Richard Nixon:Resigned

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语介绍美国总统栏目。

Today we are talking about Richard Nixon.
今天，我们谈论的是理查德·尼克松。

Nixon is well-known to many Americans for one reason: he was the only president to resign from the position. Facing possible legal action by Congress, Nixon left office early in his second term.
尼克松因一个原因而被美国大众所知：他是唯一一位辞职的总统。尼克松由于面临国会潜在的法律诉讼，而被迫在第二任期内早早离任。

Nixon’s early political career was marked by success. He also had some noteworthy achievements during his White House years. And he attained¹ his goal of moving the government in a more conservative direction.
尼克松早期政治生涯是成功的。在白宫的几年里，他也获得了一些非凡成就。并且，他取得了任内政府走向更趋保守的目标。

In his later years, Nixon and his supporters tried to reclaim his place as an expert on international affairs. But for many Americans, the name “Nixon” remains linked to distrust of national leaders, abuse of power, and political wrongdoing.
晚年，尼克松和他的支持者试图重申他国际事务专家的地位。但对于大多数美国人而言，尼克松这个名字仍然与国家领导人的不信任、滥用权力、以及政治丑闻联系在一起。

Early life 早年经历

Richard Nixon had a difficult early life. He was the second of five sons in a Quaker² family. His parents owned a lemon ranch in California, near the city of Los Angeles.
理查德·尼克松的早年生活困苦。他出生在一个贵格派家庭，五个儿子中排行老二。他的父母在加州拥有一个柠檬农场，靠近洛杉矶。

But the family struggled financially. And two of Richard’s brothers died – one as a small child, and one as a young adult.
但一家人经济拮据。理查德的两个兄弟死了，一个很小的时候死的，另一个是成年之后。

In time, his parent’s business failed, and the Nixons moved to a nearby town. The parents and children all worked at a filling station that sold fuel and other products.
后来，他父母做生意失败，尼克松一家移居到附近一个城镇。一家人都在一家汽车加油站工作。

Despite the many hours he worked at the store, Richard Nixon was a top student in high school. He was offered financial aid to attend Harvard University, but the family needed even more money to send him there.
高中时，尽管尼克松在加油站工作好几个小时，但他的高中成绩还是拔尖。他获得了哈佛大学的奖学金，但家里需要更多的钱才能送他去哈佛念学。

Instead, he attended a local college, where he became the student body president, joined a debate team, acted in the theater, and played football. Nixon went on to law school at Duke University in North Carolina.
所以，他进入了当地一所大学。在学校，他当选了学生会主席，参加辩论队，在剧场表演，并且参加足球队。后来，尼克松进入了北卡罗来纳州的杜克大学学习法律。

Even with his impressive³ background, he did not get the jobs he sought at the Federal Bureau of Investigation – the FBI – or top law offices. So he returned the California town where he grew up and began working as a lawyer.
尽管他学术背景令人印象深刻，但也无法在联邦调查局或顶级律师事务所寻求到一份工作。所以，他回到了加州他长大的地方，开始律师职业。

There, he married another actor at the community theater. Her name was Thelma Ryan, but she was called Pat. The Nixons went on to have two daughters, Tricia and Julie.
在那儿，他和一位社区剧场的演员结婚。她的名字叫特尔玛·瑞安，但人们都称她帕特。尼克松夫妇婚后生育了两个女儿，翠西亚和朱莉。

In 1942, Nixon accepted a job with the federal government in Washington, DC. He did not stay in the position long. After the United States entered World War II, Nixon joined the Navy. He served as an officer in the Pacific.
1942年，尼克松接受了一份华盛顿联邦政府的工作，但这份工作他做得不久。美国参加二战后，尼克松加入了海军，作为一名军官在太平洋服役。

When he returned to the U.S., Republican Party officials asked him to be a candidate for Congress. Nixon agreed. He won two terms in the House of Representatives, and then a seat in the U.S. Senate.
当他返回美国时，共和党选中他作为国会议员候选人，尼克松接受了。他当选了两届众议员，然后在参议院获得一个席位。

Two years later, Dwight Eisenhower, the Republican presidential candidate, asked Nixon to be his vice president. The two men won in an electoral landslide⁴, and in 1953 Nixon took office as vice president. He was only 40 years old, the second-youngest vice president in U.S. history.
两年后，德怀特·艾森豪威尔作为共和党总统候选人，挑选了尼克松做副总统。两人在选举人投票中获得压倒性优势，尼克松于1953年当选副总统。他当时年仅40岁，是美国历史上第二年轻的副总统。

Early political career 早期政治生涯

Nixon’s early political career is remembered for several reasons. One is how quickly he rose to high government office.
尼克松早期的政治生涯因几个原因而为人所知。其中一个便是他很快就爬到政府高层。

Another is for his part in the Alger Hiss case in the late 1940s. Hiss was a top official in the State Department. He was accused of being a Communist in the 1930s and 1940s, and of passing information about the U.S. government to Soviet spies. Hiss denied the accusations.
另一个是他在20世纪40年代末参与的阿尔杰·希斯伪证案。希斯是国务院的一名高级官员。在20世纪30年代及40年代，被指控为共产主义者，并向苏联间谍泄露美国政府的机密文件。希斯拒绝承认指控。

The case was big news in the United States. It showed the clash between people who believed Hiss was falsely accused as a way to discredit liberal policies, and people who believed the government was protecting communist sympathizers.
该案在美国引起轩然大波。它引起了两拨人之间的冲突，相信希斯无罪的人对美国自由政策产生不信任，以及认为美国政府保护共产主义同情者。

Nixon was in the second group. He was part of the investigation against Hiss and pushed for his indictment⁵. Nixon’s efforts succeeded, and Hiss went to jail for almost four years. Later, Nixon said that the case was one of the reasons for his rise to power.
尼克松属于后者。他参与了希斯案的调查，积极推进对于希斯的控告。尼克松成功了，希斯入狱近四年时间。后来，尼克松承认该案件对他权力的提升起了部分作用。

Nixon also earned national attention with an event that has become known as the Checkers speech. It happened in 1952, when Nixon was running for vice president.
尼克松还因一篇“跳棋演讲”（尼克松竞选期间，媒体大肆渲染尼克松拥有所谓的富豪基金会为其进行政治募捐，共和党高层建议尼克松亲自上电视解释，尼克松同意了。他在演讲中公布了微薄的财产，还表示到目前唯一收到的礼物是别人寄给他女儿的一条狗，名叫跳棋，并表示无论如何，他们都将继续收养它，也因此，这篇演讲被称为“跳棋演讲”）引起了全国的广泛关注。该事件发生在1952年，尼克松竞选副总统期间。

Some reporters accused Nixon of corruption. They said he was accepting money and gifts from wealthy donors in exchange for his political support.
一些媒体记者控诉尼克松贪腐。他们报道尼克松接受富豪捐赠以换取他的政治支持。

Nixon went on television to deny the claims personally. At the time, Americans were not used to seeing politicians speaking directly to the public. Yet Nixon spoke informally and emotionally, from what appeared to be a home.
尼克松个人通过电视直播来否认指控。当时，政治家与美国民众之间的直接对话并不常见。然而，尼克松这种非正式的、富有情感的谈话就像跟民众拉家常一样。

He explained his family’s finances. He said he did not accept campaign donations for personal benefit.
他说明了家庭财务状况，没有为了个人利益而接受竞选捐赠。

But, he added, there was one exception. A supporter had once given the Nixon children a black and white dog they called Checkers. Nixon said he refused to return his daughters’ pet.
但是，他补充道，有一个例外。一个支持者曾经送给他女儿一条黑白相间的狗，名叫跳棋。尼克松说他不会归还他女儿的宠物。

The public – and Republican Party officials – loved the speech. Nixon appeared warm and likable. Middle-class Americans especially said they could relate to him. Most forgot the claims against him. And Nixon’s political career was saved. During the following eight years, he served as vice president in the Eisenhower administration.
公众和共和党官员们都爱上了这篇演讲。尼克松显得温暖而可爱。美国中产阶级尤其认同他。大部分人都忘记了对他的指控。尼克松的政治生涯被挽救了。接下来的八年里，他一直在艾森豪威尔政府里当副总统。

But then Nixon’s luck turned. In 1960, Nixon lost as a presidential candidate to John F. Kennedy. He blamed, in part, the media. Then in 1962, he lost his efforts to be governor of California.
但后来，尼克松的幸运终止了。1960年，尼克松在总统竞选中败给了约翰·F·肯尼迪。他指责了部分媒体。然后，在1962年，他竞选加州州长也失败。

Nixon said he was retiring from politics. He famously told reporters, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.”
尼克松说他将退出政坛。他曾对记者说过一句著名的话：“你们再也不能欺负（粗暴而轻率地对待）尼克松了。”

Yet seven years later, he was in the White House. It was one of the most memorable comebacks⁶ in U.S. political history.
然而七年之后，他入主白宫。这是美国政治历史上一次最著名的复出之一。

Presidency 总统生涯

When Nixon took office in 1969, some Americans thought the country was in crisis.
1969年，尼克松任职时，一些美国人认为国家正处于危机当中。

The economy was not doing well. Race riots had been erupting⁷ in big cities. Many people were still trying to recover from the violence of a year earlier. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior and President John F. Kennedy’s brother Robert had both been shot and killed.
经济处于疲软当中，种族骚乱在大城市爆发。许多人仍在从早一年的暴力事件当中恢复。民权领袖马丁·路德·金和总统约翰·F·肯尼迪的哥哥罗伯特双双被暗杀。

Pollution of the environment was becoming a major political issue. Women were pressing for equal rights. And many Americans continued to protest American involvement in Vietnam.
环境污染逐渐成为一个重要的政治议题。女性迫切要求平等的权利。并且，许多美国人一直在抗议美国参与越南战争。

Nixon took action. During his first years in office, he supported reforms and rules to improve the economy; protect the environment; increase workplace and other opportunities for women; support civil rights; and, in his words, bring “peace with honor” in Vietnam.
尼克松采取了行动。在白宫的头几年，他支持改善经济的改革和法规；保护环境；增加就业，增加女性的机会；支持民权；以及，用他的话讲，给越南带去“和平和荣誉”。

But, for the most part, Nixon did not have the support of Congress to enact legislation. So he expanded the power of the presidency to carry out his goals.
但是，在大部分情况下，尼克松没有得到国会的支持去颁布法律。所以，他扩大了总统的权力去实施这些计划。

He is remembered especially for three foreign policy moves. In 1972, he visited China, with which the U.S. government had tense relations since the Chinese Communist Party took power.
尤其为人所知的是他的三个外交政策。1972年，他出访中国，当时美国政府与中国正处于紧张的关系当中。

As the Alger Hiss case showed, Nixon was strongly anti-communist. But he made establishing diplomatic relations between the two sides possible again.
正如阿尔杰·希斯伪证案显示，尼克松是非常反共的。但他使两国重新建立外交关系成为可能。

He also visited the Soviet Union, and was the first U.S. president to visit Moscow. Nixon and the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, agreed to limit the growth of nuclear arms. Their actions helped ease tensions at a time when U.S. officials were worried about the expansion of communism.
他还访问了苏联，是第一位造访莫斯科的美国总统。尼克松和苏联领导人勃列日涅夫，达成了核武器不扩散协议。在美国官员担心共产主义的扩张之际，他们的行动在一段时间内缓和了紧张局势。

And Nixon did succeed in reaching a peace agreement with North Vietnamese leaders. In 1973, American troops slowly began to leave the country, although fighting there continued.
而且，尼克松也确实成功与北越领导人达成了一项和平协议。1973年，美军逐渐撤出越南，然而越南国内战争仍在持续。

Nixon’s foreign policy achievements helped him in the 1972 election campaign. His first presidential election had been extremely close; the second he won by one of the widest electoral vote margins in U.S. history.
尼克松外交政策上的成功对他1972年的竞选产生了帮助。他的第一次总统选举跟对手非常接近；第二次，他赢得了美国历史上最广泛的选举团票。

Watergate 水门事件

Even though he was popular with voters, Nixon had been concerned about his political future. Nixon was so worried that, before the election, he created a secret team to prevent any damaging information from reaching the media. Later, its job expanded to include investigating any information that might hurt his public image.
即使尼克松在选民当中受到欢迎，他也一直担心他的政治前途。在选举之前，尼克松非常担心，他成立了一个秘密小组来阻止媒体获得任何不利信息。后来，该小组的工作范围扩大到包括调查任何可能有损他公众形象的信息。

About five months before Election Day, five men broke into the opposition party’s headquarters at the Watergate, a hotel and office complex, in Washington, DC.
选举日之前大约五个月，5名男子溜进民主党总部水门大厦，一家位于华盛顿的酒店和办公楼的综合大厦。

The team had already stolen copies of secret campaign documents. Now, in the middle of the night, the men were trying to add listening equipment to the telephones – in other words, spy on the opposition.
这一行人已经盗取了秘密竞选文件的复印本。现在，午夜时分，他们试图在电话上安装监听设备 — 换句话说，监视反对派民主党。

But a security guard became suspicious and called the police. The men were caught and arrested.
但一名保安人员发现并产生怀疑，于是叫了警察。一行人当场被逮捕。

When the story came to light, Nixon publicly denied that any White House officials were involved in the crime.
当东窗事发后，尼克松公开否认有任何白宫人员卷入这起事件。

But in time, the public learned that Nixon was lying. In fact, he assisted with payments to the men who were arrested.
但最终，公众了解到尼克松在撒谎。事实上，他通过支付钱财来帮助那些被逮捕的人。

And he tried to use the Central Intelligence Agency to block an FBI investigation of the crime. Nixon knew that the Watergate break-in was only part of the illegal or questionable acts he could be held responsible for.
而且，他试图运用CIA来阻止FBI调查这起案件。尼克松知道，闯入水门大厦只是非法或可疑行为的一部分，他可以对此负责。

Later, people connected with Nixon told investigators that the president had taped everything that happened in his office.
后来，尼克松的身边人员告诉调查员，总统在白宫安装了录音系统来记录所有谈话。

Investigators demanded the tapes. They would prove how much Nixon knew about the illegal operations.
调查员要求交出有关录音带，它们会证明尼克松对这起非法事件知道多少。

The president refused. He dismissed the lead investigator. Two other Justice Department officials resigned in protest.
总统拒绝交出，并解除了首席调查员的职务，两位司法部的官员辞职以示抗议。

A new investigator was appointed, and the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release the tapes.
一位新的调查员被委任，美国最高法院裁决尼克松必须交出录音带。

At the same time, the House of Representatives voted to remove Nixon from office. They charged him with obstructing⁸ justice, abusing his power, covering up a crime, and violating the Constitution.
同时，众议院投票决定弹劾尼克松。他们指控尼克松妨碍司法，滥用权力，掩盖罪行，以及违背宪法。

Finally, Nixon released the tapes. But before the Senate could hold a trial – in which the president would almost certainly be found guilty – Richard Nixon resigned. He left the White House the following day.
最终，尼克松交出了录音带。但在参议院审讯之前 — 该审讯几乎可以肯定总统的罪行 — 理查德·尼克松辞职了。第二天，他就离开了白宫。

Legacy 遗产

Nixon lived for 20 more years. He wrote a number of books, traveled, spent time with his family, and offered foreign policy advice to other leaders. He continued to deny that he had done anything criminal as president; instead, Nixon said he had made bad decisions.
尼克松卸任后又生活了20多年。他写了很多书，旅游，和家人一起，并在外交政策方面向其他领导人建言献策。他一直否认当总统时做过任何犯罪的事情；相反，尼克松承认做了错误的决定。

And he did not go to trial. The next president, Gerald Ford, used his power to pardon Nixon “for all offenses against the United States.”
而且，他没有受到审判。继任总统杰拉尔德·福特，动用了总统权力赦免了尼克松“对美国犯下的所有罪行”。

But Nixon’s image was permanently damaged. Most people found evidence in the tapes that Nixon knew about a related series of crimes commonly known as “Watergate.”
但尼克松的形象却永久受损。大多数人认为，录音带能够证明尼克松知道水门事件相关的一系列罪行。

They also found that some of his public statements were dishonest. They said he made them to forward his own political goals, not to further the public good.
他们还发现尼克松发表的一些公共声明是有欺骗性的，认为他将他们导向他的政治目的，而不是促进公共利益。

As a result, Nixon’s place in U.S. history is generally thought to be a troubled one. To be sure, he made a number of positive accomplishments⁹, both within the U.S. and internationally.
结果，尼克松在美国历史上的地位一般被认为是难于界定的。肯定的是，他做出了一些积极的成就，不管是国内还是国际上。

But his presidency left the country shaken. When Ford replaced him as president, he said to Americans, “Our long national nightmare¹⁰ is over.”
但是，他的总统生涯使美国处于动荡之中。当福特继任总统职位时，他对全美人民说：“我们国家的长期噩梦结束了。”

原文链接

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/americas-presidents-richard-nixon/4107568.html

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