Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States (1969–1974) and was the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961). Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing undergraduate work at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law in La Habra. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the United States Navy, serving in the Pacific theater, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant commander during World War II. He was elected in 1946 as a Republican to the House of Representatives representing California's 12th Congressional district, and in 1950 to the United States Senate. He was selected to be the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party nominee, in the 1952 presidential election, becoming one of the youngest vice presidents in history. He waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and an unsuccessful campaign for Governor of California in 1962; following these losses, Nixon announced his withdrawal from the political scene. In 1968, however, he ran again for president of the United States and was elected. The most immediate task facing President Nixon was a resolution of the Vietnam War. He initially escalated the conflict, overseeing incursions into neighboring countries, though American military personnel were gradually withdrawn and he successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam in 1973, effectively ending American involvement in the war. His foreign policy initiatives were largely successful: his groundbreaking visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972 opened diplomatic relations between the two nations, and he initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. On the domestic front, he implemented new economic policies which called for wage and price control and the abolition of the gold standard. He was reelected by a landslide in 1972. In his second term, the nation was afflicted with economic difficulties. In the face of likely impeachment for his role in the Watergate scandal,[1] Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. He was later pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford, for any federal crimes he may have committed while in office. In his retirement, Nixon became a prolific author and undertook many foreign trips. His work as an elder statesman helped to rehabilitate his public image. He suffered a debilitating stroke on April 18, 1994, and died four days later at the age of 81. Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, to Francis A. Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon in a house his father had built in Yorba Linda, California.[2][3][4][5] His mother was a Quaker, and his upbringing was marked by conservative Quaker observances of the time, such as refraining from drinking, dancing, and swearing. His father converted from Methodism to Quakerism after his marriage.[4] Nixon had four brothers: Harold (1909–1933), Donald (1914–1987), Arthur (1918–1925), and Ed (born 1930).[6] Nixon's early life was marked by hardships. Two of his brothers died before he was 21 and his family's ranch failed in 1922. The Nixons then moved to Whittier, California, the home of his mother's relatives, where his father opened a grocery store.[6] Nixon initially attended Fullerton High School in Fullerton, but later transferred to Whittier High School, where he graduated second in his class in 1930.[7] Financial concerns forced him to decline a scholarship to Harvard University[8] and to Yale University;[9] he instead enrolled at Whittier College,[10] a local Quaker school, where he co-founded a fraternity known as The Orthogonian Society. Nixon was a formidable debater, standout in collegiate drama productions, student body president, player on the football and basketball teams, and track runner.[10][11] While at Whittier, he lived at home and worked at his family's store;[10] he also taught Sunday school at East Whittier Friends Church, where he remained a member all his life. In 1934, he graduated second in his class from Whittier and received a full scholarship to Duke University School of Law.[10] His future plans at this time focused solely on law; he was elected president of the Duke Bar Association[12] and graduated third in his class in June 1937.[10] Nixon later spoke about the influence of his alma-mater, saying, "I always remember that whatever I have done in the past or may do in the future, Duke University is responsible in one way or another."[13] Although Nixon's first choice was to get a job with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he returned to California and was admitted to the bar in 1937. He began practicing with Wingert and Bewley,[10] where he worked on commercial litigation for local petroleum companies and other corporate matters as well as on wills. By his own admission, Nixon would not work on divorce because he was "severely embarrassed by women's confessions of sexual misconduct." Nixon found the practice of law unexciting, but thought that it would gain him experience that would be beneficial in a future political career.[14] In 1938, he opened up his own branch of Wingert and Bewley in La Habra, California,[15] becoming a full partner in the firm the following year.[16] In January, 1938, Nixon was cast in the Whittier Community Players production of The Dark Tower. There he played opposite a high school teacher named Thelma "Pat" Ryan.[10][17] Nixon pursued her, but initially Ryan was not interested in a relationship. He began making unannounced visits to her home and would take her on Sunday drives to the Quaker Sunday School where he was a teacher.[18] After several proposals, Ryan eventually agreed to marry the future president and they wed at a small ceremony on June 21, 1940.[10] After a honeymoon in Mexico, the Nixons moved to Long Beach, then settled into an apartment in East Whittier a few months later.[19] In January 1942, they moved to Washington, D.C., where Richard Nixon took a job at the Office of Price Administration.[10] Nixon was eligible for an exemption from military service, both as a Quaker and through his job working for the OPA, but he did not seek one and was commissioned into the United States Navy in August 1942.[10] He was trained at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island and was assigned to Ottumwa Naval Air Station, Iowa, for seven months. He was subsequently reassigned as the naval passenger control officer for the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command, supporting the logistics of operations in the South West Pacific theater.[20][21] After requesting more challenging duties, he was given command of cargo handling units.[22] Nixon returned to the United States with two service stars (although he saw no actual combat) and a citation of commendation, and became the administrative officer of the Alameda Naval Air Station.[23] In January, 1945, he was transferred to Philadelphia's Bureau of Aeronautics office to help negotiate the termination of war contracts. There he received another letter of commendation, this time from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. In October 1945, he was promoted to lieutenant commander.[23] He resigned his commission on New Year's Day 1946.[24] Soon after World War II ended, a group of Whittier Republicans approached Nixon about running for a seat in the United States House of Representatives.[25] Nixon accepted their offer, and waged a campaign which ended in a victory over the five-term Democratic incumbent Jerry Voorhis in November 1946. Nixon represented southern California's 12th Congressional district for the next four years.[25] He helped finance the campaign with his World War II poker winnings.[26][27] In Congress, Nixon supported the Taft-Hartley Act of 1948, and served on the Education and Labor Committee.[25] He was part of the Herter Committee, which went to Europe to prepare a preliminary report on the newly enacted Marshall Plan.[25] Nixon first gained national attention in 1948 when his investigation on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) broke the impasse of the Alger Hiss spy case. While many doubted Whittaker Chambers' allegations that Hiss, a high State Department official, was a Soviet spy, Nixon believed the allegations to be true. He discovered that Chambers saved microfilm reproductions of incriminating documents by hiding the film in a pumpkin.[28] They were alleged to be accessible only to Hiss and to have been typed on his personal typewriter. Hiss was convicted of perjury in 1950 for statements he made to the HUAC. The discovery that Hiss committed perjury and thus may well have been a Soviet spy thrust Nixon into the public eye. This case turned the young Congressman into a national, and controversial, figure.[25] He was easily reelected in 1948.[25] In the 1950 mid-term elections, Nixon challenged incumbent Democratic Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas for a seat in the U.S. Senate, representing California.[29] The campaign is best remembered as one of the most contentious of the times. Nixon felt the former actress was a left-wing sympathizer, labeling her "pink right down to her underwear."[29] Conversely, Douglas referred to Nixon as "Tricky Dick."[29] In the November election, Nixon defeated Douglas. In the Senate, Nixon took a prominent position in opposing the spread of global communism, traveling frequently and speaking out against "the threat."[29] He also criticized what he perceived to be President Harry S. Truman's mishandling of the Korean War.[29] He supported statehood for Alaska and Hawaii, voted in favor of civil rights for minorities, and supported federal disaster relief for India and Yugoslavia.[30] He voted against price controls and other monetary controls, benefits for illegal immigrants, and public power.[30] In part due to his reputation as an ardent anti-communist, 39-year-old Nixon was selected by Republican party nominee General Dwight D. Eisenhower to be the Vice Presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention in July 1952.[31] In September, the New York Post published an article claiming that campaign donors were buying influence with Nixon by providing him with a secret cash fund for his personal expenses.[31] Nixon responded that the fund was not secret, and the campaign commissioned an independent review which showed that it was used only for political purposes.[32] Republicans, including some within Eisenhower's campaign, pressured Eisenhower to remove Nixon from the ticket, but Eisenhower realized that he was unlikely to win without Nixon.[33]