Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until 1974 and the only president to resign from the position. He had previously served as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961, and prior to that as both a U.S. Representative and Senator from California. Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing his undergraduate studies at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law. He and his wife Pat
Presidency of Richard Nixon Nixon's initial cabinet also contained an unusually small number of Ivy League graduates, with the exception of George P. Shultz, who held three different cabinet positions during Nixon's presidency. In 1973, as the Watergate scandal came to light, Nixon accepted the resignations of Haldeman, Erlichman, and Mitchell's successor as Attorney General, Richard Kleindienst. Haldeman was succeeded by Alexander Haig, who became the dominant figure in the White House during the last months of Nixon's presidency as Nixon increasingly focused on Watergate. As the Watergate scandal heated up in mid-1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew became a target in an unrelated investigation