Richard Nixon

== Vice presidency (1953–1961) ==
{{see also|Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower}}
{{Further|Checkers speech}}
[[File:Ike Dick.png|thumb|Front cover of campaign literature for the [[Dwight Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]–Nixon campaign in the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]]]]
[[File:Richard Nixon official portrait as Vice President.tiff|thumb|Nixon's official portrait as [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]]]]
General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] was nominated for president by the Republicans in 1952. He had no strong preference for a vice-presidential candidate, and Republican officeholders and party officials met in a "[[smoke-filled room]]"<!-- Gellman does say their first actions on getting inside the room were to take off jackets and light up. So it was. --> and recommended Nixon to the general, who agreed to the senator's selection. Nixon's youth (he was then 39), stance against communism, and political base in California—one of the largest states—were all seen as vote-winners by the leaders. Among the candidates considered along with Nixon were Ohio Senator [[Robert A. Taft]], New Jersey Governor [[Alfred Driscoll]], and Illinois Senator [[Everett Dirksen]].{{sfn|Gellman|pp=440–441}}{{sfn|Aitken|pp=205–206}} On the campaign trail, Eisenhower spoke of his plans for the country, and left the negative campaigning to his [[running mate]].{{sfn|Aitken|pp=222–223}}

In mid-September, the Republican ticket faced a major crisis when the media reported that Nixon had a political fund, maintained by his backers, which reimbursed him for political expenses.<ref>John W. Malsberger, "Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and the Fund Crisis of 1952," ''Historian,'' 73 (Fall 2011), pp 526–47.</ref>{{sfn|Kornitzer|p=191}} Such a fund was not illegal, but it exposed Nixon to allegations of a potential conflict of interest. With pressure building for Eisenhower to demand Nixon's resignation from the [[ticket (politics)|ticket]], Nixon went on television to address the nation on September 23, 1952.{{sfn|Aitken|pp=210–217}} The address, later named the [[Checkers speech]], was heard by about 60&nbsp;million Americans, which represented the largest audience ever for a television broadcast at that point.{{sfn|Thompson|p=291}} In the speech, Nixon emotionally defended himself, stating that the fund was not secret and that his donors had not received special favors. He painted himself as a patriot and man of modest means, mentioning that his wife had no mink coat; instead, he said, she wore a "respectable Republican cloth coat".{{sfn|Aitken|pp=210–217}} The speech was remembered for the gift which Nixon had received, but which he would not give back, which he described as "a little cocker spaniel dog{{nbsp}}...sent all the way from Texas. And our little girl—Tricia, the 6-year-old—named it Checkers."{{sfn|Aitken|pp=210–217}} The speech prompted a huge public outpouring of support for Nixon.{{sfn|Aitken|p=218}} Eisenhower decided to retain him on the ticket,{{sfn|Morris|p=846}} and the ticket was victorious in [[1952 United States presidential election|the November election]].{{sfn|Aitken|pp=222–223}}

Eisenhower granted Nixon more responsibilities during his term than any previous vice president.<ref>John W. Malsberger, ''The General and the Politician: Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and American Politics'' (2014)</ref> Nixon attended [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet]] and [[National Security Council (USA)|National Security Council]] meetings and chaired them in Eisenhower's absence. A 1953 tour of the Far East succeeded in increasing local goodwill toward the United States, and gave Nixon an appreciation of the region as a potential industrial center. He visited [[Ho Chi Minh City|Saigon]] and [[Hanoi]] in [[French Indochina]].{{sfn|Aitken|pp=225–227}} On his return to the United States at the end of 1953, Nixon increased the time he devoted to foreign relations.{{sfn|Ambrose|1987|p=342}}

Biographer Irwin Gellman, who chronicled Nixon's congressional years, said of his vice presidency:
{{blockquote|Eisenhower radically altered the role of his running mate by presenting him with critical assignments in both foreign and domestic affairs once he assumed his office. The vice president welcomed the president's initiatives and worked energetically to accomplish White House objectives. Because of the collaboration between these two leaders, Nixon deserves the title, "the first modern vice president".{{r|Gellman-Small}}
}}
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Despite intense campaigning by Nixon, who reprised his strong attacks on the Democrats, the Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress in the [[1954 United States elections|1954 elections]]. These losses caused Nixon to contemplate leaving politics once he had served out his term.{{sfn|Ambrose|1987|pp=357–358}} On September 24, 1955, President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack and his condition was initially believed to be life-threatening. Eisenhower was unable to perform his duties for six weeks. The [[25th Amendment to the United States Constitution]] had not yet been proposed, and the vice president had no formal power to act. Nonetheless, Nixon acted in Eisenhower's stead during this period, presiding over Cabinet meetings and ensuring that aides and Cabinet officers did not seek power.{{sfn|Aitken|pp=256–258}} According to Nixon biographer [[Stephen Ambrose]], Nixon had "earned the high praise he received for his conduct during the crisis&nbsp;... he made no attempt to seize power".{{sfn|Ambrose|1987|pp=375–376}}

His spirits buoyed, Nixon sought a second term, but some of Eisenhower's aides aimed to displace him. In a December 1955 meeting, Eisenhower proposed that Nixon not run for reelection and instead become a Cabinet officer in a second Eisenhower administration, in order to give him administrative experience before a 1960 presidential run. Nixon believed this would destroy his political career. When Eisenhower announced his reelection bid in February 1956, he hedged on the choice of his running mate, saying it was improper to address that question until he had been renominated. Although no Republican was opposing Eisenhower, Nixon received a substantial number of write-in votes against the president in the 1956 [[New Hampshire primary]] election. In late April, the President announced that Nixon would again be his running mate.{{sfn|Aitken|pp=237–241}} Eisenhower and Nixon were reelected by a comfortable margin in the [[1956 United States presidential election|November 1956 election]].{{sfn|Parmet|p=294}}

In early 1957, Nixon undertook another foreign trip, this time to Africa. On his return, he helped shepherd the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]] through Congress. The bill was weakened in the Senate, and civil rights leaders were divided over whether Eisenhower should sign it. Nixon advised the President to sign the bill, which he did.{{sfn|Black|pp=349–352}} Eisenhower suffered a mild [[stroke]] in November 1957, and Nixon gave a press conference, assuring the nation that the Cabinet was functioning well as a team during Eisenhower's brief illness.{{sfn|Black|p=355}}
[[File:Kitchen debate.jpg|thumb|[[Nikita Khrushchev]] and Nixon speak as the press looks on at the [[Kitchen Debate]] on July 24, 1959; ''[[What's My Line?]]'' host [[John Charles Daly]] is on the far left.]]

On April 27, 1958, Richard and Pat Nixon reluctantly embarked on a goodwill tour of [[South America]]. In [[Montevideo]], Uruguay, Nixon made an impromptu visit to a college campus, where he fielded questions from students on U.S. foreign policy. The trip was uneventful until the Nixon party reached [[Lima]], Peru, where he was met with student demonstrations. Nixon went to the historical campus of [[National University of San Marcos]], the oldest university in the Americas, got out of his car to confront the students, and stayed until forced back into the car by a volley of thrown objects. At his hotel, Nixon faced another mob, and one demonstrator spat on him.{{sfn|Ambrose|1987|pp=465–469}} In [[Caracas]], Venezuela, Nixon and his wife were spat on by anti-American demonstrators and [[Attack on Richard Nixon's motorcade|their limousine was attacked]] by a pipe-wielding mob.{{sfn|Ambrose|1987|pp=469–479}} According to Ambrose, Nixon's courageous conduct "caused even some of his bitterest enemies to give him some grudging respect".{{sfn|Ambrose|1987|p=463}} Reporting to the cabinet after the trip, Nixon claimed there was "absolute proof that [the protestors] were directed and controlled by a central Communist conspiracy." Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]] and his brother, [[Director of Central Intelligence]] [[Allen Dulles]], both concurred with Nixon.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rabe|first1=Stephen G.|authorlink=Stephen G. Rabe|title=Eisenhower and Latin America: The Foreign Policy of Anticommunism|date=1988|publisher=University of North Carolina press|location=Chapel Hill|isbn=978-0-8078-4204-1|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=o2SFNdAiB7UC&pg=PA102 102]}}</ref>

In July 1959, President Eisenhower sent Nixon to the [[Soviet Union]] for the opening of the [[American National Exhibition]] in Moscow. On July 24, Nixon was touring the exhibits with Soviet First Secretary and Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] when the two stopped at a model of an American kitchen and engaged in an impromptu exchange about the merits of capitalism versus communism that became known as the "[[Kitchen Debate]]".{{sfn|Farrell|pp=1394–1400}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev have a "kitchen debate"|publisher=[[The History Channel]]|accessdate=November 7, 2023|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-and-khrushchev-have-a-kitchen-debate}}</ref>