(1913–94), 37th president of the US 1969–74; full name Richard Milhous Nixon. His period of office was overshadowed by the Vietnam War. A Republican, he restored Sino-American diplomatic relations by his visit to China in 1972 and successfully ended the Vietnam War when peace negotiations were concluded by his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, in 1973. Although he was re-elected in 1972, he became the first president to resign from office, owing to his involvement in the Watergate scandal.