From Tricky Dicky to Elder Statesman

“The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire." – Richard Nixon

Like the rest of us, Richard Milhous Nixon had his share of ups and downs. He suffered a series of setbacks in life, some of which (see Watergate) were self-inflicted. However, he also experienced a number of monumental comebacks, such as winning the presidency in 1968 after losing it in 1960.

Richard Nixon was one of five sons born to Francis and Hannah Nixon. Tragically, his younger brother Arthur died at age 7, and another brother Harold passed away at age 24. As a child, Richard endured many hardships, especially when his family’s lemon ranch failed and they were forced to move from Yorba Linda to Whittier, CA. "We were poor, but the glory of it was we didn't know it," Nixon later said.

After attending Whittier High School, Whittier College, and Duke University School of Law, Nixon was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in 1937. He and Thelma “Pat” Ryan were married in 1940 and had two daughters, Tricia and Julie.

In June 1942, Nixon was accepted into the U.S. Navy Reserve as a lieutenant junior grade and assigned to a naval air station in Iowa. However, seeking more excitement, Nixon applied for sea duty in the South Pacific. Although he never saw live combat, Nixon served with distinction and was eventually promoted to lieutenant commander before the war ended. Two years later, he was recruited to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in California’s 12th congressional district, where he defeated a Democrat incumbent. Then, in 1950, he was elected to the U.S. Senate thanks, in part, to some dubious campaign tactics that earned him the nickname, “Tricky Dicky.”

Nixon’s meteoric political rise continued in 1952 when Dwight Eisenhower chose him to be his vice-presidential running mate. However, that selection was almost derailed by a report of a secret campaign fund. In his famous “Checkers speech,” Nixon effectively refuted the allegations before a live television audience of 60 million people and Ike retained him on the victorious GOP ticket.

After serving as vice-president for eight years, Nixon ran for president in 1960, but narrowly lost to his friend and Senate colleague, John F. Kennedy. To his credit, despite rumors of rampant voter fraud, Nixon refused to contest the results for the sake of the country. Another narrow election defeat, this time for governor of California, followed in 1962. However, six years later, he defeated Hubert Humphrey to become America’s 37th President.

Nixon’s all-too-familiar involvement in the Watergate coverup led to his resignation in August 1974. Sadly, becoming the first president to step down obscured his many accomplishments, including détente with China, the SALT I treaty with Russia, and a record-setting re-election landslide in 1972.

A month after resigning, Nixon was pardoned by President Gerald Ford. He then issued the following statement: “I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate, particularly when it reached the stage of judicial proceedings and grew from a political scandal into a national tragedy. No words can describe the depth of my regret and pain at the anguish my mistakes over Watergate have caused the nation and the presidency, a nation I so deeply love, and an institution I so greatly respect.”

Nixon spent the final 20 years of his life trying to rehabilitate his image. Shortly after leaving office, at a time when his bank account showed a $500 balance, Nixon wrote the following in his diary: “So be it. We will see it through. We've had tough times before and we can take the tougher ones that we will have to go through now. That is perhaps what we were made for—to be able to take punishment beyond what anyone in this office has had before particularly after leaving office. This is a test of character and we must not fail the test.”

In 1976, a cash-strapped Nixon granted a series of interviews to David Frost in which he admitted to failing the country. "I brought myself down. I gave them a sword and they stuck it in. And they twisted it with relish. And, I guess, if I'd been in their position, I'd have done the same thing." Two years later, he again admitted his shortcomings in an address to the Oxford Union in England. “Some people felt that on this matter that I had not handled it properly, and they were right. I screwed it up and I paid the price.”

By 1986, Nixon’s rehabilitation efforts had been so successful that he was named in a Gallup poll as one of ten most admired men in the world. Newsweek even ran a story on "Nixon's comeback" with the headline "He's back". At the time of his death in 1994, the formerly disgraced president was considered by many to be America’s respected – even beloved – elder statesman. Perhaps reinforcing that claim, an estimated 42,000 mourners waited in a 3-mile-long line for up to eight hours in wet weather to pay their respects.

My friend, God offers all of us – from paupers to presidents – forgiveness and redemption. However, our sins often result in painful earthly consequences.

“So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.’” 2 Samuel 12:13-14 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President