Profile of Pat Nixon on Famous Like Me

Thelma Catherine Patricia Ryan Nixon (March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was the wife of Richard Nixon and First Lady of the United States from 1969-1974.

Early life

Born Thelma Catherine Ryan in Ely, Nevada shortly before St. Patrick's Day of Irish and German extraction, Pat Nixon acquired her nickname within hours, and eventually changed her name legally. Her father, William Ryan, called her his "St. Patrick's babe in the morn" when he came home from the mines before dawn.

Her family soon moved to California and settled on a small truck farm in the city of Dairy Valley near Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Kate Halberstadt Bender Ryan, died in 1925; at 13, Pat assumed all the household duties for her father and two older brothers. At 18, in 1930, she lost her father after nursing him through months of illness.

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 movies—and she graduated cum laude in 1937. She was quoted once as saying: "I do or I die, but I never cancel out."

Marriage and career

She accepted a position as a high-school teacher in Whittier, California; and there she met Richard Nixon, who had come home from law school at Duke University to establish a practice. They became acquainted at a Little Theater group when they were cast in the same play, and were married at the Mission Inn in Riverside, California on June 21, 1940.

During World War II, she worked as a government economist while he served in the Navy. After a brief stint in Ottumwa, Iowa, she campaigned at his side in 1946 when he entered politics, running successfully for U.S. Congress, and afterward. Within six years she saw him elected to the House, the Senate, and the Vice Presidency on the ticket with Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Despite the demands of official life, the Nixons were devoted parents to their two daughters, Tricia, and Julie.

First Lady

Pat Nixon used her position as First Lady to encourage volunteer service. She invited hundreds of families to nondenominational Sunday services in the East Room. She instituted a series of performances by artists in varied American traditions--from opera to bluegrass. Mrs. Nixon took quiet pride in adding 600 paintings and antiques to the White House Collection.

She had shared her husband's journeys abroad in his Vice Presidential years, and she continued the practice during his Presidency. Her travels included the historic visit to the People's Republic of China 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.

Last years

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 on June 22, 1993 at the age of 81, 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, and was quoted later as excitedly whispering to her husband, "Look, dear, it's Stu Bergman. Stu from Search for Tomorrow."

First Ladies of the United States

Martha Washington | Abigail Adams | Martha Jefferson Randolph | Dolley Madison | Elizabeth Monroe | Louisa Adams | Emily Jackson | Sarah Jackson | Angelica Van Buren | Anna Harrison | Jane Harrison | Letitia Tyler | Priscilla Tyler | Julia Tyler | Sarah Polk | Margaret Taylor | Abigail Fillmore | Jane Pierce | Harriet Lane | Mary Lincoln | Eliza Johnson | Julia Grant | Lucy Hayes | Lucretia Garfield | Mary McElroy | Rose Cleveland | Frances Cleveland | Caroline Harrison | Mary Harrison | Frances Cleveland | Ida McKinley | Edith Roosevelt | Helen Taft | Ellen Wilson | Edith Wilson | Florence Harding | Grace Coolidge | Lou Hoover | Eleanor Roosevelt | Bess Truman | Mamie Eisenhower | Jacqueline Kennedy | Lady Bird Johnson | Pat Nixon | Betty Ford | Rosalynn Carter | Nancy Reagan | Barbara Bush | Hillary Clinton | Laura Bush

Reference

• White House biography

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