Richard Nixon was American.
Richard Nixon . Nixon was born in Yorba Linda , California . Nixon served for eight years as vice president -- at 40 , the second-youngest vice president in history . In 1968 , he ran for the presidency again and was elected by defeating incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey . He was reelected in one of the largest electoral landslides in U.S. history in 1972 , when he defeated George McGovern .