Now, nearly 37 years later, a crook has been prancing around Encino, a hilly district in Los Angeles, impersonating our 37th president, wearing a Nixon mask and sticking up banks with a gun.
So far, the man dubbed the "Ex-President Bandit" has hit four banks, the FBI says. Two stickups happened within a week in November, and another two took place during a week in January.
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This surveillance video grab shows a thief donning a Richard Nixon mask during a Nov. 25, 2009 robbery of an Encino, Calif., bank.
The suspect, who was described as being a black male in his 40s, brandished a gun "liberally throughout the bank to enforce orders given to victims in the bank," according to the FBI. "The bandit, while exhibiting violence, had been described by witnesses as having a calm demeanor," the FBI added.
As far as felony fashion goes, presidential masks are nothing new.
Over the years, robbers have shown up across America disguised in Nixon masks. Last October, a man wearing a Nixon mask held up the Security Bank in Dunn County, Wis. Other incidents were reported in 2008 in Indiana, 1993 in Florida and 1992 in Ohio.
In the 1991 film "Point Break," cops chased bank robbers known as "the ex-presidents" because they wore masks of Presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon B. Johnson and Nixon.
While the suspect in the latest case remains at large, another mystery remains. After the second robbery, the suspect apparently grew tired of the Nixon mask. His new disguise? White powder on his face.
