Pat Nixon

=== Travels ===
[[Image:Pat Nixon in combat zone.jpg|thumb|left|Escorted by armed guards, Pat Nixon (far right) arrives via helicopter on the ground in [[South Vietnam]], July 31, 1969. It was the first time a first lady had entered a combat zone.]]

Pat Nixon held the record as the most-traveled First Lady until her mark was surpassed by [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]].<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> In President Nixon's first term, Pat traveled to 39 of 50 states, and in the first year alone, shook hands with a quarter of a million people.{{sfnp|O'Brien|Suteski|2005|p=239}} She undertook many missions of goodwill to foreign nations as well. Her first foreign trip took in Guam, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Romania, and England.<ref name="csa171">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=171}}</ref> On such trips, Pat refused to be serviced by an entourage, feeling that they were an unnecessary barrier and a burden for taxpayers.<ref name="csa171"/> Soon after, during a trip to [[South Vietnam]], Pat became the first First Lady to enter a combat zone.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> She had tea with the wife of President [[Nguyễn Văn Thiệu]] in a palace, visited an orphanage, and lifted off in an open-door helicopter—armed by military guards with machine guns—to witness U.S. troops fighting in a jungle below.<ref name="csa171"/> She later admitted to experiencing a "moment of fear going into a battle zone", because, as author and historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony noted, "Pat Nixon was literally in a line of fire."<ref name="csa171"/> She later visited an army hospital, where, for two hours, she walked through the wards and spoke with each wounded patient.<ref name="csa172">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=172}}</ref> The First Lady of South Vietnam, Madame Thieu, said Pat Nixon's trip "intensified our morale".<ref name="csa172"/>

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 | image1 = Pat Nixon in Peru Consuelo Velasco 1970.jpg
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 | caption2 = Pat Nixon famously visited Peru in June 1970 where she aided in taking relief supplies to earthquake victims (above) and visited children in hospitals (below). The trip was noted for its lasting diplomatic impact.
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After hearing about the [[1970 Ancash earthquake|Great Peruvian earthquake of 1970]], which caused an avalanche and additional destruction, Pat initiated a "volunteer American relief drive" and flew to the country, where she aided in taking relief supplies to earthquake victims.{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=185}} She toured damaged regions and embraced homeless townspeople; they trailed her as she climbed up hills of rubble and under fallen beams.{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=186}} Her trip was heralded in newspapers around the world for her acts of compassion and disregard for her personal safety or comfort,<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> and her presence was a direct boost to political relations. One Peruvian official commented: "Her coming here meant more than anything else President Nixon could have done,"<ref name="csa187"/> and an editorial in Peru's ''Lima Prensa'' said that Peruvians could never forget Pat Nixon.<ref name="csa187">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=187}}</ref> [[Fran Lewine]] of the [[Associated Press]] wrote that no First Lady had ever undertaken a "mercy mission" resulting in such "diplomatic side effects".<ref name="csa187"/> On the trip, the Peruvian government presented her with the [[Order of the Sun (Peru)|Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun]], the highest Peruvian distinction and the oldest such honor in the Americas.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/>

She became the first First Lady to visit Africa in 1972, on a {{convert|10000|mi|km|0|adj=on}}, eight-day journey to [[Ghana]], [[Liberia]], and the [[Ivory Coast]].<ref name="csa196">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=196}}</ref> Upon arrival in Liberia, Pat was honored with a 19-gun salute, a tribute reserved only for heads of government, and she reviewed troops.<ref name="csa196"/> She later donned a traditional native costume and danced with locals. She was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Most Venerable Order of Knighthood, Liberia's highest honor.<ref name="csa196"/> In Ghana, she again danced with local residents, and addressed the nation's [[Parliament of Ghana|Parliament]].<ref name="csa196"/> In the Ivory Coast, she was met by a quarter of a million people shouting "''Vive Madame Nixon!''"<ref name="csa196"/> She conferred with leaders of all three African nations.<ref name="csa196"/> Upon her return home, White House staffer [[Charles Colson]] sent a memo to the President reading in part, "Mrs. Nixon has now broken through where we have failed&nbsp;... People—men and women—identify with her, and in return with you."<ref name="csa197">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=197}}</ref>

[[File:President Richard and Pat Nixon on Great Wall.png|thumb|The Nixons walked on the [[Great Wall of China]] during their historic trip in February 1972]]
Another notable journey was the [[1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China|Nixons' historic visit]] to the [[People's Republic of China]] in 1972. While President Nixon was in meetings, Pat toured through [[Beijing]] in her red coat. According to Carl Sferrazza Anthony, China was Pat Nixon's "moment", her turning point as an acclaimed First Lady in the United States.<ref name="csa199200">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|pp=199–200}}</ref> She accompanied her husband to the Nixon–[[Leonid Brezhnev|Brezhnev]] summit meetings in the [[Soviet Union]] later in the year. Though security constraints left her unable to walk freely through the streets as she did in China, Pat was still able to visit with children and walk arm-in-arm with [[Soviet First Lady]] [[Viktoria Brezhneva]].<ref name="csa199200"/> Later, she visited [[Brazil]] and [[Venezuela]] in 1974 with the unique diplomatic standing of personal representative of the president. The Nixons' last major trip was in June 1974, to Austria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel, and Jordan.<ref name="csa215">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=215}}</ref>