George W. Bush vs Richard Nixon

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Nixon was a foreign policy great with Detente with the Soviets and a reopening of relations with the PRC. He was also the last Liberal president of the post war Keynesian consensus. He supported things like Wage and Price controls , healthcare reform and the EPA.

Me. Reading this post:

I would agree there were some constructive elements of Nixon's presidency, namely Detente (which was a big deal for my country, as decreased tensions helped to emerge various dissident movements in the Soviet Bloc, such as KOR) and opening with the PRC. But to call him a liberal is moronic.

After all, Nixon was a key figure in conservative shift in the U.S. policy after 1968.

(BTW, decreasing of West-East relations in the 1970s was hardly Nixon's exclusive policy. There was Willy Brandt, among other architects of that process).

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I'd say Dubya did more damage.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

If we blame the situation in the Middle East on Bush, we have to blame Cambodia on Nixon, and that alone has likely caused more death than all of Bush's missteps.

The Middle East situation is far from over.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I expected better of this forum. Seriously, let's compare the "big flaws/failures" of each:

Bush:
-Iraq
-Afghanistan
-Katrina Response
-Campaigning on Homophobia
-Guantanamo

Nixon:
-Chile
-East Timor
-Bangladesh
-Secret Wars in SE Asia
-Watergate
-Greece/Cyprus
-Sabotaging Vietnam Peace Talks
-War on Drugs starting
-Manipulation of 1972 Election Process
-Appointment of Warren Burger to SCOTUS
-Campaigning on Racism

Sorry, but simple list won't do. Bush did more damage globally. A damage we continue to feel to this very day.

Also, aside his numerous "big flaws", Nixon has some accomplishments (hardly absolving him of said "big flaws", but there's at least something). Bush had none.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

And the most negative aspects of Bush's legacy are fairly constrained to the Middle East

That's a very optimistic statement. And even so, given how everything that happens in the Middle East influences the rest of the world, I wouldn't be so sure about how "constraining".

Also, while it was a longterm process, Bush and his administration had their share of responsibility for an outbreak of the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression. This is affecting everyone, to various degrees, but everyone.

Nixon at the very least is probably the most evil president the United States has ever had.

I can't argue with that, but the question was "which president was better, or less worse", not "which president was a better human being".

If it was the latter, I would reluctantly, but vote for Bush.