For those of us who were around back then (and therefore young at the time), fifty years provides quite the perspective on one of the most controversial figures of the time. I no longer view Nixon as a demon or a crook; quite the opposite. We could use him these days.

https://twitter.com/WallStreet.../1763026918209671252

In my mind, of great Presidents, it's Washington, Madison, Lincoln, Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Donald J. Trump.

There are other good Presidents, but I think the ones listed are our greats.

We need Donald J. Trump back. Reagan would be great, or a Nixon.

Please, save our Country!

I cried when Ronald Reagan died. A great man.

Oh, and Nixon was/is right on this, as he was on many things.


ARman

The first time I ever voted in a Presidential election was for Nixon.

My views on Nixon have recently changed for the better as well. I think he truly loved America and had her in his best interests. The media and the military industrial complex are dangers that he seemed very well aware of well before the majority of us.

I've even gained a little more respect for JFK.

I wouldn't count either among our greats. I do think that one of our greats that is all too often forgotten is Coolidge. I believe that our late, great member JAllen would agree.

Richard Nixon was never photogenic. Shifty eyes and five o'clock shadow. That is a major reason JFK won the first TV debates.

Always liked Nixon and knew he was brilliant in many ways.
The ugly head of politics is what killed him.

Trump, Reagan, Nixon > the best (modern era) we have ever had, IMO.

I wasn't alive at the time but genuine question from me: was Nixon viewed as a good president during his presidency or do we look back and compare him to the recent presidents and Nixon is looked upon favorably because of recent failures?

I've always admired Nixon - he was President while I was living in Canada but thought that the media had really screwed him over

he did a number of things that I think changed the US for the better, including the creation of the EPA, but failed on this when he gave them rule making authority and made them self-funded

However he was very much right on a lot of things, mostly the things that really mattered.

I've been to the Nixon Library, and I've read all his books.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
I wasn't alive at the time but genuine question from me: was Nixon viewed as a good president during his presidency or do we look back and compare him to the recent presidents and Nixon is looked upon favorably because of recent failures?

I was born in 1960. I recall my father, who was quite conservative, thinking highly of Nixon except for Watergate. He thought the financial measures Nixon took were smart, he liked the strong national defense, and of course Nixon supported the space program. Opening up relations with China was considered a huge positive. At the time, taking the dollar off of the gold standard was considered necessary and good. Price controls were considered helpful (though controversial). Getting us out of Vietnam was complex, and Nixon was seen by many as honestly trying to deal with an inherited war with no quick or easy resolution.

But my father was truly aghast at the dishonesty involved in Watergate. It was a different era for sure, where scandal was, well, scandalous. People expected those at the top to be generally motivated to do good things. Of course, bareknuckle politics have always been a thing, but we expected better from those who rose to the top than being thoroughly corrupt lying bastards. For Nixon to have lied in order to cover up what his subordinates did was a despicable act for a President.

A President lying was considered far worse than the illegal acts perpetrated by operatives without the President's knowledge. Note that this colored the reaction in the mid 1990's with Bill Clinton's lies under about Monica Lewinsky oath and on tv to all of us. Many of us found his dishonesty to be disqualifying to be President. The Dems spun it as just about sex, and the Repubs campaigned on the slogan that Character Counts. It turned out that in the 20 years since Watergate the national morals had gone down substantially!

What I recall aside from my father's comments is the abject hatred of Nixon by the younger generation. It seems the hippie contingent and the anti-war liberals younger than about age 25 hated him as much as those today with TDS hate Trump. The Vietnam war was extremely polarizing, coming on top of the civil unrest of the 1960's civil rights movement.

quote:

Originally posted by BigCity:
The first time I ever voted in a Presidential election was for Nixon.

Me too!

One of Nixon's greatest contributions was Chief Justice Rehnquist. What the left did to Nixon was a trial run for what they are doing to Trump.

If you want to see just how stupid most of our current politicians are, just listen to them blather for 20 seconds and then listen to Nixon speak. Ignore the context. Just compare the speaking ability, grammar, sentence structure, etc.

Giving CCP Commies a permanent seat on the UN Security Council instead of ROC was a huge mistake. Come think of it the whole cozying up to CCP commies and making China the manufacturing powerhouse it has become as a result of all the business and IP we gave them as a result was a huge mistake. Never, never, never cozy up to Commies, overt or covert - it always backfires.
For that alone Nixon does not get my respect.

quote:

Originally posted by clipper1:
One of Nixon's greatest contributions was Chief Justice Rehnquist. What the left did to Nixon was a trial run for what they are doing to Trump.

Clinton's impeachment was payback for what they did to Nixon and Trump is payback for Clinton.

We better be absolutely medieval draconian on the Bidens. Goldberg level draconian.

quote
"Clinton's impeachment was payback for what they did to Nixon and Trump is payback for Clinton.
We better be absolutely medieval draconian on the Bidens. Goldberg level draconian."


Mars, I hope there will be enough balls, brains, and guts in congress to get that job done, and that I live long enough to witness.

quote:

Originally posted by BigCity:
The first time I ever voted in a Presidential election was for Nixon.

Same here, 1972. I was a sophomore in college at the time, many fellow students were shocked I did not join them in voting for McGovern.

For sure Nixon is a victim of the then new activist press. No longer reporting the news but "changing the world through the news coverage".

He also likely did not receive good contemporary advice, where they tried old tactics to respond (cover it up) vs maybe trying something that would catch the press off guard (admit quickly and place blame on the actors).
Old school loyalty to his team likely was in conflict with this approach however.