Richard Nixon was a member of the House of Representatives, a United States Senator, and Vice President. He lost the presidential election in 1960. In 1962, Nixon also lost the election for Governor of California. After two defeats, people started thinking that Richard Nixon was a loser. He was not seen again in politics until 1968. While he was away from politics, Nixon was a lawyer in New York. He even argued a case in front of the Supreme Court. In 1968, Nixon ran for President again. He won by a 3 to 2 margin.

During his first term, many important things happened. In 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin walked on the moon. In 1972, Nixon became the first President to visit China. He traveled to Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai China. This dialogue intialized open trade relations with Taiwan. He also signed the first treaty with the Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons.

In 1972, Richard Nixon beat George McGovern by one of the largest margins ever. Months after the election the “Watergate” scandal was uncovered. This led to Nixon’s resignation. The “Watergate” scandal began when the offices of the Democratic National Committee were broken into during the 1972 campaign. They were located in the Watergate office building in Washington D.C. The scandal was uncovered when a person called “Deep Throat” contacted the Washington Post. An investigation revealed that the break-in was committed by the committee to re-elect Nixon.

Nixon denied knowing about the break-in. The scandal caused members of his staff to quit. Some of his staff were found guilty of crimes because they tried to cover-up what happened. Nixon said he had nothing to do with the break-in or in the cover up. The courts forced him to hand over taped recordings of his conversations. The tapes didn’t prove Nixon was guilty.

But there was an erased eighteen-minute segment of audio. Many people suspected that he knew what was going on. Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew quit in 1973 because of the “Watergate” scandal. Gerald Ford became Nixon’s second Vice-President. The “Watergate” investigation went on throughout 1973 and 1974. In July 1974, the House of Representatives passed three articles of impeachment. On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first President to resign from office. Gerald Ford became President.

In January 1973, during the “Watergate” scandal the Paris Peace Accords were signed ending the Vietnam War. In 1974, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger helped end a war between Israel and its enemies, Egypt and Syria.

After Nixon left office, he and his wife moved back to California. He wrote ten bestselling books. He traveled to dozens of countries and advised Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. Richard Nixon died on April 22, 1994.