Richard M Nixon
37th President of the United States (1969 - 74)

Ancestral Ulster County: Antrim
Birthplace: Yorba Linda, California
Religious Denomination: Society of Friends
Political Party: Republican

Richard Nixon is the direct descendant of cSames Nixon who had left the family home in Ballymoney, Co Antrim, bound for the American colonies in 153. Nixon's maternal ancestors, the Milhouses, also came from Co Antrim, in this case Carrickfergus.

Richard Nixon is arguably the most important American president of the twentieth century. By the time he took up office, in January 1969, he had already gained a wealth of experience in American politics and international affairs, having served as a Congressman and Senator and for eight years as vice-president to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

It was Richard Nixon who negotiated the first nuclear arms limitation agreement with the USSR (SALT 1) and who opened up relations with China. It was also Nixon who ended America's involvement in Vietnam, forcing the Communist North to sue for peace in January 1973.

Despite these achievements Nixon is the only president to have resigned the presidency, because of alleged abuses of power connected with the so-called Watergate affair. He left the White House on 9 August 1974 and died almost twenty years later on 22 April 1994, by which time his reputation and place in history had been restored to the extent that he was regarded by many as America's elder statesman.

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