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Nixon Essay example

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Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President of the United States of America, was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda in Southern California to Francis A. and Hannah Milhous Nixon.
Nixon had a very rough childhood. Due to the illness of Richard’s brother, his mother was rarely around. Richard’s father was a very loud man who would beat his sons and enjoyed arguing with everyone, especially when it came to politics. Richard had to help out at the family gas station and grocery store while he was a college student. Nixon grew up harboring resentment toward people who were born into families and privileged and could trade on their social connections. Nixon attended Duke University and graduated from law school …show more content…

Many people were very confident in Nixon’s ability to win the election quite easily because his opponent, John F. Kennedy, was little known nationally and had a reputation as a playboy in Washington circles. However, Kennedy took advantage of the new, modern campaigning techniques and used the television more than personal contact. The presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy was the first one ever televised. Kennedy came off as very strong, confident, and appeared to be in control. Nixon, on the other hand, refused to wear make-up and appeared haggard and almost ghost-like. The election of 1960 was one of the closest in history with Kennedy winning by only 100,000 votes nationwide.
In 1962, Nixon ran for governor of California. He ended up losing soundly to Pat Brown. After this loss, Nixon made a comment at a press conference that “you don’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Nixon claimed that the press conference was going to be his last. He then took a job as a Wall Street lawyer but returned to campaigning in 1966.
In 1968, Nixon was running for the presidency for the second time. Nixon pretty much avoided speaking about the issue of the Vietnam War. The only thing that he had to say was that he would find an “honorable end” to the war. The Democrats, however, were badly split over the war and pretty much tore themselves apart. Nixon eventually gained a close victory over Hubert

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