Presidency of Richard Nixon civil libertarians. In response to growing drug-related crime, Nixon became the first president to emphasize drug control, and he presided over the establishment of the Drug Enforcement Administration. After a nearly decade-long national effort, the United States won the race to land astronauts on the moon on July 20, 1969, with the flight of Apollo 11. Nixon spoke with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during their moonwalk. He called the conversation "the most historic phone call ever made from the White House". Nixon, however, was unwilling to keep funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the high
Richard Nixon 1968 presidential campaign and following an announcement from President Lyndon B. Johnson that a halt in bombing of Vietnam had been negotiated. Winning a close election on November 5, 1968, Nixon and Agnew were inaugurated as the 37th President of the United States and 39th Vice President of the United States, respectively, on January 20, 1969. He was the first Vice President elected President since Martin Van Buren in 1836, and the only one to do so while not an incumbent. Nixon was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1946, representing California's 12th congressional district from 1947 until his election