The American Presidency
• Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9,
1913 in Yorba Linda, California.
• Nixon had a brilliant record at Whittier College
and Duke University Law School before
beginning the practice of law.
• He was elected to Congress from California’s
Republican Party in 1946 and to the Senate in
1950.
• He served as vice president to Dwight D.
Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961.
• He lost the 1960 presidential election against
John F. Kennedy in 1960.
• He lost the 1962 California gubernatorial election
against Pat Brown.
• He was elected president in 1968 and 1972.
• Richard Nixon died in New York in 1994 and is
buried in his birthplace in Yorba Linda, California.
Sources 1, 2,
1968
Nixon won a close three-candidate election
in 1968.
Source
1972
Nixon easily won re-election in 1972.
Source
Important Events during Nixon’s Presidency
Important Events
1. He was president during the last four years of the
Vietnam War:
The war ended in 1973, after Nixon’s re-election.
2. He opened relations with China:
He visited China and began diplomatic relations with
China in 1972.
He also visited Moscow in 1972.
3. He had to resign in 1974 because of the Watergate
Scandal:
Men working fo his administration broke into the offices
of the Democratic Committee at the Watergate building
in 1972.
Nixon in China
Richard Nixon
during his visit to
China in 1972. Source.
One Positive Contribution
• Richard Nixon created a committee to study ways to
improve our treatment of the environment.
• The committee had no real power, so Nixon asked
Congress to create an official agency.
• The Environmental Protection Agency was officially
created in 1972.
• Its goals are:
1.
2.
3.
To declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable
harmony between man and his environment.
To promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment
and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man.
To enrich our understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources
important to the Nation. Source.
The Beatles, the most popular band during the 1960s, broke up in 1970. source
Music
music
The Jackson Five, with young Michael Jackson (center), had
four number-one hits in 1970, including “I’ll be there.”
Sources: 1, 2.
Fashion during the late 1960s
and early 1970s
Fashion
Sources: 1, 2,
Movies
The movie The Planet of the Apes premiered in 1968, the same
year Nixon was elected president for the first time. Source.
Sports
UCLA (University of California, Los
Angeles), with coach John Wooden, won
the college basketball championship
almost every year Nixon was president,
and more--1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969,
1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976. Sources: 1,
2, 3.
Useful Sites
Find information on all presidents:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/chronological.html
Find map of lecetoral college (change the last four digits for
different years):
http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/U.S._presidential_election,_1968/
Find number-one music hits for every year:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_100_number-one_hits_of_1968_%28USA%29