To avoid certain impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate, the president resigned from office. These tapes contained the “smoking gun” that revealed Nixon had orchestrated the Watergate cover-up. Nixon that the president had to surrender tapes of his personal conversations to the special prosecutor appointed to investigate administration activities. During the hearings of the Senate Watergate Committee, a special committee convened to investigate the Watergate burglary and the surrounding scandals, the President lost yet another court decision in which the Supreme Court upheld a 1974 ruling in United States v. The president’s “enemies lists” of civil rights and anti-war leaders, as well as liberal activists, politicians, journalists, and fund-raisers, enhanced his image as an officeholder who personalized his opposition and justified use of the power of his office to counteract their efforts. Revelations about the use of both the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to infiltrate and spy on social activist groups, ranging from civil rights organizations to consumer protection groups and especially the anti-war movement, threatened freedom of association and contributed to the perception of Nixon as Machiavellian. Nixon’s administration seemed to operate above the law. In the domestic policy arena, however, Nixon is reviled for his perceived and real excesses, some of which were tied to his attempts to maintain secrecy in matters related to foreign affairs. Nixon seemed to operate above the law in domestic policy combat in the Vietnam War, opening diplomatic relations with China, and establishing détente with the Soviet Union. He served one and a half terms before resigning in the wake of the Watergate scandal.Īs president, he is remembered positively for his many foreign policy accomplishments, including ending U.S. In 1968 Nixon once again entered politics and won the presidential election. Nixon is remembered positively for his foreign policy Hill (1967).Īlthough the Hill family had won damages in a lower court, the Supreme Court rejected the idea that a Life magazine article about the hostage ordeal endured by the family portrayed it in a “ false light” for which it should be able to sue. He then resumed practicing law (he had graduated from Duke Law School) and contributed to First Amendment jurisprudence by arguing for the Hill family before the Supreme Court in Time, Inc. Kennedy, and he failed to win the governorship of California in 1962. Nixon lost the presidential election of 1960 to Democrat John F. Playing off the fears generated by McCarthyism, he moved to the Senate by painting his opponents as “pink.” Nixon argued a First Amendment case During his service in the House, Nixon helped to expose State Department official Alger Hiss as a Soviet spy. House of Representatives (1947–1950) and U.S. Nixon, a World War II Navy veteran who was born in California, had a long political career that included service in both the U.S. For many observers, Nixon’s conduct during this time typified executive abuse of power, even at times threatening the freedoms of speech, press, and political association. Richard Milhous Nixon (1913–1994), the 37th president of the United States, served from January 20, 1969, to his resignation on Auga tumultuous period marked by ongoing civil rights upheavals, protests against the Vietnam War, and executive wrongdoing and investigations. President Richard Nixon's conduct during the tumultous period of Vietnam War protests and executive wrongdoing and investigations at times threatened the freedoms of speech, press and political association.

Nixon vice president