Nixon entered the White House amid the Vietnam War, urban riots, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. His inaugural address called for lowered voices and national reconciliation, a theme that would prove elusive as his presidency later unraveled into the Watergate scandal.
Nixon's inauguration came at the end of 1968, arguably the most convulsive year in postwar American history: the Tet Offensive, the murders of King and Kennedy, riots in dozens of cities, and a Democratic National Convention that dissolved into police violence in Chicago's streets. Nixon had campaigned as the candidate of the 'silent majority,' promising law and order and an honorable end to the Vietnam War.
In his address he said, 'We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another, until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices.' Anti-war protesters lined the parade route; some threw rocks and bottles at the presidential limousine.
The irony would sharpen with time. Nixon's presidency, which began with calls for unity, ended in 1974 with his resignation over the Watergate cover-up, having deepened rather than healed the era's distrust in government.