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Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon (March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. She was commonly known as Pat Nixon. Born in Nevada, Pat Ryan grew up in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from high school in 1929, then attended Fullerton Junior College and later the University of Southern California. She paid for her schooling by working multiple jobs, including pharmacy manager, typist, and X-ray technician. In 1940, she married lawyer Richard Nixon; they had two daughters. Pat campaigned for her husband in his successful congressional campaigns of 1946 and 1948. Richard Nixon was elected Vice President in the Eisenhower administration, whereupon Pat undertook many missions of goodwill with her husband and gained favorable media coverage. She assisted her husband in both his unsuccessful 1960 presidential campaign, and later in his successful presidential campaign of 1968.

As First Lady, Pat Nixon promoted a number of charitable causes, including volunteerism. She oversaw the collection of more than 600 pieces of historic art and furnishings for the White House, an acquisition larger than that of any other administration. Pat became the most traveled First Lady in U.S. history up to that time, visiting about 80 nations; she was the first First Lady to enter a combat zone. These trips gained her favorable reception in the media and the host countries. Her tenure ended when, after being re-elected in a landslide victory in 1972, President Nixon resigned two years later amid the Watergate scandal. Her public appearances became less frequent in her later life. She and her husband returned to California, and later moved to New Jersey. Pat suffered two strokes—one in 1976 and another in 1983—and was later diagnosed with lung cancer in the early 1990s. She died in 1993 aged 81.