Pat Nixon
From Free net encyclopedia
Michael David (Talk | contribs)
/* External links */ >Gravesite; Category
Next diff →
Current revision
Patricia Ryan Nixon (March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was the wife of Richard Nixon and the First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974.
Contents |
Early life
Thelma Catherine Ryan was born in Ely, Nevada, just shortly before St. Patrick's Day to the chagrin of her father, William M. Ryan. He nicknamed his daughter "Pat" because he was of Irish and German extraction, but the family was not Catholic. Thelma eventually legally changed her first name to Patricia.
Her family soon moved near Los Angeles, California and settled on a small truck farm in the city of Dairy Valley which is present day Cerritos.
Her mother, Kate Halberstadt Bender Ryan, died in 1925; Pat, who was 13, assumed all the household duties for her father and two older brothers. In 1930, aged 18, Pat lost her father after nursing him through months of illness.
During this time she worked on the family farm and also at a local bank as a janitor and bookkeeper.
Work, college, film extra, teacher, economist
After graduating from Excelsior High School in 1929, Patricia Ryan attended Fullerton Junior College for a while. She also worked as a driver, X-ray technician, pharmacy manager, typist, and similar jobs.
Left on her own and determined to continue her education, she worked her way through the University of Southern California. She held part-time jobs on campus, as a sales clerk in a fashionable department store, and as an extra in the film industry.
She can be seen in a brief walk-on in the 1935 film Becky Sharp. Pat's efforts paid off when she graduated from USC cum laude in 1937.
Pat accepted a position as a high school teacher in Whittier, California. Later, during World War II, she would work as a government economist.
Indeed, it has been said that "Few, if any First Ladies worked as consistently before their marriage as did Pat Nixon" (see [[1]]).
Pat Nixon, referring to herself and her travails, once said: "I do or I die, but I never cancel out."
Marriage and family
Image:Pat and Richard Nixon exit US plane.jpg
While in Whittier, Pat Ryan met a young lawyer fresh out of Duke University named Richard "Dick" Nixon. The two became acquainted at a Little Theater group when they were cast together in The Dark Tower, a play so horrible that co-playwright Alexander Woollcott had it removed from his list of published works in Who's Who (UK). Dick courted Pat for some time, even driving her on dates with other beaus. They married at the Mission Inn in Riverside, California on June 21, 1940.
Dick Nixon served in the Navy during World War II. After a brief stint in Ottumwa, Iowa, she campaigned at his side in 1946 when he entered politics, running successfully for U.S. Congress.
That same year, she gave birth to daughter Patricia, usually called Tricia. In 1948, Pat had her second baby, Julie.
Within six years Pat saw her husband elected to the House, the United States Senate, and the Vice Presidential ticket with Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Pat had shared her husband's journeys abroad in his Vice Presidential years, including one trip to Venezuela where their car was pelted with rocks and they were spat upon. Despite the demands of official life, the Nixons were devoted parents to their two daughters.
First Lady of the United States
One of Pat Nixon's major causes in the years that she lived at the White House was "volunteerism", as she called it. She spent hours answering all of her mail personally. Like Jacqueline Kennedy, she had an interest in adding artifacts to the Executive Mansion. In the end, Pat's work brought in over 600 paintings and furnishings into the White House Collection. Mrs. Nixon also instituted a series of performances by artists at the White House in varied American traditions--from opera to bluegrass. Among the guests were The Carpenters in 1972.
When they entered the White House in 1969, the Nixons began a short-lived tradition of inviting families to non-denominational Sunday church services in the East Room of the White House. The President later discontinued these services due to concerns over the Separation of Church and State.
Pat Nixon continued her practice of joining him on state visits during his Presidency. Her travels included the historic visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972 and the summit meetings in the Soviet Union.
Her first solo official trip was to take relief supplies to earthquake victims in Peru. Later she visited Africa and South America with the unique diplomatic standing of Personal Representative of the President.
In August 1974, President Nixon resigned office. As he made his resignation speech, Mrs. Nixon was upstairs in the residence packing for California. They left the White House on August 9, 1974 for San Clemente, California.
Later life
Pat Nixon was in failing health in retirement and suffered a stroke in 1976, and again in 1982. A long time heavy smoker, she also battled mouth cancer, emphysema, and a degenerative spinal condition.
In December 1992, while hospitalized with respiratory problems, the former First Lady was diagnosed with lung cancer.
She died at her home in Park Ridge, New Jersey at 5:45 am on June 22, 1993 at the age of 81 with her daughters and husband by her side, the day after her 53rd wedding anniversary.
Her husband followed her in death ten months later. She and the former President are buried at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California. Her epitaph reads: "Even when people can't speak your language, they can tell if you have love in your heart".
Trivia
- Mrs. Nixon was an avid fan of soap operas, Search for Tomorrow being her favorite. She was a big fan of actor Larry Haines. One day, when she was leaving an official White House function in New York City, she saw him walk past her. She was quoted later as excitedly whispering to her husband, "Look, dear, it's Stu Bergman. Stu from Search for Tomorrow".
- She is played by actress Joan Allen in Oliver Stone's 1985 movie Nixon.
References
External links
Template:Succession box Template:End box
Template:US First Ladiesda: Patricia Ryan fr: Pat Nixon ja: sv: Patricia Nixon {{Persondata |NAME=Nixon, Pat |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Nixon, Patricia |SHORT DESCRIPTION=Wife of Richard Nixon |DATE OF BIRTH=March 6, 1912 |PLACE OF BIRTH=Ely, Nevada |DATE OF DEATH=June 22, 1993 |PLACE OF DEATH=Park Ridge, New Jersey }}
Categories: 1912 births | 1993 deaths | Cancer deaths | Deaths by lung cancer | Deaths from emphysema | First Ladies of the United States | German-Americans | Irish-Americans | Congregationalists | People from the Greater Los Angeles Area | People from Nevada | Second Ladies of the United States | University of Southern California alumni