Opinion of Richard Nixon (by party)

[RR1997]

IMO, Richard Nixon was easily one of the worst, if not the worst president in American history. A lot of our problems we face today can be traced back to Nixon's policies.

How about you guys?

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

HP for his wiretapping and other misc crimes.

But the president's policies that are the root of many of our current problems is Reagan, not Nixon.

[Never]

HP for being corrupt.

[TDAS04]

Massive HP (D)

[SWE]

Watergate barely makes the top ten worst things about Nixon list.

[Supersonic]

HP.

[SWE]

Wait, I just remembered he's more liberal than Obama, so FF

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Nixon was a very complex man, certainly our most "human" president. I see aspects of myself, good and bad, in him. I have a lot of admiration and hatred for him. I would have voted for McGovern in 1972 with and without hindsight, but it is not a vote against Nixon himself as much as it is a vote against Vietnam. The monster Richard Nixon became wasn’t made by Richard Nixon; it was made by the media who clearly had it in for him from the start. It became a cat and mouse game, with Nixon and the collective press each sinking to new lows to outdo the other.

Let’s remember, Nixon opened up China, signed SALT I, and fought for a public option healthcare program (which I would have opposed at the time, but now feel we need in post Obamacare America), among other great things. Several of his aides went on to do great things-Brian Lamb founded C-SPAN, for example, and Pat Buchanan has had an incredible career since Watergate as well.

He also (possibly) continued the war on purpose, took us off the Gold Standard, allowed busing to go on, and failed to properly cover-up several minor dirty tricks. And then, let us not forget that he also rounded up student protestors and locked them in RFK stadium in 1971, Chile, and his association with shady, washed up CIA operatives from the Kennedy era (Liddy, Hunt, etc).

Nixon was a horrible president on the whole, yet for some reason, I cannot bring myself to call him a horrible human being. Look into a mirror, and all of you, whether you like it or not, will see at least one aspect of Richard Nixon in yourself.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

FF

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Nixon was a very complex man, certainly our most "human" president. I see aspects of myself, good and bad, in him. I have a lot of admiration and hatred for him. I would have voted for McGovern in 1972 with and without hindsight, but it is not a vote against Nixon himself as much as it is a vote against Vietnam. The monster Richard Nixon became wasn’t made by Richard Nixon; it was made by the media who clearly had it in for him from the start. It became a cat and mouse game, with Nixon and the collective press each sinking to new lows to outdo the other.

Let’s remember, Nixon opened up China, signed SALT I, and fought for a public option healthcare program (which I would have opposed at the time, but now feel we need in post Obamacare America), among other great things. Several of his aides went on to do great things-Brian Lamb founded C-SPAN, for example, and Pat Buchanan has had an incredible career since Watergate as well.

He also (possibly) continued the war on purpose, took us off the Gold Standard, allowed busing to go on, and failed to properly cover-up several minor dirty tricks. And then, let us not forget that he also rounded up student protestors and locked them in RFK stadium in 1971, Chile, and his association with shady, washed up CIA operatives from the Kennedy era (Liddy, Hunt, etc).

Nixon was a horrible president on the whole, yet for some reason, I cannot bring myself to call him a horrible human being. Look into a mirror, and all of you, whether you like it or not, will see at least one aspect of Richard Nixon in yourself.

I do believe Nixon to be a bastard whose presidency was a great negative for the country, yet I as well have a hard time not rooting for him. Maybe it's just my inner-troll, or the fact that those on the left (should, at least) hate him so much, or some identification, I'm unsure.

[H. Ross Peron]

America's own Richard III

[PPT Spiral]

He was "good" in that he helped to make Americans realize that they should be skeptical of those in power.

[Lief 🗽]

Horrible person responsible for most of what is wrong with American politics today.

[TNF]

Scumbag.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

HP, but not as much of an HP as Democratic Nixon apologists.

I agree with Sanchez that Nixon wasn't entirely a monster of his own making, but it's stupid to blame the media for that. What was wrong with him clearly went back before his political career, far enough back that we end up looking at a part of his life that it would be hard to try to analyze without running smack-dab into Donald Winnicott...

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

Terrible, and should have been prosecuted.

[ElectionsGuy]

One of the most power-hungry authoritarian corrupt presidents in history.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

HP, but not as much of an HP as Democratic Nixon apologists.

I agree with Sanchez that Nixon wasn't entirely a monster of his own making, but it's stupid to blame the media for that. What was wrong with him clearly went back before his political career, far enough back that we end up looking at a part of his life that it would be hard to try to analyze without running smack-dab into Donald Winnicott...

Agreed, but I feel his relationship with the media enhanced the feeling of rejection. Had he just been elected and never had the hatred of the media, he might have felt vindicated by winning elections.

[PiMp DaDdy FitzGerald]

More liberal than Obama. FF

[beaver2.0]

Not bad.  Aside from the scandals and such.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Not bad.  Aside from the scandals and such.

By scandals, do you mean every single facet of his presidency?

[RR1997]

Well maybe I was a little too harsh on Nixon, at least Nixon opened up U.S. trade with China, which is one of the very few good actions of his presidency.

[Mechaman]

As of 7:01 AM
FF (D)       -6 (12.8%)
HP (D)       -14 (29.8%)
FF (R)       -4 (8.5%)
HP (R)       -10 (21.3%)
FF (I/O)       -1 (2.1%)
HP (I/O)       -12 (25.5%)

Seriously, what the Hell is wrong with you people?

[Antonio the Sixth]

HP, but not as much of an HP as Democratic Nixon apologists.

I agree with Sanchez that Nixon wasn't entirely a monster of his own making, but it's stupid to blame the media for that. What was wrong with him clearly went back before his political career, far enough back that we end up looking at a part of his life that it would be hard to try to analyze without running smack-dab into Donald Winnicott...

Agreed, but I feel his relationship with the media enhanced the feeling of rejection. Had he just been elected and never had the hatred of the media, he might have felt vindicated by winning elections.

The media don't hate people at random though - they hate people who make themselves "hatable", and Nixon was exactly the kind of politicians who was very easy to hate. His entire political career was built on his denunciation of an "enemy" that must be fought, pitting Americans against each other. Even when nothing of his corruption was known, he already appeared as an incredibly nasty, spiteful person.

[Mechaman]

Anyway, now that I got that off of my chest I will just say that this thread, and the apologist posts I've seen so far (especially from Democrats who insist that Nixon was "not that bad") all show what is wrong with America.  If you purposefully sabotage peace talks of a war that has already killed millions just so you can win the presidency, you are not a sympathetic figure by any means.  If you then give the finger to people who voted for you expecting an eventual exit from the war theater instead of mass bombings that kill even more innocent bystanders, you are not a sympathetic figure.

You see, I could give a rat's ass about Watergate.  Nixon's real crime was that he didn't think twice about how many lives he needed to destroy to advance his political career.  ANd that in my mind far outshadows the EPA, peace talks with China, his push for universal healthcare (conveniently done right before he got kicked out of office), anti-missile treaties, desegregation, etc. etc.  Oh yeah, he also began the so-called "War on Drugs", which has become the New Jim Crow for the African American community.

So yes, fuck Richard Nixon.  He's easily in the top five of the worst presidents we ever had.  A decade ago or so in high school it was almost accepted as common fact that Richard Nixon was a horrible terrible guy by both Republicans and Democrats.  Nowdays it seems that moderate heroes in both parties seem to be wanting to give his dead corpse a handjob and a nice thumbs up for "not being as bad as (insert later Republican President here)."  As much as I hate Reagan and Dubya, their pathetic kill scores pale in comparison to the amount that died just so that Dick Nixon could have (or attempt to have, given Watergate) his precious two terms in office.

Enthusiastic HP vote here.  And seriously, fuck you to every single one of you who voted FF.