Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States.

Biography

In 1969, Nixon received a number of calls directly to him, wherever he was from a child telling him that she's scared of the monsters that are everywhere and that an astronaut is coming to eat her. Unsure of why or how the child was calling him, and suspecting FBI involvement, Nixon had Canton Delaware brought in. Having been in the FBI, but no longer in service, he was perfect for Nixon's task.

At the White House, Nixon showed Canton a playback of one of the calls. He then found the Eleventh Doctor recording their conversation in his office and called security. They promptly overwhelmed him until the Doctor unveiled his invisible TARDIS and came up with the alibi that he was on loan from Scotland Yard sent to also help him with the case. Nixon allowed the Doctor to help along with his companions, giving him whatever he needed to find the mysterious caller..

The Doctor worked out the caller's location from the names Nixon thought belonged to the caller, but were in fact street names located in Florida just as Nixon received another call from the unknown caller. Nixon informed the caller that he had sent his best men to help: the Doctor, River Song Amy Pond, Rory Williams and Canton. (DW: The Impossible Astronaut)

Three months later Nixon came to the Doctor's rescue after he had been detained by NASA security after implanting an extra device of his own into the on board computer. After travelling in the TARDIS to Area 51, he assures the prison guards that Canton Delaware can still be trusted. In the White House after The Silence threat has been illiminated, he tries to ask the Doctor about his future, who merely says that he will be remembered, and tells him to look out for David Frost. At the Doctor's urging, Nixon tried to be leaniant and allow him to get married, believing that Canton wishes to marry a black woman. However, Canton reveals he wishes to marry a black man, disturbing Nixon. Regaining his composure, Nixon told Canton that "the moon landing is far enough for now", to which Canton agreed. (DW: Day of the Moon)

References

In San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1999, Walker General Hospital morgue attendant Pete wore a caricature mask of Nixon to a fancy dress party . Earlier that evening, the mask had been among the costume items discovered in the hospital's lockers and discarded by the newly-regenerated Eighth Doctor during his search for clothes. (DW: Doctor Who)

Behind the scenes

Richard Nixon is one of only three real-world US Presidents to be portrayed on-screen in televised Doctor Who. The others are Abraham Lincoln, who appeared in The Chase, and Barack Obama, who appeared in The End of Time.