Pat Nixon, First Lady
Thelma Catherine Pat Ryan Nixon (1912-1993) was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. Pat had a strong work ethic and paid for her schooling by working multiple jobs; pharmacy manager, typist, X-ray technician and retail clerk. In 1940, she married lawyer Richard Nixon. He was elected Vice President in the Eisenhower administration, whereupon Pat undertook many missions of goodwill and gained favorable media coverage. She assisted her husband in both his unsuccessful 1960 presidential campaign, and later in his successful presidential campaign of 1968. As First Lady, Pat Nixon promoted a number of charitable causes, including volunteerism. She became the most traveled First Lady in U.S. history, a record unsurpassed for twenty-five years. Her solo trips to Africa and South America gained her recognition as Madame Ambassador'; she was the first First Lady to enter a combat zone. Her tenure ended when, after being re-elected in a landslide victory in 1972, President Nixon resigned two years later amid the Watergate scandal. She and her husband returned to California, and later moved to New Jersey. Pat suffered two strokes (1976, 1983) and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992. She died in 1993 aged 81
