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Richard M. Nixon Born: January 9, 1913 Died: April 22, 1994 Terms: 1969-1974 Republican V.P: Spiro Agnew

Looking back at Richard Nixon's presidency, there were many bright sides and there were many downfalls. From the end to the draft of the war to the Watergate Scandal, Nixon had a very interesting presidency to say the least. All in all I would give him a C- grade for his time in offce.

During Nixons State of the Union Address he said that some of his goals were to end the war in Vietnam, remain faithful to commitments but avoid other nations affairs, keep the economy growing, reforming the welfare system, and reassure that all Americans have the same opportunities. His goal for ending the war in Vietnam was sort of accomplished, America left the war as Nixon decided to slowly pull our troops out but it didnt end with the end of communism, just the end of Americas attempt in Vietnam. Nixon upheld his "faithful to commintements but avoid other nations affairs" goal by Vietnamization which became known as the Nixon Doctrine. However domestically Nixon was lacking because the seventies was a time were our economy truly struggled which followed the major economic expansion of the sixties. He proosed the Family Assistance Plan which garunteed money to families of four, but the Senate rejected this idea. But when it came to social changes Nixon also failed; due to wanting the votes Nixon went soft on segregation and other liberating ideals.

It is easy to say that Nixon was a king of foreign affairs. When it comes to the Soviet Union, he held strong to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), which was a freezing of the number of nuclear missiles for five years. Plus the Great Grain Deal of 1972, where we made an agreement to sell $750 million worth of food to the Soviets; although much of the nation disagreed with this decision because they were continuing with communism while we gave them goods. Vietnamization was a positive note in Nixons career, at this point much of the naion disagreed with the war in Vietnam so many were happy to hear that we were pulling troops out but still aiding support to the non-communist movement.

On the other hand, Nixon was very inept when it came to domestic affairs which was his greatest downfall. In this time the economy was at a huge loss, social chages went haywire, and due to the Watergate Scandal Americans lost trust in the government. Smething that contributedd to the economis damage was the replacement of the gold standard which in return devalued the American dollar, in the long run it severely hurt our nation. The social changes were not being properly attended to. Although Nixon did accomplish some social reforms like the Clean Air Act of 1970 and creation of Environmental Protection Agency many issues were still in dire need of reform. Then the Watergate Scandal occured; although Nixon was winning the election of 1972, he still had CREEP sneek into the infamous hotel to steal Democrat party papers. The were caught and the public found out about this, revealing the corruption of the government. In the long run leading to Nixon's almost impeachment (except he resigned instead). Nixons presidency impacted future holders of office in many ways. Firstly, he set a precedent and good example for foreign policy were he prevailed. But it was unfortunate for future presidents because the public now distrusted what was going on in office. Not to mention they had to deal with the terrible economic problem. Then wtih his reignation, Gerald Ford becomes president, when he doesnt even want to take that position in office. So when it is all summed up, Nixon sailed with flying colors in foreign lands but here in America, he failed miserably. America was left with a poor economy and unchaged social reforms. So i gave President Nixon the grade of a C-, which i felt he deserved.

http://books.google.com/books?id=mFcqC8-9xa8C&pg=PA155&lpg=PA155&dq=richard+nixon+social+changes&source=web&ots=a48kScO6CS&sig=G5y2H1Tmqq6dl9jrkmPLSP6No6c&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA155,M1

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/rn37.html

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/impeachments/nixon.htm

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/July-August-08/On-this-Day--Richard-Nixon-Resigns.html