Francis A. Nixon

Francis Anthony Nixon was born on December 3, 1878, in Elk Township, Vinton County, Ohio. His father, Samuel Brady Nixon, was from Smith Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and his mother, Sarah Ann Wadsworth, was from Hocking Township, Fairfield County, Ohio. Nixon's family lineage included colonial Pennsylvania Quakers, although he was raised Methodist. He converted to Quakerism upon marrying Hannah Milhous.

Following the death of his mother in January 1888, Nixon lived with an uncle during his father's financial struggles. After his father remarried, Nixon moved away, reportedly due to disapproval of his stepmother. Over the subsequent fourteen years, Nixon held multiple jobs. During his youth, he admired U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. By the age of 17, he shifted his political allegiance from the Democratic to the Republican Party, a change reinforced by an encounter with presidential candidate William McKinley during the 1896 election campaign.

At the end of the 19th century, Nixon moved to California after experiencing frostbite while working as a streetcar motorman in Columbus, Ohio. His early California endeavors included working as a farmhand, oil field roustabout, and attempting to cultivate lemons near Los Angeles. His son Richard Nixon later engaged in similar citrus business activities, including founding the Citra-Frost Company shortly after law school, which aimed to produce frozen orange juice. Richard, who would become the 37th President of the United States, worked extensively in the company, handling responsibilities from administrative tasks to processing oranges. The company operated for approximately 18 months before declaring bankruptcy.

After Richard Nixon's birth, Francis Nixon abandoned the lemon grove and the family moved to East Whittier, California, a Quaker community. The family managed a grocery store and an Atlantic Richfield gasoline station but continued to live in poverty. Nixon experienced the loss of two sons, Arthur and Harold, to tuberculosis.

Descriptions of Nixon characterize him as a "restless, frustrated, and angry man" who reportedly engaged in psychological and physical abuse of his five sons. Despite this, his son Richard spoke positively of him and his mother, describing his mother as a "Quaker saint" and noting that he was proud of their home. Jessamyn West, a cousin of the Nixons and writer, recounted her experience in Nixon's Sunday school class, describing him as a "fiery persuasive teacher" and noting that his social gospel influenced her views.

Politically, Nixon's voting record was inconsistent, supporting candidates such as Woodrow Wilson in 1916, Warren G. Harding in 1920, Robert Lafollette in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932, and Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. Following the death of his son Arthur in 1925, Nixon expressed feelings of guilt and repentance, notably refraining from opening the family store on Sundays and listening to sermons each evening. He favored evangelists such as Robert P. Shuler, Billy Sunday, and Aimee Semple McPherson, taking his sons to hear sermons at Trinity Methodist Church.

In 1938, Richard Nixon met Pat Ryan, with whom Nixon reportedly developed a playful relationship. During a controversy involving Richard Nixon and allegations of misappropriated funds, Nixon was reportedly distressed and upset. Later, in 1956, while Richard Nixon was Vice President, Francis Nixon experienced a ruptured abdominal artery from which he did not recover. His son sought to be with him during his last days but was initially denied permission to leave the vice presidential duties associated with the Republican National Convention. Nixon died on September 4, 1956, at La Habra, California. His funeral was held three days later at the East Whittier Friends Meeting House.

Francis Nixon married Hannah Milhous on June 25, 1908. They had five sons, of whom Harold died in childhood in 1933, and another son, Edward Calvert Nixon, was born in 1930 and died in 2019. Nixon's death occurred while his son Richard was serving as Vice President of the United States.

In popular culture, Francis Nixon was portrayed by actor Tom Bower in Oliver Stone's film "Nixon."