Presidency of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office, the only U.S. president ever to do so. He was succeeded by Gerald Ford, whom he had appointed vice president after Spiro Agnew became embroiled in a separate corruption scandal and was forced to resign. Nixon, a prominent member of the Republican Party from California who previously served as vice president for two terms under president Dwight D. Eisenhower, took office following his narrow victory over Democrat incumbent vice president Hubert Humphrey and American Independent Party nominee George Wallace in the 1968 presidential election. Four years later, in the 1972 presidential election, he defeated Democrat nominee George McGovern, to win re-election in a landslide. Although he had built his reputation as a very active Republican campaigner, Nixon downplayed partisanship in his 1972 landslide re-election.
Presidency of Richard Nixon
President Nixon and his cabinet at the White House in June 1972
Nixon nominated Warren E. Burger as the 15th Chief Justice of the United States in May 1969; Burger was confirmed to the position by the U.S. Senate by a 74–3 vote on June 9, 1969.
President Nixon and his cabinet in the White House in March 1971
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and as the 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.
Portrait, c. 1969–1974
Nixon (second from right) makes his newspaper debut in 1916, contributing five cents to a fund for World War I orphans; his brother Donald is to his right.
Nixon as a senior at Whittier High School in 1930
Nixon's family: Julie and David Eisenhower, President Nixon, First Lady Pat Nixon, Tricia, and Edward Cox on December 24, 1971