Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States. The Doctor was not particularly fond of him due to the unfortunate events that happened during his term as president, but soon got over it. He assisted the Doctor during his investigation of the Silence, often using his power as president to do so; freeing the Doctor after being arrested and calming down soldiers at Area 51 by giving a speech.

Biography
In 1969, Nixon received calls directly to him, wherever he was, from a child telling him she was scared of the monsters that were everywhere and that an astronaut was coming to eat her. (WC: Prequel (The Impossible Astronaut))

Nixon asked the child where and who she was, mistaking the location she was giving, "Jefferson, Addams, Hamilton", as her name and also mistaking her for a boy. However, she hung up befor he could learn more. Unsure of how or why the child was calling him, and suspecting FBI involvement, Nixon had Canton Delaware brought in. Having been recently fired from the FBI, he was the second best choice for Nixon's task; he had the training needed, but wasn't with the Bureau.

At the White House, Nixon played Canton a recording of one of the calls. He found the Doctor writing down their conversation in his office and called security. They promptly overwhelmed the Doctor until River unveiled his invisible TARDIS and the Doctor came up with the alibi that he was on loan from Scotland Yard, sent to also help him with the case. Nixon allowed the Doctor to help, along with his companions, giving him whatever he needed to find the mysterious caller.

The Doctor worked out the caller's location from the names Nixon thought belonged to the caller. When Nixon received another call, he informed the caller that he had sent his best people to help: the Doctor, River Song, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, and Canton. He did so as he watched the TARDIS dematerialise from sight, shocking him. (TV: The Impossible Astronaut)

Three months later Nixon came to the Doctor's rescue when he was detained by NASA security after implanting an extra device of his own into the on-board computer for Apollo 11. After travelling in the TARDIS to Area 51, he calmed the security team after Canton had spent days "inside" the prison. In the White House after The Silence threat had been eliminated, he asked the Doctor about his future, who said that he would always be remembered, and told him to say "hi" to David Frost for him. At the Doctor's urging, Nixon tried to be lenient and allow Canton to get married, believing he wished to marry a black woman. When Canton revealed he wished to marry a black man, Nixon was taken aback. Regaining his composure, he told Canton that "I believe the moon is far enough for now." (TV: Day of the Moon)

Nixon's recording, referred to as the Nixon Tapes, were left for future presidents to know of the Doctor. (COMIC: Air Force Gone)

Madame Tussauds commissioned a wax figure of Nixon during his presidency. In 1970, the year after Nixon's experiences with the Eleventh Doctor, the Third Doctor and Liz Shaw passed by Nixon's wax replica whilst visiting Madame Tussauds to investigate the first Auton invasion of Earth. (TV: Spearhead from Space)

Posthumous references
In San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1999, Walker General Hospital morgue attendant Pete wore a caricature mask of Nixon to a fancy dress party. Earlier that evening, the mask had been among the costume items discovered in the hospital's lockers and discarded by the newly-regenerated Eighth Doctor during his search for clothes. (TV: Doctor Who)

Behind the scenes

 * Richard Nixon is one of only three real-world US Presidents to be portrayed on-screen in televised Doctor Who. The others are Abraham Lincoln, who appeared in The Chase, and Barack Obama, who appeared in The End of Time. [A doctored archival photograph of John F. Kennedy (as himself) also appeared in Rose.] Nixon is the first US President to be shown travelling in the TARDIS.

Richard Nixon