ABSTRACT

Richard Milhous Nixon wanted to be the "architect of his times," according to Elliot Richardson, who held three cabinet posts under Nixon and resigned from the last one for refusing to follow Nixon's orders to dismiss a Watergate special prosecutor. In campaigning for the presidency in the tumultuous year of 1968, Nixon promised to "bring us together" and to restore a sense of law and order to a country that was, in many respects, "coming apart at the seams." Political science professor James David Barber, author of the pioneering book The Presidential Character, said that "In essaying Nixon's personal style the easiest place to begin is with the elimination of personal relations as a primary focus of his energy in adapting to political roles." President Nixon started to aggressively use the powers of his office to pursue his policies. For example, in 1971, Congress passed a defense authorization act, stating it was new US policy to American involvement in Vietnam.