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Richard Milhous Nixon

Born: January 9, 1913 Died: April 22, 1994

Political Party: Republican

First Term: 1969-1972 Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew Second Term: 1973-1974 Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew Geralk R. Ford (December 6, 1973 and on)

After several tries to get into office, Richard Nixon finally succeeded in 1968 to gain the spot of the presidency. After a successful first term with great foreign policy strides, his second term was clouded by the Watergate scandal that eventually forced him to resign from office. For success and then failure on the job I give Nixon a C-. During his campaigning and when he first obtained office, his main objective was the ended of the Vietnam War with a policy of “new nationalism” where other countries would gain more responsibility of controlling affairs. He stayed true to his goal by gradually removing American troops and replacing them with people of their own country.

Nixon’s relationship with his Congress was relatively smooth despite the fact that it had a Democratic majority. They did clash heads a bit, like when the Senate not only rejected one of Nixon’s Supreme Court Justices, but two of them (both were Southern conservatives). Congress and Nixon did work well with foreign relations with Vietnam and the effort to try and thaw the tensions of the Cold War and other communist countries with the SALT agreement and the induction of communist China into the United Nations.

The best action by Nixon’s administration was the gradual withdraw of American troops in Vietnam. Lowering the number of troops in the war meant a lower chance of fellow Americans dieing in a war that didn’t seem to be going anywhere. By withdrawing the troops it somewhat lessened the tensions on the home front with protests across the nation urging for an end of the war. And also by lessoning the war effort, it gave the U.S. more money to deal with the financial crises at home and not so much put into an almost never ending battle. By withdrawing from Vietnam it made the overall moral of the country happier to see their sons and husbands come home, and also helped the country’s financial state.

The worst thing done by Nixon’s administration during his terms was the Watergate Scandal. The scandal was meant to help with Nixon’s reelection by bugging the Democratic rooms in the Watergate Hotel. What eventually happened was the destruction of government officials’ jobs and Nixon resigning from presidency to avoid forced impeachment that was bound to come. The Scandal put a black mark across his successful first term and now it’s was his presidency is known for.

The action that affected future generations the most was passing of the 26th amendment which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. It was primarily to pacify the young protesters found in colleges across the country. The amendment still stands and many young Americans are proud to give their vote when election days come around.

Nixon’s first term was very successful with his process of //détente,// or relaxed tensions and the gradual ending of American participation in the Vietnam War and this left the country in a good position with having to deal with communist threats. However with bad endings in the Watergate Scandal, Nixon remains the only president to have resigned from the position, and lasting impressions leave a mark in people’s minds; which is why he deserves a C-.

Bibliography:

Smith, Carter. __Presidents All You Need to KNow__. New York: Hylas Publishing, 2005.