Richard Nixon was born in 1913 in Yorba Linda, California to Frank Nixon, a gas station owner and grocer, and Hannah Milhous. He graduated from Whittier College and Duke University Law School, then returned to Whittier to practice law where he met his future wife Thelma. They married in 1940 and had two daughters. Nixon was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives after serving in the Navy during WWII. He later became Vice President under Dwight Eisenhower from 1952-1960. Nixon lost the 1960 presidential election but won in 1968 and 1972, though his second term was cut short by the Watergate scandal and he resigned in 1974.
2. Nixon’s Parents Richard Nixon’s fathers name was Frank Nixon. He was a gas station owner and grocer. His mothers name was Hannah Milhous.
3. Nixon’s Birth Nixon was the second child of five. Nixon was born on January 9, 1913. He was born in Yorba Linda, California.
4. Nixon’s College Years Richard Nixon graduated from Whittier College in California in 1934 Nixon then graduated from Duke University Law School in Durham, N.C. in 1937. Nixon then returned to Whittier to practice law where he met Thelma Catherine Ryan, a teacher and amateur actress.
5. Nixon Gets Married After Richard Nixon and Thelma Ryan were in the same play at a local community theater they decided to get married. Richard Nixon and Thelma Ryan got married on June 21, 1940. They later had two daughters, Patricia, born on February 21, 1946 and Julie, born on July 5, 1948. Then in 1942 Nixon joined the Navy for four years.
6. Nixon as a Representative After Nixon returned from the Navy he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Then in 1948 Nixon was reelected. In 1950, Nixon successfully ran for The U. S. Senate.
7. Nixon As Vice President In 1952, Nixon won nomination as vice president with Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon served two terms as vice president.
8. Nixon Runs For President In 1960 Nixon received his party's presidential nomination. Nixon lost the election though to John F. Kennedy. Nixon then retired to a private life in California.
9. Nixon Runs For Governor In 1962 he decided to run for governor of California but he lost. He then moved to New York City to practice law. Through the next few years Nixon became an expert.
10. Nixon For President In 1968, Nixon won the Republican nomination for president. Nixon hardly won the election against Lyndon B. Johnson’s vice president, Hurbert Humphrey, but he did, becoming the 37th president of the United States as a Republican with Spiro T. Agnew as his vice president. Some people say that Nixon was a “do-nothing” president.
11. Nixon IsReelected In 1972, Nixon was reelected with Gerald Ford as his vice president. At the beginning of his second term in June 1972 a political scandal involving abuse of power that was called “Watergate” happened and one of the tapes confirmed that Nixon himself had knowledge of the cover-up and actively worked to keep it hidden.
12. Nixon Retires Nixon was going to be impeached for the Watergate scandal but he retired before they had an opportunity to. Nixon retired with his wife to live in San Clemente, California. In April 1994, Nixon died of a huge stroke in New York city ten months after his wife’s death of lung cancer. He was buried beside his wife in Yorba Linda, California.
13. “A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.”-Richard Nixon