Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) served as the 37th president of the United States from 1969 until 1974. A member of the Republican Party, Nixon previously served as the 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961, having rose to national prominence as a representative and senator from California. 2 Early career and marriage. Nixon's early life was marked by hardship, and he later quoted a saying of Eisenhower to describe his boyhood: 'We were poor, but the glory of it was we didn't know it'. The Nixon family ranch failed in 1922, and the family moved to Whittier, California. Richard's younger brother Arthur died in 1925 at the age of seven after a short illness. Richard was twelve years old when a spot was found on his lung. With a family history of tuberculosis, he was forbidden to play sports. Five U.S. presidents (including then-incumbent President Bill Clinton) and their wives attending the funeral of Richard Nixon, April 27, 1994.