Born: 1912
Died: 1993

Thelma Ryan was born the night before St. Patrick’s Day. Right then her Irish father, who worked in a Nevada silver mine, decided he’d call her “Pat.” Childhood ended early for Pat. Her mother died and her father developed lung disease, and Pat assumed responsibility for herself and two brothers. She attended school and held down paying jobs in her free hours, at first doing chores on the family’s California farm and later working as a sales clerk, teacher’s aide, movie extra, janitor, and bank clerk. After college, Pat became a teacher in Whittier, where she met Richard Nixon, a young lawyer whose industry rivaled her won. A man with lofty ambitions, “Dick” was not one to take no for an answer. He wooed Pat till he won her. They wed in 1940 and had two daughters.

Pat did not share her husband’s love for politics, but she believed in being a supportive wife and worked dutifully on all his campaigns. As First Lady, Pat accompanied Dick to the Soviet Union and China, earning the respect of reporters as an intelligent and candid spokeswoman for the President. She also made solo visits to Africa and South America. Pat liked to open the White House. She made it wheelchair accessible and launched garden tours and evening Christmastime tours, and she continued with the restoration Jackie Kennedy began, carefully adding hundreds of important pieces to the collection. But Watergate took a heavy toll on Pat, who stoically stood by her husband throughout his ordeal.

Thirty-Seventh President
Richard M. Nixon

Born: 1913, Yorba Linda, CA
Died: 1994

Reared in poverty, Richard Nixon showed his tenacity early on, working his way through Whittier College and Duke Law School. After naval service in World War II, he returned to California and was elected to the U.S. House and then the Senate. In 1952 Eisenhower picked the 39-year-old Senator to be his Vice-President — a job Nixon held for eight years. Nixon was narrowly defeated by John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential race, but in 1968 he ran again and won.

As President, Nixon made great strides in foreign affairs. He visited China and the USSR and initiated Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) with the Soviets. In 1973, Nixon signed a peace accord with North Vietnam, finally extricating the nation from a conflict that had cost 58,000 American lives. But these achievements were overshadowed by a constitutional crisis at home. In June, 1972, a break-in was discovered at the Democrats’ National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building. The President denied knowledge of the incident, and went on to a landslide re-election victory in November. Slowly, however, evidence was amassed that implicated the White House. Senior Administration officials were caught in a cover-up that unraveled under mounting investigation. Threatened with impeachment, President Nixon resigned in 1974.

Thirty-Seventh President
Republican