Pat Nixon

=== Major initiatives ===
Pat Nixon felt that the First Lady should always set a public example of high virtue as a symbol of dignity, but she refused to revel in the trappings of the position.<ref name="csa165">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=165}}</ref> When considering ideas for a project as First Lady, Pat refused to do (or be) something simply to emulate her predecessor, [[Lady Bird Johnson]].{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=168}} She decided to continue what she called "personal diplomacy", which meant traveling and visiting people in other states or other nations.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=254}}

[[Image:Pat Nixon greets White House visitors 1969.jpg|left|thumb|Pat Nixon greets young White House visitors, 1969]]

One of her major initiatives as First Lady was the promotion of volunteerism, in which she encouraged Americans to address social problems at the local level through volunteering at hospitals, civic organizations, and rehabilitation centers.<ref name="PN Biography: Richard Nixon Library">{{cite web|url= http://www.nixonfoundation.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=PNbio|title= Biography of First Lady Pat Nixon|access-date= October 8, 2007|year= 2005|publisher= Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation|archive-date= June 8, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150608135258/http://www.nixonfoundation.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=PNbio|url-status= live}}</ref> She stated, "Our success as a nation depends on our willingness to give generously of ourselves for the welfare and enrichment of the lives of others."<ref name="csa177">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=177}}</ref> She undertook a "Vest Pockets for Volunteerism" trip, where she visited ten different volunteer programs.<ref name="csa177"/> Susan Porter, in charge of the First Lady's scheduling, noted that Pat "saw volunteers as unsung heroes who hadn't been encouraged or given credit for their sacrifices and who needed to be".<ref name="csa177"/> Her second volunteerism tour—she traveled {{convert|4130|mi|km|0}} within the United States—helped to boost the notion that not all students were protesting the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=181}} She herself belonged to several volunteer groups, including Women in Community Services and Urban Services League,<ref name="csa177"/> and was an advocate of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973,<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> a bill that encouraged volunteerism by providing benefits to a number of volunteer organizations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3984|title=Richard Nixon: Statement on Signing the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973|date=October 1, 1973|access-date=August 19, 2008|publisher=The American Presidency Project|archive-date=June 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624094538/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3984|url-status=live}}</ref> Some reporters viewed her choice of volunteerism as safe and dull compared to the initiatives undertaken by Lady Bird Johnson and [[Jacqueline Kennedy]].<ref name="burns-125">{{harvp|Burns|2008|p=125}}</ref>

Pat Nixon became involved in the development of recreation areas and parkland, was a member of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, and lent her support to organizations dedicated to improving the lives of handicapped children.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> For her first [[Thanksgiving]] in the White House, Pat organized a meal for 225 senior citizens who did not have families.<ref name="csa178">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=178}}</ref> The following year, she invited wounded servicemen to a second annual Thanksgiving meal in the White House.<ref name="csa178"/> Though presidents since [[George Washington]] had been issuing Thanksgiving proclamations, Pat became the only First Lady to issue one.<ref name="csa178"/>