Richard Milhous Nixon served as the thirty-seventh president of the United States from 1969 to August of 1974. He became the first U.S. president to resign from office, avoiding certain impeachment by Congress for his role in the Watergate scandal. As president, Nixon continued to prosecute the Vietnam War until a peace treaty was signed in 1973. Domestically, Nixon projected a law-and-order stance that targeted criminals and political protesters alike.

Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California. After graduating from Whittier College in 1934, Nixon was admitted to the prestigious Duke University Law School. Upon graduation in 1937 he practiced law in Whittier, California, working until 1942 when he joined the Navy. Following World War II, Nixon committed himself to a political career. His 1946 congressional campaign as the Republican candidate was marked by an aggressive style that implied that the Democrat incumbent was soft on Communism. With the Soviet Union's occupation...