Profile of the Day: Pat Nixon

Pat Nixon

Today we remember former First Lady Pat Nixon on what would have been her 104th birthday.

Nixon was born Thelma Catherine Ryan on March 16, 1912 in Ely, Nevada. She was given the nickname “Pat” by her father as a reference to her birthdate and Irish ancestry. She later dropped her first name and used “Pat,” and sometimes “Patricia,” though she never legally changed it. She grew up on a small truck farm in California, and by the age of 12, she was managing the house after her mother died of cancer. Her father died five years later, leaving her to care for her siblings.

In 1940, she married Richard Nixon and together, the couple had two daughters. Throughout her husband’s political career, Nixon actively campaigned for her husband. As First Lady of the United States, Nixon promoted volunteer service and traveled extensively with the President, making her the most traveled First Lady in U.S. history at the time.

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Image: Wikimedia Commons