Richard Nixon mask

Facial covering depicting the 37th US President

A Richard Nixon mask is a mask with the likeness of Richard Nixon. It was commercially available and quite popular in the waning days of the administration. It is generally made out of vinyl by Cesar Mask (fr), a French company, and is sold worldwide. The most famous Nixon mask was the big nose Nixon comical mask that was made by Cesar in the 1970s. Later, other companies made similar versions made from latex rubber or similar flexible castable compounds.

One of the notable features of most Nixon masks is the classically-caricatured nose. Many of the different versions of the Nixon mask have a wide, grinning smile as well.

Although the masks were widely believed to be only a fad, which would presumably die down as the public attention on Watergate waned and once Nixon left office, the masks managed to outlive their presumed fad status by becoming popular during events such as Halloween and adult masquerade parties. The Nixon mask remains popular today and is worn both for humorous effect and in protest marches and similar "public displays of disaffection". According to Harper's magazine's October 2002 "Harper's Index," Nixon masks were the best-selling political mask for the previous five years for the top U.S. costume wholesaler Morris Costumes.^[1]

In popular culture

Bob Dylan - musician and countercultural figure^[2]
Manic Street Preachers - Welsh band in the video "The Love of Richard Nixon," as well as the cover art for the single.
John E. Fryer - psychiatrist and gay rights activist who wore a Nixon mask to conceal his appearance during a 1972 APA convention
During Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' Southern Accents 1985 tour, when "Don't Come Around Here No More" reached the uptempo climax, actors in Nixon and Reagan masks came out and chased each other all over the stage.
One of the bank robbers in the 1991 action film Point Break; the other robbers wore masks based on other recent presidents (Johnson, Carter, and Reagan). Many fictional uses of the mask reference this film.
In Family Guy, Cleveland Brown is shown wearing one in "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou" episode (2007).
In the 2021 Netflix action film Army of Thieves the character Brad Cage is shown wearing a Nixon mask during the second robbery.
The video games Payday: The Heist and Payday 2 have the Nixon mask as an option for character customization.
In That '70s Show, Eric Forman is shown nude wearing only the mask during a Ford speech in the episode "Streaking".
In season 3, episode 2 of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, the "Darmine Doggy Door" sketch features a pig wearing a Richard Nixon mask.

References

^ "Harper’s Index Archived 2005-12-08 at the Wayback Machine," Harper's (October 2002).
^ Marshall, Lee (2007), Bob Dylan: the never ending star, Cambridge: Polity, p. 14, ISBN 978-0-7456-3641-2

Richard Nixon

37th President of the United States (1969–1974)
36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961)
U.S. Senator from California (1950–1953)
U.S. Representative for CA–12 (1947–1950)

Pre-presidency

Presidency
(timeline)

Transition
First inauguration
Second inauguration
"Bring Us Together"
Silent majority
1970 Lincoln Memorial visit
State of the Union Address
- 1970
- 1971
- 1972
- 1973
- 1974
VP confirmation of Gerald Ford
Wilson desk
Judicial appointments
- Supreme Court
- controversies
Executive Orders
Presidential Proclamations

Foreign policy	International trips Nixon Doctrine Vietnam War Cambodian bombing Paris Peace Accords "Peace with Honor" Vietnamization Cold War period Linkage policy Tar Baby Option 1972 visit to China Shanghai Communiqué 1973 Chilean coup d'état Détente 1972 Moscow Summit Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty SALT I Treaty Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement Threshold Test Ban Treaty Operation CHAOS Space exploration
Domestic policy	Family Assistance Plan Revised Philadelphia Plan Minority Business Development Agency Native American policy Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Education Amendments of 1972 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Title IX Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 National Cancer Act of 1971 End Stage Renal Disease Program Supplemental Security Income Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act Shafer Commission War on Drugs Drug Enforcement Administration Cannabis policy Federal Contested Elections Act Federal Election Campaign Act 1970 VRA Amendments District of Columbia Home Rule Act Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 Congressional Research Service
Economic policy	Bank Secrecy Act Fair Credit Reporting Act National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1970 Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 Nixon shock Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 Smithsonian Agreement Occupational Safety and Health Act National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Occupational Safety and Health Administration Permissible exposure limit U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Consumer Product Safety Act Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act Securities Investor Protection Act Securities Investor Protection Corporation Tax Reform Act of 1969 Alternative minimum tax Revenue Act of 1971 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 Agricultural Act of 1970 Farm Credit Act of 1971 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972 Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 Federal Energy Administration Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act
Environmental policy	Council on Environmental Quality Environmental Quality Improvement Act National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Amendments of 1970 Clean Water Act Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act National Ambient Air Quality Standards National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants New Source Performance Standards Noise Control Act Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Zone Management Act Coastal Zone Management Program Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Marine Mammal Protection Act Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 Endangered Species Act of 1969 Endangered Species Act of 1973 Oil Pollution Act of 1973 Water Resources Development Act of 1974
Watergate	Timeline Operation Sandwedge Operation Gemstone Saturday Night Massacre CRP White House Plumbers Watergate Seven Enemies List list of opponents White House tapes United States v. Nixon (1974) Senate Watergate Committee impeachment process "I am not a crook" Resignation Pardon

Life and
politics

Books

Six Crises (1962)
Bibliography

Elections

U.S. House	1946 1948
U.S. Senate	1950
Vice Presidential	1952 campaign selection convention election transition 1956 campaign convention election
Presidential	1960 campaign primaries running mate selection convention debates election Kennedy transition 1968 campaign primaries running mate selection convention election 1972 campaign primaries convention election
Gubernatorial	1962