Obsessed with power, Nixon holds the distinction as the only president ever to resign office. It was that obsession with power that did him in at the end. One of the most experienced politicians to come into the executive office, Richard Milhous Nixon had already served as a House Representative, a U.S. Senator and as a Vice President under Eisenhower. Yet his management style and general disposition earned him many enemies (and his paranoid personality saw them everywhere). He secretly escalated the war in Vietnam and when the NY Times reported on some secret bombings, Nixon started wire-tapping the Watergate office complex (home to the Democratic National Committee) to uncover the leaks. When this was discovered, the scandal overtook his administration. Nixon would resign as Articles of Impeachment for obstruction of justice were being prepared in Congress. He is most remembered for the utterance of these five words: “I am not a crook.”
