Long before Richard Nixon rose to power and fell from grace, he was just another man in love.

Six love letters between the 37th president and his wife, Pat Nixon, will go on display Friday as part of an exhibit at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

The exhibit is intended to celebrate what would have been Pat Nixon's 100th birthday and is dedicated to her life and accomplishments.

The love notes reveal a surprisingly soft and romantic side of the man taken down by the Watergate scandal.

The letters date from when the two first met in 1938 until just before their marriage in June 1940.

In his letters, Nixon recalls their first meeting, daydreams about their future and uses nicknames like "dearest heart" and "my Irish gypsy."