Your friend is foaming at the mouth and still has a Watergate hangover. I got over mine about 10 years ago. I used to hate Nixon. After Clinton, I now realize he was a great man who was destroyed by his enemies. Clinton was not.
Nixon destroyed himself. He was surrounded by yes men who fed Nixon's insecurities. How else do you explain the whole Watergate mission when Nixon was so far ahead in the polls and assured of re-election?
I'm with you. I was raised by Nixon haters who have softened their opinion in recent years. Ive done plenty of reading and formed my own favorable opinion of Nixon. He may have done some wrong but compared to some of the stuff slick willie got away with he was an amateur.