Right out of law school, Richard Nixon, later to become a an American President, got his first job as a lawyer, representing a client in court trying to recover a bad debt. He lost the case. He was then sued by the client for inept handling of her case.
More About Richard Nixon
He was an accomplished poker player who funded his first political campaign with his winnings. While serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the South Pacific, Nixon learned poker and quickly mastered it. By the end of the war, he had won roughly $5,000 to $10,000—a substantial sum at the time—which he used to finance his successful 1946 run for the U.S. House of Representatives.
He was an avid bowler and installed a single-lane bowling alley under the White House. Nixon loved bowling to unwind, often playing late at night. In 1969, he had a one-lane alley built in the subterranean area under the North Portico driveway, where he reportedly once bowled a high score of 232.
He was an expert classical pianist. Nixon started playing music at a young age, mastering the piano as well as the violin, accordion, clarinet, and saxophone. Notably, he composed his own piano concerto, “Richard Nixon’s Piano Concerto No. 1,” which he performed live on The Jack Paar Program in 1963.
He turned down football scholarship offers to stay close to home. A huge football fan throughout his life, Nixon played benchwarmer tackle for Whittier College. He had received scholarship offers from larger universities, including Harvard, but stayed in California to care for his family and work at his parents’ grocery store following the deaths of two of his brothers.
He was offered the role of Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Nixon was an obsessive baseball fan with a near-photographic memory for player statistics. In 1965, during his years out of public office, he was approached to become the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, though he ultimately declined to focus on his political comeback.
He successfully introduced Title IX into law. While best known domestically for establishing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and OSHA, Nixon signed the Education Amendments of 1972 into law. Section 9—commonly known as Title IX—fundamentally transformed American women’s sports by prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational programs receiving federal funding.
He was the first U.S. President to visit all 50 states. Nixon took immense pride in his campaign travel. By October 1960, during his presidential campaign against John F. Kennedy, he fulfilled a promise to personally campaign in every single state, a feat no president before him had accomplished.
He introduced the “Madman Theory” in foreign diplomacy. During the Vietnam War, Nixon and his National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, employed a deliberate strategy designed to make Soviet and North Vietnamese leaders believe Nixon was erratic, unpredictable, and willing to use nuclear weapons. The goal was to pressure adversaries into negotiating for peace out of fear of irrational escalation.
His speechwriter prepared a full statement in case the Apollo 11 moon landing failed. Before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the Moon in 1969, Nixon had his speechwriter, William Safire, draft a contingency address titled “In Event of Moon Disaster.” The speech, which was ultimately never needed, honored the astronauts and acknowledged that “fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.”
He remains the only person to be elected twice to both the Vice Presidency and the Presidency. Nixon served two terms as Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Vice President (1953–1961) and was elected President in two landslide elections in 1968 and 1972. Despite his resignation in 1974 following the Watergate scandal, this four-term election milestone remains unique in American political history.
