It's the 100th birthday of America's Most corrupt President!(Richard Nixon)

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Yeah, it's Nixon's 100th birthday.

Is Congress doing anything? Or any government anywhere?

[minionofmidas]

My email provider is doing a photo clickthrough of "bad guys in the White House - was Nixon the meanest President ever?"
I kid you not.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

My email provider is doing a photo clickthrough of "bad guys in the White House - was Nixon the meanest President ever?"
I kid you not.

Are you asking that rhetorically or do you want our opinion on Nixon?

[minionofmidas]

My email provider is doing a photo clickthrough of "bad guys in the White House - was Nixon the meanest President ever?"
I kid you not.

Are you asking that rhetorically or do you want our opinion on Nixon?

I'm quoting somebody else's rhetorical question. Can you read?

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

My email provider is doing a photo clickthrough of "bad guys in the White House - was Nixon the meanest President ever?"
I kid you not.

Are you asking that rhetorically or do you want our opinion on Nixon?

I'm quoting somebody else's rhetorical question. Can you read?

Ah, sorry. I misread the locations of the quote marks.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I'll play Devil's Advocate. Was Nixon really the most corrupt President ever, or was it just that he got caught?

Sure, Nixon could be personally abrasive, and demonstrated egotism, narcissism, and paranoia, but those don't necessarily mean that he was bad at his job. Yes, he was involved in straight-up lawbreaking for political purposes, and when it came to back-room dealing he was at least as dirty as other politicians of his generation. But those are personal and political. When it came to executing the office of the President, did he knowingly and willfully act against the interests of America and its citizens?

Besides Watergate and its fallout, where is the corruption? Opening relations with China, withdrawing from the Vietnam War, the ABM Treaty, intervention in the Yom Kippur War, attempted intervention in Chile, wage and price controls, the EPA, cutting Apollo funding, and continuing desegregation; is there any evidence that Nixon did these for any reason beyond thinking (rightly or wrongly) that they were the appropriate thing to do, and that doing them would make him a more successful President?

Obama and Bush the Younger both engaged in sweetheart deals, backroom negotiations on sweeping legislation, and wars of questionable provenance and necessity. From the Guilded Age through the Great Depression, there were plenty of substantial accusations of Presidents using their office to benefit friends (if not themselves) at the expense of the nation. Why are they somehow less corrupt than Nixon?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I'll play Devil's Advocate. Was Nixon really the most corrupt President ever, or was it just that he got caught?

Sure, Nixon could be personally abrasive, and demonstrated egotism, narcissism, and paranoia, but those don't necessarily mean that he was bad at his job. Yes, he was involved in straight-up lawbreaking for political purposes, and when it came to back-room dealing he was at least as dirty as other politicians of his generation. But those are personal and political. When it came to executing the office of the President, did he knowingly and willfully act against the interests of America and its citizens?

The idea that "When the president does it, it's not illegal" was one of the most dangerous things to come from Nixon's administration. That's absolutely against the interest of America and its citizens.

[King]

Richard Nixon isn't the most corrupt President.  He's just the only one who got caught with his hands in the cookie jar.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I like Nixon.  Sorry.

[pbrower2a]

Dubya was worse.

Nixon did the unforgivable, which included encouraging the violation of medical (psychiatric) records of Daniel Ellsburg. Note well -- physicians of all kinds are sworn to confidentiality with clients and show no tolerance for violation of that confidentiality. His administration leaked a smear that the wife of Edmund Muskie had used an ethnic slur.

The "Enemies List" and the vile language on the tapes demonstrate that he was not a likable fellow. His economic policies did huge damage to the value of the dollar, but that is more a matter of wisdom than integrity.

Nixon abused power, and for that he ultimately had to resign. But I have no cause to believe that he lined his own pockets or allowed his cronies to do so, and he certainly did not lie to start a war for profits. For economic corruption Dubya takes the dubious prize.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I like Nixon.  Sorry.

Like may be a strong word for me, but I don't transfer my dislike of the man to a dislike of his Presidency to the extent others do.

[Blue3]

I just realized that Reagan was a couple years older than Nixon

[Simfan34]

A crook, but which one of them wasn't? A vile bastard, but certainly an effective one. A mixed legacy, and I always do wonder what we would make of him had we never learnt of Watergate. Or what we would, had we learnt of it only today.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Happy birthday to one of the greatest men to occupy the White House. Yee-ha!

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Nixon isn't a patch on Harding.

[memphis]

Watergate's got nothing on Iran-Contra. Most blatant act of treason by senior officials since the Civil War. If ever there were a year when heads should have rolled, it was 1986, not 1974.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

None of the other presidents were corrupt people. Not even Grant, Harding, and Bush.

[Marnetmar]

Richard Nixon isn't the most corrupt President.  He's just the only one who got caught with his hands in the cookie jar.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

If Nixon isn't the most corrupt president ever, then who is?

[memphis]

If Nixon isn't the most corrupt president ever, then who is?

Depends how you define corrupt. The Bush's ties to the businesses who made zillions from the Iraq War are shady as hell. As mentioned earlier, the Reagan administration sold weapons to the Iranians. But people were better at keeping corruption a secret back in the old days. The Gilded Age Presidents certainly knew the value of a dollar.

[Badger]

I never cease to be amazed at the apologists for Nixon. Yes, other presidents committed corrupt, even impeachable acts. Also there are certainly corrupt activities never discovered. But those are the minority. History inevitably exposes most scandals and wrongdoing even if long after the fact. But to assume that even the closest runners-up to Tricky Dick (modern history--at least post-Harding) have nearly enough buried skeletons (and implicitly that every corrupt act by Nixon has been uncovered) to match the tsunami of sleeze that defined the Nixon Administration is ludicrously underestimating the breadth of official corruption that time involved.

Nixon had some solid accomplishments in his administration, but he was nevertheless one utterly corrupt bastard.

[DevotedDemocrat]

He was a good President.

[wan]

He was a good President.

1 Lied under oath about his knowledge of the Watergate Break -ins
2 Conspiracy to obstruct Justice(Watergate also)
3 violated international law by Invading a Sovereign country (Cambodia)
4 It could be considered that he also violated the original War Powers Act
5 Illegal Wiretaps, etc of Many Americans and american groups