FEATURE
Richard Nixon, the pariah: Things fall apart
By Audrey Wang | January 13, 2025The end starts with a roll of tape.
Audrey Wang is a Trinity senior and data editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume. She was previously editor-in-chief for Volume 119.
The end starts with a roll of tape.
For 22 years, Richard Nixon had campaigned relentlessly. Now, at the zenith of his career, he had to govern.
After serving as President Dwight Eisenhower's right-hand man for eight years, Nixon faced an uphill battle to the presidency, pitting him against John F. Kennedy, the press and his own conscience.
Richard Milhous Nixon, Law School ‘37, is the only U.S. president Duke has produced in its century. “Few came so far, so fast, so alone,” biographer John A. Farrell wrote about the man who graduated Duke at 24, became a congressman at 34, a senator at 38, a vice president at 40 and a president at 56.
Exactly why Nixon decided to leave his law career behind and enter the political ring is unclear, though his long-held desire to outgrow his humble beginnings was likely a factor. Regardless of his personal motives, the young upstart seemed to be exactly what the GOP was looking for.
We found that respondents generally care most about abortion, climate change, the economy, gun control and democracy, though priority issues varied with candidate preference and certain demographic characteristics.
We surveyed members of the Duke community about their voting plans and top issues for the 2024 presidential election and North Carolina gubernatorial election. Questions ranged from opinions on the North Carolina 12-week abortion ban to student debt relief efforts.
Faculty members generally responded that the U.S. was doing “too much” to provide military aid to Israel, and an overwhelming majority responded that the U.S. was doing “too little” to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
We found that faculty members had varied views on DEI, with nearly half of respondents indicating that Duke placed too much or somewhat too much emphasis on it. Tenured faculty respondents were more likely than others to share this perspective, as were more conservative respondents.
While faculty respondents tended to be liberal overall, the disaggregation of the data by field and school revealed variation in political views.