THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL WORLD LEADERS OF ALL TIME

7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7

Early Life and Congressional Career

Richard Milhous Nixon was the second of five children
born to Frank Nixon, a service station owner and grocer,
and Hannah Milhous Nixon, whose devout Quakerism
would exert a strong influence on her son. Nixon gradu-
ated from Whittier College in Whittier, California, in
1934 and from Duke University Law School in Durham,
North Carolina, in 1937. Returning to Whittier to practice
law, he met Thelma Catherine “Pat” Ryan, a teacher and
amateur actress, after the two were cast in the same play at
a local community theatre. The couple married in 1940.
In August 1942, after a brief stint in the Office of Price
Administration in Washington, D.C., Nixon served in the
navy. Following his return to civilian life in 1946, he was
elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Running for
reelection in 1948, Nixon entered and won both the
Democratic and Republican primaries, which eliminated
the need to participate in the general election. As a mem-
ber of the House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAAC) in 1948–50, he took a leading role in the inves-
tigation of Alger Hiss, a former State Department official
accused of spying for the Soviet Union.
In 1950 Nixon successfully ran for the United States
Senate against Democratic representative Helen Gahagan
Douglas. A small Southern California newspaper nick-
named him “Tricky Dick” because of some of his campaign
tactics. The epithet later became a favourite among
Nixon’s opponents.

Vice Presidency

At the Republican convention in 1952, Nixon won nomina-
tion as vice president on a ticket with Dwight D. Eisenhower,