Pat Nixon

== Marriage and family, early campaigns ==
While in Whittier, Pat Ryan met [[Richard Nixon]], a young lawyer who had recently graduated from the [[Duke University School of Law]]. The two became acquainted at a Little Theater group when they were cast together in ''[[The Dark Tower (play)|The Dark Tower]]''.<ref name="nyt-obit"/> Known as Dick, he asked Pat to marry him the first night they went out. "I thought he was nuts or something!" she recalled.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diplomat in High Heels: Thelma Ryan Nixon|work=The New York Times|date=July 28, 1959|page=11}}</ref> He courted the redhead he called his "wild Irish Gypsy" for two years,{{sfnp|Marton|2001|p=173}} even driving her to and from her dates with other men.<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/>

They eventually married on June 21, 1940, at the [[The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa|Mission Inn]] in [[Riverside, California]].<ref name="sferrazza-ch-353"/> She said that she had been attracted to the young Nixon because he "was going places, he was vital and ambitious&nbsp;... he was always doing things".<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> Later, referring to Richard Nixon, she said, "Oh but you just don't realize how much fun he is! He's just so much fun!" Following a brief honeymoon in Mexico, the two lived in a small apartment in Whittier.<ref name="sferrazza-ch-353"/>  As U.S. involvement in [[World War II]] began, the couple moved to Washington, D.C., with Richard taking a position as a lawyer for the [[Office of Price Administration]] (OPA); Pat worked as a secretary for the [[American Red Cross]], but also qualified as a price analyst for the OPA.<ref name="sferrazza-ch-353"/>  He then joined the [[United States Navy]], and while he was stationed in San Francisco, she resumed work for the OPA as an economic analyst.<ref name="sferrazza-ch-353">Sferrazza, "Thelma Catherine (Patricia) Ryan Nixon", p. 353.</ref>

Veteran [[United Press International|UPI]] reporter [[Helen Thomas]] suggested that in public, the Nixons "moved through life ritualistically", but privately, however, they were "very close".<ref name="csa172"/> In private, Richard Nixon was described as being "unabashedly sentimental", often praising Pat for her work, remembering anniversaries and surprising her with frequent gifts.<ref name="csa172"/> During state dinners, he ordered the protocol changed so that Pat could be served first.<ref name="csa173">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=173}}</ref> Pat, in turn, felt that her husband was vulnerable and sought to protect him, although she did have a nickname for him which he despised, so she rarely used it: "Little Dicky".<ref name="csa173"/> Of his critics, she said that "Lincoln had worse critics. He was big enough not to let it bother him. That's the way my husband is."<ref name="csa173"/>

Pat campaigned at her husband's side in 1946 when he entered politics and successfully ran for a seat in the [[United States House of Representatives]]. That same year, she gave birth to a daughter and namesake, [[Patricia Nixon Cox|Patricia]], known as Tricia. In 1948, Pat had her second and last child, [[Julie Nixon Eisenhower|Julie]]. When asked about her husband's career, Pat once stated, "The only thing I could do was help him, but [politics] was not a life I would have chosen."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942982,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222064449/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942982,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 22, 2008|title=Pat Nixon: Steel and Sorrow|access-date=August 18, 2008|magazine=Time|date=August 19, 2008}}</ref> Pat participated in the campaign by doing research on his opponent, incumbent [[Jerry Voorhis]].<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> She also wrote and distributed campaign literature.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia| title =The American Presidency| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica | year= 2007}}</ref> Nixon was elected in his first campaign to represent [[California's 12th congressional district]]. During the next six years, Pat saw her husband move from the U.S. House of Representatives to the [[United States Senate]], and then be nominated as [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]'s [[Vice President of the United States|vice presidential]] candidate.

Although Pat Nixon was a [[Methodist]], she and her husband attended whichever [[Protestant church]] was nearest to their home, especially after moving to Washington. They attended the Metropolitan Memorial Methodist Church because it sponsored her daughters' Brownie troop, occasional [[Baptist]] services with [[Billy Graham]], and [[Norman Vincent Peale]]'s [[Marble Collegiate Church]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,844670-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114112748/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,844670-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2007|title=A Worshiper in the White House|access-date= October 8, 2007|date= December 6, 1968 |magazine=Time|pages=1–2}}</ref>