He was the 37th. That’s the short answer. But if you're asking what president was Richard Nixon in terms of his actual impact, his ghost still haunts the hallways of the White House today. Most people just think of a grainy black-and-white video of a man sweating under TV lights or the famous "V for Victory" signs he made while boarding a helicopter for the last time. It's more than that. He was a paradox wrapped in a navy suit.
Nixon wasn't born into the elite. Unlike JFK, his great rival, Nixon grew up poor in Yorba Linda, California. His family literally lived in a house his father built from a kit. That chip on his shoulder? It never went away. It drove him to the highest office in the land and, eventually, it was the very thing that shoved him out of it.
Honestly, it’s wild how much he actually got done before the wheels fell off.
The Man Who Changed How We See the World
When we talk about what president was Richard Nixon, we have to look at the map. Before 1972, China was basically a black hole to the United States. We didn't talk to them. We didn't trade with them. Nixon, the guy who built his career being the ultimate anti-communist "Cold Warrior," did the unthinkable. He went there.
He understood "Realpolitik"—a fancy way of saying he didn't care about being friends; he cared about leverage. By opening the door to China, he scared the living daylights out of the Soviet Union. This led to SALT I, the first real attempt to put a lid on the nuclear arms race. It was brilliant, high-stakes poker.
Domestic Surprises You Probably Forgot
You’d think a conservative Republican from the late 60s would be all about small government, right? Not exactly. Nixon was weirdly progressive in ways that would make modern politicians' heads spin.
- He created the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Yes, the guy mostly remembered for a scandal is the reason we have the Clean Air Act.
- He ended the draft. Think about that. No more forced military service for young men.
- He oversaw the desegregation of Southern schools. While the "Southern Strategy" is a real and dark part of his campaign legacy, his administration actually enforced the integration that others had stalled on for years.
The Dark Side of the 37th President
We can't talk about what president was Richard Nixon without talking about the paranoia. It was like a poison. He kept enemies lists. He had a "Plumbers" unit—basically a group of guys whose job was to stop "leaks" by any means necessary. This led them to the Watergate Office Building in June 1972.
They were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
Nixon didn't order the break-in. Most historians, like Stephen Ambrose or Rick Perlstein, agree on that. But he definitely ordered the cover-up. He lied to the American people. He used the CIA to try and block the FBI's investigation. It was the "smoking gun" tape that finally did him in—a recording where he's heard clearly discussing how to pay off the burglars and keep them quiet.
He was the first and only president to resign. August 9, 1974. A total seismic shift in American trust.
The Economy and the "Nixon Shock"
If you've ever wondered why the price of everything feels so volatile, you can look back to 1971. For decades, the US dollar was backed by gold. You could literally trade your paper money for a fixed amount of the shiny stuff. Nixon just... stopped it.
He ended the Bretton Woods system. This gave the government more control over the money supply, but it also opened the door to the massive inflation of the 1970s. People were furious. He even tried "price controls," basically telling businesses they weren't allowed to raise prices. It didn't work. Economics isn't something you can just boss around with an executive order.
The Vietnam Quagmire
Nixon campaigned on "Peace with Honor." He told the "Silent Majority"—the regular folks who weren't protesting in the streets—that he had a secret plan to end the Vietnam War.
It took five years.
During those five years, he expanded the war into Cambodia and Laos. He dropped more bombs than the US had in World War II. It was a brutal, grinding end to a conflict that tore the country apart. When the last troops finally came home in 1973, the "honor" part was highly debatable.
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Why Nixon Still Matters in 2026
You see Nixon’s fingerprints everywhere. Whenever a politician says "law and order," that’s Nixon. Whenever someone complains about the "liberal media," that’s Nixon’s legacy too. He viewed the press as the "enemy," a sentiment that has only grown more intense in the decades since he left the Oval Office.
He was a man of massive intellect and even bigger insecurities. He was a brilliant strategist who couldn't stop sabotaging himself.
To understand what president was Richard Nixon, you have to accept that he was both the man who saved the world from nuclear war and the man who broke the public's faith in the presidency. Both things are true. He wasn't a cartoon villain, and he wasn't a hero. He was deeply, tragically human.
Practical Steps to Learn More
If you want to really get into the weeds of this era, don't just watch a three-minute YouTube clip. The history is too dense for that.
- Listen to the Tapes: The Nixon Library has released thousands of hours of his secret recordings. Hearing him talk in the Oval Office—profanity, raw honesty, and all—is the closest you’ll get to being a fly on the wall.
- Visit Yorba Linda: If you’re ever in Southern California, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is actually one of the best-designed presidential sites. It doesn't skip over Watergate; it puts you right in the middle of it.
- Read "Nixonland": Rick Perlstein’s book is a monster, but it explains how the divisions we see in politics today were basically invented or perfected by Nixon in the late 60s.
- Watch the Frost/Nixon Interview: Not the movie, the actual 1977 interviews. Watching Nixon try to explain his actions—especially the line "When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal"—is a masterclass in the psychology of power.
The reality is that Nixon didn't just pass laws; he changed the way the American government functions. He shifted the power toward the White House and away from Congress. We are still living in the "Imperial Presidency" he helped build. Whether that's a good thing or a disaster depends entirely on who you ask, but you can't ignore the man who started it.