Presidency

**The Presidency: Richard M. Nixon**



**A Brief Biography of President Nixon** Richard Nixon was born on January 3, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California. He went to Whittier College and Duke University Law School to get his law degree. Then he was a Navy lieutenant commander for four years during World War II. He was elected to the House of Representatives from 1947 to 1950, and then to the Senate from 1950 to 1953. Then he was the vice president under President Eisenhower. In 1960, he ran for President with the campaign slogan “For the Future.” He lost to John F. Kennedy. One of the reasons he lost was that their debates were televised, and Nixon appeared sickly and uncomfortable while Kennedy was very energetic. In 1962, he ran for governor of California, lost, and declared that he was leaving politics. But in 1968 he ran for President again, this time with the campaign slogan “Nixon’s the One.” He won the election, but only by a small margin. He ran for reelection in 1972 and won by a landslide.



Nixon accomplished many things during his presidency. He lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in response to protesters who argued that if 18- to 20-year-olds could be drafted into the war, they should be able to vote. He also took steps toward ending the draft. He slowly withdrew troops from Vietnam through “Vietnamization.” He reduced tensions with China and the U.S.S.R. and negotiated a treaty with Russia to limit strategic nuclear weapons. He appointed four conservative justices to the Supreme Court. He implemented an environmental program that eventually led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and passed a law prohibiting discrimination based on sex, gender, race, ethnicity, or religion. The moon landing occurred during his first term.

On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. When the FBI investigated the break-in, they discovered that it had been organized by the Committee to Re-elect the President, and that Nixon knew about it but had tried to cover it up. He paid numerous people hush money in order to keep his involvement a secret. Tapes of recorded White House discussions revealed that Nixon had stopped the FBI from investigating the Watergate scandal. This was obstruction of justice, and he was going to be impeached. He avoided that dishonor by resigning on August 8, 1974.

After his presidency, President Gerald Ford gave him a full pardon for his involvement in the Watergate scandal and any other crimes he may have committed during his presidency. Nixon left behind the legacy of a lowered voting age, a Constitutional amendment, and the EPA. He had also appointed four Supreme Court justices, including a Chief Justice. In a way, President Ford was his legacy as well. When Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned after a scandal, Nixon appointed Ford as his vice president. Then, when Nixon resigned, Ford became President. Nixon died on April 22, 1994, of a stroke in New York.

**Nixon's Role as Legislator-in-Chief** Nixon issued 346 executive orders throughout his presidency. These included establishing the Council for Urban Affairs, establishing the Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy, establishing an Office of Intergovernmental Relations, establishing the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, modifying rates of interest equalization tax, establishing the Environmental Quality Council and the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality, enforcing equal employment opportunities in the federal government, giving certain privileges and immunities to the United International Bureau for the Protection of Intellectual Property, excusing federal employees from duty on certain days, giving himself control of the air and water pollution at federal facilities, calling the National Guard into service, establishing the National Council on Federal Disaster Assistance, establishing the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, administrating the Disaster Relief Act of 1970, stabilizing wages and prices in the construction industry, establishing a seal for the Environmental Protection Agency, exempting some employees from compulsory retirement due to age, giving more land to the Yakima Indian Reservation, inspecting the tax returns of the Committee on Public Works, enforcing drug laws, delegating responsibilities to certain people, enforcing nondiscrimination in federally funded programs, selling some of the Navy's vessels, approving the International Symposium on Geothermal Energy, limiting the authority of the Department of Agriculture, abolishing the Energy Policy Office, terminated the Economic Stabilization Program, creating various boards to investigate disputes between railways and their employees, and regulating exports.

Some legislations that Nixon supported were legislation to stabilize the economy such as the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970, legislation to reform welfare such as the 1969 Family Assistance Plan, legislation to improve the environment such as the Clean Air Act of 1970, and legislation that eliminated discrimination such as Title IX and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. Some legislation he opposed was legislation involving universal childcare such as the Comprehensive Child Development Act. He also opposed protesting of any kind, including protesting of the Vietnam War, and often ordered protesters to be subdued.

Nixon vetoed 43 bills, seventeen of which were pocket vetoes. Some bills he vetoed were the Comprehensive Child Development Act, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, the Clean Water Act, the Employment and Manpower Bill, the War Powers Resolution, an amendment to the Communications Act, and an amendment to the Public Health Service Act. Congress overrode seven of his vetoes, including his veto of the Clean Water Act and his veto of the War Powers Resolution.

1. Warren E. Burger (Chief Justice) 2. Harry Blackmun (Associate Justice) 3. Lewis F. Powell, Jr. (Associate Justice) 4. William H. Rehnquist (Associate Justice)
 * Supreme Court Appointments **

**Foreign Policy** President Nixon’s foreign policies mainly dealt with the Vietnam War. He knew that most of the public was opposed to the war, so he wanted to end it quickly through “Vietnamization,” which was the gradual withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. Then, in 1969, Nixon secretly bombed Cambodia and Laos because those countries had been sending supplies to North Vietnam. He thought that by cutting off North Vietnam’s supplies, the war would end sooner. When the U.S. public found out about the bombings, there were lots of protests, some of which ended in death. In 1973, Nixon signed a peace treaty between the United States, South Vietnam, and North Vietnam. Congress then passed the War Powers Resolution, which would require the President to consult Congress before sending out troops. Nixon vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode his veto and passed it. Nixon was also involved in foreign policy in China and the Soviet Union. He visited Beijing on February 22, 1972, to establish peaceful relations between China and the United States. This resulted in “opening” China to the United States because the two countries were then able to trade with each other. In May of the same year, Nixon became the first President to visit the Soviet Union. He negotiated a treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons in both the United States and the Soviet Union. Congress, as well as the general public, approved of these actions because the United States’ peaceful relations with China and the Soviet Union decreased the chance of a war against either of those countries.

__ Highlights __
 * Highlights, Criticisms, and Pitfalls of the Presidency (From January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1973)**

__ Criticisms and Pitfalls __
 * Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (although this actually took place in 1970, during the 91st congressional session, not the 92nd).
 * In 1971, the 26th Amendment was passed and ratified, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.
 * Nixon got along well with the Supreme Court, especially after he was able to appoint four justices.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">In 1971, the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin was signed by the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France to establish trade and communications in Germany.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">In February of 1972, Nixon became the first president to visit the People's Republic of China, which had been isolated from the west since 1949.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">In May of 1972, Nixon visited Austria, the U.S.S.R., Iran, and Poland, and he signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">On November 2, 1972, Nixon was re-elected to a second term.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 13.2pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 13.2pt;">** Characteristics of the Presidency ** Richard Nixon was a conservative Republican. Because of this, he got along well with the Supreme Court, but not with Congres. Part of the reason why Nixon got along with the Supreme Court so well was that he had appointed four of the justices, including Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. During his campaign, Nixon had promised that he would appoint conservative justices, so accordingly the justices he appointed were conservatives who generally agreed with his political and ideological values. After the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court tried Nixon in //United States v. Richard M. Nixon// (1974), found him guilty, and banned him from any future political activity. However, even then Nixon was such good friends with Justice William Rehnquist that Rehnquist had to excuse himself from the final decision in order to avoid a conflict of interest.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 13.2pt;">The war in Vietnam was highly criticized by many people, especially the younger generations.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 13.2pt;">Nixon did not get along well with Congress, which had a Democratic majority in both houses.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 13.2pt;">In 1971, Nixon began to secretly record meetings and conversations in the Oval Office.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 13.2pt;">In June of 1972, five burglars from the Committee to Re-Elect the President were arrested in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. In August, a $25,000 cashier check designated for the Nixon campaign was found in the bank account of one of the burglars, casting suspicion on the president.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 13.2pt;">On August 8, 1974, Nixon announced his resignation (although this took place during the 93rd congressional session, not the 92nd).

Nixon's relationship with Congress was not so friendly. Both houses of Congress had a Democratic majority, and most of the congressmen were liberal. They were very opposed to the war in Vietnam, and they especially did not like Nixon's war strategies. Several times, they attempted to pass legislation that would force Nixon to withdraw all American troops. The Vietnam War ended without having ever been officially approved by Congress; the entire time, Nixon had been sending out troops through an executive order.

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