Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon
Main aliases:	Tricky Dicky
Species:	Human
Job:	President of the United States
Place of origin:	California
First mentioned in:	Spearhead from Space
First appearance:	Prequel
Appearances:	TV: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon COMIC: In With the Tide PROSE: Tricky Dicky
Main actor:	Stuart Milligan
Memorable moment

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States (PROSE: Tricky Dicky) from 1969 to 1974 (TV: The Impossible Astronaut, COMIC: Before the Flood). The Eleventh Doctor was not particularly fond of him due to the unfortunate events that happened during his term as president, such as Vietnam and Watergate, but managed to work with him. Nixon assisted the Doctor during his investigation of the Silence, often using his power as president to do so; he freed the Doctor after he was arrested and calmed down soldiers at Area 51 by giving a speech. (TV: The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon)

Biography

Nixon was born on 9 January 1913, in California.

He served in the navy during World War II, eventually becoming a Lieutenant Commander.

By 1952, he served as a junior senator, and later became Vice President to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In 1960, Nixon ran for President, but lost to John F. Kennedy.

In 1968, he successfully became President. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky)

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, Adams, 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 Everett Delaware III 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 she had given Nixon and 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. As they left to go find the little girl, Nixon watched the TARDIS dematerialise from sight, leaving him shocked. (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. The Doctor 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 recordings, referred to as the Nixon Tapes, were left for future presidents to know of the Doctor. (COMIC: Air Force Gone)

In the 1970s, President Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal. (PROSE: Dancing the Code, Tricky Dicky, TV: The Impossible Astronaut)

In 1974, he authorised the "omega solution", the complete nuclear obliteration of Great Britain, in order to stop the invasion of the Remoraxians. The attack was called off by the CIA when the Remoraxians left. (COMIC: In With the Tide)

He passed away in 1994, at the age of 81. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky)

Legacy

In 1995, the film, Nixon, was released, starring Anthony Hopkins.

The animated series, Futurama, featured Nixon as a major character. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky)

References

The Eighth Doctor finds Pete's Nixon mask. (TV: Doctor Who)

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)

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. Early that morning, 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, and an image of Donald Trump briefly showed up in The Lie of the Land.)
• Nixon is the first US president to be shown travelling in the TARDIS.