Richard Milhous Nixon, (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States from 1969 to 1974. Nixon's political career started as a California representative. He was Dwight D. Eisenhower's vice president for two terms and was defeated in 1960 by John F. Kennedy for the presidential election. In 1968, Nixon won the presidency and was overwhelmingly re-elected in 1972. Nixon was the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency. He was also the only U.S. president to resign the office. Nixon was instrumental in ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and establishing U.S. relations with communist China.