Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 - April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. He was also the 36th Vice President (1953-1961) serving under Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon redefined the office of Vice President, making it for the first time a high visibility platform and base for a presidential candidacy. He is the only person to have been elected twice to the Vice Presidency and twice to the Presidency, and the only president to have resigned that office. His resignation came in the face of imminent impeachment related to the Watergate first break-in and the subsequent Watergate scandal. Nixon is noted for his diplomatic accomplishments in foreign policy, especially relaxing relations with the Soviet Union and China, and ending the Vietnam War. He is also noted for his middle-of-the-road domestic policy that combined conservative rhetoric and, in many cases, liberal action, as in his environmental policy.
As president, Nixon imposed wage and price controls, indexed Social Security for inflation, and created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The number of pages added to the Federal Register each year doubled under Nixon. He advocated gun control and eradicated the last remnants of the gold standard. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and implemented the Philadelphia Plan, the first significant federal affirmative action program. As a party leader, Nixon helped build the GOP, but he ran his 1972 campaign separately from the party, which perhaps helped the GOP escape some of the damage from Watergate. (See History of United States Republican Party.)
