Richard M. Nixon

	PRIMARY HOME (top left): "La Casa Pacifica" on Del Presidente Avenue in San Clemente CA - the "Western White House" - a Spanish style stucco home of 12 rooms with a red tile roof, on 3½ walled acres with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean PHOTO CREDIT: Nixon Presidential Materials Staff, National Archives, College Park MD YARN MODEL OF THE NIXON BIRTHPLACE by Marilyn Daleburn Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace, Yorba Linda CA PAINTING of Richard Nixon's birthplace in Yorba Linda PAINTING ON AN IVORY PIANO KEY of the Nixons' San Clemente home Nixon Presidential Materials Staff, National Archives, College Park MD BIRTHPLACE (bottom photo): 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard , Yorba Linda CA - a modest frame home of 1½ stories and five rooms PHOTO CREDIT: 2004 Calendar of Presidential Homes, photographer Garren Zuck

One of America 's most controversial presidents, Richard Nixon began life in a modest house built by his father. After college and Duke University Law School, he returned to California to practice law and marry Thelma ("Pat") Ryan.

In the Congress and Senate during the 1940s and early 1950s, Nixon gained national notoriety as a Communist hunter. As Vice President, his financial honesty was questioned and he became known as "Tricky Dick," but he served eight years in the Eisenhower administration.

Then Nixon lost the 1960 presidential campaign to John F. Kennedy. Two years later, he was defeated in his bid for governor of California. His political career was "over."

In an astonishing political comeback, Nixon was elected to the presidency in 1968. His administration ended war in Vietnam and forged new relations with China and the Soviet Union . But in 1972, a break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters led to a cover-up by the Nixon administration. By 1974, when the Watergate Scandal threatened his impeachment, Richard Nixon resigned.

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