Why Is Richard Nixon Important

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Homer W. Harrell Jr. AMH 2020 Professor Giacobbe Research Paper Life and Times of Richard M. Nixon Born in Yorba Linda, California on January 9, 1913, was a young man who unknowingly would become the thirty seventh president of the United States (Gale Biography). He was born on a lemon farm. His religion came from his mother’s side of the family which was Quakers (Gale Biography). His father was Methodist but ended up taking his wife’s religion. Nixon had a rough life. He was brought up as a young child into adulthood by a father who was constantly knocking him down, and beating him (Gale Biography). His mother she was very manipulative in getting her way and making him pay for it in many ways (Gale Biography). As most children gain…show more content…
He was a good student, excelled in sports and became extremely involved in extracurricular activities. He took a liking to the student body and was elected to the president of the student body in his freshman year. This was his first taste of politics. In his class of approximately 500 he was the second highest grade point average. He wanted to go to law school. The president of Whittier College wrote a letter of recommendation that stated “I believe Nixon will become one of America’s important, if not great leaders (Nixon). He tried and tried to get a job at a prestigious law firm but the denied him employment. He did not like rejection and this put a bad taste in his mouth about eastern establishments. His father being the great supported he was made his usual snide remarks gave him great comfort in knowing that he would succeed still. He just did not know where. With the strong feelings and lack of support he reluctantly returned to his home town in California. This turned out to be not such a bad experience. He gained employment at another law firm near his hometown. The law firm he gained employment at was Kroop and Bewley. After a year of hard work, many cases some won and some lost, and only a year of practice they made him a partner in the law firm. It was now called the Law Firm of Kroop, Bewley and Nixon (Nixon). After this he met his soon to be wife. Her name was Thelma Catherine Patricia Ryan (Nixon). They were…show more content…
His success in implementing arms treaties and starting foreign relations with these other countries was significant. It became the era of “Nixonomics (Sons).” Basically “Nixonomics” was opened trade routes for China and the US, proposed a steep tax in imported goods and a freeze on all wage and price increases for the next ninety days (Nixon). His purpose was to try and stabilize the national debt. Also, the value of a U.S. dollar dropped. Nixon then devalued the American dollar; he did this by severing its ties to gold. This was initially a gold standard but Nixon felt that gold was holding back the value of a dollar and thus weakening the American Economy (Goldfield). Nixon did many great things in the white house during his terms, but you ask someone about President Nixon and they can usually only say one or two things. That is “Watergate (Nixon)” and or impeachment. Both of these issues took a major blow to Nixon’s life. It marked the beginning of the end for his political career

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