Shakespeare's MacBeth and Richard Nixon are two personalities who, in their times, experienced phenomenal rises to power from similar situations, their ambition carried them far, despite the costs. Neither of these characters was originally in any position to inherit power, but got there through their own aspirations. They have in common a hunger for power and service and distinction in the military before their ascent to the 'throne.' A throne that they performed malicious acts in order to win.
             Neither MacBeth, nor Nixon, were originally in any position to inherit power, but came by it through their own motivation and devices. During his childhood, Richard Nixon was very poor, hailing from a family in Yorba Linda, California. Nixon says of his family and early life, 'We were very poor, but the glory of America is that we didn't know it then' and that he comes from a 'poor, lower-middle-class family' (Nixon, pg.79, 1990).
             Nixon could even be said to resent those born to money or power, seeing them as spoiled and undeserving. This was evident in his attack of the debonair and wealthy Alger Hiss later in his career while on the 'House of Un-American Activities Committee. ' During his college years at Whittier, Nixon worked his way through by driving a truck, and was eventually elected as student body president and very active within the school. After attending both Whittier and Duke, Nixon was rejected from the FBI and any major East Coast law firm, but did manage to become a partner in a small southern California law firm in 1939, the beginnings of his successes (www.americanpresident.org). MacBeth, unlike Nixon, was born as, if not royalty, then a nobleman and surely did not struggle during his upbringing to make ends meet. However, MacBeth did gain prestige and acknowledgement by serving as a great warrior in battle.
             King Duncan bestowed upon him the title of tha...