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** Party: ** Republican ** Terms: ** (1969-1973), (1973-1974) ** Vice Presidents: ** Spiro Agnew (1969-1973), Gerald Ford (1973-1974) Nixon Deserves a C+ for his presidency. He came into office at a high point with the economy and failed to preserve it. He did a very lousy job with handling domestic affairs and instead focused highly on foreign affairs. He bettered American relations with China and Russia, got America out of the Vietnam War, and preserved America’s oil supply from the Middle East. Nixon’s main goals were in foreign affairs. He was much more concerned with our relationships with other nations than with our economy. He wanted to get China and the USSR into a friendlier mood with the United States. He was very successful. He made many peace negotiations with the USSR to control production of nuclear arms and to slow the arms race. He installed diplomatic relations with China and was the first president to visit China. This would become very important later in America’s economy. He also managed to end American involvement in Vietnam. It took a few years but by 1974 he had withdrawn American troops from the area. However, Nixon was not so successful with domestic policy. His goal was to maintain the economic boost from Kennedy’s presidency. He wanted to control inflation with pay and price freezes but they did not work well and the economy slowly slipped away. It wasn’t a total economic crash or depression but the nation was taking steps backwards again with rapid inflation instead of improving. Nixon had a fairly neutral relationship with congress. There was a Democratic majority in both houses the whole time that he was president but he didn’t veto too many bills. The most significant veto of his presidency was the War Powers Resolution. It forbade the president from deploying troops without congresses consent. It appeared towards the end of the Vietnam War when Nixon was attacking the Ho Chi Mihn trail in Laos and Cambodia. Congress overruled his veto but the important thing was that Nixon was trying to extend his powers which would become a problem later in his presidency. Nixon passed many acts concerned with the environment such as the Clean Air Act and he created the EPA. He proposed policy’s such as a negative income tax to help give the poor more incentive to work and an extension of the food stamps program but both ideas were shot down. Nixon’s most positive actions were in foreign affairs. He ended American involvement in Vietnam which was highly approved of by the public. He did so by cutting the communist flow into North Vietnam by taking out the Ho Chi Mihn Trail and then bombing Northern Vietnam. He was able to slow down the Northern Vietnam army enough to withdraw American troops. He also set up friendly diplomatic relations with China and made arms negotiations with the USSR. The most negative thing to happen was the famous Watergate Scandal. Nixon abused his powers to create his own police force and had them sneak into a democratic convention at the Watergate hotel. This was what would eventually lead to Nixon’s resignation. This was bad for Nixon, but not for the country. The worst thing he did for the country was fail in his attempts to control inflation and let the economy slip into a slight recession. Nixon left a legacy in foreign affairs. Leaving Vietnam and establishing diplomatic relations with China were very important. He also made progress with the USSR and controlling nuclear weapon production which didn’t end the cold war but brought its end into sight. This is what impacted the world the most because policies would be made in the future to further control of nuclear production and they are still in affect today. The nation didn’t benefit from Nixon or get worse overall. The economy went downhill but foreign relations were greatly improved and he got American troops out of Vietnam. He basically did half his job; he excelled in foreign affairs and failed in domestic affairs. That is why he deserves a C. The fact that the economy didn’t suffer much gives him a C+.
 * Richard Nixon **

Bibliography

"Historical Party Strength in Congress." //Congress OL//. U.S. Congress, 27 Dec. 2009. Web. 27 Dec. 2009. [].

"Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present." //United States Senate//. United States Senate, 27 Dec. 2009. Web. 27 Dec. 2009. []. "Richard Nixon." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. University of Virginia, 2009. Web. 27 Dec. 2009. [].

"Richard Nixon." //Wikipedia//. Wikipedia, 27 Dec. 2009. Web. 27 Dec. 2009. [].