RICHARD M. NIXON
1969 - 1974
Arizona Timeline
1971 - Mohave Community College is founded with its district offices in Kingman.
1972 - Cesar Chavez, founder of the National Farm Workers Association, fasts for 25 days in Phoenix over a new Arizona law that prohibits the right of
farm workers to strike or boycott.
1973 - Kingman suffers the loss of 12 citizens, 11 of them fire department personnel, at a railroad propane tank explosion on July 5.
Richard Milhous Nixon was
born in Yorba Linda, California in
1913. He and his five brothers
were raised as Quakers. Nixon
graduated from Whittier College
in 1934 and from Duke University
Law School in 1937, third in his
class. He joined the Navy in 1942
and served in the Pacific in World
War II. In 1946 he was elected to
congress, and to the Senate in
1950.
Thelma Ryan Nixon was born in
1912 in Ely, Nevada. From birth
she was known as Pat. Both
parents died before she was 18.
She took part- time jobs to work
her way through USC and
graduated cum laude in 1937.
She met Richard Nixon through a
Little Theater group in Whittier
where she was teaching. They
were married in 1940 and had two
daughters, Tricia and Julie.
President Richard Nixon was elected to congress in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. In 1952 he was elected vice president. During their two terms
Eisenhower sent him on missions to 56 countries, including Russia. After losing the presidential election to John Kennedy in 1960, he ran again in 1968
and defeated Hubert Humphrey. The country's role in the Vietnamese War was reduced during his administration. President Nixon was re- elected in
1972, but the investigation into the White House cover- up of the Watergate burglary led to his resignation in 1974. He died on April 22, 1994 in New
York City.
As First Lady, Pat Nixon encouraged volunteer service. She instituted a varied series of musical performances at the White House, from opera to
bluegrass. She accompanied her husband on the historic visit to China, and made a journey on her own to take relief supplies to earthquake victims in
Peru. She maintained her dignity during the troubled Watergate days. Pat Nixon died on June 22, 1993 in Park Ridge, New Jersey.
Mohave Museum - U.S. Presidents and the History of Arizona
