Compare and Contrast the backgrounds and

beliefs of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger.

Nixon was born into a poor family in Yorba Linda in California. His father had a grocery store and a gas station. He grew up with the rules and customs of the conservative, Christian Quaker community. During his political career, he often referred to his simple origins.

Nixon was a talented boy, but his family couldn't afford to let him study at an expensive university. Instead, he took lessons at a local Quakerschool, Whittier College, where he obtained his degree in 1934. He was then offered a scholarship for a law school at Harvard University, which he had to refuse because he could not be missed at home. He later went on a scholarship to the newly established (and now prestigious) law course at Duke University.

In 1946 he conquered a place in the American Congress. His campaigns at this stage of his career were characterized by an anti-communist tone and aggressive style.

In 1950, Nixon was elected a senator, defeating actress and congressman Helen Gahagan, whom he had accused during the campaign of communist sympathies.

Nixon became the 36th vice president in 1952, under Dwight D. Eisenhower. Worth mentioning of his vice-presidency is that he actually ruled the country three times; Eisenhower was sick in all cases. Furthermore, as chairman of the senate (one of the vice president's duties), he openly supported Senator Joseph McCarthy and his hunt for (alleged) communists.

- Henry Kissinger was born in Furth, Germany, on May 27, 1923. In 1938, due to anti-Semitic persecution in Nazi Germany, his parents emigrated with him to the US. Five years later, he obtained his American citizenship.

After serving in World War II, he earned his doctorate from Harvard University in 1954, immediately becoming an instructor at the same institution; After a few years, he obtained the title of teacher.

Kissinger was the Secretary of State of presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.