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Do not fill this in! {{short description|First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974}} {{featured article}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Pat Nixon | image = PatNixon.jpg | caption = Nixon in 1972 | office = [[First Lady of the United States]] | president = [[Richard Nixon]] | term_start = January 20, 1969 | term_end = August 9, 1974 | term_label = In role | predecessor = [[Lady Bird Johnson]] | successor = [[Betty Ford]] | office1 = [[Second Lady of the United States]] | vicepresident1 = Richard Nixon | term_start1 = January 20, 1953 | term_end1 = January 20, 1961 | term_label1 = In role | predecessor1 = [[Jane Hadley Barkley]] | successor1 = [[Lady Bird Johnson]] | birth_name = Thelma Catherine Ryan | birth_date = {{birth date|1912|3|16}} | birth_place = [[Ely, Nevada]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|6|22|1912|3|16}} | death_place = [[Park Ridge, New Jersey]], U.S. | resting_place = [[Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum]] | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | spouse = {{marriage|[[Richard Nixon]]|June 21, 1940}} | children = {{hlist|[[Tricia Nixon Cox|Tricia]]|[[Julie Nixon Eisenhower|Julie]]}} | education = {{ubl|item_style={{longitem}}|[[Fullerton College]]|[[University of Southern California]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])}} | signature = PatNixon Signature 2.svg }} '''Thelma Catherine''' "'''Pat'''" '''Nixon''' ({{nee|'''Ryan'''}}; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was the [[first lady of the United States]] from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President [[Richard Nixon]]. She also served as the [[Second ladies and gentlemen of the United States|second lady of the United States]] from 1953 to 1961 when her husband was vice president. Born in [[Ely, Nevada]], she grew up with her two brothers in what is now [[Cerritos, California]], graduating from Excelsior Union High School in Norwalk, California in 1929. She attended [[Fullerton Junior College]] and later the [[University of Southern California]]. She paid for her schooling by working multiple jobs, including pharmacy manager, typist, radiographer, and retail clerk. In 1940, she married lawyer Richard Nixon and they had two daughters, [[Tricia Nixon Cox|Tricia]] and [[Julie Nixon Eisenhower|Julie]]. Dubbed the "Nixon team", Richard and Pat Nixon campaigned together in his successful [[United States Congress|congressional]] campaigns of 1946 and 1948. Richard Nixon was elected vice president in 1952 alongside General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], whereupon Pat became Second Lady. Pat Nixon did much to add substance to the role of Second Lady, insisting on visiting schools, orphanages, hospitals, and village markets as she undertook many missions of goodwill across the world. As First Lady, Pat Nixon promoted a number of charitable causes, including volunteerism. She oversaw the collection of more than 600 pieces of historic art and furnishings for the [[White House]], an acquisition larger than that of any other administration. She was the most traveled First Lady in U.S. history, a record unsurpassed until twenty-five years later. She accompanied the President as the [[1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China|first First Lady to visit China]] and the Soviet Union, and was the first president's wife to be officially designated a representative of the United States on her solo trips to Africa and South America, which gained her recognition as "Madame Ambassador"; she was also the first First Lady to enter a combat zone. Though her husband was re-elected in a [[1972 United States presidential election|landslide victory in 1972]], her tenure as First Lady ended two years later, when President Nixon resigned amid the [[Watergate scandal]]. Her public appearances became increasingly rare later in life. She and her husband settled in [[San Clemente, California]], and later moved to [[New Jersey]]. She suffered two strokes, one in 1976 and another in 1983, and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992. She died in 1993, aged 81. ==Early life== Thelma Catherine Ryan was born in 1912 in the small mining town of [[Ely, Nevada]].<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon">{{cite web|url= http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=38|title= First Lady Biography: Pat Nixon|access-date= August 15, 2007|year= 2005|publisher= The National First Ladies Library|archive-date= May 9, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120509084238/http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=38|url-status= dead}}</ref> Her father, William M. Ryan Sr., was a sailor, gold miner, and [[market gardening|truck farmer]] of Irish ancestry; her mother, Katherine Halberstadt, was a German immigrant.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> The nickname "Pat" was given to her by her father, because of her birth on the day before [[Saint Patrick's Day]] and her Irish ancestry.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> When she enrolled in college in 1931 she started using the name "Pat" (and occasionally "Patricia") instead of "Thelma" but she did not legally change her name.<ref>{{cite news|author=Halloran, Richard|title=First Lady of the Land at 60: Thelma Catherine Ryan Nixon, Woman in the News|work=The New York Times|date=March 16, 1972}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Kinnard, Judith M.|title=Thelma Ryan's Rise: From White Frame to White House|work=The New York Times|date=August 20, 1971}}</ref> After her birth, the Ryan family moved to California, and in 1914 settled on a small [[truck farm]] in [[Artesia, California|Artesia]] (present-day [[Cerritos, California|Cerritos]]).<ref>{{cite news|title=First Lady Hailed on Return 'Home'|work=The New York Times|date=September 6, 1969|page=18}}</ref> Thelma Ryan's high school yearbook page gives her nickname as "Buddy" and her ambition to run a boarding house.<ref>Illustration in a ''New York Times'' article by Judith M. Kinnard, entitled "Thelma Ryan's Rise: From White Frame to White House" (August 20, 1971).</ref> She worked on the family farm and also at a local bank as a janitor and bookkeeper. Her mother died of cancer in 1924.<ref name="nyt-obit">{{cite news|title=Pat Nixon, Former First Lady, Dies at 81|work=The New York Times|date=July 23, 1993|page=D22|access-date=November 9, 2007|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D7113AF930A15755C0A965958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2|archive-date=September 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921120101/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/23/obituaries/pat-nixon-former-first-lady-dies-at-81.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2|url-status=live}}</ref> Pat, who was only 12, assumed all the household duties for her father (who died himself of [[silicosis]] 5 years later) and her two older brothers, William Jr. (1910–1997) and Thomas (1911–1992). She also had a half-sister, Neva Bender (1909–1981), and a half-brother, Matthew Bender (1907–1973), from her mother's first marriage;<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> her mother's first husband had died during a [[flash flood]] in South Dakota.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> == Education and career == After graduating from [[Excelsior High School (Norwalk, California)|Excelsior High School]] in 1929, she attended [[Fullerton College]]. She paid for her education by working odd jobs, including as a driver, a pharmacy manager, a telephone operator, and a typist.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pat Nixon Biography |url=https://www.nixonfoundation.org/resources/pat-nixon-biography/ |access-date=2023-07-06 |language=en-US |archive-date=July 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230706030402/https://www.nixonfoundation.org/resources/pat-nixon-biography/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She also earned money sweeping the floors of a local bank,<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon" /> and from 1930 until 1931, she lived in New York City, working as a secretary and also as a [[radiographer]].<ref name="nyt-obit" /> Determined "to make something out of myself",<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport">{{cite news|author=Viorst, Judith|title=Pat Nixon Is the Ultimate Good Sport|work=The New York Times|date=September 13, 1970|page=SM13|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/pat-nixon-is-the-ultimate-good-sport-there-are-indications-that-she.html?_r=0|access-date=September 7, 2017|archive-date=March 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301230159/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/pat-nixon-is-the-ultimate-good-sport-there-are-indications-that-she.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> she enrolled in 1931 at the [[University of Southern California]] (USC), where she majored in merchandising. A former professor noted that she "stood out from the empty-headed, overdressed little sorority girls of that era like a good piece of literature on a shelf of cheap paperbacks".<ref name="silentpartner">{{cite magazine|title=The Silent Partner|magazine=Time|date=February 29, 1960|access-date=November 9, 2007|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873226-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612222539/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873226-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> She held part-time jobs on campus, worked as a sales clerk in [[Bullocks Wilshire|Bullock's-Wilshire]] department store,<ref name="Roderick75">{{cite book|title=Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles|last1=Roderick|first1=Kevin|last2=Lynxwiler|first2=J. Eric|year=2005|publisher=Angel City Press|isbn=1-883318-55-6|page=75}}</ref> and taught [[touch typing]] and [[shorthand]] at a high school.<ref name="nyt-obit" /> She also supplemented her income by working as an [[Extra (acting)|extra]] and [[bit player]] in the film industry,<ref name="wh" /><ref name="nykr-eh">{{cite news|url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/pat-and-edith-a-fashion-footnote|title=Pat and Edith: A Fashionable Footnote|last=Thurman|first=Judith|date=November 7, 2011|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=May 11, 2017|archive-date=November 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106030055/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/pat-and-edith-a-fashion-footnote|url-status=live}}</ref> for which she took several [[screen test]]s.<ref name="swift-15">{{harvp|Swift|2014|p=15}}</ref> In this capacity, she made brief appearances in films such as ''[[Becky Sharp (film)|Becky Sharp]]'' (1935), ''[[The Great Ziegfeld]]'' (1936), and ''[[Small Town Girl (1936 film)|Small Town Girl]]'' (1936).<ref name="swift-15" />{{sfn|David|1978|p=41}} In some cases she ended up on the [[cutting room floor]], such as with her spoken lines in ''Becky Sharp''.<ref name="swift-15" /><ref name="erskine" /> She told Hollywood columnist [[Erskine Johnson]] in 1959 that her time in films was "too fleeting even for recollections embellished by the years" and that "my choice of a career was teaching school and the many jobs I pursued were merely to help with college expenses."<ref name="erskine">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1697&dat=19591006&id=uPoeAAAAIBAJ&pg=3202,2447750 | title=Hollywood Today | first=Erskine | last=Johnson | newspaper=Park City Daily News | location=Bowling Green, Kentucky | date=October 6, 1959 | page=4 | access-date=January 8, 2021 | archive-date=June 29, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629122933/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1697&dat=19591006&id=uPoeAAAAIBAJ&pg=3202%2C2447750 | url-status=live }}</ref> During the 1968 presidential campaign, she explained to the writer [[Gloria Steinem]], "I never had time to think about things like... who I wanted to be, or who I admired, or to have ideas. I never had time to dream about being anyone else. I had to work."<ref name="steinem">{{cite news |author=Steinem, Gloria |date=October 28, 1968 |title=In Your Heart You Know He's Nixon |magazine=New York |url=http://nymag.com/news/politics/45934/index11.html |access-date=May 16, 2009 |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018111555/http://nymag.com/news/politics/45934/index11.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1937, Pat Ryan graduated ''[[cum laude]]'' from USC with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in merchandising,<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> together with a certificate to teach at the [[high school]] level, which USC deemed equivalent to a [[master's degree]].{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=48}} Pat accepted a position as a high school teacher at [[Whittier Union High School]] in [[Whittier, California]].<ref name="wh">{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-families/patricia-ryan-nixon/|title=Patricia Ryan Nixon|access-date=August 1, 2008|publisher=The White House|archive-date=January 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123203237/https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-families/patricia-ryan-nixon/|url-status=live}}</ref> == 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 ... 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> == Second Lady of the United States, 1953–1961 == [[Image:Nixons in Ghana 1957.jpg|thumb|right|Vice President and Pat Nixon during a visit to [[Ghana]], 1957]] At the time of her husband coming under consideration for the vice presidential nomination, Pat Nixon was against her husband accepting the selection, as she despised campaigns and had been relieved that as a newly elected senator he would not have another one for six years.<ref name=Ambrose13/> She thought she had prevailed in convincing him, until she heard the announcement of the pick from a news bulletin while at the [[1952 Republican National Convention]].<ref name=Ambrose13>{{cite book|title=Nixon Volume I: The Education of a Politician 1913–1962|first=Stephen E.|last=Ambrose|page=264|year=1988|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0671657222}}</ref> During the [[1952 United States presidential election|Presidential campaign of 1952]], Pat Nixon's attitude toward politics changed when her husband was accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions. Pat encouraged him to fight the charges, and he did so by delivering the famed "[[Checkers speech]]", so-called for the family's dog, a [[cocker spaniel]] given to them by a political supporter. This was Pat's first national television appearance, and she, her daughters, and the dog were featured prominently. Defending himself as a man of the people, Nixon stressed his wife's abilities as a stenographer,<ref name="steinem"/> then said, "I should say this, that Pat doesn't have a mink coat. But she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat, and I always tell her she would look good in anything."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/34_eisenhower/psources/ps_checkers.html|title=Richard Nixon's Checkers Speech|access-date=November 5, 2007|year=2002–2003|publisher=PBS|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109115002/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/34_eisenhower/psources/ps_checkers.html|archive-date=November 9, 2007}}</ref><ref>In 1968, however, a fashion writer of ''The New York Times'' noted that Pat Nixon had purchased a coat made of blonde mink and one of brown-and-black [[Persian lamb]] by the furrier Sidney Fink of Blum & Fink. {{cite news|author=Curtis, Charlotte|author-link=Charlotte Curtis |title=Fashion Spotlight Turns to New First Family|work=The New York Times|date=December 21, 1968}}</ref> Pat Nixon accompanied her husband abroad during his vice presidential years. She traveled to 53 nations, often bypassing luncheons and teas and instead visiting hospitals, orphanages, and even a [[leper colony]] in [[Panama]].<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> On a trip to [[Venezuela]], crowds [[Nixon motorcade attack|pelted the Nixons' limousine with rocks]] and spit on the couple for being representatives of the U.S. government.<ref name="silentpartner"/> A November 1, 1958, article in ''[[The Seattle Times]]'' was typical of the media's favorable coverage of the future First Lady, stating that "Mrs. Nixon is always reported to be gracious and friendly. And she sure is friendly. She greets a stranger as a friend. She doesn't just shake hands but clasps a visitor's hand in both her hands. Her manner is direct ... Mrs. Nixon also upheld her reputation of always looking neat, no matter how long her day has been." A year and a half later, during her husband's campaign for the presidency, ''[[The New York Times]]'' called her "a paragon of wifely virtues" whose "efficiency makes other women feel slothful and untalented".<ref>{{cite news|author=Bender, Marylin|title=Pat Nixon: A Diplomat in High Heels|work=The New York Times|date=July 28, 1960|page=31}}</ref> Pat Nixon was named Outstanding Homemaker of the Year (1953), Mother of the Year (1955), and the Nation's Ideal Housewife (1957). She once said that, on a rare evening to herself, she pressed all of her husband's suits, adding, "Of course, I didn't have to. But when I don't have work to do, I just think up some new project."<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> == Her husband's campaigns—1960, 1962 and 1968 == In [[1960 United States presidential election|the 1960 election]], Vice President Nixon ran for president of the United States against Democratic opponent Senator [[John F. Kennedy]]. Pat was featured prominently in the effort; an entire advertising campaign was built around the slogan "Pat for First Lady".<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> Nixon conceded the election to Kennedy, although the race was very close and there were allegations of voter fraud. Pat had urged her husband to demand a recount of votes, though Nixon declined.<ref name="os234">{{harvp|O'Brien|Suteski|2005|p=234}}</ref> Pat was most upset about the television cameras, which recorded her reaction when her husband lost—"millions of television viewers witnessed her desperate fight to hold a smile upon her lips as her face came apart and the bitter tears flowed from her eyes", as one reporter put it.<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> This permanently dimmed Pat Nixon's view of politics.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> In 1962, the Nixons [[1962 California gubernatorial election|embarked on another campaign]], this time for [[Governor of California]]. Prior to Richard Nixon's announcement of his candidacy, Pat's brother Tom Ryan said, "Pat told me that if Dick ran for governor she was going to take her shoe to him."<ref name="Eisenhower, Julie Nixon (1986), p. 205-206">{{harvp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=205–206}}</ref> She eventually agreed to another run, citing that it meant a great deal to her husband,<ref name="Eisenhower, Julie Nixon (1986), p. 205-206" /> but Richard Nixon lost the gubernatorial election to [[Pat Brown]]. Six years later, Richard Nixon ran again for the presidency. Pat was reluctant to face another campaign, her eighth since 1946.<ref name="jne235237">{{harvp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=235, 237}}</ref> Her husband was a deeply controversial figure in American politics,<ref>{{cite book | last=Mason |first=Robert |title=Richard Nixon and the Quest for a New Majority | url=https://archive.org/details/richardnixonques00maso | url-access=limited |publisher=UNC Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-8078-2905-6| page=[https://archive.org/details/richardnixonques00maso/page/n37 25]}}</ref> and Pat had witnessed and shared the praise and vilification he had received without having established an independent public identity for herself.<ref name="steinem"/> Although she supported him in his career, she feared another "1960", when Nixon lost to Kennedy.<ref name="jne235237"/> She consented, however, and participated in the campaign by traveling on campaign trips with her husband.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=236}} Richard Nixon made a political comeback with his narrow [[1968 United States presidential election|presidential victory of 1968]] over Vice-President [[Hubert Humphrey]]—and the country had a new First Lady. == First Lady of the United States, 1969–1974 == === 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"/> === Life in the White House === [[File:President and Mrs. Nixon meet with Her Majesty the Queen and Prime Minister Heath in England - NARA - 194333.tif|thumb|left|The First Lady with [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], 1970]] [[File:Margaret Sinclair, Pat Nixon, Justin Trudeau 1972-04-14.jpg|thumb|Nixon with Canadian First Lady [[Margaret Trudeau]] holding a baby [[Justin Trudeau]], April 1972]] After her husband was elected president in 1968, Pat Nixon met with the outgoing First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Together, they toured the private quarters of the White House on December 12.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=260, 264}} She eventually asked Sarah Jackson Doyle, an interior decorator who had worked for the Nixons since 1965 and who decorated the family's 10-room apartment on [[Fifth Avenue]] in [[New York City|New York]] with French and English antiques, to serve as a design consultant.<ref>{{cite news|author=Reif, Rita|title=A Decorator for Nixons Gives Julie A Bit of Help|work=The New York Times|date=November 30, 1968}}</ref> She hired [[Clement Conger]] from the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] to be the Executive Mansion's new curator, replacing James Ketchum, who had been hired by Jacqueline Kennedy.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=261, 263}} [[File:Mrs. Nixon greeting well-wishers in Hawaii - NARA - 194446.tif|thumb|Pat Nixon greets well-wishers on a trip to Hawaii, 1972]] Pat Nixon developed and led a coordinated effort to improve the authenticity of the White House as an historic residence and museum. She added more than 600 paintings, antiques and furnishings to the Executive Mansion and its collections, the largest number of acquisitions by any administration;<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> this greatly, and dramatically, expanded upon [[Jacqueline Kennedy]]'s more publicized efforts. She created the [[Map Room (White House)|Map Room]] and renovated the China room, and refurbished nine other rooms, including the [[Red Room (White House)|Red Room]], [[Blue Room (White House)|Blue Room]] and [[Green Room (White House)|Green Room]].<ref name="csa188"/> She worked with engineers to develop an exterior lighting system for the entire White House, making it glow a soft white.<ref name="csa188"/> She ordered the American flag atop the White House flown day and night, even when the president was not in residence.<ref name="csa188"/> She ordered pamphlets describing the rooms of the house for tourists so they could understand everything, and had them translated into Spanish, French, Italian and Russian for foreigners.<ref name="csa188"/> She had ramps installed for the handicapped and physically disabled. She instructed the police who served as tour guides to attend sessions at the [[Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library]] (to learn how tours were guided "in a real museum"),<ref name="csa188"/> and arranged for them to wear less menacing uniforms, with their guns hidden underneath.<ref name="csa188"/> The tour guides were to speak slowly to deaf groups, to help those who lip-read, and Pat ordered that the blind be able to touch the antiques.<ref name="csa188"/> [[File:Pat Nixon speaking at Republican National Convention.jpg|thumb|left|Pat addresses the [[1972 Republican National Convention]]. She was the first First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a party convention, and the first Republican First Lady to do so.]] The First Lady had long been irritated by the perception that the White House and access to the President and First Lady were exclusively for the wealthy and famous;<ref name="csa188">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=188}}</ref> she routinely came down from the family quarters to greet tourists, shake hands, sign autographs, and pose for photos.<ref name="csa187"/> Her daughter Julie Eisenhower reflected, "she invited so many groups to the White House to give them recognition, not famous ones, but little-known organizations..."{{sfnp|David|1978|p=128}} She invited former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and her children [[Caroline Kennedy|Caroline]] and [[John F. Kennedy, Jr.|John Jr.]] to dine with her family and view the White House's official portraits of her and her husband, the late President Kennedy.<ref name=Nixon502 /> It was the first time that the three Kennedys had returned to the White House since the president's assassination eight years earlier.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/22/us/clinton-mistily-recalls-kennedy-s-white-house-visit.html|title=Clinton Mistily Recalls Kennedy's White House Visit|first=Katherine Q.|last=Seelye|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 22, 1999|access-date=February 11, 2017|archive-date=September 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913081031/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/22/us/clinton-mistily-recalls-kennedy-s-white-house-visit.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-07-24/news/9907240139_1_john-kennedy-white-house-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis|title=JFK Jr. visited White House at invitation of Nixon, Reagan|first=Jonathan|last=Weisman|date=July 24, 1999|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=December 21, 2015|archive-date=September 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918092618/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-07-24/news/9907240139_1_john-kennedy-white-house-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis|url-status=live}}</ref> Pat had ordered the visit to be kept secret from the media until after the trip's conclusion in an attempt to maintain privacy for the Kennedys. She also invited President Kennedy's mother [[Rose Kennedy]] to see her son's official portrait.<ref name=Nixon502>{{cite book|title=RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon|first=Richard|last=Nixon|pages=502–503|year=2013|publisher=Simon & Schuster}}</ref> [[File:Pat Nixon Red Room C5596-16.jpg|thumb|Pat Nixon with White House curator [[Clement Conger]], whom she hired, in the Red Room after her redecorations, 1971]] She opened the White House for evening tours so that the public could see the interior design work that had been implemented. The tours that were conducted in December displayed the White House's Christmas decor. In addition, she instituted a series of performances by artists at the White House in varied American traditions, from opera to [[bluegrass music|bluegrass]]; among the guests were [[The Carpenters]] in 1972. These events were described as ranging from "creative to indifferent, to downright embarrassing".<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> When they entered the White House in 1969, the Nixons began inviting families to non-denominational Sunday church services in the [[East Room]] of the White House.<ref name="csa188"/> She also oversaw the White House wedding of her daughter, Tricia, to [[Edward F. Cox|Edward Ridley Finch Cox]] in 1971.<ref>{{cite news|author=Krebs, Alvin|title=More on the Wedding|work=The New York Times|date=May 11, 1972}}</ref> In October 1969, she announced her appointment of Constance Stuart as her staff director and press secretary.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1969/10/24/page/1/article/pat-nixon-hires-new-press-aid|title=Pat Nixon Hires New Press Aid|date=October 24, 1969|publisher=Chicago Tribune|access-date=August 27, 2017|archive-date=August 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828062046/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1969/10/24/page/1/article/pat-nixon-hires-new-press-aid/|url-status=live}}</ref> To the White House residence staff, the Nixons were perceived as more stiff and formal than other first families, but nonetheless kind.{{sfnp|Brower|2015|pp=155–156}} She spoke out in favor of women running for political office and encouraged her husband to nominate a woman to the [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]], saying "woman power is unbeatable; I've seen it all across this country".<ref name="cc-nyt">{{cite news|author=Curtis, Charlotte|title=Pat Nixon: 'Creature Comforts Don't Matter'|work=The New York Times|date=July 3, 1968}}</ref> She was the first of the American First Ladies to publicly support the [[Equal Rights Amendment]],{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=194}} though her views on abortion were mixed. Following the Court's 1973 ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' decision, Pat stated she was [[pro-choice]].<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> However, in 1972, she said, "I'm really not for abortion. I think it's a personal thing. I mean abortion on demand—wholesale."<ref>{{cite news|title=Mrs. Nixon Asserts Jane Fonda Should Bid Hanoi End War|work=The New York Times|date=August 9, 1972}}</ref> In 1972, she became the first Republican First Lady to address a [[1972 Republican National Convention|national convention]].<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> Her efforts in the 1972 reelection campaign—traveling across the country and speaking on behalf of her husband—were copied by future candidates' spouses.<ref name="First Lady 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"/> {{multiple image | align = right | direction = vertical | width = 230 | header = | image1 = Pat Nixon in Peru Consuelo Velasco 1970.jpg | alt1 = | caption1 = | image2 = Pat Nixon hospital Peru C3796-18.jpg | alt2 = | 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. }} 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 ... 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> === Fashion and style === [[Image:Pat Nixon poses 1970.jpg|thumb|left|Pat Nixon posing in the White House, 1970]] The traditional role of a First Lady as the nation's hostess puts her personal appearance and style under scrutiny, and the attention to Pat was lively. ''[[Women's Wear Daily]]'' stated that Pat had a "good figure and good posture", as well as "the best-looking legs of any woman in public life today".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900581,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114112758/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900581,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2007|title=Redoing Pat|access-date=July 25, 2008|magazine=Time|date=January 24, 1969}}</ref> Some fashion writers tended to have a lackluster opinion of her well tailored, but nondescript, American-made clothes. "I consider it my duty to use American designers", she said,<ref>{{cite news|author=Weinman, Martha|title=First Ladies—In Fashion, Too?|work=The New York Times|date=September 11, 1960}}</ref> and favored them because, "they are now using so many materials which are great for traveling because they're non crushable".{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=192}} She preferred to buy readymade garments rather than made-to-order outfits. "I'm a size 10," she told ''[[The New York Times]]''. "I can just walk in and buy. I've bought things in various stores in various cities. Only some of my clothes are by designers."<ref name="cc-nyt"/> She did, however, wear the custom work of some well-known talents, notably [[Geoffrey Beene]], at the suggestion of Clara Treyz, her personal shopper.<ref name="cc-nyt"/> Many fashion observers concluded that Pat Nixon did not greatly advance the cause of American fashion. Nixon's yellow-satin inaugural gown by Harvey Berin was criticized as "a schoolteacher on her night out", but Treyz defended her wardrobe selections by saying, "Mrs. Nixon must be ladylike."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Pat's Wardrobe Mistress|magazine=Time|date=January 12, 1970|access-date=November 9, 2007|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942153-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114112809/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942153-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2007}}</ref><ref>Nixon also frequently wore wigs that replicated her short blonde hairstyle, especially on political trips when access to a hairdresser was difficult. {{cite news|author=Curtis, Charlotte|title=Pat Nixon: 'Creature Comforts Don't Matter'|work=The New York Times|date=July 3, 1968}}</ref> Nixon did not sport the outrageous fashions of the 1970s, because she was concerned about appearing conservatively dressed, especially as her husband's political star rose. "Always before, it was sort of fun to get some ... thing that was completely different, high-style", she told a reporter. "But this is not appropriate now. I avoid the spectacular."{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=187}} === Watergate === {{further|Watergate scandal}} At the time the Watergate scandal broke to the media, Nixon "barely noticed" the reports of a break-in at the [[Democratic National Committee]] headquarters.<ref name="csa201">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=201}}</ref> Later, when asked by the press about Watergate, she replied curtly, "I know only what I read in the newspapers."<ref name="csa203">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=203}}</ref> In 1974, when a reporter asked "Is the press the cause of the president's problems?", she shot back, "What problems?"<ref>Anthony, C. S. (1991), p. 210</ref> Privately, she felt that the power of her husband's staff was increasing, and President Nixon was becoming more removed from what was occurring in the administration.<ref name="csa203"/>'' [[Image:NIXONSandFORDS.jpg|thumb|left|The Fords escort the Nixons as they depart the White House on Nixon's final day as president, August 9, 1974.]] Pat Nixon did not know of the secret tape recordings her husband had made. [[Julie Nixon Eisenhower]] stated that the First Lady would have ordered the tapes destroyed immediately, had she known of their existence.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=409–410}} Once she did learn of the tapes, she vigorously opposed making them public, and compared them to "private love letters—for one person alone".{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=214}} Believing in her husband's innocence, she also encouraged him not to resign and instead fight all the impeachment charges that were eventually leveled against him. She said to her friend Helene Drown, "Dick has done so much for the country. Why is this happening?"<ref name="csa215"/> After President Nixon told his family he would resign the office of the presidency, she replied "But why?"{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=216}} She contacted White House curator Clement Conger to cancel any further development of a new [[White House china|official china pattern]] from the Lenox China Company, and began supervising the packing of the family's personal belongings.{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|pp=417–419}} On August 7, 1974, the family met in the [[Sunroom|solarium]] of the White House for their last dinner. Pat sat on the edge of a couch and held her chin high, a sign of tension to her husband.<ref name="csa217">{{harvp|Anthony|1991|p=217}}</ref> When the president walked in, she threw her arms around him, kissed him, and said, "We're all very proud of you, Daddy."<ref name="csa217"/> Later Pat Nixon said of the photographs taken that evening, "Our hearts were breaking and there we are smiling."{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=424}} On the morning of August 9 in the East Room, Nixon gave a televised 20-minute farewell speech to the White House staff, during which time he read from [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s biography and praised his own parents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/nixon-farewell.htm|title=Richard M. Nixon: White House Farewell|access-date=September 23, 2007|publisher=The History Place|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004084041/http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/nixon-farewell.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The First Lady could hardly contain her tears; she was most upset about the cameras, because they recorded her anguish, as they had during the 1960 election defeat. The Nixons walked onto the Executive Mansion's South Lawn with Vice President [[Gerald Ford]] and Betty Ford. The outgoing president departed from the White House on [[Marine One]]. As the family walked towards the helicopter, Pat, with one arm around her husband's waist and one around Betty's, said to Betty "You'll see many of these red carpets, and you'll get so you hate 'em."{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=218}} The helicopter transported them to [[Andrews Air Force Base]]; from there they flew to California.<ref>{{cite news|work=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/06/nixon.resigns/|title=Nixon's resignation changed American politics forever|date=August 9, 1999|access-date=August 18, 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070829175425/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/06/nixon.resigns/ |archive-date = August 29, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pat Nixon later told her daughter Julie, "Watergate is the only crisis that ever got me down ... And I know I will never live to see the vindication."{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=453}} === Public perception === [[File:PN views panda.jpg|thumb|256x256px|Pat Nixon viewing pandas in a Chinese zoo in 1972.]] Historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony noted that ordinary citizens responded to, and identified with, Pat Nixon.<ref name="csa187"/> When a group of people from a rural community visited the White House to present a quilt to the First Lady, many were overcome with nervousness; upon hearing their weeping, Pat hugged each individual tightly, and the tension dissipated.<ref name="csa187"/> When a young boy doubted that the Executive Mansion was her house because he could not see her washing machine, Pat led him through the halls and up an elevator, into the family quarters and the laundry room.<ref name="csa187"/> She mixed well with people of different races, and made no distinctions on that basis.<ref name="csa197"/> During the Nixons' trip to [[1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China|China in 1972]], Chinese Premier [[Zhou Enlai]] was sufficiently smitten with her so as to give two rare [[giant panda]]s to the United States as a gift from China.<ref name="csa199200"/> Pat Nixon was listed on the [[Gallup Organization]]'s [[Gallup's most admired man and woman poll|top-ten list of the most admired women]] fourteen times, from 1959 to 1962 and 1968 to 1979.<ref name="gallup 10">{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/3415/Most-Admired-Men-Women-19481998.aspx|title=Most Admired Men and Women: 1948–1998|date=December 13, 1999|access-date=October 12, 2008|publisher=Gallup Organization|author1=Newport, Frank|author2=David W. Moore|author3=Lydia Saad|name-list-style=amp|archive-date=November 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116185350/https://news.gallup.com/poll/3415/most-admired-men-women-19481998.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> She was ranked third in 1969, second in 1970 and 1971, and first in 1972. She remained on the top-ten list until 1979, five years after her husband left office.<ref name="gallup 10"/> To many, she was seen as an example of the "[[American Dream]]", having risen from a poor background, with her greatest popularity among the "great silent majority" of voters.<ref name="csa201"/> [[Mary Brooks]], the director of the [[United States Mint]] and a long-time friend of Pat's, illustrated some of the cultural divides present at the time when she described the First Lady as "a good example to the women of this country–if they're not part of those Women's Liberation groups".<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> Additionally, it was the view of veteran UPI correspondent [[Helen Thomas]] that Pat "was the warmest First Lady I covered and the one who loved people the most. I think newspeople who covered her saw a woman who was sharp, responsive, sensitive."{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=167}} [[File:Pat Nixon award C6712-07A.jpg|thumb|left|Pat Nixon was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun in 1971 by the government of Peru, becoming the first Western woman to earn the distinction.]] Press accounts [[Framing (social sciences)|framed]] Pat Nixon as an embodiment of [[Cold War]] domesticity, in stark contrast to the [[second-wave feminism]] of the time.{{sfnp|Burns|2008|pp=107–108}} Journalists often portrayed her as dutiful and selfless<ref name="burns-110">{{harvp|Burns|2008|pp=110–111}}</ref> and seeing herself as a wife first and individual second.<ref name="burns-125" /> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine described her as "the perfect wife and mother–pressing [her husband's] pants, making dresses for daughters Tricia and Julie, doing her own housework even as the Vice President's wife".<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Woman in the Cloth Coat|author=Angelo, Bonnie|access-date=August 22, 2008|date=July 5, 1993|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978822,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211083252/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978822,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2008|magazine=Time}}</ref> In the early years of her tenure as First Lady she was tagged "Plastic Pat", a derogatory nickname applied because, according to critics, she was always smiling while her face rarely expressed emotion<ref>{{cite web|url=http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/nixon/essays/firstlady|title=Thelma Nixon|access-date=July 25, 2008|publisher=Miller Center of Public Affairs|year=2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212202653/http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/nixon/essays/firstlady|archive-date=February 12, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.www.theracquet.net/media/storage/paper978/news/2008/03/12/Spotlight/Secrets.Will.Be.Shared.In.OneWoman.Show.Lady.Bird.Pat.Betty.Tea.For.Three.At.To-3263920.shtml|title=Secrets will be shared in one-woman show, Lady Bird, Pat & Betty: Tea for Three at Toland theatre|author=Schmitz, Justin|publisher=University of Wisconsin|access-date=July 25, 2008|date=March 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803184616/http://media.www.theracquet.net/media/storage/paper978/news/2008/03/12/Spotlight/Secrets.Will.Be.Shared.In.OneWoman.Show.Lady.Bird.Pat.Betty.Tea.For.Three.At.To-3263920.shtml|archive-date=August 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and her body language made her seem reserved, and at times, artificial.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wnyc.org/books/56606|title=Between You and Me|author=Wallace, Mike|access-date=August 22, 2008|publisher=WNYC Radio|year=2005 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080618213837/http://www.wnyc.org/books/56606 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = June 18, 2008}}</ref> Some observers described Pat Nixon as "a paper doll, a [[Barbie doll]]–plastic, antiseptic, unalive" and that she "put every bit of the energy and drive of her youth into playing a role, and she may no longer recognize it as such".<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> As for the criticisms, she said, "I am who I am and I will continue to be."<ref name="PN is the Ultimate Good Sport"/> She unguardedly revealed some of her opinions of her own life in a 1968 interview aboard a campaign plane with [[Gloria Steinem]]: "Now, I have friends in all the countries of the world. I haven't just sat back and thought of myself or my ideas or what I wanted to do. Oh no, I've stayed interested in people. I've kept working. Right here in the plane I keep this case with me, and the minute I sit down, I write my thank you notes. Nobody gets by without a personal note. I don't have time to worry about who I admire or who I identify with. I've never had it easy. I'm not like all you ... all those people who had it easy."<ref name="steinem"/> Despite her largely demure public persona as a traditional wife and homemaker, she was not as self-effacing and timid as her critics often claimed. When a news photographer wanted her to strike yet another pose while wearing an apron, she firmly responded, "I think we've had enough of this kitchen thing, don't you?"<ref>{{cite news|author=Toner, Robin|title=Running Mates|work=The New York Times|date=February 2, 1997}}</ref> Some journalists, such as columnist and White House Correspondent [[Robert E. Thompson (journalist)|Robert E. Thompson]], felt that Pat was an ideal balance for the 1970s; Thompson wrote that she proved that "women can play a vital role in world affairs" while still retaining a "feminine manner".<ref name="csa201"/> Other journalists felt that Pat represented the failings of the [[feminine mystique]], and portrayed her as being out of step with her times.<ref name="burns-110"/> Those who opposed the Vietnam War identified her with the Nixon administration's policies, and, as a result, occasionally picketed her speaking events. After she had spoken to some of them in one instance in 1970, however, one of the students told the press that "she wanted to listen. I felt like this is a woman who really cares about what we are doing. I was surprised."{{sfnp|Anthony|1991|p=182}} Veteran CBS correspondent [[Mike Wallace]] expressed regret that the one major interview he was never able to conduct was that of Pat Nixon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-03-22-wallace-press-club_x.htm|title=The one big interview Mike Wallace never landed|agency=Associated Press|access-date=November 12, 2009|date=March 22, 2006|work=USA Today|archive-date=July 12, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712081527/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-03-22-wallace-press-club_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> == Later life == [[Image:Pat nixon.jpg|thumb|right|Pat Nixon's official White House portrait, painted in 1978 by [[Henriette Wyeth|Henriette Wyeth Hurd]]]] After returning to [[San Clemente, California]], in 1974 and settling into the Nixons' home, ''[[La Casa Pacifica]]'', Pat Nixon rarely appeared in public and only granted occasional interviews to the press. In late May 1975, Pat went to her girlhood hometown of Artesia to dedicate the [[Patricia Nixon Elementary School]].<ref name="Eisenhower, Julie Nixon (1986), p. 441">{{harvp|Eisenhower|1986|p=441}}</ref> In her remarks, she said, "I'm proud to have the school carry my name. I always thought that only those who have gone had schools named after them. I am happy to tell you that I'm not gone—I mean, not really gone."<ref name="Eisenhower, Julie Nixon (1986), p. 441" /> It was Pat's only solo public appearance in five and a half years in California.<ref name="Eisenhower, Julie Nixon (1986), p. 441" /> On July 7, 1976, at ''La Casa Pacifica'', Nixon suffered a [[stroke]], which resulted in the paralysis of her entire left side. [[Physical therapy]] enabled her to eventually regain all movement.<ref name="First Lady Pat Nixon"/> She said that her recovery was "the hardest thing I have ever done physically".<ref>Eisenhower, Julie (1986), p. 451</ref> In 1979, she and her husband moved to a townhouse on East 65th Street in [[Manhattan, New York]].<ref name="houses">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/06colnj.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/N/Nixon,%20Richard%20Milhous|title=Final Days for a Moldy Nixon Retreat|access-date=August 2, 2008|date=May 6, 2007|author=Coyne, Kevin|work=The New York Times|archive-date=April 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417101446/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/06colnj.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/N/Nixon,%20Richard%20Milhous|url-status=live}}</ref> They lived there only briefly and in 1981 moved to a {{convert|6000|sqft|m2|0}} house in [[Saddle River, New Jersey]].<ref name="houses"/> This gave the couple additional space, and enabled them to be near their children and grandchildren.<ref name="houses"/> Pat, however, sustained another stroke in 1983{{sfnp|Eisenhower|1986|p=458}} and two lung infections the following year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E5DC1039F935A35752C1A962948260&scp=6&sq=pat%20nixon&st=cse|title=Pat Nixon Is Hospitalized|agency=Associated Press|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 17, 2008|date=November 6, 1984|archive-date=September 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921130104/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/06/us/pat-nixon-is-hospitalized.html?scp=6&sq=pat+nixon&st=cse|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Image:First Ladies at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.jpg|thumb|left|Nixon (seated second from left) attends the opening of the Ronald Reagan Library, November 1991]] Appearing "frail and slightly bent",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0D61631F933A15754C0A966958260|author=Apple, R. W. Jr.|title=Another Nixon Summit, At His Library|work=The New York Times|date=July 20, 1990|access-date=November 9, 2007|archive-date=September 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921120102/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/20/us/another-nixon-summit-at-his-library.html|url-status=live}}</ref> she appeared in public for the opening of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace (now [[Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum]]) in [[Yorba Linda, California|Yorba Linda]], California, on July 19, 1990. The dedication ceremony included 50,000 friends and well-wishers, as well as former Presidents Ford, Reagan, and Bush and their wives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nixonlibraryfoundation.org/index.php?link=MuseumTour&src=gendocs&submenu=museum |publisher=Richard Nixon Library Foundation |access-date=July 23, 2008 |title=Museum Tour: The Museum |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720114321/http://www.nixonlibraryfoundation.org/index.php?submenu=museum&src=gendocs&link=MuseumTour |archive-date=July 20, 2008 }}</ref> The library includes a Pat Nixon room, a Pat Nixon amphitheater, and rose gardens planted with the red-black [[Rosa 'Pat Nixon'|Pat Nixon Rose]] developed by a French company in 1972, when she was first lady.<ref name="lat-obit">{{cite news|date=June 23, 1993|title=Pat Nixon Dies; Model Political Wife Was 81|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-23/news/mn-6290_1_pat-nixon|url-status=live|url-access=subscription|access-date=December 16, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111162657/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-23/news/mn-6290_1_pat-nixon|archive-date=January 11, 2012}}</ref> Pat also attended the opening of the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library]] in [[Simi Valley, California|Simi Valley]], California, in November 1991. Former First Lady [[Barbara Bush]] reflected, "I loved Pat Nixon, who was a sensational, gracious, and thoughtful First Lady",{{sfnp|Bush|1994|p=97}} and at the dedication of the Reagan Library, Bush remembered, "There was one sad thing. Pat Nixon did not look well at all. Through her smile you could see that she was in great pain and having a terrible time getting air into her lungs."{{sfnp|Bush|1994|p=441}} The Nixons moved to a gated complex in [[Park Ridge, New Jersey]], in 1991. Pat's health was failing, and the house was smaller and contained an elevator.<ref name="houses"/> A heavy smoker most of her adult life who nevertheless never allowed herself to be seen with a cigarette in public,<ref name="lat-obit"/> she eventually endured bouts of [[oral cancer]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Pat Nixon Released From Hospital|work=The New York Times|date=February 13, 1987|access-date=November 9, 2007|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE2DC103FF930A25751C0A961948260|archive-date=September 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921120104/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/13/nyregion/metro-datelines-pat-nixon-released-from-hospital.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[emphysema]], and ultimately [[lung cancer]], with which she was diagnosed in December 1992 while hospitalized with respiratory problems.<ref name="nyt-obit" /> == Death and funeral == Pat Nixon died at her Park Ridge, New Jersey, home at 5:45 a.m. on June 22, 1993, the day after her fifty-third wedding anniversary.<ref>{{cite book |title=Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents |date=1993 |publisher=Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration |page=1157 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=axYYAAAAYAAJ |language=en |access-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705071255/https://books.google.com/books?id=axYYAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> She was 81 years old. Her daughters and husband were by her side. The funeral service for Pat Nixon took place on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda on June 26, 1993. Speakers at the ceremony, including [[Governor of California|California Governor]] [[Pete Wilson]], Kansas senator [[Bob Dole]], and the Reverend Dr. [[Billy Graham]], eulogized the former First Lady. In addition to her husband and immediate family, former presidents [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Gerald Ford]] and their wives, [[Nancy Reagan|Nancy]] and [[Betty Ford|Betty]], were also in attendance.<ref name="PN funeral">{{cite web|url= http://www.nixonfoundation.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=PNfuneral|title= Funeral Services of Mrs. Nixon|access-date= October 2, 2007|year= 2005|publisher= Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation|archive-date= June 9, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150609075721/http://www.nixonfoundation.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=PNfuneral|url-status= live}}</ref> President [[Bill Clinton]] and First Lady [[Hillary Clinton]] did not attend the funeral and former presidents [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[George H. W. Bush]] and their wives [[Rosalynn Carter|Rosalynn]] and [[Barbara Bush|Barbara]] also did not attend. [[Lady Bird Johnson]] was unable to attend because she was in the hospital recovering from a stroke, and [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] did not attend either.<ref name="PN funeral"/> President Nixon sobbed openly, profusely, and at times uncontrollably during the ceremony. It was a rare display of emotion from the former president, and Helen McCain Smith and Ed Nixon both said they had never seen him more distraught.{{sfnp|Thomas|1999|p=258}}<ref>{{cite book| last = Brower| first = Kate Andersen| date = 2016| title = First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies | location = 195 Broadway New York, NY 10007| publisher = HarperCollins Publishers Inc. | page = 321 | isbn = 9780062439666}}</ref> Nixon's tombstone gives her name as "Patricia Ryan Nixon", the name by which she was popularly known. Her husband survived her by ten months, [[Death and state funeral of Richard Nixon|dying]] on April 22, 1994. He was also 81.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/stories/nixobit.htm|title=Richard M. Nixon, 37th President, Dies|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=August 2, 2008|author1=Weil, Martin|author2=Randolph, Eleanor|date=April 23, 1994|archive-date=August 30, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830003955/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/stories/nixobit.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Her [[epitaph]] reads: {{blockquote|Even when people can't speak your language, they can tell if you have love in your heart.}} ==Popular culture impact== [[File:Pat Nixon reaches out to young girl.jpg|thumb|right|Pat Nixon reaches out from her limousine to a young girl during an October 1972 campaign stop in Atlanta.]] In 1994, the [[Pat Nixon Park]] was established in [[Cerritos, California]]. The site where her girlhood home stood is on the property.<ref name="PN Biography: Richard Nixon Library"/> The Cerritos City Council voted in April 1996 to erect a statue of the former first lady, one of the few statues created in the image of a first lady.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ci.cerritos.ca.us/gallery/nixonfact.html|title=Pat Nixon Statue at the Cerritos Senior Center|year=2000|publisher=City of Cerritos|access-date=August 2, 2008|archive-date=August 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804193032/http://www.ci.cerritos.ca.us/gallery/nixonfact.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Pat has been portrayed by [[Joan Allen]] in the 1995 film ''[[Nixon (film)|Nixon]]'' (for which Allen earned a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]]), [[Patty McCormack]] in the 2008 film ''[[Frost/Nixon (film)|Frost/Nixon]]'' and [[Nicole Sullivan]] in the 2009 film ''[[Black Dynamite]]''. She was sung by soprano [[Carolann Page]] in [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]]' opera ''[[Nixon in China]]'' 1987 world premiere in Houston, Texas; a ''[[New York Times]]'' critic noted that the performance captured "the First Lady's shy mannerisms" while one from the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' described the subject as the "chronically demure First Lady".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/24/arts/opera-nixon-in-china.html|title=Opera: ''Nixon in China''|first=Donal|last=Henahan|author-link=Donal Henahan|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 24, 1987|access-date=September 7, 2017|archive-date=August 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827014611/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/24/arts/opera-nixon-in-china.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1987-10-24/entertainment/ca-3984_1_opera-premiere/2|title=Gala Opera Premiere: John Adams' ''Nixon in China'' in Houston|first=Martin|last=Bernheimer|author-link=Martin Bernheimer|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=October 24, 1987|access-date=June 29, 2017|archive-date=May 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531041826/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-10-24/entertainment/ca-3984_1_opera-premiere/2|url-status=live}}</ref> The part was later sung by Scottish soprano [[Janis Kelly (soprano)|Janis Kelly]] in the 2011 [[Metropolitan Opera]] premiere in New York. This ''New York Times'' critic wrote that Kelly "was wonderful as Pat Nixon. During the affecting Act II scene in which she is guided by Chinese escorts and journalists to a glass factory, a people's commune and a health clinic, she is finally taken to a school. She speaks of coming from a poor family and tells the obliging children that for a while she was a schoolteacher. In Mr. Adams's tender music, as sung by Ms. Kelly, you sense Mrs. Nixon wistfully pondering the much different life she might have had."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/arts/music/04nixon.html|title=President and Opera, on Unexpected Stages|first=Anthony|last=Tommasini|author-link=Anthony Tommasini|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 4, 2011|page=C1|access-date=September 7, 2017|archive-date=August 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827200737/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/arts/music/04nixon.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ==Historical assessments== Since 1982 [[Siena College Research Institute]] has periodically conducted surveys asking historians to assess American first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president.<ref name="Siena2014">{{cite web |title=Eleanor Roosevelt Retains Top Spot as America's Best First Lady Michelle Obama Enters Study as 5th, Hillary Clinton Drops to 6th Clinton Seen First Lady Most as Presidential Material; Laura Bush, Pat Nixon, Mamie Eisenhower, Bess Truman Could Have Done More in Office Eleanor & FDR Top Power Couple; Mary Drags Lincolns Down in the Ratings |url=https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/FirstLadies2014Release_Final.pdf |website=scri.siena.edu |publisher=Siena Research Institute |access-date=May 16, 2022 |date=February 15, 2014 |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222164549/https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/FirstLadies2014Release_Final.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In terms of cumulative assessment, Nixon has been ranked: *37th-best of 42 in 1982<ref name="2008Siena"/> *18th-best of 37 in 1993<ref name="2008Siena"/> *33rd-best of 38 in 2003<ref name="2008Siena"/> *35th-best of 38 in 2008<ref name="2008Siena">{{cite web |title=Ranking America's First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt Still #1 Abigail Adams Regains 2nd Place Hillary moves from 5th to 4th; Jackie Kennedy from 4th to 3rd Mary Todd Lincoln Remains in 36th |url=https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/FL_2008Release.pdf |publisher=Siena Research Institute |access-date=May 16, 2022 |date=December 18, 2008 |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222164606/https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/FL_2008Release.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> *33rd-best of 39 in 2014<ref>{{cite web |title=Siena College Research Institute/C-SPAN Study of the First Ladies of the United States 2014 |url=https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Appendix_A_Overall_Survey_Results.pdf |website=scri.siena.edu |publisher=Siena College Research Institute |access-date=October 10, 2022 |date=2014 |archive-date=October 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010195939/https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Appendix_A_Overall_Survey_Results.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 2014 survey, Nixon and her husband were ranked the 29th-highest out of 39 first couples in terms of being a "power couple".<ref>{{cite web |title=2014 Power Couple Score |url=https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Appendix_C_Power_Couples.pdf |website=scri.siena.edu/ |publisher=Siena Research Institute/C-SPAN Study of the First Ladies of the United States |access-date=October 9, 2022 |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009201711/https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Appendix_C_Power_Couples.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> == Footnotes == {{Reflist}} == References == * {{cite book|last=Anthony|first=Carl Sferrazza|title=First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents' Wives and Their Power; 1961–1990 (Volume II)|url=https://archive.org/details/firstladiessaga200anth|url-access=registration|year=1991|publisher=William Morrow and Co|location=New York}} * {{cite book | last=Brower | first=Kate Andersen | title=The Residence: Inside the Private World of The White House | year=2015 | publisher=Harper | location=New York | isbn=978-0-06-230519-0}} * {{cite book | last=Burns | first=Lisa M. | title=First Ladies and the Fourth Estate: Press Framing of Presidential Wives | publisher=Northern Illinois University Press | location=DeKalb, Illinois | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-87580-391-3}} * {{cite book|last=Bush|first=Barbara|author-link=Barbara Bush|title=A Memoir|year=1994|location=New York|publisher=Scribner}} * {{cite book |last= David|first=Lester|title= The Lonely Lady of San Clemente: The Story of Pat Nixon|year=1978|publisher=Crowell|isbn=0-690-01688-3}} * {{cite book |last= Eisenhower|first= Julie Nixon|author-link= Julie Nixon Eisenhower|title= Pat Nixon: The Untold Story|year= 1986|publisher= Simon & Schuster|location= New York|isbn=0-671-24424-8}} * {{cite book|last= Marton|first= Kati|author-link= Kati Marton|title= Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History|year= 2001|publisher= Pantheon|location= New York|isbn= 0-375-40106-7|url= https://archive.org/details/hiddenpowerpresi00mart_0}} * {{cite book|last1=O'Brien|first1=Cormac|last2=Suteski|first2=Monika|title=Secret Lives of the First Ladies: What Your Teachers Never Told You About the Women of the White House|year=2005|publisher=Quirk Books|isbn=1-59474-014-3|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781594740145}} * {{cite book | last=Swift | first=Will | title=Pat and Dick: The Nixons, An Intimate Portrait of a Marriage | year=2014 | publisher=Simon & Schuster | location=New York | isbn=978-1-4516-7694-5 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/patdicknixonsint0000swif }} * {{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Helen|author-link=Helen Thomas|title=Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times|year=1999|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=0-684-86809-1|url=https://archive.org/details/frontrowatwhiteh00hele}} ==Further reading== * {{cite book|last=Anthony|first=Carl Sferrazza|chapter=Thelma Catherine (Patricia) Ryan Nixon|editor-first=Lewis L.|editor-last=Gould|title=American First Ladies: Their Lives and Their Legacy|year=2001|edition=2nd|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|ref=none}} * {{cite book|last=Truman|first=Margaret|author-link=Margaret Truman|title=First Ladies|year=1999|publisher=Random House|isbn=0-679-43439-9|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/firstladies00trum|ref=none}} ==External links== {{Commons}} * [http://firstlady.nixonfoundation.org/ Richard Nixon Foundation biography of Pat Nixon] * [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/history/firstladies/pn37.html White House biography on Pat Nixon] * {{C-SPAN|30856}} ** [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/136873 Video of funeral services for Pat Nixon, 1993] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403010511/http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/136873 |date=April 3, 2012 }} ** [http://firstladies.c-span.org/FirstLady/39/Pat-Nixon.aspx Pat Nixon] at [[C-SPAN]]'s ''[[First Ladies: Influence & Image]]'' {{s-start}} {{s-hon}} {{s-bef|before=[[Jane Hadley Barkley|Jane Barkley]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Second Lady of the United States]]|years=1953–1961}} {{s-aft|after=[[Lady Bird Johnson]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Lady Bird Johnson]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[First Lady of the United States]]|years=1969–1974}} {{s-aft|after=[[Betty Ford]]}} {{s-end}} {{US First Ladies}} {{US Second Ladies}} {{Richard Nixon}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon, Pat}} [[Category:Pat Nixon| ]] [[Category:1912 births]] [[Category:1993 deaths]] [[Category:People from Ely, Nevada]] [[Category:People from Cerritos, California]] [[Category:People from the Upper East Side]] [[Category:People from Park Ridge, New Jersey]] [[Category:People from Saddle River, New Jersey]] 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