April 22, 2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the death of one of American history’s most fascinating presidents. These aren’t necessarily facts everyone knows about him. Some are interesting and reveal some private viewpoints of his and some are downright bizarre. I’ve avoided some of the big stuff that everybody knows.

1. Nixon wasn’t only the first president to visit Communist China, he was also the first to visit Moscow, doing so for the Moscow Summit in 1972.
2. Richard Nixon’s private views on abortion were mixed, expressing concern in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade (1973) that legalization would result in “permissiveness” and the breakdown of the family, but also thought it necessary in some cases, stating, “There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white, or a rape” (Savage). Nixon, it should be noted, was far from unique in his day in his disapproval of interracial relations…only five years before 72% of Americans disapproved of interracial marriage (Gallup).
3. In the early morning of May 9, 1970, Nixon, unable to sleep, had his chauffeur drive him to the Lincoln Memorial, where he talked with a group of hippies who were going to be protesting that day.
4. In the Watergate tapes, Nixon bashed numerous racial, ethnic, religious, and other groups. Per historian Ken Hughes, “There are three groups about whom Nixon is particularly paranoid: Jews, intellectuals and Ivy Leaguers. He believes that members of all those groups are arrogant and put themselves above the law. After the leak of the Pentagon Papers he became convinced that the leak was part of a conspiracy that was going to leak his own secrets” (Little).
5. As Eisenhower’s vice president, Nixon pushed for a strong measure to protect voting rights, but the Senate under the leadership of Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Tex.) weakened the measure.
6. Despite Nixon’s post-presidency reputation as an environmental president, he vetoed the highly popular Water Pollution Control Amendments in 1972 on cost grounds, which was overridden by overwhelming margins.
7. Richard Nixon backed guaranteed minimum income through the proposed Family Assistance Plan, which would have simultaneously increased the welfare rolls while being a form of workfare. It failed due to opposition from some conservatives (for the former) and from some liberals for being insufficiently generous.
8. Richard Nixon pushed for a universal healthcare coverage plan, but something to bear in mind is that this was universal catastrophic health insurance and only applied if you were employed. Nixon would in retirement be opposed to President Clinton’s proposed universal healthcare plan.
9. Out of office, Nixon supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
10. Richard Nixon was once observed eating a dog biscuit after feeding a few to one of his dogs by the Secret Service.
11. Nixon was no athlete. He was a bit of a klutz and although he tried to improve his golf game he eventually quit and called it “a game for lazy bastards” (Howe).
12. Nixon did, however, like bowling and had a bowling alley installed in the White House and, unlike other physical activities, he was decent at it. He saw bowling as more time efficient than golf.
13. Nixon conducted, through Anna Chennault, secret negotiations with the South Vietnam government, promising them a better deal than the Johnson Administration with a peace arrangement. He believed that Johnson’s peace proposal was a late effort to secure the election for Hubert Humphrey. South Vietnam rejected the peace deal, and although certainly Nixon’s pitch carried weight, chances are they would have done so anyway. Although not treason, as Nixon and his campaign weren’t giving “aid and comfort” to enemies of the United States, it may have been a Logan Act violation (Farrell). LBJ knew of it but did not expose it, as it would have revealed that he was spying on the Nixon campaign.
14. As a member of Congress, Nixon was a staunch internationalist, or as some might say today, a “globalist”. He retained this approach in his presidency.
15. Richard Nixon was publicly in favor of banning “Saturday night specials”, inexpensive guns commonly used by criminals, but was privately in favor of a complete handgun ban. He vacillated a bit though, also saying a few days later, “What do they want to do, just disarm the populace? Disarm the good folks and leave the arms in the hands of criminals?” (Politico). Nixon generally favored stronger gun control.
16. Nixon saved Israel during the Yom Kippur war through 22,000 tons of arms shipments, counteracting the arms shipments Egypt and Syria were receiving from the Soviets (Maoz). He notably had considerably different views towards Israeli and American Jews, admiring the former and regarding the latter as by and large political enemies.
17. Richard Nixon’s favorite food was cottage cheese with ketchup.
18. Nixon considered nominating the first woman to the Supreme Court in California’s Mildred Lillie, but she was not recommended by the American Bar Association.
19. Nixon did not often back challenges to Southern Democratic politicians from Republicans as he saw many of them as allies. A notable exception was Tennessee Congressman Bill Brock’s successful effort to unseat Senator Albert Gore Sr.
20. Nixon developed an intense rivalry with Earl Warren that turned into mutual hatred.
21. Nixon is one of two presidents to have two Supreme Court nominees rejected in a row.
22. Two months after his resignation, Nixon almost died of phlebitis.
23. By 1986, Nixon was ranked one of the most admired men in the United States per a Gallup poll, a remarkable reputational comeback.
24. Nixon’s successors sought out his advice, although they were not too loud about doing so.
25. The charges of impropriety against Nixon in 1952 that he refuted with the “Checkers” speech were indeed overblown and what he had wasn’t illegal.
26. Nixon maintained correspondence with Donald Trump in the 1980s to early 1990s, including a letter in which he said that Pat had assessed that when Trump decided to run for president he would win. Although this did not prove true for his first effort (he lost the Reform Party nomination in 2000 to Pat Buchanan), we all know what happened the second time!
27. Although Nixon didn’t originally consider himself to be an author, after writing the final chapter of his first and mostly ghostwritten book Six Crises (1962), he proceeded to write nine more best-selling books throughout his life.
28. Nixon had the Secret Service trail Ted Kennedy in 1972 presumably for his own protection, but it was actually to try and find any dirt on him.
29. In 1985, Nixon ended his Secret Service protection, wanting privacy.
30. Nixon was a strong opponent of campaign finance legislation, and opposed the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments in 1974.
    
    References
    
    Farrell, J.A. (2018, December 30). Anna Chennault: the Secret Go-Between Who Helped Tip the 1968 Election. Politico.
    
    Retrieved from
    
    https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/12/30/anna-chennault-obituary-vietnam-back-channel-nixon-1968-223299/
    
    Howe, C. (2014). Richard Nixon ate dog biscuits, got looped on martinis, walked the beach in his suit and lace-ups and spied on Ted Kennedy. Secret service agents reveal Tricky Dick’s bizarre behavior before he resigned 40 years ago. Daily Mail.
    
    Retrieved from
    
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2717322/Richard-Nixon-ate-dog-biscuits-got-looped-martinis-walked-beach-suit-lace-ups-spied-Ted-Kennedy-New-book-reveals-Tricky-Dicks-bizarre-behavior-forced-resign-presidency-40-years-ago.html
    
    Gun control: Richard Nixon wished for total handgun ban. (2013, March 11). The Associated Press.
    
    Retrieved from
    
    https://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/gun-control-richard-nixon-wished-for-total-handgun-ban-088686
    
    Little, B. (2023, October 18). 7 Revealing Nixon Quotes From Tapes. History Channel.
    
    Retrieved from
    
    https://www.history.com/news/nixon-secret-tapes-quotes-scandal-watergate
    
    Maoz, J. (2009, October). Richard Nixon Saved Israel – but Got No Credit. Commentary.
    
    Retrieved from
    
    https://www.commentary.org/articles/jason-maoz-2/thirty-six-years-ago-today-richard-nixon-saved-israel-but-got-no-credit/
    
    Saad, L. (2017, June 21). Gallup Vault: Americans Slow to Back Interracial Marriage. Gallup.
    
    Retrieved from
    
    https://news.gallup.com/vault/212717/gallup-vault-americans-slow-back-interracial-marriage.aspx
    
    Savage, C. (2009, June 23). On Nixon Tapes, Ambivalence Over Abortion, Not Watergate. The New York Times.
    
    Retrieved from
    
    https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/us/politics/24nixon.html