Nixon was plenty evil enough for me. Read his comments on what to do about Native American protests if you need a refresher. People like to give him credit for a lot of very liberal reforms that really helped America, like the EPA, OSHA, and the Clean Water Act; but it should be recognized that those were all Democratic ideas put forward by a Democratic congress. It was great of him to sign them. But they weren’t his priorities.
No Nixon-defenders on the far right today? Well, it’s still early…Here’s one from the left, however: he was not 100% bad, and he even seemed to mellow later on. Most important, he didn’t pretend China was irrelevant. And he did well in the kitchen debate with Krushchev.
“He was just incredibly stupid, not actually evil like a lot of Politicians today!”
I was a child in the Nixon era, so all I know of him is in retrospect, but from what I’ve heard he was actually really intelligent. In fact, I once read something along the lines of “In the modern era, in every presidential election the Democratic nominee has been smarter than the Republican nominee, with the exception of Nixon” (I don’t recall whether that was in comparison with Kennedy, Humphrey, McGovern, or all three).
You may prefer to call it “native cunning” rather than “intelligence,” and by all accounts Nixon was by no means “sophisticated,” but if he’s known in retrospect for having made some dumb decisions they were probably the result of the fact that he was ALSO extremely paranoid and vindictive.
Right after the ’72 election I started my first B-52 tour in Southeast Asia. Our crew came from a (since closed) air force base in Massachusetts. Somewhere I have an old photo with our copilot leaning out his window during preflight, holding a bumper sticker (distributed, probably, only in MA) which read: “One right, Forty-Nine wrong.” I stand by that sentiment today.
Nixon was also an extremely devisive politician who scared many middle class Democrats into voting for him in 1968. He used “law and order” as code words for “beating up on hippies and inner city minorities”. His 1968 campaign strategy papers were released under the Freedom of Information Act, and they clearly showed that his scare tactics were carefully planned. The book “Nixonland” was written about it.*(http://www.amazon.com/Nixonland-Rise-President-Fracturing-America/dp/B003E7ET0S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357935029&sr=1-1&keywords=nixonland)
I remember him from the Eisenhower days and I can still see in my head the film of Nixon pushing the President’s wheelchair after Ike’s heart attack. He always seemed to bring up the rear in any procession of the First Family, kinda like the pet dog or monkey. I did not like him as a kid and my opinion only worsened as I got older. When he finally died and everyone said nice things about him I wanted to yell, “Don’t forget to drive a stake through him or else he’ll try to make a comeback again!”
Most folks forget the Jackson State killings just eleven days after Kent State. I was a sophomore at another small college then and I’d started to think that it was open season on students.
Then there was Nixon’s long vendetta against Jack Anderson, which could have culminated in Anderson’s murder if those plumbers had not got distracted.
“In 1972, Anderson was the target of an assassination plot in the White House. Two Nixon administration conspirators admitted under oath they plotted to poison Anderson on orders from a senior White House aide.12 White House “plumbers” G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt met with a CIA operative to discuss the possibilities, including drugging Anderson with LSD, poisoning his aspirin bottle, or staging a fatal mugging.13 The plot was aborted when the plotters were arrested for the Watergate break-in. Nixon had long been angry with Anderson, blaming Anderson’s election eve story about a secret loan from Howard Hughes to Nixon’s brother14 for Nixon’s loss of the 1960 presidential election. Anderson remained a target of FBI investigation after his death; in February 2006, the FBI contacted Anderson’s family to obtain his files and search for classified documents.15 The FBI agents claimed to be looking for documents pertaining to American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as part of an espionage investigation. In November 2006, the FBI quietly gave up its pursuit of the archive. The archive, as revealed in The Chronicle of Higher Education, contains Anderson’s CIA file, along with information about prominent public figures such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Thomas Dodd, and J. Edgar Hoover.16"
CBC radio had a DJ who was a good impressionist and the network had a great research department. The day after Nixon’s “I am not a crook” speech at Disney World, this was the “Max looks at Today’s Headlines” bit. When You Wish Upon a Star is playing softly in the background. Max’s impression of Nixon: Ms Wood [yes they actually researched it long before the 18.5 minutes], I want to try this for emphasis: I am not a crook [repeated, emphasizing different words]. A falsetto voice like Jiminey Cricket says, “It’s getting longer, it’s getting longer.”
My first presidential election was 1972 as well, and I, too, voted for McGovern. I did so by absentee ballot, as I was in the Coast Guard at the time, and can still vividly remember the front page of the Cal Aggie (Univ. of California at Davis) newspaper that was mailed to me by an old friend, then the newspaper’s editor, which stated in a bold headline: “McGovern sweeps Massachusetts; victory in D.C. seems certain!”
jessie d. Premium Member over 11 years ago
Gosh, Nixon’s venality seems kinda mild after exposure to the present-day moral corruption of the Republican party.
ARodney over 11 years ago
Nixon was plenty evil enough for me. Read his comments on what to do about Native American protests if you need a refresher. People like to give him credit for a lot of very liberal reforms that really helped America, like the EPA, OSHA, and the Clean Water Act; but it should be recognized that those were all Democratic ideas put forward by a Democratic congress. It was great of him to sign them. But they weren’t his priorities.
Call me Ishmael over 11 years ago
No Nixon-defenders on the far right today? Well, it’s still early…Here’s one from the left, however: he was not 100% bad, and he even seemed to mellow later on. Most important, he didn’t pretend China was irrelevant. And he did well in the kitchen debate with Krushchev.
WineStar Premium Member over 11 years ago
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And I thought Liddy died last year — I maybe misremembering . . .
inevattable over 11 years ago
Given the abysmal flaws of his Republican descendants, I would say that this cartoon is a bit mean-spirited in itself.
fritzoid Premium Member over 11 years ago
“He was just incredibly stupid, not actually evil like a lot of Politicians today!”
I was a child in the Nixon era, so all I know of him is in retrospect, but from what I’ve heard he was actually really intelligent. In fact, I once read something along the lines of “In the modern era, in every presidential election the Democratic nominee has been smarter than the Republican nominee, with the exception of Nixon” (I don’t recall whether that was in comparison with Kennedy, Humphrey, McGovern, or all three).
You may prefer to call it “native cunning” rather than “intelligence,” and by all accounts Nixon was by no means “sophisticated,” but if he’s known in retrospect for having made some dumb decisions they were probably the result of the fact that he was ALSO extremely paranoid and vindictive.
JT Vagabond over 11 years ago
Right after the ’72 election I started my first B-52 tour in Southeast Asia. Our crew came from a (since closed) air force base in Massachusetts. Somewhere I have an old photo with our copilot leaning out his window during preflight, holding a bumper sticker (distributed, probably, only in MA) which read: “One right, Forty-Nine wrong.” I stand by that sentiment today.
Marty Z over 11 years ago
Nixon was also an extremely devisive politician who scared many middle class Democrats into voting for him in 1968. He used “law and order” as code words for “beating up on hippies and inner city minorities”. His 1968 campaign strategy papers were released under the Freedom of Information Act, and they clearly showed that his scare tactics were carefully planned. The book “Nixonland” was written about it.*(http://www.amazon.com/Nixonland-Rise-President-Fracturing-America/dp/B003E7ET0S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357935029&sr=1-1&keywords=nixonland)
wiatr over 11 years ago
I remember him from the Eisenhower days and I can still see in my head the film of Nixon pushing the President’s wheelchair after Ike’s heart attack. He always seemed to bring up the rear in any procession of the First Family, kinda like the pet dog or monkey. I did not like him as a kid and my opinion only worsened as I got older. When he finally died and everyone said nice things about him I wanted to yell, “Don’t forget to drive a stake through him or else he’ll try to make a comeback again!”
Cat43ullus over 11 years ago
Most folks forget the Jackson State killings just eleven days after Kent State. I was a sophomore at another small college then and I’d started to think that it was open season on students.
Cat43ullus over 11 years ago
Then there was Nixon’s long vendetta against Jack Anderson, which could have culminated in Anderson’s murder if those plumbers had not got distracted.
“In 1972, Anderson was the target of an assassination plot in the White House. Two Nixon administration conspirators admitted under oath they plotted to poison Anderson on orders from a senior White House aide.12 White House “plumbers” G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt met with a CIA operative to discuss the possibilities, including drugging Anderson with LSD, poisoning his aspirin bottle, or staging a fatal mugging.13 The plot was aborted when the plotters were arrested for the Watergate break-in. Nixon had long been angry with Anderson, blaming Anderson’s election eve story about a secret loan from Howard Hughes to Nixon’s brother14 for Nixon’s loss of the 1960 presidential election. Anderson remained a target of FBI investigation after his death; in February 2006, the FBI contacted Anderson’s family to obtain his files and search for classified documents.15 The FBI agents claimed to be looking for documents pertaining to American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as part of an espionage investigation. In November 2006, the FBI quietly gave up its pursuit of the archive. The archive, as revealed in The Chronicle of Higher Education, contains Anderson’s CIA file, along with information about prominent public figures such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Thomas Dodd, and J. Edgar Hoover.16"
Wikipedia on J. Anderson
Rickapolis over 11 years ago
LOL. But a lot of other pols are there with him.
hippogriff over 11 years ago
CBC radio had a DJ who was a good impressionist and the network had a great research department. The day after Nixon’s “I am not a crook” speech at Disney World, this was the “Max looks at Today’s Headlines” bit. When You Wish Upon a Star is playing softly in the background. Max’s impression of Nixon: Ms Wood [yes they actually researched it long before the 18.5 minutes], I want to try this for emphasis: I am not a crook [repeated, emphasizing different words]. A falsetto voice like Jiminey Cricket says, “It’s getting longer, it’s getting longer.”
frodo1008 over 11 years ago
Deaths: Watergate 0……Benghazi 4…..Iraq 4,486 American soldiers killed, and God alone knows how many others. Because of the vanity of GWB!!
apfelzra Premium Member over 11 years ago
My first presidential election was 1972 as well, and I, too, voted for McGovern. I did so by absentee ballot, as I was in the Coast Guard at the time, and can still vividly remember the front page of the Cal Aggie (Univ. of California at Davis) newspaper that was mailed to me by an old friend, then the newspaper’s editor, which stated in a bold headline: “McGovern sweeps Massachusetts; victory in D.C. seems certain!”