RICHARD NIXON [1913 – 1994]

Born and raised in Southern California, Nixon had a difficult childhood. After graduating from law school at Duke University, Nixon was rejected by the FBI when he applied to become an agent. There were no takers for this American President to be.

Nixon plunged into politics. Throughout his career, Nixon ran hard-hitting, aggressive, and sometimes deceptive campaigns. He used smear-politics. He accused several of his political enemies of being soft on communism. His work on the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was set up to investigate communist activities in the United States, led his critics to charge him with excessive prosecutorial zeal, while his defenders rallied around him.

Although President Eisenhower never liked Nixon personally, he agreed to allow the Californian to serve as his running mate in 1952. This was because Nixon had thrown nominating delegates to Eisenhower, would appeal to hard line Republicans, and would help win California. Nixon campaigned hard for the ticket, but six weeks before the election, a bombshell dropped-an illegal secret political fund of Nixon’s was discovered and publicized. His own friends counseled him to withdraw from the ticket. Instead, Nixon went on television, where he delivered a speech about not receiving bribes or money, but a little dog that his six-year-old daughter named Checkers! Hamming it up for the cameras, Nixon told the American people that no matter what happened, he promised his daughter Tricia that she could keep Checkers. The positive response of the American public to the "Checkers Speech" convinced Eisenhower to keep Nixon on the ticket. Ike and Nixon won the 1952 election in a massive landslide.

Nixon was scandalized, alleged, attacked and sued but emerged as a powerful political player in the history of the US Presidential combats. Yet he stated before resigning, "I have never been a quitter … but as President, I must protect the interests of America first,"