In 1942, Nixon joined the Navy, serving in the South Pacific during World War II.

For a further two years, Nixon and others attempted to conceal their involvement, but with the Supreme Court intervening, Nixon was compelled to produce secret audio tapes he had recorded of his White House talks, which established Nixon’s culpability. Although the intruders were apprehended, the inquiry did not progress swiftly enough to prevent Nixon’s re-election in 1972. Members of Nixon’s administration paid individuals in 1972 to take files from Democratic Party offices at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., with the hope of discovering secrets that would help Nixon win re-election that year.

He began restoring diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China, implemented a détente strategy with the Soviet Union, and pushed for domestic measures such as creating the Environmental Protection Agency and peacefully desegregating public schools in the South. His foreign policy sought to decrease international tensions by building new relationships with former adversaries. Nixon was voted in as the 37th President of the United States in 1968. General Eisenhower was elected President of the United States, where Nixon also served as Vice President. He ousted five-term veteran Democratic Congressman Jerry Voorhis in the election to represent California’s 12th congressional district in the U.S. Navy with the title of lieutenant commander. Nixon was honorably retired from the U.S. Republican leaders in Whittier persuaded Nixon to seek a seat in the United States House of Representatives. He also learned to play poker, which quickly became a favorite activity of his while serving in the military.

He was assigned to a fighter station in the South Pacific, first in Bougainville, then to Green Island. In the United States, Nixon was commissioned as a naval officer. Due to his family’s financial constraints, he had to renounce his scholarship to attend Whittier College before joining a local law practice. He was the second child among his brothers, and was born to Hannah Milhous Nixon and Francis A.

Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, on his parents’ lemon ranch estate in Yorba Linda, California, and grew up in nearby Whittier.

In 1942, Nixon joined the Navy, serving in the South Pacific during World War II.