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Richard Nixon 37th President of the United States of America Born: January 9, 1913, Died: April 22, 1994 Republican Party Terms of Office: January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 (resigned from office in second term) Vice Presidents: Spiro Agnew, Gerald Ford

American Identity: In Richard Nixon’s life, he was involved in many different areas of politics. He was in the Senate and was the vice president for Eisenhower. Later on, he ran for president and the governor of California but was unsuccessful in both. However, he tried again in 1968 and was elected president. Nixon was very resilient and determined to make it to the top and he worked hard and eventually made it. Also, Nixon always tried to do what was best for the country during the situations he was in. When he was under the radar for the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned and said the United States needs to begin “that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America”. At this point, Nixon knew he was going to be impeached, but instead, he accepted his mistakes and let someone else come in to save the title of the presidency. Nixon knew he had majorly screwed up and he didn’t want his decision to affect the future in a very bad way. This was unselfish off him to always look for the nation to prosper and not himself. Richard Nixon set an example for all the people to follow by being determined to make it as far as he could, and to accept his mistakes and look towards the success of the country in the future.

Analysis: Throughout Nixon’s presidency, he did many extremely positive things to help the country. He helped put the first American man on the moon, cooled tensions with the Soviets and China, and ended the Vietnam War. As a result, inflation in the United States was reduced and the economy was pretty well of. Also, Nixon helped build on the equality of all races and enforced the desegregation of African Americans. However, Nixon’s administration got caught in the Watergate scandal and Nixon, about to face impeachment, resigned from his presidency. Despite being the first president to resign, Nixon had excellent foreign and domestic relations within the country and outside the country. All of the positive things in Nixon’s first term nearly offset the scandal so therefore, Nixon earns a C for his presidency.

In Nixon’s first inaugural address, he talked about the status of the nation throughout the century. When Franklin Roosevelt was elected, the nation was in a devastating depression and was just trying to get by and hold their heads up. When Nixon was elected, the country was the exact opposite. The economy and the advancements of technology were huge, but the spirit of the country was down. Nixon’s goal was to end the Vietnam War and get the troops home safely so Americans can start being happy again and war free. Also, Nixon talked about how everyone needs to receive an education and have equal social statuses as their neighbor. This is crucial if the nation wants to succeed and move forward. “Where peace is unknown, make it welcome: where peace is fragile, make it strong; where peace is temporary, make it permanent.” People cannot continue to suffer in poverty and in starvation so the nation has to gather together and help out everyone. Finally, Nixon symbolized how the astronauts saw the bright horizon and the advancements of mankind, and expressed how the American people need to gather around this faith and look to do the best things possible in the future.

During Nixon’s trips to China, he worked very closely with his National Secretary Advisor, Henry Kissinger. He was the closest of all of the cabinet members to Nixon and they worked together on a lot of foreign relations including some with Egypt and Israel. Without Kissinger organizing this appointment, Nixon would not have been able to cool the United States relations with communist China. As for the rest of his cabinet, Nixon was successful in passing some bills that created organizations, and others that were not passed. Also, Nixon got to choose a few Supreme Court Justices which gave the Republican Party an advantage in the government. However, Nixon lost most of his government support during the Watergate scandal. At the end, some of his government officials had resigned and everyone was saying they weren’t involved. Nixon lost most of his support then and ruined his relations with the government. Overall, Nixon’s relations with his cabinet and administration got worst as his presidency went on.

Some of the early positive events in Nixon’s presidency were landing the first man on the moon, reducing the tension with China and the Soviet Union, and taking the troops out of Indochina. Nixon met with Russian leader Brezhnev and agreed to limit the building of nuclear weapons. This was crucial for the slowing of the Cold War and to make sure there was no nuclear war after the tense times during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Eventually in 1973, nearly all of the troops were out of Vietnam and the war was essentially over. Also, Nixon put the economy and domestic affairs on the back burner, but still made contributions to keep them under control. Nixon and a few of his advisors met at Camp David and temporarily lowered wages and reduced inflation. In addition, Nixon helped the economy by celebrating the first Earth Day in 1970, creating the Environmental Protection Agency, and passing acts like the Clean Air Act. These were very popular among the people. Then, Nixon endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment and the integration of blacks into school with whites. This push for the combination of both races in learning environments was not popular, but was necessary to stand strong with Nixon’s goals of equality and unity as a nation. These popular decisions easily got Nixon reelected for a second term. Finally, Nixon got the Republican Party back on the right track after losing a few elections before, and received the largest margin of victory for a Republican during the Cold War. Nixon made many positive contributions to the United States with his foreign affairs, economic aids and Civil Rights equality for blacks.

As for the negatives, one stands out above all the others. However, other than the Watergate scandal, Nixon did not have many mistakes throughout his presidency. To make it short and sweet, members of Nixon’s administration were caught breaking into the Watergate hotel, and the news picked up the story. Then, the break-ins were linked to Nixon and Nixon had to deny the claims. In the end, Nixon’s cover-up was not successful, he had to turn in the tapes, and Nixon was forced to resign or face definite impeachment. Nixon chose the easy way out, but his rationale for the advancement of the country after his mistake was very important. He went down fighting, like all Americans should, and didn’t ruin the name of the president by being impeached. Nixon wanted the nation to begin rebuilding once he was gone. The Republican Party was split after this event and many of the officials in the government were forced to resign and start over. Still, the Watergate scandal was bad and unpopular among the people. This definitely lowered Nixon’s rating, but the positives in the above paragraph helped save his name.

Looking into the future was something Nixon did a great deal of. He constantly spoke of equality of all races and getting the country out of these wars with communism. By helping to ease the relations with China and the U.S.S.R, Nixon was making the future president’s jobs easier. The Cold War would soon end within the next 10 to 15 years and the United States would be a lot better off and have less stress. By peacefully trying to ease blacks into schools, Nixon was setting a standard for later presidents. Nixon was already on the right track because of Kennedy and Johnson, so he just had to continue closing the gap and ending racial differences. Also, Nixon advanced the technology of the nation by putting the first man on the moon and creating joint missions with the Soviets in later years. Finally, Nixon weakened the nation by resigning as president, but tried to leave it in the best shape he could. This meant that he didn’t keep lying and go until he was impeached. Instead, he accepted his consequences and wanted the nation to rebuild and move forward. In the end, Nixon best helped the nation with some of the best strategies towards the Cold war and Vietnam War and contributed to ending both wars.

Due to his successful foreign relations and positive contributions to the economy, civil rights, and technology, and despite his resignation as president, Richard Nixon deserves a C for his presidency. Nixon always looked forward to the betterment of the nation and wanted peace even in the worst of times. He didn’t let his mistake affect the United States in a very negative way and made great choices to help future presidents. If it weren’t for Richard Nixon’s involvement with the Soviets, Vietnamese and Chinese, his outlook into the future, and his positive drive to succeed and create equality, the United States would be in a much worse place today.

Works Cited

"Nixon." //20th Century History//. Web. 22 Dec. 2011. . Richard Nixon: "Inaugural Address," January 20, 1969. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, //The American Presidency Project//. []. "Richard M. Nixon." //The White House//. Web. 22 Dec. 2011. ."Richard Nixon." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 22 Dec. 2011. .