I have been paying a lot of attention to President Nixon's situatiion
after the incident.  Last I heard his brain was swelling and the doctors
were saying best case he's paralyzed.  So I got to thinking.  Since many
of you out there were actually alive during Nixon's rise and decline, I
think you can answer a lot of my questions.  What do you remember of the 
man.  Not necessarily his presidency, although that would be nice.  What
achievements did he make.  What harm did he do.  How has he changed our
society.  Butt most of all, what did you think of the man before Watergate,
and how did this compare with your feelings afterwords.

20 responses total.

I remember the popular attitude in 1956 when I was in Junior High.
I was too young to vote, but we had a mock election.
Many of the students felt he was not a trustworthy character back then.
He was running with Eisenhower against Adlai Stevenson.
Stevenson was really popular in the town I lived in, and so I guess
there were many who were looking for a way to knock the Republicans.
Ike was hugely popular everywhere, though, so Nixon became the target.
I remember the slogan: "Vote for Ike and get stuck with Dick"

I actually met and shook hands with Nixon once while he was VP. I 
will never forget the occasion, of course. I never considered him 
trustworthy, nor voted for him.  That means I even voted for McCarthy 
in the 70s. I don't think I could do that kind of thing now, though. 
The alternatives were both awful in that election.

I didn't specifically expect Watergate, but when it happened I could never
stop thinking that it was not that surprising that "Tricky Dick" would
be the one caught by an abuse of power.

I guess his current condition is pretty grave, and he may even be dying. 
I wouldn't wish his current condition on anybody.

I grew up in a Democratic family in a Republican town. So I cast one of
only two votes for Kennedy in the mock election in my elementary school.
My parents always hated Nixon, and of course I picked that up. Looking
back from today, I'm curious about whether JFK with his sleazy side was
that much better than Nixon as a character even though their public
personas were worlds apart. 

Much as I hate to admit it, I'd have to say that Watergate became the
"feeding frenzy" the Clinton administration is trying to avoid with
Whitewater.  It really didn't matter to many of us whether Nixon was
guilty of anything illegal, but we were finding out that the guy we
had always disliked and that we saw responsible for the Vietname stuff
was actually awful.  There was a lot of self righteousness there for
many of us.

And it would be a huge mistake to forget the advances he made in bringing
down the barriers with communist China.  The hostilities were huge and his
reputation had been staked out on being strongly anticommunist.  So I
consider that a very significant accomplishment.  But it's hard to 
forgive him for the effects that Watergate has had on the U.S. since then.
Wish the guy had been on the up and up from the beginning.

I was expecting Watergate, I guess, because Nixon represented everyting
I opposed, at the time. 

I recall one quote attributed to him, rightly or wrongly. "When you've
got them by the balls, their hearts and minds soon follow."

Come on, the guy is going to die here pretty soon. Can't you say anything
nice about the grump bastard?

Does anyone remember anything positive about the guy?

 
    When President Nixon was in office, I was 7; so I really don't remember
too much about the day to day affairs of his presidency, but I certainly 
remember what he did do for this country.

    I remember reading a Paul Harvey "rest of the story" about a young
navy lieutenant who was extremly adept at poker. He was the best poker 
player in the entire Pacific Theatre. His name was Richard Nixon.

    Nixon became a symbol after Watergate broke. Forget who planned it,
(Liddy), just pin it on Nixon. I believe Nixon was a victim in Watergate,
because there was nothing he could do to stop it. I truly believe that
Nixon was against the breakin. 

    Aside from Watergate, Nixon ended the war in Vietnam, and he met
with the Chinese. He was responsible for Kissinger's Nobel prize and
for keeping the Russkies in thier place. Nixon brought down Alger Hiss,
and served with Eisenhower as VP. I think if Richard Nixon was to relive
his presidency, I think he would do everything again, except 2 things...
Watergate, and pardoning Liddy. 

I think if I would have been President at that time, I would have shot 
Liddy. :-P

Nixon will be remembered positively for his ending the war and for his
accomplishments in China.

On the other hand, I don't believe Nixon was against the breakin.
And even if he was at first, I think he knew about it and supported it.
I'm not sure what good it does to dredge these feelings up now though.

I never liked him, nor trusted him, but I admit he was a great statesman.

Two years ago my father suffered a stroke and was in the same condition.
The doctors gave him no chance to ever resume a normal life, and
suspected he would never come out of the coma. If he did, there wouldn't
be much he could do. I don't know if the prognosis is similar here, but it
sounds so from recent newscasts. The doctors could keep him alive though.
The family decided to stop his medication and he passed away in about 3 days.
I wonder if the Nixons will have to go through a decision process like that.
I don't wish it on them.

We were grateful for the Virginia Natural Death Act.

I heard that Nixon did leave clear instructions not to put him on whatever
machine it is (respirator, perhaps?) they would have used to help
alleviate the swelling of the brain. 

Excuse me, but am I missing something here?  How did one of the biggest
scoundrels who ever occupied the White House suddenly become a great
American hero?  He took lying to the American people and made it an 
art form.  Doesn't any one remember the "Enemies List?"

Yep, I remember him well. Don't like the guy much, but am willing to
see more than one side of anybody.  Are you similarly upset that Clinton
fired all the travel agents to put his own people in?  I always get
suspicious when "conventional wisdom" sees people as all good or all bad,
'cause so few of us are only one or the other.

Nixon may have been a lousy crook, but I think he made a better
ex-president than Ford, Regan, or Bush.  I may be mistaken, but it seems
to me that Carter and Nixon have been trying to use their experience and
notoriety for the good of the world.

Kaplan:  Examples?

Hey, Nixon mad Elvis an honorary member of the FBI!  That, alone, is
potentially "hero-making"!

I heard a story on NPR that one day Elvis paid a visit to the White House.
After he met the president and left, the pres. asked one of his aides, 
"Who was that guy?"  Could that have been a story about RMN?

As ex-presidents, Nixon and Carter represent the two opposing streams 
in US foreign policy thought.  Nixon represents the pursuit of national
self-interest through a classic European balance-of-power strategy,
while Carter represents the belief that American foreign policy 
must have a strong moral grounding.

Will Nixon really be remembered for ending the Vietnam War? He was 
elected claiming he had a "secret plan" to end the war; all he did 
was drag the carnage out for another six years or so, set up the 
destruction of the *rest* of Indochina, and leave behind a weak
South Vietnamese government with little chance of survival.
Hardly the work of a foreign policy genius.  Immediate US withdrawal
upon Nixon's inauguration in January 1969 could not possibly have 
produced a worse outcome.

I agree with Kaplan -- Nixon's writings and participation in
world affairs, along with Carter's work with Habitat for
Humanity outstrip what I know of what the other ex-pres. have
done.  Interesting how they were the two least respected when
they were in office.

Re 12:  I was thinking of the things Roz mentioned, and also that Carter
helped supervise elections in Latin America and Nixon just got back from
meeting with the Russians a few months ago. 

Ford.  Ford?  He's had a freeway in Grand Rapids named after him.  There's
the Ford library in Ann Arbor.  Anyone know what's there?  He plays golf,
right?  All I remember hearing about Regan since he left office was a $2
million fee for non-substantive personal appearances in Japan, a speech at
Bush's 1992 convention, and a bit of recent criticism of Ollie North.  Bush
went out saying he was leaving public life to, "go into the grandchildren
business."

Jeff, as a sidelight, the Ford museum is the place where the Watergate
stuff, like Nixon's resignation letter, can be found. Interesting stuff,
if you're in a civic state of mind.

Man, that was a touching service.  That stuff about Churchhill's funeral,
that wqas so neat.  Thats teh way I'm gonna remember him, solemn, somber,
and a great diplomat.  I'm gonna forget about his mistakes, and try to
remember all the good he did to right them.

Remembering both the accomplishments and the mistakes would be the
most appropriate thing to do.

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