Richard Nixon's handling of economic issues during his presidency was mixed. He initially inherited a strong economy but soon faced challenges including inflation, unemployment, and a deteriorating trade balance. His administration's responses included implementing wage and price controls, which were unconventional for a Republican president, and these temporarily curbed inflation but did not address the underlying economic issues. Nixon also took the significant step of ending the Bretton Woods system by suspending the convertibility of the dollar into gold, which effectively devalued the dollar and led to the era of floating exchange rates. However, despite these efforts, the economy continued to struggle with stagflation—a combination of inflation and stagnant economic growth—throughout the 1970s, which was part of Nixon's economic legacy.
