Richard Nixon ran for president.
Richard Milhous Nixon ( January 9 , 1913 -- April 22 , 1994 ) was an American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until 1974 , when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office . He had previously served as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower , and prior to that as a U.S. Representative and also Senator from California . Nixon served for eight years as vice president -- at 40 , the second-youngest vice president in history .