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- It has been alleged that Richard Nixon was an alcoholic who, in 1968, received a supply of
the anti-convulsant Dilantin from his friend Jack Dreyfus. Nixon supposedly took this drug without a prescription for several years. However, two Nixon aides have
disputed these claims, leaving a number of questions about Nixon's purported drug use. By contrast, in 1979, close friend
and advisor the Reverend Billy Graham remarked about the former President: "He took all those sleeping pills, and through
history, drugs and demons have gone together."
- The first Kennedy-Nixon debate took place on April 21, 1947, when Democratic Congressman Frank Buchanan selected freshman congressmen Nixon and John F. Kennedy to debate the Taft-Hartley Act at a public meeting.
- The shoulder Nixon weeps on after the "Checkers Speech" is U.S. Senator William F. Knowland of California: Knowland gave the Vice Presidential oath to Nixon in 1953 and 1957. Nixon saw Knowland and
California Governor Goodwin J. Knight as a threat to his political future. He convinced Knowland of the "Big Switch" in 1958. The double defeat
of Knowland and Knight cleared the powerful California Republicans from the path of Nixon's political future.
- On June 14, 1959, Vice President Nixon and his family inaugurated the Disneyland Monorail System, the
first daily operating monorail in the western hemisphere.
- At the time of John F. Kennedy's assassination, Nixon was attending a Pepsi convention in Dallas. Nixon,
Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander, the law firm of which he was senior partner, was in charge of managing the Pepsi
account.
- Nixon was an accomplished pianist and played violin as a youth. He once played a composition he wrote
on a March 1963 episode of The Tonight Show.
- Nixon was the second U.S. President to visit the Soviet Union (the first one was Franklin D. Roosevelt
at the Yalta Conference in 1945).
- Nixon is one of only two men to have run on five National tickets for a major party (the other one is
Roosevelt again) for Vice President in 1952 and 1956 and for the presidency in 1960, 1968, and 1972. He was nominated as a
resident of two different states: between his 1960 and 1968 presidential campaigns, he moved from California to New York.
- Nixon was granted a coat of arms by the short-lived American College of Heraldry and Arms.
- Nixon was an avid bowler and allegedly once bowled a perfect game.
- Nixon was a knowledgeable sports fan, with a particular interest in football and baseball. During his
presidency, he even had the odd habit of calling the losing team after the Super Bowl to offer his condolences and support.
- Nixon took a particular interest in the NFL's 1971 season. During the playoffs, he contacted George Allen to suggest he tell his Washington Redskins team that Nixon designed a play for them. He did not actually
design the play. Once the Redskins were eliminated, he began to root for the Miami Dolphins. He called Dolphins coach Don Shula on January 3, 1972, to suggest the team use a quick slant pass in the Super Bowl.
- Nixon was the first President to visit all 50 states.
- Nixon played golf frequently.
- Nixon's last public appearance was in April of 1994 at a Conestoga High School performance of Into
the Woods. His granddaughter Jennie Eisenhower, also the great-granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower, played the role
of Little Red Riding Hood.
- The last picture taken of Nixon was on April 16, 1994 at the wedding of family friend Marie Abplanalp
just two days before his stroke and six days before his death.
- In the final four days of Nixon's life after suffering his ultimately fatal stroke he was at the same
hospital (New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center) as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who was suffering from cancer and died less than a month after Nixon.
- Nixon applied for the Special Agent position in the FBI.
- Gonzo journalist and counter-culture figure Hunter S. Thompson considered Nixon to be his greatest foe,
and made a habit of bashing him in his writings.
- Throughout his life Richard Nixon developed a passion for rare antique clocks. Nixon collected numerous
examples from the Viennese School headed by Schuppan and Klonitz, which date from the 1660s.
- Nixon's top five favorite presidents were Dwight D. Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, Woodrow Wilson, Abraham
Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Ronald Reagan was number 6.
- Richard Nixon went target shooting as a favorite hobby.
- Nixon is credited with coining the term "media steroids" to refer to the media buildup a presidential
candidate will often receive after performing well enough in a major political party's primaries and caucuses to become its
presumed nominee.
- He met Elvis Presley in 1970 and Johnny Cash in 1972.
- Nixon is the only President to fly commercially while in office (source: Executive One article).
- Nixon's favorite dinner was a chicken casserole dish. His favorite breakfast included cottage cheese
ketchup and/or black pepper.
- Nixon was the 37th President to serve and the 36th President to be born. Ronald Reagan, born in 1911,
was the 35th born and the 40th to serve. Gerald Ford, also born in 1913, was the 37th President in birth order and the 38th
to serve.
- Nixon was also the 36th President in the order of death. Lyndon B. Johnson was the 35th to die back in
1973. Reagan was the 37th to die in 2004, and Ford the 38th in 2006. Nixon was one of the few presidents to be the same numerically
in terms of serving, birth and death. With Grover Cleveland having served two different presidencies, no currently living former President or current President can
be the same numerically in all three categories.
- Three of his predecessors died during his term in office: Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 28, 1969, Harry S. Truman on December 26, 1972 and Lyndon B. Johnson on January 22, 1973. From Johnson's death, until Nixon's resignation
on August 9, 1974, he was the only living current or former U.S. President.
- Nixon became close friends with legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes. Nixon gave the eulogy at Hayes' funeral in 1987. Hayes was both a staunch Republican, and a very conservative
individual. During the eulogy at Hayes' funeral, Nixon gave the story of when he first met Hayes at a party: "I wanted to
talk about football, he wanted to talk about foreign policy. You know Woody — we talked about foreign policy!"
- Nixon was a National Debate Tournament champion in policy debate.
- Nixon had a Yorkshire Terrier named Pasha.
- Actors who have played Nixon include Philip Baker Hall in Secret Honor (1984), Dan Hedaya in Dick (1999), Rip Torn in Blind Ambition (1979),
Bob Gunton in Elvis Meets Nixon (1997) and Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon. Anthony Hopkins received an Oscar
nomination for playing the title role in Nixon (1995).
- In the 1940s, Nixon was involved with a failed business that tried to manufacture frozen orange juice.
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