FREE ESSAY ON RICHARD NIXON

RICHARD NIXON

I am writing a report on a significant person in U.S. history. The person I chose is
Richard Nixon, the thirty-seventh president of the United States. 
Richard Milhous Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California in 1913. His Father, Frank
Nixon, had many failing businesses that took the family different places. His mother,
Hannah Nixon, had two boys before Richard. They both died young
After high school, Nixon attended Duke University to study law. He tried twice to become
class president. Finally he succeeded. Soon after his college schooling, Nixon enrolled
in the Navy. War broke out and he was sent to fight. He was stationed at Green Island
however; he never saw any combat action. He was a ration distributor. When discharged, he
had acquired the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Soon after discharge he was brought into politics. His stance of anti-communism made him
well respected. Good in debates, Nixon was a shoe-in. Soon he began his political
struggle. He challenged Jerry Voorhis for a district seat in the California House of
Representatives. Amazingly, he won.
After acquiring some political power, he decided to move up more. He soon set his sights
on the U.S. Senate. He defeated the expected senator; Ms. Helen Douglas. Since he won the
senate he set his eyes on a bigger prize; vice president was his next goal. He was voted
in with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He went through many political high points, such
as the Caracas Mob incident, where Nixon was taken hostage. The Kitchen Debate, noted as
a high point for Nixon, where he and the Russian leader, Nikita S. Khrushchev, discussed
issues in a kitchen. With Eisenhower he served two terms. Nixon's next goal was to become
the President of the United States.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Nixon ran for presidency. As it turned out, Kennedy and
Lyndon B. Johnson won by only 120,000 votes which isn't much in this type of race. It was
believed Kennedy bought Texas and Illinois. Johnson soon became president after Kennedy's
assassination. Now Nixon would try presidency once more. Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey with
some political strategy. He told the citizens of the U.S. he would stop the war in
Vietnam and make it better. In the long run he made it worse. He would be, soon, our
first president to resign.
It was when Nixon pulled off a huge upset for his second term. At first, nobody thought
anything of it. Burglars broke into the Watergate Hotel stealing Democratic plans. Soon
tempers rose, and fingers started to point at Nixon. He was becoming angry and
short-fused. While they were drafting articles of impeachment, Nixon resigned to escape
impeachment. It became to be one of the most embarrassing moments in U.S. history. After
leaving office he lived a secluded life with his family in California. On April 22,1994,
former President Nixon dies.
I liked this book because of the way they illustrate his life through pictures. It was
also informative and it provided me with a better feel on Nixon. I knew he was a
president but I did not know what he did while in office. I learned that Nixon didn't
want segregation to end and that Nixon played such a big part in Watergate.