Key Dates

Richard Milhous Nixon was the only President born in Yorba Linda, California on January 9, 1913.

He once worked at a game booth at the Slippery Gulch Rodeo.

Richard Nixon was 5' 11' and weighed about 175 pounds.

Richard Nixon: seventh cousin twice removed of William Taft, eighth cousin once removed of Herbert Hoover.

On June 21, 1940 he married Pat Ryan married in a Quaker service in Riverside, California.

Richard Nixon was one of two Presidents who was a Quaker. Hoover was the other president.

In the Navy during World War II, Nixon's bunkmates taught him to play poker. He became such as dedicated player that he once turned down a chance to have dinner with Charles Lindbergh when it conflicted with a game. He also won a great deal of money and used his winnings ($6,000) to partially finance his first congressional campaign.

Richard Nixon was a Republican.

He was Vice President under Dwight Eisenhower.

Richard M. Nixon.
Library of Congress
(Click for larger image.)

Speaking to reporters about his health, Nixon once claimed that he had never had a headache during his whole life.

He liked to eat cottage cheese with ketchup on it. (Note: I tried it and it was ok, but I won't be eating it again.) As part of his last meal at the White House, he enjoyed a plate of cottage cheese and pineapple slices He also enjoyed meatloaf.

He was above average at golfing and bowling.

During the funeral of French president Georges Pompidou, Nixon declared: "This is a great day for France."

Nixon was the first president to address the Russian people on Russian TV.

Richard Nixon was elected to two terms. (1968 and 1972)

His Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nixon was sworn in with his hand on two family Bibles.

President Nixon was the first president to visit all 50 states and the first to visit China. He also met with Emperor Hirohito in Anchorage, Alaska, which was the first-ever meeting of a U.S. President and a Japanese monarch.

On July 21, 1969, Nixon talked to astronauts on the moon from the White House by radio-telephone.

Richard Nixon was President during the War in Vietnam.

The 26th Amendment was passed. It changed the voting age from 21 to l8.

Nixon was the first U.S. President to attend a regular season National Football League game while in office. He was a big football fan.

He had a pet cocker spaniel named Checkers and an Irish Setter name King Timahoe.

Nixon was known to have a fire in the fire place at the same time he had the air Conditioner on in the office

One of the more humorous events during Nixon's presidency was a visit to by the singer Elvis Presley. Nixon like Elvis's music. When Elvis visited the White House he gave Nixon a gun as a present.

Elvis asked the president if he could help in the war on drugs. Nixon took an honorary badge out of the drawer and gave it to Elvis. Elvis walked around the desk and said what else do you have in that drawer. (See the National Archives for pictures and details.)

Nixon was the only President to resign.

Spiro Agnew, Richard Nixon's Vice President, resigned in 1973 to avoid criminal prosecution. Agnew was replace as Vice President by Gerald Ford.

Nixon was the only president who resigned. (August 9, 1974)

President Nixon was on the cover of Time Magazine 56 times. More than any other person.

He broke with tradition and established a private library in Yorba Linda, California. The Presidential Papers Act of 1978 which decreed that Presidents don't own their papers was not enacted until after Nixon left office.

While he was retired he negotiated a contract dispute between the umpires and Major League Baseball.

Richard Nixon died in New York City on April 22, 1994. He was 81.

Quotes:

In a speech to the American people after the Watergate scandal he stated: "I am not a crook."

"If any individual wants to be a leader and isn't controversial, that means he never stood for anything."