Richard M. Nixon was the 37th President of the United States of America, and one of the most controversial. In 1974, he became the only US President to resign from office.
300 old time radio show recordings
(total playtime 97 hours, 59 min)
available in the following formats:
Raised in the family business (a groceries and gasoline shop) by a "Quaker saint, Nixon grew up in a large Mid-West Quaker family. After winning the election for student president at Whittier College, he got a taste for politics. During World War II, Nixon served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific. He was elected to Congress on an anti-communist platform and eventually became a young Senator from California in 1950. Nixon went on to be one of the youngest vice-presidents and served under Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956.
Nixon ran against Kennedy in 1960, losing by a narrow margin. This loss is often blamed on the first televised debate. Although Nixon was said to win the debate amongst radio listeners, those who saw the televised version preferred Kennedy. For the debate, Nixon's combined intense sweating spell and refusal to wear television makeup only benefited his opponent. Nixon often blamed his loss on the lack of support from Eisenhower. During Nixon's campaign, the press asked Eisenhower for an important decision that Nixon had made during his vice-presidency. Eisenhower replied, joking, "Give me a week and I might think of something.
After this blow, Nixon decided to run for Governor of California in 1962. After losing this election Nixon told off the press in his "last press conference, saying, "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more."
In 1968, Nixon decided he did want to be kicked around some more. He won over the Republican primary, then the country, appealing to conservative Americans who disliked anti-war protesting hippies. He won and a year later Nixon spoke to moon-walking Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the first walk on the moon in the summer of 1969. Trying to improve his image amongst youngsters, Nixon appeared on the television shows, Laugh In ("Sock it to me?) and Hee Haw.
Nixon was reelected in 1972 against George McGovern, with 60% of the popular vote. During the election both candidates promised that they would end the Vietnam War and Nixon eventually did in 1975 after much controversy including bombing Cambodia. Not long after his reelection, Nixon's involvement in the Watergate Scandal was revealed and Nixon was eventually forced to resign.
Enjoy this collection of Nixon speeches and debates, including his debates with Kennedy, "I am not a crook" speech, his resignation speech, and a phone call to the moon. Vol. 3-4 of this collection contains Watergate Scandal News Reports
Melvyn Douglas' wife, Helen Gahagan Douglas ran against Richard NIxon in the 1950 campaign for the U.S. Senate. In the primary, Nixon had flyers distributed accusing Douglas of being extremely sympathetic to the Soviet Union, referring to her as "The Pink Lady" and a fellow traveler. She returned the insult by giving Nixon his famous nickname of "Tricky Dick." Although Nixon did win the primary vote, Ms. Douglas remain active in politics, supporting the regulation of nuclear arms for many years.
Like so many other programs that otrcat.com puts out, history comes alive. Hearing these broadcasts from yesteryear in their real time gives me a new perspective of the era and the people who lived it. I can’t wait for more from otrcat.com. Thank you!
I'm at the very last track of the Nixon recordings from Otr Cat. One MP3 disk was biographical and took me from his Alger Hiss prosecution to his resignation speech; the other was solely Watergate from contemporary news accounts, including speeches and press conferences. 27 hours, 42 minutes. I did skip a number of Dan Rather Front Line Reports out of irritation at his method of flinging around unsourced and uncorrorborated stories. The November 17, 1973 press conference, for which Nixon is remembered only for his "I am not a crook" statement, was unexpectedly fascinating for its content and rhetoric. The two post-press analysts (and one was Bernard Kalb) made no mention of "crook." It had been said with such bitter humor and honesty in its context of financial accusations that no one thought it newsworthy until the NY Post and the Washington Post headlined it out of context the next day. Still, the end is coming. The tension is ratcheting up.
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