On this day (Jan. 9) in 1913, Richard Milhous Nixon was born into the Quaker family of Frank and Hannah Nixon in Yorba Linda, Calif.

From this humble but respectable beginning, the intelligent, hardworking, and highly disciplined Richard Nixon ascended the political ladder to become the 37th U.S. president. However, accompanying these admirable traits were others that have made Nixon the most controversial, complex and at times hard-to-like of any of the 43 U.S. presidents.

He was overly introverted, shy, insecure, socially inept, vindictive, suspicious, unforgiving and self-pitying. These largely negative traits (flaws?) largely are the reason why his steady climb to the presidency was so “rocky” – a political career full of notable achievements, but also of almost devastating political defeats.