Richard Nixon having had only about six years of school His last job in Ohio was as a streetcar motorman One winter day his feet were frostbitten in the car and he decided to move to a warmer climate In Whittier California he took a job running a trolley Whittier was founded in 1887 as a Quaker settlement and named for the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier Here Frank Nixon met Hannah Milhous his future wife Hannah was one of nine children of Franklin Milhous whose ancestors had emi grated from Germany to England and then to Ireland Quakers in search of religious freedom they came to Pennsylvania in 1729 When Hannah Milhous was born her par ents lived near Butlerville Indiana They moved to California in 1897 Frank and Hannah met at a Quaker meet inghouse party in February 1908 Four months later they were married Frank who had been reared as a Methodist became a Quaker Their first son Harold was born in 1909 Childhood in Yorba Linda and Whittier The year before Richard was born his father bought land in Yorba Linda Here he built a 12
Early Life and Career house and started a lemon grove Richard’s brothers Francis Donald and Arthur were also born in Yorba Linda The citrus-fruit venture proved unsuccessful and after ten years struggle the family returned to Whittier There the last of the Nixon chil dren Edward was born in 1930 In Whittier Frank Nixon set up a gas station where he also began to sell a few groceries Later he bought an old Quaker meetinghouse which he moved next to the station to serve as a combination market and home The business was a family enter prise As soon as the boys were old enough they helped in the store and in the station Here young Richard learned his first lessons in dealing with the public I sold gas and delivered groceries and met a lot of people I think this was invaluable as a start on a public career Nixon said later Richard’s mother a devout Quaker was patient kind and conscientious His father was a rather severe man whose chief inter est was politics Frank Nixon’s love of debate turned the market into a neighborhood club At an age when most children are reading fairy tales young Richard took an interest in politics and began reading the newspapers He also absorbed his father’s fondness for 13
Richard Nixon debate While the boy was still in grammar school his father helped him prepare his first public debate Resolved It is more econom ical to rent a house than to own one Much of the Nixons life centered upon religious activities They went to the Quaker meetinghouse three times on Sunday and also attended Wednesday services The boy who had begun piano lessons at age seven also played the church organ One of the highlights of the year for the Nixon children was the Christmas reunion at Grandmother Milhous home in Whittier Richard was her favorite grandchild The Nixon family had its share of tragedy Arthur the second youngest boy died when he was seven When Richard was in high school his older brother Harold contracted tuberculosis In an effort to better Harold’s health his mother took him to Arizona for two years however he died in 1933 While Hannah Nixon was away Richard and his brother Francis Donald helped their father run the household and business Richard was in charge of fruits and vegeta bles Every morning he got up at 4 00 am drove 12 miles 19 km to the produce market and arranged the counter before school 14
15 Early Life and Career Nixon’s Quakerism Quakers belong to the Religious Society of Friends a Christian denomination founded by George Fox in England in 1652 They have no ritual sacraments or ordained clergy They appoint elders and overseers to serve at each meeting Men and women who have received a gift are called recorded ministers Meetings for worship are characterized by patient silence in which members wait for inspiration to speak as the Inward Light the direct inner awareness of God moves them Quakers oppose war because they feel that it causes spiritual damage through hatred Most Quakers therefore refuse to perform military service and are excused as con scientious objectors However individuals follow their own convictions Nixon for example chose to join the Navy during World War II Nixon’s commitment to his Quaker roots was often inconsistent On the one hand his pacifist upbring ing may have inspired his efforts as president to end the Vietnam War and establish more peaceful relations with China and the Soviet Union As he stated in his first inau gural address The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker On the other hand Nixon may have distorted the Quaker belief that individuals have their own personal relationship with God to justify doing whatever he wanted as president Journalist David Frost interviewed Nixon in 1977 and asked him about illegal wiretappings and break ins that he had approved as president Nixon responded When the president does it that means it is not ille gal He clarified that the president cannot run amok continued on the next page
