opinion of this quote...

[WalterMitty]

"Richard Nixon has never been one of my favorite people anyway. For years I've regarded his existence as a monument to all the rancid genes and broken chromosones that corrupt the possibilities of the American Dream; he was a foul caricature of himself, a man with no soul, no inner convictions, with the integrity of a hyena and the style of a poison toad. The Nixon I remembered was absolutely humorless; I couldn't imagine him laughing at anything except maybe a paraplegic who wanted to vote Democratic but couldn't quite reach the lever on the voting machine. "

that is a great quote.

[°Leprechaun]

sounds more like George W to me,, but what do i know?

[WalterMitty]

sounds more like George W to me,, but what do i know?

well that quote is from 1968.  the author had some not so kind words about bush also.

anyone know who the author is?

[°Leprechaun]

Perhaps it was Barry Goldwater, a great liberal.

[??????????]

Perhaps it was Barry Goldwater, a great liberal.

Liberal? LOL What are you smoking?

[Inmate Trump]

People only remember the bad that came out of Nixon's time in office.  No one remembers the good.  Had it not been for Watergate, I think Nixon would've gone done as one of the best presidents we've had.

Same with Clinton.

[Giant Saguaro]

That's horrible. Nixon and the time were both too complex to say he was good or bad, although I have a favorable opinion of him.

[Speed of Sound]

Personally, I think it is both hilarious and truthful. A double whammy of sorts.

[minionofmidas]

It sounds like something the late great Hunter S Thompson could have said about Nixon, but I'm not familiar with the quote itself.

[WalterMitty]

It sounds like something the late great Hunter S Thompson could have said about Nixon, but I'm not familiar with the quote itself.

you are correct.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Hilarious but wrong. Nixon was a great POTUS.

[dazzleman]

I think it's a terrible quote.

Nixon was a complex character.  I think he was a little crazy, but he had some great ideas and did some great things.

Quotes like that seriously oversimplify, and are symptomatic of irrational hatred.

[Jake]

Caricature, but the last sentence is gold.

[dazzleman]

Caricature, but the last sentence is gold.

Jake, I could see you making a joke about that....

[Defarge]

Even I think that's being a tad harsh to Nixon.  Aside from Watergate, in many ways, he was a great president.

[© tweed]

Richard Nixon = Mets fan

[Q]

Oliver Stone seems to have based the Nixon character in "Nixon" on a similar idea of the real man.

[Bugs]

Here is another quote.  It is by Nixon himself.  He was ten years old, and thoroughly disgusted about the Teapot Dome scandal that was a current event at the time.  "When I grow up I'm going to be a lawyer.  An honest lawyer, who can't be bought by crooks."

[Bugs]

Yet another quote.  This is from a citation for "Meritorious and efficient performance" when he oversaw the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command during World War 2, on Bouganville.  In part, "He established the efficient liasion which made possible the immediate supply by air of vital material and key personel and the prompt evacuation of battle casualties from these stations to rear areas." 

Nixon was too complex an individual to sum up in a single statement.  He made some good contributions as president, but his dishonesty brought his presidency to a premature end. 

[Nym90]

Nixon did a lot of good as President, but ultimately the bad he did and the disrepute he brought upon the Presidency through his actions far outweighed the good.

Ultimately what was the most harmful about Watergate was the deep mistrust of government that it spawned. To this day a reflexive, visceral hatred of government workers and of the institution in general is something that I've never really been able to understand at all, though perhaps this is due to not having experienced Vietnam and Watergate first hand.

Ironically, this made it possible for a candidate like Reagan to win, as Americans no longer had any confidence in government as most of them had 15-20 years earlier.

In some ways Nixon was the perfect stereotype of a politician, someone who was purely calculating in his positions and would do anything to win. Note that this is not necessarily a bad thing overall.

[dazzleman]

Nixon did a lot of good as President, but ultimately the bad he did and the disrepute he brought upon the Presidency through his actions far outweighed the good.

Ultimately what was the most harmful about Watergate was the deep mistrust of government that it spawned. To this day a reflexive, visceral hatred of government workers and of the institution in general is something that I've never really been able to understand at all, though perhaps this is due to not having experienced Vietnam and Watergate first hand.

Ironically, this made it possible for a candidate like Reagan to win, as Americans no longer had any confidence in government as most of them had 15-20 years earlier.

In some ways Nixon was the perfect stereotype of a politician, someone who was purely calculating in his positions and would do anything to win. Note that this is not necessarily a bad thing overall.

Government did a lot more wrong than just Vietnam and Watergate.  Watergate really had little do with the growing distrust and hostility to government.  It was just the icing on the cake.

The Great Society, and the failed programs that it spawned, together with judicial activism, took away a lot of confidence that people previously had in government.  The failure in Vietnam was a big part of that loss of confidence too.