60 Fun Facts About Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was which number president of the United States?

He had earlier been the 36th vice president, under Eisenhower.

Nixon is the only US president to have done what?

He resigned on August 9, 1974, facing near-certain impeachment and removal over Watergate.

Nixon was born into a poor family belonging to which religious group?

Quaker observances of the time meant no alcohol, dancing or swearing in the household.

Nixon was born in a house his father built on what kind of farm?

The ranch failed in 1922 and the family moved to Whittier, where his father opened a grocery store and gas station.

Four of the five Nixon boys were named after British kings; the future president after which one?

His brothers were Harold, Donald, Arthur and Edward.

Snubbed by Whittier College's Franklins club, Nixon helped found a rival called what?

The society that rejected him, the Franklins, was full of boys from prominent families.

Nixon turned down a tuition grant to which university because he was needed at the family store?

He stayed home for Whittier College and later went to Duke law school on a scholarship.

From which university's law school did Nixon graduate in 1937?

He finished third in his class and was president of the Duke Bar Association.

Which federal agency did Nixon hope to join after law school, before budget cuts cancelled his appointment?

He never got a reply to his application at the time.

Nixon was president of a company that went bankrupt trying to sell what product?

Citra-Frost lasted 18 months.

How did Nixon meet his future wife Pat Ryan in 1938?

He called it love at first sight, but she turned him down several times before agreeing to date him.

What were the names of Nixon's two daughters?

Julie later married David Eisenhower, grandson of Nixon's old boss.

Nixon helped finance his first congressional campaign with winnings from what?

He became a very good five-card stud player in the Navy and once skipped dinner with Charles Lindbergh to host a game.

Which Democratic incumbent did Nixon defeat to win his House seat in 1946?

Nixon suggested Voorhis's endorsement by a group linked to communists meant he must hold radical views.

Nixon first gained national attention through his role on which congressional body?

His persistence there helped break the Alger Hiss spy case in 1948.

What were the microfilms Whittaker Chambers hid in a field during the Hiss case called?

Hiss was convicted of perjury in 1950 for denying he had passed documents to Chambers.

Nixon's 1950 Senate campaign against Helen Gahagan Douglas earned him what lasting nickname?

His campaign's 'Pink Sheet' compared her voting record to a reputed communist congressman.

Nixon's 1952 televised defence of his political fund became known by what name?

About 60 million people watched, then the largest television audience ever.

What kind of animal was Checkers, the gift Nixon said he would not give back?

Six-year-old Tricia named the dog, which had been sent from Texas.

In his 1952 fund speech, Nixon said his wife owned no mink but wore what?

Pat Nixon was embarrassed by the need to reveal how little the family owned.

Why did Vice President Nixon have no formal power to act during Eisenhower's 1955 heart attack?

He presided over Cabinet meetings for six weeks anyway, and was praised for not trying to seize power.

In which two South American cities were the Nixons spat on and their limousine attacked in 1958?

His courage under the pipe-wielding mob in Venezuela won grudging respect even from enemies.

Nixon's impromptu 1959 argument with Khrushchev took place in front of what?

It happened at the American National Exhibition in Moscow and became known as the Kitchen Debate.

Who was Nixon's running mate in the 1960 presidential election?

Lodge had lost his Senate seat to Kennedy eight years earlier.

By how many popular votes did Nixon lose to Kennedy in 1960?

That was 0.2 percent; Nixon refused to contest fraud allegations in Texas and Illinois.

What was the title of the bestselling book Nixon wrote after leaving the vice presidency?

It covered the Hiss case, Eisenhower's heart attack and the fund crisis among others.

After losing the 1962 California governor's race, Nixon told reporters they wouldn't have him to do what?

He called it his 'last press conference'; the loss was widely thought to have ended his career.

Where was Nixon on the morning of November 22, 1963?

He flew out of Love Field an hour before Air Force One arrived, well before Kennedy was shot.

Which Maryland governor did Nixon pick as his running mate in 1968?

Agnew resigned in 1973 after being convicted over bribery and tax evasion from his time as governor.

What term did Nixon use for the socially conservative Americans he appealed to in 1968?

He portrayed himself as a figure of stability amid protests and counterculture.

Which chief justice, an old political rival, swore Nixon in as president in 1969?

Pat Nixon held the family Bibles open at Isaiah 2:4, 'swords into plowshares'.

What phrase from Nixon's inaugural address is carved on his gravestone?

His resignation speech quoted Theodore Roosevelt's 'man in the arena' instead.

What sport provided the 1971 breakthrough that led to Nixon's visit to China?

Mao invited a US team to play in China; Kissinger then made secret trips to prepare the presidential visit.

Arriving in China in 1972, Nixon pointedly shook the hand of which leader, as Dulles had refused to in 1954?

Kissinger had briefed him for more than 40 hours before the trip.

What was the code name of the secret 1969 B-52 bombing campaign in Cambodia?

It was carried out without the consent of Cambodian leader Norodom Sihanouk.

What was the name for Nixon's strategy of replacing US troops in Vietnam with South Vietnamese forces?

Phased withdrawals followed, but so did incursions into Laos and Cambodia.

Where did Nixon hold an impromptu early-morning meeting with anti-war protesters in May 1970?

It came days after Ohio National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State.

Which two arms-control agreements came out of Nixon's 1972 Moscow summit with Brezhnev?

The two leaders proclaimed a new era of 'peaceful coexistence'.

Which alert level did Nixon order in the 1973 Yom Kippur War after Brezhnev threatened to intervene?

It was the closest the world had come to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis; Brezhnev backed down.

Nixon in June 1974 became the first sitting US president to visit which country?

His airlift during the Yom Kippur War had helped Israel, but also triggered the Arab oil embargo.

In August 1971, Nixon ended the dollar's convertibility into what?

The move brought down the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates.

Which federal body did Nixon announce in June 1970, two months after the first Earth Day?

He saw the first Earth Day that April as a sign of voter interest, though he vetoed the 1972 Clean Water Act over cost.

What was the Philadelphia Plan that Nixon implemented in 1970?

He also endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment when it went to the states in 1972.

Whom did Nixon reach in 'the most historic phone call ever made from the White House'?

He spoke to them during the Apollo 11 moonwalk, then cut NASA's budget and rejected plans for a Moon base and Mars trip.

Whom did Nixon defeat in the 1972 landslide, losing only Massachusetts and D.C.?

His opponent was tagged as the candidate of 'amnesty, abortion and acid'.

On what date were five men caught breaking into Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex?

Woodward and Bernstein's informant 'Deep Throat' was revealed decades later to be FBI official Mark Felt.

Which aide told Congress in July 1973 that Nixon secretly taped Oval Office talks?

The tapes were promptly subpoenaed by special counsel Archibald Cox.

What was the name given to Nixon's October 1973 firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox?

Cox was replaced by Leon Jaworski, who kept pursuing the tapes.

Who claimed responsibility for the 18-and-a-half-minute gap in a key Watergate tape?

She said she wiped it by accident while transcribing; her explanation was widely mocked.

To whom did Nixon say 'I'm not a crook' in November 1973?

He added: 'I've earned everything I've got.'

What was the recording released August 5, 1974 showing Nixon approved thwarting the Watergate probe called?

After its release, Republican leaders told him he had at most 15 votes in the Senate against removal.

Who granted Nixon a 'full, free, and absolute pardon' on September 8, 1974?

Nixon had refused to issue a full statement of contrition as a condition.

Which British broadcaster paid Nixon $600,000 for the interviews aired in 1977?

Nixon admitted he had 'let down the country'; 45 to 50 million people watched.

How many books did Nixon write during his nearly 20 years of retirement?

The first was his 1978 memoir RN, and several later ones urged support for Russia's transition from communism.

Where is Nixon buried?

He lies beside his wife Pat, who died ten months before him.

Which famous aviator did Nixon once decline to dine with because he was hosting a poker game?

His Navy winnings at five-card stud helped bankroll his first run for Congress in 1946.

At which Pacific outposts did Lieutenant Nixon command forward detachments of the Navy's SCAT unit?

His unit prepared manifests and flight plans for C-47 operations, earning him a Navy Commendation Ribbon.

Which federal agency did Nixon join in Washington in January 1942, before entering the Navy?

He later framed the move as a response to Pearl Harbor, though he had sought the job through late 1941.

What illness nearly killed Nixon in October 1974, two months after his resignation?

Told he could have surgery or die, he reluctantly chose surgery, and President Ford visited him in hospital.

Which British opposition leader welcomed Nixon on his 1978 UK visit when most ministers shunned him?

Former prime ministers Macmillan and Heath snubbed him, but Lord Home and Harold Wilson did not, and he addressed the Oxford Union.