January 9, 1913 - Richard Nixon
Nixon remains the only U.S. president to have resigned from office, departing under the shadow of the Watergate scandal — a coordinated campaign of political espionage, sabotage, and obstruction that reached into the White House itself. His presidency also encompassed the secret bombing of Cambodia, the enemies list, and the systematic abuse of federal agencies for political purposes. What distinguishes his place in this catalog is less any single act than the institutional machinery he was willing to corrupt in pursuit of power he already held.
From Wikipedia
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he represented California in both houses of the United States Congress before serving as the 36th vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.
Nixon was born into a poor family of Quakers in Yorba Linda, Southern California. He graduated from Whittier College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1934 and from Duke University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1937, practiced law in California, and then moved with his wife Pat to Washington, D.C., in 1942 to work for the federal government. After serving in the Naval Reserve during World War II, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. His work on the Alger Hiss case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist.
- Last updated on .