Nixon, Patricia

▪ 1994

      ("PAT"; THELMA CATHERINE RYAN), U.S. first lady (b. March 16, 1912, Ely, Nev.—d. June 22, 1993, Park Ridge, N.J.), was a gracious hostess during her years in the White House and became a symbol of dignity and fortitude; she was especially remembered for her unswerving loyalty when her husband, Richard M. Nixon, was forced to resign as U.S. president (Aug. 9, 1974) amid the Watergate scandal. She was the daughter of a one-time coal miner turned farmer, who nicknamed her "Pat" in honour of her birth on the eve of St. Patrick's Day. She recalled her childhood near Los Angeles on a truck farm as one of hard work, picking crops and digging potatoes. After her mother died when she was 12 years old and her father succumbed five years later, she moved to New York City, where she worked as a secretary and as an X-ray technician. She saved enough money to return to California, and she helped finance her education at the University of Southern California by working as a motion-picture extra. After graduating cum laude in 1937, she taught typing and shorthand in Whittier, Calif., where in 1938, at rehearsals for a play, she met Richard M. Nixon, a recent law school graduate. After marrying in 1940 she bore two daughters, Tricia and Julie, and, after reconciling herself to the political life her husband had chosen, she became a stalwart campaigner for him. As first lady she entertained extensively, headed U.S. delegations, promoted education programs and volunteer work, and gathered more than 500 historical paintings for the White House collection. She was rarely seen in public after Nixon resigned, and the two moved to San Clemente, Calif., and then to New Jersey. She suffered a stroke in 1976 and another in 1983 and was in frail health for many years. She died of lung cancer.

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