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Richard Milhous Nixon Date of Birth: January 9, 1913 Date of Death: April 22, 1994 Political Party: Republican Terms of Office: January 20, 1969-August 9, 1974 Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew (1969-1973), Gerald R. Ford (1973-1974)

Richard Nixon is America’s only president to ever resign from office to date. His presidency is notorious for the Watergate scandal and his involvement in covering it up. However, what many do not know is that Nixon was actually a decent president if one ignores the huge blemish on his political record. His biggest successes were improving relations between America and the Soviet Union and China, and especially in ending the Vietnam War. He also passed a huge amount of legislation to protect the environment. However, the Watergate scandal and the following dishonesty displayed by Nixon earns him a C overall.

In order to increase his chances of winning, Nixon ran on vague platforms that did not directly address how certain issues would be solved. This was exemplified especially by the Vietnam crisis: he said he wanted peace in Vietnam but did not specify how it would be accomplished in the 1968 election. His goals in 1968 included peace in Vietnam, stricter enforcement against drugs, and reduced taxes and inflation. He successfully curbed drug trading through the Drug Abuse Control Act. After WWII, inflation became a growing problem in the U.S. Nixon adopted “gradualism” to restrict the growth of money supply, but this did not solve the problem. Finally, in 1971, Nixon created the New Economic Policy that froze prices and wages and cut taxes, while imposing a 10% import tax. This policy was very popular and led to an economic boom, but it only lasted for two short years. His goals for reelection in 1972 included improving relations with the Soviet Union and China. Relations with China improved because of Nixon. Nixon referred to China as the People’s Republic of China and he sent diplomatic feelers when relations between China and the Soviet Union went sour. A huge step in improving relations was when America was invited to China in 1971 to play table tennis. Although Nixon didn’t perfect our relations with China, he took the first big step towards establishing diplomatic relations. Relations with the Soviet Union also improved when Nixon and Soviet Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, which helped to reduce and eliminate arms.

Throughout his presidency, Nixon always had a slight Democratic majority in Congress. The Congress helped Nixon pass a huge amount of regulations to protect the economy, often compared to the Hundred Day’s Congress. Nixon vetoed a total of 26 propositions throughout his presidency. Even though he did not support the Clean Air Act nor the Clean Water Act because of the enormous amount of money needed to support them, Congress passed the laws over his vetoes. Also overridden was his veto on the War Powers Act of 1973. Many of his welfare programs that he proposed were not supported by Congress and therefore not passed, especially including Food Stamps and the negative income tax. The one part of his welfare reform proposal that did pass was the Supplemental Security Income, which gave a guaranteed income to the elderly and disabled.

Nixon’s best action as president was his involvement in ending the Vietnam War, especially with his Vietnamization program. Through this program, America trained South Vietnam to take over after US troops had been withdrawn. After a few years, the number of American troops in Vietnam had been seriously reduced. The Nixon Doctrine reduced the number of American troops in Asia in general in return for aid to those countries. Congress fought for the end of the war and repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The US continued to support South Vietnam by helping to bomb North Vietnam after an attack on the south. A peace agreement was signed in 1973 that released all prisoners of war in North Vietnam so that all remaining troops could be sent back home to America. Overall, the war was immensely unpopular in the US.; It cost our country a massive amount of money and human lives. Nixon was applauded for helped to end this terrible war.

The most negative aspect of Nixon’s presidency was the Watergate Scandal. After the Pentagon Papers had been published, Nixon feared that some of his own secrets would be revealed to the public. Some of the administration responded by breaking into the office of the leaker of the papers. In order to reelect Nixon in 1972, a group of agents broke into the Democratic National Headquarters. The burglary began a chain of scandals during Nixon’s presidency. A major problem with the ordeal is that White House members were bribed to cover up the scandal. Nixon at first refused to give up tapes that may have proved him guilty; eventually, he gave the tapes, but with huge missing chunks out of them. Nixon was blamed for withholding information, supporting a secret investigation, and for supporting the ordeal overall. Knowing that he would soon be impeached anyway, Nixon resigned from office. The scandal hurt the president in that Americans lost trust in the government and their leaders.

Nixon had a lasting impact on future generations through his huge amount of regulation to protect the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency of 1970 helped to regulate and reduce pollution. The Water Improvement Act of 1970 slowed water pollution from oil rigs and nuclear power plants. The National Air Quality Standards Act of 1970 required states to meet clean air standards. The Resource Recovery Act of 1970 helped to encourage recycling. The Water Pollution Act of 1972 gave federal funds to local governments to construct waste treatment plants. He also passed the Noise Control Act in 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, the Endangered Species Act is 1973, and the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974. Nixon remains to date the president who was most involved in protecting the environment.

In conclusion, Nixon was a good president with his policies. He successfully withdrew all troops from Vietnam while making it clear that other countries would need to fight their own battles with some American aid. He also improved relations between the US and China and the Soviet Union, which became very important later down the road in ending the Cold War. He also passed a copious amount of environmental-protection legislation. However, one cannot ignore his involvement in the Watergate scandal that forced him to resign from his job and infuriated the nation. All in all, Nixon deserves a C for his presidency.

Works Cited:

DeGregorio, William A. The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. Fort Lee, N.J: Barricade, 2005.

"American President: Richard Milhous Nixon." Miller Center of Public Affairs. Web. 26 May 2010. .

"List of United States Presidential Vetoes." Wikipedi, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 24 April 2010. .