I watched part of the January 6 hearings yesterday — I found them disturbing, for a number of reasons, but that’s not what I’m going to blog about today. This isn’t the first and, sadly, probably not the last time a U.S. President hasn’t operated completely above board.
He’s certainly not the only one, but the first name to come to mind is Richard Nixon. It’s undeniable that Nixon did some good things, but the gravity of the “bad” things he was responsible for outweighed the good. While Nixon is noted primarily for the Watergate scandal and being the only president to resign from office, like most people, there are a few things that are interesting about him…. both as a president and a man……
President Nixon was the first American President to visit both China and the Soviet Union — and — he was also the first to visit all 50 states while he was in office.
Nixon was a Quaker — as a boy, Nixon went to Quaker meetings four times on Sundays and played the piano at church services. He enrolled at Whittier College, a Quaker institution, and attended mandatory chapel for hours each day.
Nixon was a fairly accomplished musician — Nixon’s mother insisted he practice on the family’s upright piano every afternoon and although he never learned to read music, Nixon could also play the saxophone, clarinet, accordion and violin. His musical talent turned out to be a political assed — his appearance on “The Jack Paar Show” in 1963, during which he played a tune he wrote, helped rehabilitate his image after losing the California gubernatorial election the prior year.
Nixon graduated 2nd in his class at Whittier College and 3rd in his class at Duke University School of Law.
Nixon was elected to Congress in 1946 and re-elected in 1948 — he led the House Un-American Activities Committee investigation of Soviet spy Alger Hiss. Hiss was later sent to prison for perjury.
Dwight Eisenhower selected Nixon as his VP running mate in 1952 — they won the election and were re-elected in 1956.
The famous “kitchen debate” with Russian Premier Khrushchev occurred during Nixon’s visit to Moscow to open the U.S. Trade Fair in 1959.
In 1960, Nixon lost the Presidential election to JFK by only 113,000 votes — it’s still the closest election in history.
Nixon was elected President in 1968, defeating Hubert Humphrey.
In 1970, Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency.
Nixon sought to improve relations with China by becoming the first President to meet with Chinese leaders in Peking in 1972. That same year he became the first American President to make an official visit to the Soviet Union.
In 1973, Nixon hosted the largest dinner ever held at the White House to welcome the American POWs from Vietnam home.
In 1974, Nixon resigned from the Presidency due to the events surrounding Watergate.
Even though he is the only President to resign from office, according to the latest survey of presidential historians, that rated U.S. Presidents worst to best based on their performances while in the White House, Nixon came in at number 29.
— 30 —