(January 9, 1913–April 22, 1994), was the 37th President of the United States, 1969–74, resigned; his administration U.S. ended involvement in the Vietnam War, 1973; 26th Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution, 1971, granting 18–years-olds the right to vote; Apollo 11 astronauts took first walk on the moon, July 20, 1969; Republican Presidential candidate, 1960, losing to John F. Kennedy by the smallest margin ever in a presidential election; Vice-President under Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952–60; U.S. Senator, 1950–52; U.S. Representative, 1946–50; Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II; married Patricia Ryan, 1940; graduated third in his class from Duke University Law School, North Carolina; graduated second in his class from Whittier College, California, having been president of the student body.
On October 1, 1955, in calling to order a meeting of the National Security Council following President Eisenhower’s heart attack, Vice-President Richard Nixon stated:
Gentlemen, as we all know, it is a custom of the Cabinet to open with a silent prayer. While this has not been the practice of the Security Council, may I propose a moment of silent prayer of thanksgiving for the marvelous record of recovery the President has made up to this hour.3750
On Monday, January 20, 1969, in his First Inaugural Address, President Richard M. Nixon stated:
Standing in this same place a third of a century ago, Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed a nation ravaged by depression and gripped in fear. He could say in surveying the Nation’s troubles: “They concern, thank God, only material things.” …
No man can be fully free while his neighbor is not. To go forward at all is to go forward together. This means black and white together as one nation, not two. The laws have caught up with our conscience. What remains is to give life to what is in the law: to insure at last that as all are born equal in dignity before God, all are born equal in dignity before man. …
I have taken an oath in the presence of God and my countrymen to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. To that oath I now add this sacred commitment: I shall consecrate my Office, my energies, and all the wisdom I can summon to the cause of peace among nations. Let this message be heard by strong and weak alike:
The peace we seek—the peace we seek to win—is not victory over any other people but the peace that comes “with healing in its wings”. …
Only a few short weeks ago we shared the glory of man’s first sight of the world as God sees it, as a single sphere reflecting light in the darkness. As the Apollo astronauts flew over the moon’s gray surface on Christmas Eve, they spoke to us the beauty of earth—and in that voice so clear across the lunar distance, we heard them invoke God’s blessing on its goodness. …
Let us go forward, firm in our faith, steadfast in our purpose, cautious of the dangers, but sustained by our confidence in the will of God.3751
On Saturday, January, 20, 1973, in his Second Inaugural Address, President Richard Milhous Nixon stated:
We have the chance today to do more than ever before in our history to make life better in America -to ensure better education, better health, better housing, better transportation, a cleaner environment—to restore respect for law, to make our communities more livable—and to insure the God-given right of every American to full and equal opportunity. …
We shall answer to God, to history, and to our conscience for the way in which we use these years. …
Today, I ask your prayers that in the years ahead I may have God’s help in making decisions that are right for America, and I pray for your help so that together we may be worthy of our challenge. …
Let us go forward from here confident in hope, strong in our faith in one another, sustained by our faith in God who created us, and striving always to serve His purpose.3752
On Thursday, August 8, 1974, in a televised address to the nation, President Richard M. Nixon announced his resignation from office:
I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interest of America first. America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad.
To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home.
Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice-President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office. As I recall the high hopes for America with which we began this second term, I feel a great sadness that I will not be here to achieve those hopes. …
To those who have stood with me during these past difficult months, to my family, my friends, to many others who joined in supporting my cause because they believed it was right, I will be eternally grateful for your support. …
To have served in this office is to have felt a very personal sense of kinship with each and every American. In leaving it, I do so with this prayer: May God’s grace be with you in all the days ahead.3753
On Thursday, August 8, 1974, in a private farewell to the members of his Cabinet, members of the White House Staff and friends, President Richard M. Nixon stated:
Mistakes, yes. But for personal gain, never. You did what you believed in. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong. …
Nobody will ever write a book, probably, about my mother. Well, I guess all of you would say this about you mother—my mother was a saint. And I think of her, two boys dying to tuberculosis, nursing four others in order that she could take care of my older brother for 3 years in Arizona, and seeing each of them die, and when they died, it was like one of her own. Yes, she will have no books written about her, but she was a saint. …
Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself. …
I can only say to each and every one of you, we come from many faiths … but really the same God … you will be in our hearts and you will be in our prayers.3754