Richard M. Nixon Collection

Title: Richard M. Nixon Collection

Dates: 1930-1994

Collection Number: Nixon 2020

Creator/Collector:

Extent: 577 linear feet

Repository: Whittier College - Wardman Library

Abstract: United States Politician Richard Milhous Nixon served as a member of the House of Representatives (1947-1950), the Senate (1950-1952), vice president (1952-1961), and the thirty-seventh president of the United States (1968-1974). Richard Nixon was born on his family's lemon farm in Yorba Linda, California, on January 9, 1913. During childhood, Nixon regularly attended Quaker services in Whittier, California, where the family moved in 1922 after the farm failed. Nixon's father ran a grocery store in Whittier. Nixon attended Whittier College, a Quaker institution, where he excelled as a student and debater. He was president of his freshman class and president of the student body during his senior year. Also, he played on the football team where he practiced hard and played tenaciously in occasional games. Graduating second in his class in 1934, he won a scholarship to study law at Duke University. After graduation, Nixon joined the law firm of Kroop and Bewley in Whittier and within a year became partner. At the age of 26, he was elected to the Whittier College Board of Trustees. During this time, Nixon met Thelma Catherine Patricia (Pat) Ryan, a high school teacher. They were married in 1940 and they had two daughters, Patricia and Julie. During World War II, Nixon entered the Navy as a lieutenant junior-grade in August 1942. After the Navy, a group of Whittier Republicans asked him to run for Congress, he accepted and began his political career. On August 9, 1974, he resigned from the presidency. As a private citizen, Nixon emerged as an elder statesman, visiting various countries including a return to the Soviet Union and China. He also consulted with the Bush and Clinton Administrations; wrote his memoirs and books on international politics. Nixon died of a stroke on April 22, 1994.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research, consult repository for details

Richard M. Nixon Collection . Whittier College - Wardman Library

Collection includes various materials pertaining to Nixon’s College years, Congressional, Senatorial, Vice Presidential and Presidential offices; an eclectic collection of campaign ephemera, political cartoons, memorabilia, general correspondence, appearances, invitations, foreign trips, gifts, newspaper clippings, photographs, souvenirs, brochures, audio visual, periodicals and monograph publications.