Hard-Driving Genius or Dirty Sneak?

Richard Milhous Nixon:

- Born in Yorba Linda, California on January 9, 1913

- Graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937

- Practiced law in Habra, California until 1941

- After the attack on Pearl Harbor he joined the US Navy in the Pacific and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

- 1946 was elected as Californian Republican in the House of Representatives

- 1950 he was elected into US Senate

- 1952 he was Dwight D. Eisenhower's running mate and became the youngest Vice President in history at the age of 39

- 1960 he ran a presidential campaign against JFK and lost

- 1962 he lost his campaign for Governor of California

- 1962 he withdrew from political life in which he said to the press "You won't have to kick Nixon around anymore."

- 1968 Nixon ran for President and was elected as the 37th President in US history

Election of 1968 - First Term

Richard Nixon campaigned for presidency knowing that it would mean dealing with the Vietnam war, but he did so regardless. Nixon was a Republican candidate with Spiro Agnew as his running mate. Nixon was campaigning against two other candidates during this election, Hubert Humphrey for the Democratic Party and George Wallace of the American Independent Party. Although Wallace was a contender the real competition lied with Nixon and Humphrey. Nixon during his campaign focused on a number of different issues such as "Restore to Law and Order" because of the violent riots for a number of years post MLK Jr. assassination. In addition he opposed desegregation in order to find better solutions for African American education, as well as tax incentives for blacks. Nixon also promoted supreme court justices that would be less active in creating social policies. Finally and most definitely not least was ending the military draft and creating a total volunteer army.

Humphrey's campaign consisted of issues such as expanding the "Great Society", a welfare program started by President LBJ. Also he wished to continue the "War on Poverty". In contrast to Nixon Humphrey planned to add justices to the supreme court that would promote civil rights and civil liberties. Furthermore Humphrey's stance on the Vietnam was vague and leaning more so towards pro-war which was a huge downfall for public support which allowed Nixon to take the presidency with ease.

Domestic Policy and Affairs

When Nixon's domestic record is reviewed it is look upon as neither strongly liberal or conservative but more so as politically practical. One of the first things that Nixon did when he gain position in the oval office was that he stalled desegregation in schools until 1970 and at which point he said it was inevitable, although he thought that there were better solutions. Another domestic aspect he focus on was that voting rights were to be equal among all the states. Moreover he aided the Dept. of Labor to provide training and jobs for minorities within federally funded construction projects. Also using racial classification in desegregating programs which is looked upon as the first example of affirmative action. A large part of his domestic policies deals with Law and Order and cleaning up the streets from drug abuse and prevention. He created the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, Organized Crime Control Act, District of Columbia Procedures Act and the Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Prevention and Control Act.

Foreign Policy and Affairs

Vietnam:

Nixon had the pleasure of inheriting the Vietnam war debacle from President Johnson. During Nixon's campaign for presidency he claimed to have a "secret plan" to end the conflict but as it turned out this was merely a campaign gimmick to win the election. When Nixon assumed presidency the death rate of the soldiers in Vietnam were up to 300 per week. As an effort to decrease American involvement in Vietnam he visited South Vietnam in 1969 and established "Vietnamization" which handed over the responsibility of fighting to the Vietnamese troops. This plan of Vietnamization was step towards what Nixon called "peace with honor". Despite all this the protests about US involvement in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia continued to rage on. By December 1972 troops were finally rotating back home and by 1973 there were no more US troops in S.E. Asia.

China:

Not only did Nixon have to face the challenge of the Vietnam war during his presidency he also adopted relations and foreign policy with recently independent China. In 1960 China had split from the Soviet Union creating tensions between the two, and during March of '69 tensions were unsettlingly high. To much negative by advisers and fellow politicians feedback Nixon used this opportunity to create and build diplomatic relations with China. This political risk turned out to be beneficial to the United States. By April of '71 the American table-tennis team was invited to compete in China. In accordance the Chinese sent their table-tennis team to the US this was referred to as "Ping-Pong Diplomacy". By 1972 Nixon personally visited China and agreed upon the final document known as the Shanghai Communique, which established point on which both nations agreed upon. Although Nixon had failed in Vietnam diplomacy and foreign relations in China were a huge success.

Soviet Union:

After great success in China Nixon drew up plans to meet with the leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev. Nixon arrived in Russia on May 22, 1972 and immediately engaged in intense relations regarding international issues. The following result of these meetings included increased trade and two landmark arms control treaties, one of which being SALT I. This was to be the first comprehensive limitation pact signed between the US and the USSR. This deal caused Nixon and Brezhnev to Proclaim a new era of "peaceful coexistence" which lead to the creation of a new policy called "Detente". This policy replaced the cold war and ceased tensions between both superpowers.

Election of 1972 - Second Term and Watergate Scandal

The time had come for another Presidential election and Nixon had decided upon campaigning for re-elections with his original running mate and Vice president, Spiro Agnew. His Democratic opponent this time around was a man named George S. McGovern. Regrettably Nixon's campaign was ripe with the stench of Scandal, the Watergate scandal to be exact. Nixon continued focusing in favor of desegregation but still opposed means such as busing. Although what Nixon truly focused upon in this election was keeping tabs vigorously on his opponents. Even though Nixon was the favored candidate and the current president re-elect he was overwhelmed with paranoia about losing the election. So when the Democratic National Committee headquarters was broken into on June 17, 1972 all eyes were on Nixon. Although it was his campaign aids who broke in and committed the burglary of the Democratic party information, Nixon inevitably took the fall. On the other hand McGovern's campaign wasn't running as smoothly as it should have. This opportunity would have been a prime chance for McGovern to undermine Nixon and steal the presidency right out from underneath him, but this wasn't the case. McGovern's issues composed of ending the Vietnam war, and guaranteeing minimum incomes for the poor, but his major downfall came when his running mate was involved in a controversial electro-shock therapy which portrayed him as a crazy radical which drastically caused his campaign to suffer. When the election results came in, Nixon had almost unanimously beat McGovern although his involvement in the Watergate burglary would result in his shameful resignation.

End of Presidency:

On May 9th 1974, the impeachment hears controlled by the Democrats began. The secret recordings that revealed that Nixon knew of the cover-up from the beginning were released 1974. These tapes went on to be called the "Smoking Gun tapes" which suggested that Nixon had tried to stop the FBI's investigation of Watergate. Nixon resigned office as the United states president on August 9th 1974 to avoid being kick out of office. Nixon left office saying "I see clearly now... that I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate" and "I am not a crook". So when it was time to choose a successor for Nixon Spiro Agnew was not an option because he was forced to resign earlier on in October 19th of 1973 as a result of a no-contest plea to criminal charges dealing with tax evasion and money laundering. Therefore the Republicans assigned Gerald Ford to succeed Nixon as President. Shortly after Ford gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes that he may have commited during his presidency and issued a formal apology on Television on Nixon's behalf to the people of the United States.

Smoking Gun Tape Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE1PyGzTr54

Nixon's Death

On April 18, 1994, while preparing dinner Richard Nixon at the age of 81 in his home at Park Ridge New Jersey,suffered a stoke and was rushed to New York Hospital in Manhatten. The initial stoke was not fatal but he died four days later on April 22 due to brain swelling. His two daughters, Julie and Tricia were at his side. As to Nixon's wishes he did not have a state wedding although his body lay in the Nixon library lobby until April 26th. It is said that more than 50,000 people waited in line to file past his casket. At his funeral among the people present include President Ford, Carter, Reagan, and George Bush. Eulogists included Rev. Billy Graham, Bill Clinton, and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Nixon's Legacy

As the 37th President of the United States of America Richard Milhous Nixon most definitely had a role in shaping the US into what it is today. When someone utters the name "Nixon" minds tend to wander in the direction of scandal, liar, cheat and Watergate, but its this point of view justified? Nixon as a human being made good choices and bad choices like everyone else people only seem to find the negative in ones history and outweigh it to the positive. Although when reviewing his presidency Richard Nixon fulfilled many outstanding achievements both within the country and outside of it. President Nixon had his hand in on many different beneficial aspects such as voting rights, law & order, Dept. of Labor and Justice, and finding better solutions to segregation. Nixon should also be remembered for getting the US out of the Vietnam war and establishing sophisticated relations with both China and the Soviet Union when others told him that it was an unwise idea. Although true that Nixon was dealing with some morally gray areas when involved in the Watergate scandal but the question remains for your to decide. Was Nixon a hard-driving genius or a dirty sneak?