Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon (1913–1994) was an American politician who served as the 37th president of the United States from 1969 to 1974. A World War II Navy veteran and Duke Law graduate, he served as a U.S. representative, senator from California, and vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. As president, Nixon achieved major foreign policy breakthroughs, including opening diplomatic relations with communist China, negotiating détente with the Soviet Union, and ending direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. However, his administration was severely undermined by the Watergate scandal, leading him to become the only U.S. president to resign from office in August 1974 to avoid impeachment.