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Richard Nixon Born: January 9, 1913 - April 22, 1994 Political party: Republican Term in Office: January 20, 1969 - August 9, 1974 Vice Presidents: Spiro Agnew 1969-1973 Gerald Ford 1973-1974 During Richard Nixons presidency it was clear that he made some bad decisions but on the other hand, he also did some good for the United States after being required to take over the role as president after kennedy was assasinated. Nixons work at creating stability between countries and also introducing new anti crime laws were both part of the good he did for the US. The watergate scandal on the other hand was one of the bad decisions he made for the country. All in all I believe Nixon deserves a C+ for his journey through history as president.

Nixons main goal as president was to keep a balance of power around the world. He felt that by doing this he would insure the prosperity of the united states and its peace. Having strength and willingness to negociate were two of the main qualities Nixon believed would help the US when dealing with foriegn countries and thier issues. The issue of communism and the vietnam war was all looked at differently too by nixon with this new foriegn policy he came up with. Under his new policy he talks of how trying to eliminate communism is not the way to go, but to rather replace that with new ideas and cooperation with vietnam now. Nixons new drive at the beginning of his term was based on peace more so than what it had been in the past. Goals of partnership and working together was also a focus for him, which is why he added the Soviet Union for his quest of peace.

Nixon wanted his own party in the supreme court with him during his presidency. He tried to appoint all republicans into the supreme court but of course, with the majority at the time in office being democrat, they were not into this idea that Nixon wanted. Many of his new ideas were shut down during his presidency at first, the majority of the member in the house and senate were democrat, making things rough on Nixon as a republican. Although many of his ideas were shot down, some were also approved as well, like his idea to meet with China personally to work through the foriegn issues with them.

Starting out with the most negative part of Nixons presidency, which would have to be one of the worst situations a president went through. The Watergate scandal was a huge breaking point for Nixon, which ultimatly led to his resignation as president in 1974. Men were employed by Nixon to wiretap and listen in on Democratic and liberal people (Democratic National Committee offices) to obtain information that ultimatly led him to be re-elected in 1972, two years before, as president. The sneakiness and untruthful acts from President Nixon was by far the worst and most negative decision during his presidency. As a president he lied and betrayed his American peopel by going through with these horrible acts. On a brighter note, a positive thing that Nixon did during his time as president would have to be his accomplishments with the foriegn policies and how he started to transport troops out of Vietnam during the bieginning of his presidency.He started handing over more power to the people who lived in vietname rather than risking American soldiers over there, which is why many of the troops were being pulled out. Reducing tension and coexsisting together was also a major acheivement of Nixon which involved the Soviet Union and the US. Even though Nixon knew the Soviets looked and dealt with situations differently, Nixon still pursued a policy that allowed both of them to coexist and reduce stress between them.

The most memorable moment in Nixons presidency would have to be a negative one in my eyes. The thing most people will remember about him as president and still do to this day would have to be his bad decision with the Watergate Scandal. Having to resign as president for any reason will be remembered by the American people forever, which is what is still true to this day. Everyone knows Nixon for lying and being sneaky behind thier backs. Sadly, this is what Nixon is remembered for and will be in generations to come.

With Nixons role as president beginning well and ending horribly I believe at the start of things he worked very hard as president. His foriegn policies as president helped creat better relationships with other countries but his sneaky acts ended his presidency with resignation. Adding in both of these main points in his presidency gives Nixon, in my eyes, a C+ for his time.

Sources: Action, Taking This. "Watergate Scandal." //United States History//. Web. 27 May 2010. [].

"Presidents: Richard Nixon." //American History and World History at Historycentral.com the Largest and Most Complete History Site on the Web//. Web. 27 May 2010. [].

Richard M. Nixon." //The White House//. Web. 27 May 2010. [].

"Richard Nixon: Biography from Answers.com." //Answers.com: Wiki Q&A Combined with Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedias//. Web. 27 May 2010. .