Blackwell Reference Online

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(b. Yorba Linda, Calif., 9 January 1913; d. New York, N.Y., 18 April 1994) After naval service in W orld W ar ii , Nixon entered politics as a Republican, sat in Congress from 1947 to 1950 from Calif., and became a senator in 1950. His dogged pursuit of Alger H iss's perjury led to nomination as vice-president in 1952. In 1960 he lost the closest race for president since 1884 with 49.5 percent of the vote, just 118,574 less than John F. K ennedy , and in 1962 lost election as Calif. governor. He exploited widespread dissatisfaction with the V ietnam W ar to become president in the three-party contest of 1968, with 43.4 percent of the vote. He stated the N ixon D octrine , began withdrawing troops from Vietnam, became the first US president to visit China, initiated DÉTENTE, and reversed the S upreme C ourt's liberal era under Earl W arren by appointing four conservative justices. He took the US off the GOLD STANDARD, initiated the Tokyo round of GATT, ended the DRAFT, established the E nvironmental P rotection A gency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), conceptualized the new federalism , introduced revenue-sharing , and reduced the budget deficit to its lowest percentage of GDP since 1941. Congress did not act on his proposals to reform welfare or concentrate federal funding for health care on the indigent and an insurance against catastrophic ... log in or subscribe to read full text