There he played opposite a high school teacher named Thelma "Pat" Ryan.[28] Nixon described it in his memoirs as "a case of love at first sight"[38]—for Nixon only, as Pat Ryan turned down the young lawyer several times before agreeing to date him.[39] Once they began their courtship, Ryan was reluctant to marry Nixon; they dated for two years before she assented to his proposal. They wed in a small ceremony on June 21, 1940. After a honeymoon in Mexico, the Nixons began their married life in Whittier.[40] They had two daughters, Tricia (born 1946) and Julie (born 1948).[41]

Military service
Lieutenant Commander Richard Nixon, United States Navy (circa 1945)
In January 1942 the couple moved to Washington, D.C., where Nixon took a job at the Office of Price Administration.[28] In his political campaigns, Nixon suggested that this was his response to Pearl Harbor, but he had sought the position throughout the latter part of 1941. Both Nixon and his wife believed he was limiting his prospects by remaining in Whittier.[42] He was assigned to the tire rationing division, where he was tasked with replying to correspondence. 