Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon, elected in 1968 amid the turmoil of Vietnam, achieved major foreign-policy breakthroughs before resigning in disgrace.

He opened relations with communist China, pursued détente with the Soviet Union, ended American involvement in Vietnam, and created the Environmental Protection Agency. But the Watergate scandal—a cover-up of a break-in at the Democratic headquarters—unraveled his presidency. Facing certain impeachment, he became the only president to resign, stepping down in August 1974.

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