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Richard Milhous Nixon Born: January 9, 1913 Died: April 22, 1994 Political Party: Republican Terms in office: January 20, 1969 - August 9, 1974 (resignation) Vice Presidents: Spiro T. Agnew - 1969 to 1973 Gerald R. Ford - 1973 to 1974

Turbulence in the Cities and the war overseas presented to Nixon a country that was painfully divided. This gave Nixon his first goal of reconciliation. During his terms as president, Nixon was able to end the war in Vietnam and also improving foreign relations. Even though Nixon had presidential terms that were full of great achievements, the Watergate and other scandals ultimately caused him to resign or be impeached. For these positive and negative reasons, I award President Richard M. Nixon with a B-.

The very first goal that Nixon had while in office was to reunite the country. Due to the war overseas and other domestic problems, the country was painfully divided and was in need of reconciliation. This goal had many different smaller goals within it, the most pressing of those being the war in Vietnam. Nixon had a method of reducing U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam which expanding the fight beyond the borders of Vietnam and into Cambodia and Laos at the same time. Many critics called this strategy "widening down" the war. Nixon's program for withdrawing troops from Vietnam was called "Vietnamization." This plan was designed to gradually withdraw the troops while at the same time training the South Vietnamese so they could fight their own war. This plan worked; dwindling the number of troops from 543,000 in 1969 to 340,000 in 1970 to 177,000 in 1971 and finally to 25,000 in 1972. To go along with the policy of Vietnamization, President Nixon enunciated the Nixon Doctrine which stated that U.S. forces would be reduced in all Asian countries. Nixon had ended the most costly war in American history. There were a total of 58,000 dead, 304,000 wounded, and cost approximately 110 billion dollars. One other major thing that helped reunite the country was the landing of a man on the moon. On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first man in history to step on the moon. The third goal he had to reunite the country was to improve relations between China and the U.S.S.R. All three of these goals helped unite the country by providing a sense of relief for the people and creating a sense of nationalism.

Because Nixon had been vice president before becoming president, he had many connections in the government. This plus his charismatic nature provided a fairly good relationship with congress at the beginning. He made many popular decisions during his presidency which got him the favor of the people. This, however, could not last. On June 17, 1972, 5 members of the Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP) were arrested while attempting to break into the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. Investigations showed that many of the scandals were organized by the president though it was never proven. Some of the accused crimes consisted of audio tapping the Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate and also to sabotage democratic campaign efforts. This completely turned congress against him and even drove them so far as to start drawing up the impeachment documents. Nixon realized that he was going to be impeached and decided to resign instead. For most of his presidential career, Nixon had a pretty good relationship with congress. It was only near the end that the relationship started to deteriorate.

The most positive thing that the President did while in office was to end the war in Vietnam. The war had dragged on far too long and more and more soldiers died every day. Many people were clamoring for the return of the soldiers and the end of the war in Vietnam. This action was positive because the president did what the people wanted him to do and he therefore gained their support. The only negative part of the withdrawal of the troops was that North Vietnam took over South Vietnam and the U.S. lost their first war. This was a major blow to the country because it showed that maybe the U.S. wasn't invincible after all. The most negative aspect of the presidency was the Watergate scandal. This scandal was so bad because it was believed to be President Nixon that ordered the bugging of the Democratic National Headquarters. This accusation forced Nixon to resign.

The one decision that most greatly affected future generations was the landing of a man on the moon. This tremendous feat put the U.S. at the top of the world stage in space exploration. It also opened up numerous possibilities that had never before been imagined. Space travel was no possible and it was the U.S. who had achieved it. Even the quote from Neil Armstrong is still very famous. When Neil Armstrong took his first step onto the surface of the moon, he said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

All in all, Nixon did a pretty good as President. He unified the country when it needed to be reunited and he stopped the war in Vietnam which was his greatest achievement. Though there were some very unforgettably bad things that he took part in, such as the Watergate scandal, he ultimately helped the U.S. His terms as president benefitted the country in numerous ways, and for his courageous efforts, I give President Richard M. Nixon a B-.

Sources:
 * Degregorio, William A.. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. Fourth Edition ed. New York: Barricade Books Inc., 1993. Print.
 * "Richard M. Nixon | The White House." //The White House//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2010. .