Nixon, Richard M(ilhous)
美國第37屆總統（1969～1974）。杜克大學法學院畢業後，1937～1942年間在加州執業。二次世界大戰期間一度在軍隊服役，戰後於1947年當選美國眾議員，在選舉中採用了嚴詞厲句的策略。在希斯一案中開始引起公眾注意，1951年又一次以疾言厲色的競選當選為參議員。1952年身為艾森豪的競選搭擋而當選副總統，1956年兩人再次搭擋順利當選。1960年競選總統，以微弱票數輸給了甘乃迪。1962年競選加州州長失利後退出政壇，到紐約重拾律師舊業。1968年重返政壇參加總統競選，採用「南方戰略」爭取兩黨在南部和西部各州保守派的選票，結果戰勝韓福瑞當選。在總統任內，他一邊命令向北越在寮國和柬埔寨的軍事設施祕密投彈，同時試圖終止越戰，開始逐步撤出美國軍隊。對柬埔寨境內北越人避難所的攻擊引起了廣泛的反對。通貨膨脹導致的經濟問題使美國的預算赤字上升至有史以來的最高點，促使尼克森在1971年實行了和平時期史無前例的對工資和物價的監控。1972年他大幅領先麥高文再次當選總統。在季辛吉的協助下，他結束了越戰。他重開與中國共產黨的接觸，對中國進行了國事訪問。首次以美國總統的身分訪問蘇聯，與對方簽署了限制戰略武器談判雙邊協議。水門事件替他的第二個任期蒙上了陰影。他刻意隱瞞參與事件的真相和可能的彈劾導致他於1974年8月引咎辭職，成為美國曆史上第一位辭職的總統。繼任的福特總統赦免了他，儘管他從來沒有被正式宣告有罪。尼克森退休後從事回憶錄和有關國際政策問題的專著寫作。
1913～1994年
Nixon, Richard M(ilhous)
37th president of the U.S. (1969-74). Born in Yorba Linda, Cal., he studied law at Duke University and practiced in California 1937-42. After serving in World War II, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1947, employing harsh campaign tactics. He came to national attention with the Alger Hiss case, and was elected to the Senate in 1951, again following a bitter campaign. He won the vice presidency in 1952 on a ticket with Dwight D. Eisenhower; they were reelected easily in 1956. As presidential candidate in 1960, he lost narrowly to John F. Kennedy. After failing to win the 1962 California gubernatorial race, he retired from politics and moved to New York to practice law. He reentered politics by running for president in 1968, and he defeated Hubert H. Humphrey with his “southern strategy” of seeking votes from southern and western conservatives in both parties. As president, he began to gradually withdraw U.S. military forces in an effort to end the Vietnam War while ordering the secret bombing of North Vietnamese military centers in Laos and Cambodia. Attacks on North Vietnamese sanctuaries in Cambodia drew widespread protest. Economic problems caused by inflation made the U.S. budget deficit the largest to date, and in 1971 Nixon established unprecedented peacetime controls on wages and prices. He won reelection in 1972 with a landslide victory over George McGovern. Assisted by Henry A. Kissinger, he concluded the Vietnam War. He reopened communications with Communist China and made a state visit there. On his visit to the Soviet Union, the first by a U.S. president, he signed the bilateral SALT agreements. The Watergate scandal overshadowed his second term; his complicity in efforts to cover up his involvement and the likelihood of impeachment led to his becoming, in August 1974, the first president to resign from office. Though never convicted of wrongdoing, he was pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford. He retired to write his memoirs and books on foreign policy.
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