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Essay Richard Nixon

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Richard Nixon
Born in 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, Richard Milhouse Nixon was raised in a Quaker home with his four brothers, mother and father. His family led a docile life by abstaining from all dancing, swearing, drinking and other common Quaker practices (Barron 12). Financially, the family struggled and he could not afford to attend Harvard University even with a full-ride scholarship. Instead, Nixon enrolled at Whittier College, a popular Quaker college close to home (Barron 39). Nixon began dominating all of his academics and it was at Whittier where he began to shape his future political career.
Nixon began his studies at Whittier College in 1930 and managed to keep an active schedule. Between football practice, drama …show more content…

That was also the year his first daughter Tricia was born. Two years later he won a seat in the Senate and his wife Pat gave birth to their second daughter, Julie. Nixon was now on his way to becoming Vice-President of the United States and his political career was taking off.
At just 39 years old, Richard Nixon became Vice-President under the Eisenhower administration in 1953 (Gellman 413). He was almost removed from Eisenhower’s campaign due to allegations of a slush fund he started to help pay for campaigning expenses (Drew 122). He ended up saving his candidacy by going on national television and appealing the mass viewers. One event he is most famous for during his Vice-Presidency is the “kitchen debate” with Khrushchev at the United States exhibition in Moscow (Small 47). This particular debate argued capitalism verses communism and it just so happened to take place in a kitchen (Small 49). He was the first American official to address the Soviets in a live television broadcast. Over the next eight years, Nixon continued to elevate the office of vice president to a new level. With his youthful and vigorous attitude, he made sure he would be the most active vice president in any previous administration.
In 1960 Nixon went up against John F. Kennedy, was narrowly defeated and lost the 1961 presidency. He argued that the U.S. media was to blame

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