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** (January 9, 1913-April 22, 1994) ** ** Republican ** ** Terms: (January 20, 1969-August 9,1974) ** ** Vice Presidents: Spiro Agnew (1969-1973) ** ** Gerald Ford (1973-1974)
 * Richard Nixon **

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Richard Nixon is mostly known for the Watergate fiasco that surrounded him in his second term. Nevertheless, he was a great president who accomplished much. For his finishing of the war in Vietnam and his strides in civil rights, he earns a solid B-.

Nixon’s immediate goal was the blaring downward spiral of Vietnam. When he took office in 1969, the war was raging and the number of U.S. soldiers “in country” was near its peak with approximately 500,000 troops. The war carried with it a high casualty rate, extreme unpopularity among the public, and a general consensus that America was losing its grip. Nixon’s plan was to minimize the war and bring a slow, continuous close. He began without delay to gradually withdraw troops and announced the draft would end June 1973. He also created his policy of “Vietnamization”. This strategy bit by bit turned the war over to the Vietnamese, replacing American soldiers with those of South Vietnam and training and equipping their fighters with modern weapons. U.S. casualties dropped steeply starting in 1969 and the war ended several months after Nixon’s resignation. There was no success but it was at last ended, fulfilling Nixon’s goal and stopping the bleeding of the U.S.  His next goal upon entering office was to better relations with China. He accomplished this by starting frequent communications, reducing trade restrictions, and personally visiting China, shocking the American people. Goodwill between the two nations increased significantly and there was a much better public opinion of the P.R.C. over the U.S.S.R. This then ushered relations with the Soviet Union as well as they feared an alliance between the U.S. and China could put them at a disadvantage. Russia and the United States then began to increase trade and through the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and SALT 1, began a collective policy of arms reduction. These acts respectively forbid the development of systems capable of destroying inbound missiles and froze the number of ballistic missiles to current levels. Nixon thus markedly improved foreign relations. The last of Nixon’s major goals, as he said, was to “break the back of inflation”. It was accomplished in the short term by limiting increases in prices and wages, but had no real long-term affects.

Each Congress during both his terms had Democratic majorities and they never got along well. He vetoed 43 pieces of legislation, seven of which were overridden. This ratio of Congressional overrides to presidential vetoes was surpassed by only two other administrations before him, demonstrating their rough relationship. This did not mean he didn’t pass any acts however, and he actually got what he deemed most important through. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and SALT 1 are examples. He also passed the most reforms since the New Deal. The Economic Stabilization Act gave him control over prices and wages, allowing him to implement his anti-inflationary policies. The Supplemental Security Income was similar to Social Security but provided the elderly and disabled extra compensation. The Environmental Protection Agency was formed under his watch. For civil rights, he signed Title XI. This ended sexual discrimination in educational activities, especially collegiate athletics. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that enforced these laws and investigated instances of any form of discrimination. Nixon made much larger strides in civil reform that will be described in the next paragraph. As you can see however, the relationship between him and Congress still produced great progress.

One of the more significant and positive actions Nixon took was ending the Vietnam War. It did not produce a successful result in terms of a “victory” for the U.S., but nothing else that could have been done. He held a realistic view and mercifully brought it to a close. On the other hand, THE most positive and perhaps far-reaching decisions he ever made were those concerning civil rights. He continued Kennedy’s and Johnson’s actions but more effectively enforced them. His administration saw the first, large-scale integration of Southern public schools. From 1968 to 1974, he reduced the percentage of black children going to all black schools from 68% to just 8%. In spite of this, he disagreed with the act of busing children. This was the practice of transporting black students to predominantly white schools to overcome the residential and economic segregation between white and black students. Nixon believed such forceful integration was counterproductive and wanted desegregation to be a slightly more gradual experience. He accomplished this amazing feat by forming local committees with both black and white members, and stressing cooperation and patriotism. He strongly opposed violence and force and treated the South respectably. Following this was the volunteer desegregation of nearly all public facilities. He also emplaced the Philadelphia Plan, an act requiring Philadelphia government contractors to hire a certain amount of African-Americans by a certain date. This affirmative action provision quickly spread to other cities. Nixon’s most negative doing was highly publicized and eventually led him to resign: the Watergate scandal. Prior to the election of 1972, five men broke into the Democrat’s headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in D.C. They were looking to sabotage the Democratic Party’s campaign for the Presidential election. Nixon initially denied knowing about the activities or the later cover up, but suspicious evidence was produced of taped conversations inside the Oval Office that contained an 18-minute gap. Soon after, the House, controlled by the Democrats, began impeachment hearings. A tape was eventually released proving that Nixon was aware of the cover up and within one month, he had resigned. The only president ever to resign, Nixon had committed many crimes and disgraced the Republican Party. The only significant mistake he made during his presidency, it has thus tainted and marked his time in office forever.

Nixon’s presidency was highly influential on future generations of Americans. His advancements in the rights of blacks, women, and other minorities had a huge impact. The first real integration of public schools exposed to many the other half of America they had hardly ever met before. This gradually united the United States and increased patriotism. A nation divided for an extended amount of time how the U.S. was in the 60’s, can never be successful. The integration of schools also undoubtedly improved the quality of education for blacks, creating an ever smarter population and workforce. His involvement in Vietnam was as well highly influential on the Bush administration. Including gradual troop withdrawal in Iraq, the turn over of the war to the Iraqis holds much in line with Vietnamization. A similar method is also being currently employed in Afghanistan. Finally, like the high use of Green Berets in Vietnam, Special Forces have been for the majority of Afghanistan the only real application of U.S. forces.

The state of America after Nixon’s administration was without a doubt better than before. His continuation and enforcement of his predecessor’s civil rights reforms was awesome. His curtain call of the Vietnam War saved America any more bloodshed or dollars from a fruitless effort. Lastly, his worst actions only hurt himself and the Republican Party and left the nation unharmed. Nixon deserves a much better reputation, and earned himself a B-.

Bibliography:

1. "Impeachment: Richard Nixon." //The History Place//. Web. 27 Dec. 2009. .

2. "Richard Nixon : Biography." //Spartacus Educational - Home Page//. Web. 27 Dec. 2009. .  3. "Why Richard Nixon Deserves to Be Remembered Along with //Brown//." //History News Network//. Web. 27 Dec. 2009. .