[2][3][4] However, evaluations of him have proven complex, with the successes of his presidency contrasted against the circumstances of his departure from office.

Early life and education
Nixon (second from right) makes his newspaper debut in 1916, contributing five cents to a fund for war orphans. His brother Donald is to his right.
Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, in what was then the township precinct of Yorba Linda, California,[5] in a house built by his father, located on his family's lemon ranch.[1][6][7] His parents were Hannah (Milhous) Nixon and Francis A. Nixon. His mother was a Quaker, and his father converted from Methodism to the Quaker faith. Through his mother, Nixon was a descendant of the early English settler Thomas Cornell, who was also an ancestor of Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell University, as well as of Jimmy Carter and Bill Gates.[8]
Nixon's upbringing was influenced by Quaker observances of the time such as abstinence from alcohol, dancing, and swearing. Nixon had four brothers: Harold (1909–1933), Donald (1914–1987), Arthur (1918–1925), and Edward (1930–2019).