`Nixon, The Education of A Politician 1913-1962 by Stephen Ambrose, Simon and Shuster, p.88
Nixon was a hard worker but screwed the pooch so badly on his first civil trial that his client sued his firm, Winger and Bewley.
Nixon’s firm settled by paying the plaintiff $4,800, and keep in mind that this was in 1938. Bewley later forgave Nixon to the point of saying that he didn’t remember Nixon ever losing a case.
He must have gotten better, so you’re probably right. He got off to a rocky start.
But at p. 88 it looks like Nixon failed at a business venture, leaving investors stranded, as Bewley notes, then opened up his own office in the back of a lumber store (like Jack McGill AKA `Saul Goodman’) and almost starved to death before deciding to give politics a whirl.
But he didn’t have a rich daddy like the Kennedys or Trump, so it is what it is ....
pp. 88-90