The Life of Richard Nixon Trivia Quiz

Answer: His mother's maiden name

This was his mother's maiden name. It was a very well standing family in Indiana, where she came from, and she didn't want her child not to know where he came from. Her family traces their ancestry to King Henry III of England.

Answer: Quaker

His mother had hoped he'd become a Quaker missionary, but his beliefs mellowed, especially during his college and Navy years. Nevertheless, he still was an avid believer, and stayed devout.

Answer: 4

He had four brothers. They were all named for Kings of England, Richard for Richard III the Lionhearted. His brothers were Harold, Donald, Arthur and Edward; they likewise were all after famous kings of England. See note on question 1.

Answer: Duke

He graduated in 1937 from Duke, third in his class after receiving a full scholarship. Previously, he attended Whittier college, a Quaker school in California, finishing second in his class while majoring in history.

Answer: Law

His early interests in government, politics and history pushed him in this direction. He graduated third in his class in Duke. Later on, Nixon was a lawyer in the Navy, for PepsiCo, and on Wall Street.

Answer: Southern Pacific

He was an air transport officer in the US Navy during the war, and after the war was posted stateside as a legal officer. He wanted to become a pilot, but instead was posted at Guadalcanal and later at Green Island, never seeing active combat.

Answer: True

Richard Nixon was a Republican ever since he started politics. It fit with his anti-Communist beliefs and his conservative views.

Answer: House Representative

In 1946 he defeated Democrat Jerry Voorhis to win the seat. Voorhis was a very successful Democrat in California, and Nixon was approached by several businessmen as the one to beat him. His main argument was that Voorhis was involved with Communists. This promoted his standing, and he had his first elected position.

Answer: Talks with the Soviet Premier

In 1959, Nixon defended US policies with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow. This earned him a lot of political clout later on, when he ran for the presidency.

Answer: 2

He married Thelma (Pat) Ryan in 1940, and had two daughters with her, Patricia and Julie. Julie later married Dwight D. Eisenhower II, grandson of President Ike.

Answer: 49

He won by a landslide in an unprecedented $60 million campaign. The only state he didn't carry was Massachusetts, as well as the District of Colombia.

Answer: Vietnam draft

Nixon believed in "Vietnamization", training and militarization of South Vietnamese locals to fight against the North. The amount of American ground combat troops fell from over 400,000 when Nixon took office in 1968, to none when he finally implemented his plans.

Answer: Watergate

He was the first President to ever resign from office. He was succeeded by his newly appointed Vice President, Gerald Ford, as Spiro Agnew had resigned as well, pleading guilty to several charges brought about by Watergate, and of his previous post as governor of Maryland.

Answer: No

No! He was given a full presidential pardon by his successor, Gerald Ford, on September 8th, 1974. A highly controversial and criticized event, but an act that prevented Nixon from being charged.

Answer: New York City, NY

He died of a massive stroke in NYC on April 22nd, 1994. He was buried in Yorba Linda, California, his birth town.