Richard M. Nixon in Cold War: Cuban Missile Crisis to Detente
Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994) was a Republican senator from California and the 37th President of the United States. Prior to his presidency, he also served as Dwight Eisenhower's vice president from 1953 to 1961.
Ultimately, his presidency ended in disgrace, with Nixon's 1974 resignation in the midst of the Watergate scandal.
Nixon built his early political career almost entirely around the issue of anticommunism. He rode his reputation as an aggressive foe of communism at home and abroad to the U.S. Senate and the vice presidency. As president, however, Nixon changed course. With the aid of his National Security Advisor and later, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Nixon moderated his strong anticommunist views, surprising the world by pursuing détente with the Soviet Union and opening diplomatic relations with Red China.