Richard Nixon: A Short Biography - 37th President of the United States

By Doug West

The son of devout Quakers, Richard Nixon grew up in the shadow of an older brother and thrived on struggle and opposition. Through high school and college, in the Navy and in politics, Nixon was constantly leading crusades and fighting off “enemies,” either real and imagined. He possessed the plainspoken eloquence to reduce American television audiences to tears with his career-saving “Checkers” speech, yet Nixon’s darker side hatched schemes designed to take down his political opponents which earned him the infamous nickname, “Tricky Dick.”

This is the classic story of an American legend, of a young man who rose from his humble beginnings to achieve power and influence on the world stage. As president, he brought China back into the global community and did more than any of his predecessors to quiet the rising tensions of the Cold War. He worked to desegregate Southern schools, create the Environmental Protection Agency, and end the draft. Richard Nixon’s legacy to the history of the United States is much more complicated than the scandal of Watergate that brought down his presidency.

Buy now and read the compact biography Richard Nixon: A Short Biography.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug West
• Release date: Jun 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370463336

Doug West

Doug West is a retired engineer, small business owner, and an experienced non-fiction writer with several books to his credit. His writing interests are general, with expertise in science, history, biographies, numismatics, and “How to” topics. Doug has a B.S. in Physics from the Missouri School of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in General Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He lives with his wife and little dog “Millie” near Kansas City, Missouri.

Book preview

Richard Nixon: A Short Biography

37th President of the United States

Richard Nixon: A Short Biography

37th President of the United States

Copyright © 2017 Doug West

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

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Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Early Life

Chapter 2 – Rising Political Star

Chapter 3 - Vice President of the United States

Chapter 4 – The Election of 1960 and the Wilderness Years

Chapter 5 – President of the United States

Chapter 6 - The Vietnam War and Foreign Relations

Chapter 7 - Watergate Scandal

Chapter 8 – Final Years

Timeline

Acknowledgments

References and Further Reading

About the Author

Preface

Welcome to the book, Richard Nixon: A Short Biography. This book is part of the 30 Minute Book Series and, as the name of the series implies, if you are an average reader this book will take around 30 minutes to read. Since this short book is not meant to be an all-encompassing biography of Richard Nixon, you may want to know more about this man and his accomplishments. To help you with this, there are several good references at the end of this book. Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoy your time reading about former President Nixon.

Doug West

June 2017

Introduction

"It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it." - Benjamin Franklin

The legacy of Richard M. Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, has been tainted by the long shadow of the Watergate Scandal that has colored history’s view of this past president and his accomplishments. Without that large black spot on his record, we might be looking back and calling him a president with great accomplishments — as he was.

Nixon succeeded in opening the Western world to the vast and isolated country of China. He achieved détente with the Soviet Union, which laid the ground work for strategic arm limitation treaties. In the always challenging region of the Middle East, he moved Egypt from the sphere of Soviet influence, strengthened America’s ties with the two key allies of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and helped save Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

His accomplishments weren’t limited to foreign policy. Nixon entered the White House in an era of great turmoil on the home front. The civil rights movement was in full bloom, America was embroiled in the sticky and messy war in Vietnam, and protesters filled the streets of many large cities and the halls of premier universities. Under Nixon’s direction, the government extended a helping hand to large groups of minorities. He achieved the peaceful desegregation of Southern schools in 1971 and continued the integration of Northern unions. Native Americans benefited under Nixon by ending the policy of assimilation, which paid Indians to give up their treaty rights and relocate to inner cities.