Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon grew up in Whittier, California, in a Quaker family of modest means. His father ran a grocery store and gas station, and his mother was a devout member of the Society of Friends; the household valued hard work and discipline, and Nixon later described a childhood shadowed by the deaths of two brothers from tuberculosis. He was an ambitious student, graduating from Whittier College and then earning a law degree from Duke University in 1937. He returned to Whittier to practice law and in 1940 married Thelma "Pat" Ryan, who became a close partner in his political career.

During World War II Nixon served as a U.S. Navy officer in the Pacific. After the war he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946, where he drew national attention as a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee, particularly for his role in the investigation of Alger Hiss. In 1950 he was elected to the Senate, and two years later Dwight Eisenhower chose him as his running mate. Nixon defended himself against allegations of a secret political fund in the televised "Checkers" speech, remained on the ticket, and served eight years as vice president, traveling widely and engaging in the 1959 "kitchen debate" with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Nixon narrowly lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy and, after a failed run for governor of California in 1962, appeared to be finished in politics. He rebuilt his standing and won the presidency in 1968, campaigning on restoring order and ending the Vietnam War honorably. In office he pursued détente with the Soviet Union, signing the SALT I arms-control agreement and the ABM Treaty in 1972, and he made a historic 1972 visit to China that opened relations between Washington and Beijing. His administration also oversaw the Paris Peace Accords of 1973 that ended direct U.S. combat involvement in Vietnam, and it created the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration while pressing school desegregation.

Nixon's second term collapsed under the Watergate scandal. A June 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the ensuing cover-up, revealed through Senate hearings and the White House tapes, led to impeachment proceedings. Facing near-certain removal, Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign, on August 9, 1974. His successor, Gerald Ford, pardoned him. In retirement Nixon wrote several books on foreign policy and traveled abroad as an elder statesman. He died in 1994, leaving a divided legacy: a record of major diplomatic achievements alongside the constitutional crisis that ended his presidency.

Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, United States. In Cardology (Destiny Cards), January 9, 1913 corresponds to the Five of Spades, making the Five of Spades his Birth Card.

In numerology, the name adds another layer to the birth-date profile. The letters of a person’s name are used to explore inner motivation, personality, expression, and the qualities they bring into relationships and everyday life. Explore how his original name Richard Milhous Nixon influences his life and personality.