a Republican, from California.
  
• Born: 1913.
  
• Died: 1994, at the age of 81.
  
• The presidential opponent during both the 1952 and 1956 campaigns was:
  
  
  • Adlai Stevenson - Democrat - Illinois Governor
    
    
• Campaign issues:
  
  
  • During the 1952 campaign:
    
    
    • This year the issue was Communists and how many were hiding under your bed. Eisenhower played upon the anger of many who resented Truman for having fired their hero MacArthur in Korea. As a war hero himself, Ike waved the flag of patriotism and vowed "to clean up the mess in Washington", perhaps the most common pledge in every campaign year. He left it to his candidate for Veep to run the dirty politics, which Nixon was an acknowledged master at. He accused the Truman Administration of having spent the past 4 years wallowing in "Communism, Corruption, and Korea". His good buddy, Joseph McCarthy, waved his list of known Commie spies at every opportunity, but this often worked against Eisenhower, whose military colleagues were beginning to be accused of Communist indiscretions. Adlai Stevenson ran his campaign by telling voters that the Republican Party had "to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th Century" and that the Democrats understood the new world order better. But Eisenhower made his famous pledge "I will go to Korea", to help dislodge the stalled peace talks which caught the attention of voters. He also benefitted from television, which showed Ike as an affable, likeable guy compared to Stevenson's more formal, intellectual image. Stevenson was fighting an uphill battle against America's newest war hero, and he took a dive on election day, loosing by a wide margin. The GOP was back in power for the first time in 20 years.
      
      
  • During the 1956 campaign:
    
    
    • This year there might as well not have been a campaign. Everyone liked Ike and they weren't about to dump him. The economy was booming and America was the most powerful nation on earth. The Democrats ran Adlai Stevenson as their candidate again and he tried to get a few bites by making an issue out of Eisenhower's recent heart attack, as well as calling for an end to the Draft and a limit to nuclear testing. But it all fell on deaf ears. The post-War world was a tense place and Americans wanted a proven professional at the helm. Stevenson lost by an embarassing margin.
      
      
  
  
• Notable Facts about Richard Nixon:
  
  
  • Richard Nixon was a seventh-cousin, twice-removed of President Taft, and an eighth-cousin, once-removed of President Hoover.
    
    
  • Religious affiliation: Nixon was a Quaker, a member of the Friends Meeting of East Whittier in California. However, during his terms as President he attended churches of a variety of denominations. He wasn't a true-blue Quaker, however, since he rejected the Quaker stance on Pacificm, enlisting in World War II and later aggressively commiting troops to Vietnam. He also didn't subscribe to the Quaker stance against the swearing of oaths, when he took his oaths of office in his various roles as Congressman, Vice President, and then President. Nixon's eighth-cousin Herbert Hoover was also a Quaker, and he had replaced the word "affirm" in his oath where he was asked to say "swear" in order to not compromise his Quaker beliefs, but Nixon didn't bother with this. Nixon referred to his religious beliefs when explaining his opposition to Abortion, but in other aspects of his public life religion doesn't appear to have played much of an obvious role in his decisions.
    
    
  • Originally a lawyer, Nixon practiced law in Whittier, California. In 1940 he co-founded a company that manufactured frozen orange juice, serving as company President. The business went under after only 2 years. After working for a few months in a tire-rotating company in Washington he quit and joined the Navy, where he remained throughout World War II until 1946, serving with the Pacific fleet.
    
    A point of dubious relevance: After finishing Basic Training, Nixon was posted for 6 months as an aid at a Naval Air base in Ottumwa, Iowa, which was also the home-town of the fictional character Radar O'Reilly on the TV show "MASH".
    
    
  • In 1947, Nixon was elected to the US House of Representatives, representing California from 1947 - 1950. During this time Nixon made a name for himself as an anti-Communist crusader, being named Chairman of the new House Un-American Activities Special Subcommittee. Nixon went on the prowl, digging up dirt on anyone even remotely accused of being a spy, such as Alger Hiss, a former State Department official, and succeeded in getting him convicted of perjury due to the discovery of a hollow pumpkin. (Click here for more details). He also sponsored a bill that required all Communist organizations in the US to register with the government, and made it a crime "to aid the immediate or ultimate objectives of the world Communist movement".
    
    
  • In 1951 Nixon was elected to the US Senate, representing California from 1951 - 1953. During his Senate campaign, Nixon was running against one of his House colleagues, Helen Douglas. Showing his early grasp of smear-tactics, Nixon had flooded the state of California with half a million so-called "pink sheets" that claimed to prove that his opponent's voting record while in the House of Representatives showed that she was really a closet Communist and therefore dangerous to America. Nixon nicknamed her "The Pink Lady", in reference to her supposed "Red sympathies". After winning the election, newspapers started referring to Nixon as "Tricky Dick" because of his style of politics, a nickname that he never lived down. Nixon was 38 when he won, becoming the youngest-ever US Senator.
    
    During his term as Senator, Nixon served on fellow-Senator Jospeh McCarthy's Communist witch-hunt hearings. He joined McCarthy in lambasting the Truman administration for not being hard enough on the Communists and especially for firing General MacArthur in Korea. Nixon was one of McCarthy's most effective anti-Communist crusaders.
    
    
  • In 1953 General Dwight Eisenhower was running for President, with Truman having decided not to run for re-election. He chose Nixon as his running-mate partly because Nixon was from a Western state which balanced the ticket geographically, but mostly because of Nixon's well-known reputation for being a committed Conservative and vigilant anti-Communist crusader. During the campaign a story appeared in newspapers that claimed that Nixon had been secretly keeping a "slush fund" of around $18,000 which he had been receiving under the table in the Senate from secret contributors. The story was widely reported and was making Eisenhower look bad and he seriously considered dumping Nixon from the ticket. But he gave Nixon one chance to publicly respond to the charges, and told him that in order to remain on the ticket he had to "come out as clean as a hound's tooth."
    
    Nixon appeared on national television in September and redeemed his reputation with his so-called "Checkers Speech". He spent an emotional half an hour admitting to the fund's existence but claimed that it wasn't for his personal use, only to pay for his "political expenses". He didn't want to charge American taxpayers for his expenses so he was actually doing America a favor by keeping the secret contributions. He went on to list all of his personal assets, like his car and his house and his life insurance, listing off the value of each to show that he was not wealthy. He then ended his speech with the admission that he had received one frivolous gift that he didn't intend to return. It was a small dog that his 6-year old daughter had named "Checkers". He described how much his daughter loved the dog and how it would break her heart to take it away, and how he didn't think his viewers would disapprove of something so American as a family having a dog. His speech warmed the cockles of America's heart and letters of support poured into Republican leaders' mailboxes by the truck-load and Eisenhower decided to keep Nixon on the ticket.
    
    
  • During Nixon's 2 terms as VP, he traveled a lot but wasn't well-liked in many places, with people spitting on him on a trip to South America in 1958. In 1959 he made his famous trip to Moscow, holding a public debate with Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev about the pros and cons of Communist and Capitalist societies, with Krushchev getting more than a little hot under the collar. Nixon also presided over Eisenhower's Cabinet meetings in his absence, including during Eisenhower's heart attack in 1955.
    
    
  • In spite of his busy schedule, President Eisenhower was once asked to name a contribution to any major policy decision that Vice President Nixon had made, and he replied, "If you give me a week, I might think of one."
    
    
  • In 1960 Nixon ran for President against John F. Kennedy but lost by a razor-thin margin of around 100,000 votes out of 68 million cast. It was a memorable campaign, involving the first-ever televised debate between Presidential candidates. Nixon had banged his knee on a car door and developed an infection, laying in the hospital for 2 weeks receiving antibiotics. When he was released he went straight into the debate, looking haggard and evil-looking, making Kennedy look dashing and more Presidential. It was enough to tip the close election to Kennedy.
    
    
  • After his loss against Kennedy, Nixon decided to try his hand at running for Governor of California in 1962, but lost against the Democratic candidate, Pat Brown. Nixon was pretty miffed at this point, seemingly unable to do anything right, and after being trounced at the polls he held his most famous press-conference. He angrily lashed out at the reporters saying he knew how happy they were to see him lose again. He said, "For 16 years, ever since the Hiss case, you've had a lot of fun. You've had an opportunity to attack me and I think I've given as good as I've taken. But as I leave you I want you to know, just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore. Because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." Yeah right...
    
    
  • For the following 5 years, from 1963 - 1968, Nixon returned to real work and practiced law, taking time to campaign for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 Presidential campaign.
    
    
  • In 1968 Nixon came out of political retirement and decided to take another chance at being President, which made the press happy because they now had Nixon back to kick around again. Competing against other popular Republican candidates, like Ronald Reagan and Nelson Rockefeller, Nixon won the Party's nomination, with Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew as his running-mate. He ran on a platform of winning the war in Vietnam, increasing Defense spending, and reducing taxes. He ran against then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey and third-party candidate George Wallace and won against both by a comfortable margin.
    
    
  • Nixon's mastery of dirty politics hadn't waned, and he conducted his Presidency with a masterful combination of Foreign Policy Statesmanship and secret, back-room dirty politics. Nixon conducted successful negotiations with the Communist Chinese government but had to withdraw from Vietnam without winning. He held summits with the Soviets and presided over the first moon-landings, but behind the scenes Nixon ordered offices bugged, smear-campaigns launched, informants payed off, and offices broken into. This last hobby was to be his undoing. In addition, Nixon had a thing for tape-recorders and he recorded too many of his conversations, later revealing the depth of his underhanded methods. The Watergate scandal exploded in his face, the nation grew cynical, and Nixon resigned in disgrace on August 9, 1974. Click here for more details.
    
    
  • Nixon left Washington, turning over the Presidency to his Vice President Gerald Ford (Spiro Agnew had resigned earlier as a result of his very own scandal). Nixon moved back to California, settling down in San Clemente, one very depressed ex-President. His spirits picked up a bit when President Ford pardoned him for all crimes he had committed, but it blew Ford's chances for any second term. Nixon spent a lot of time trying to get his Watergate tapes back but didn't succeed.
    
    
  • In 1980 Nixon testified at a trial of 2 former FBI agents who were accused of breaking into homes without warrants at Nixon's orders, and Nixon admitted to having given those orders. Of course, because of Ford's pardon, he was free to admit past crimes since he was immune from prosecution.
    
    
  • In 1985 Nixon served as mediator in a contract-dispute between the Major League Baseball franchises and the Baseball Umpire Association. Nixon may have lost the war between South and North Vietnam, but at least he could mediate a baseball dispute.
    
    
  • During President Reagan's 2 terms in office Nixon was "welcomed back" to Washington, since Reagan had defended Nixon throughout his Watergate troubles. Nixon appeared with Administration officials on a few occassions, but not enough to appear smug, and rarely spoke to Reagan himself.
    
    
  • Nixon died in 1994 after slipping into a coma, dying within 7 days.
    

Notable Events during his Vice Presidency:

• End of the Korean War, in 1953. In December of 1952 Eisenhower fulfilled his campaign-promise to personally go to Korea to revive the dead peace-talks. In July of the following year a cease-fire was called in the city of Panmunjom, with the signing of the Armistice. It called for the creation of a Demilitarized Zone between the 2 Koreas at the 38th Parallel, basically the same border that had separated the 2 countries prior to the war. It was seen as a success for the UN and a relief that modern warfare could be conducted without using nuclear weapons. But the 2 countries remain technically at war to this day, with the border between the countries being the most heavily militarized in the world.
  
  
• The fall of McCarthy, 1954. Senator McCarthy continued his Communist witch-hunt on into the Eisenhower Administration, intimidating witnesses to rat on their friends, including members of the military who Eisenhower had long worked with. However, once his hearings began to be televised his support quickly diminished, with many Americans disapproving of his bulldog tactics. The Senate voted to censure McCarthy and his dubious career was over.
  
  
• The Domino Theory. The French had been in their former colonies in Indo-China trying to keep the peace against an increasing number of Communist rebels, but weren't having much luck. In 1954 they asked the US to provide air-support during their assault against Communist rebels holed up in Dienbienphu, Vietnam. Eisenhower turned down their request, but admitted that he was worried about Communist activity in the area. He said, "You have a row of dominoes set up and you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences." Instead, he offered US aid in the form of advisors to the government of South Vietnam.
  
  
• Shemp Howard, part-time Stooge, dies on Nov. 23, 1955.
  
  
• The Eisenhower Doctrine. With the Soviets leaning ever harder on Berlin and crushing a Democratic movement in Hungary in 1956, Eisenhower defined a foreign policy agenda where the US promised to come to the aid of any country in danger of Communist revolution. Based on this, Eisenhower sent US troops to Beirut, Lebanon in 1958 to prop up their pro-West government.
  
  
• Interstate Highway System, 1956. The idea for an interstate highway system was first proposed back in 1918 by General John Pershing, but it wasn't until 1956 that the plan was authorized with public funds. Eisenhower signed a law that called for the construction of 42,000 miles of interstate highways connecting the country, which would take decades to complete.
  
  
• August 2, 1956, the last surviving Union Army veteran from the Civil War dies: Albert Woolson of Duluth Minnesota, age 109. The last surviving Confederate Army veteran from the Civil War dies 3 years later.
  
  
• The Suez Canal Crisis, in 1956. On October 31, France and Britain jointly attack Egypt, after Egypt seizes the Suez Canal in retaliation for Western aid to Israel. In response, Egypt sinks all 40 boats currently passing through canal.
  
  
• Eisenhower and Nixon easily win a second term against two-time Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson, grandson of President Cleveland's second Vice President of the same name, on Nov. 6, 1956.
  
  
• Civil Rights violence in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957. The Supreme Court issued a desegregation ruling that ordered all public schools to begin admitting black students. Violence erupted in the town of Little Rock, Arkansas, with its citizens refusing to comply. Eisenhower sent in soldiers to enforce the ruling, escorting many black students to and from school. In 1960 the Civil Rights Act defined punitive sanctions against any local government officials in any state who obstructed black people trying to register their children in public schools or trying to vote.
  
  
• The USSR launches Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. The Space Age officially begins.
  
  
• On the exact same day as Sputnik is launched, the US launches "Leave it to Beaver", which premiers on Oct. 4, 1957.
  
  
• The film "Plan 9 from Outer Space" is released in 1958, marking a dubious achievement in the history of film. Ironically, the film features a character known simply as "The Ruler", played by an actor named John Breckinridge, the name of President Buchanan's Vice President from 1857 - 1861! Their relationship remains undetermined.
  
  
• On January 31, 1958 the United States responds to the Russian "artifical moon" by launching it's very first satellite, Explorer I. The space-race was on.
  
  
• Communist Revolution in Cuba, January 1959. Led by Fidel Castro, Communist rebels overthrew the government in Cuba and "nationalized" $2 billion worth of American assets in their country. Eisenhower responded by severing all diplomatic relations with Cuba and placing an embargo against the country, which remains in place to this day. The US now had a Communist country only 90 miles off-shore, basically in their "backyard".
  
  
• Barbie is created by Ruth Handler in 1959. Barbie's full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts.
  
  
• December 19, 1959, the last surviving Confederate Army veteran from the Civil War dies: Walter Williams of Houston, Texas, age 117.
  
  
• Alaska and Hawaii both admitted into the Union, in 1959. The current 50 State Union was now complete. Vermont had been the first state to be added to the original 13 Colonies, and Hawaii was last, covering 168 years of State building. Who will be next? Canada perhaps?
  
  
• The U2 incident. In 1960 Paris was hosting a high-level East-West political summit. 2 weeks prior to its beginning the Soviet Union shot down a spy-plane that was flying over its territory. It was a new high-altitude U2 airplane piloted by an American, Gary Powers. He survived and parachuted into the hands of the Soviets, who promptly tried him for espionage. The Eisenhower Administration awkwardly defended the need for mutual surveillance to the American public and gave awkward explanations to the Soviets prior to the summit. Powers was eventually returned to the US in 1962, in exchange for a Soviet spy the US had been holding, but the incident didn't exactly warm the already ice-cold relations between the 2 countries.
  
  
• "The Flintstones" premiers, on Sept. 30, 1960.