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Young Conservatives Have an Unlikely New Icon: Richard Nixon
The Wall Street Journal ^ | July 17, 2026 | Philip Wegmann and Vera Bergengruen

Posted on 07/18/2026 11:15:58 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican

The kids are “Nixonmaxxing.”

More than half a century after Watergate, conservative youth are discovering the aesthetic, and adopting the attitude, of the late Richard Nixon.

It’s a vibe. Videos that feature archival footage of the famously square 37th president over rap music from artists such as Drake and Biggie Smalls are going viral on Instagram and YouTube. Influencers sport ball caps, crew necks and fanny packs emblazoned with messages such as “Pretty Girls for Nixon” and “Nixon Now More Than Ever.” Hats stamped with “Nixonmaxxing” sold out in a matter of hours earlier this year.

“Nixon hype edit was not something I knew I needed,” one fan wrote in the comments of a recent Instagram video. “Is Nixon pulling off the greatest posthumous political comeback in history?” someone else wrote.

Watergate has long been considered one of the biggest political scandals in American history. After five men were arrested breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972, investigators uncovered links to Nixon’s re-election campaign and an extensive effort by the White House to cover it up. The scandal led to Nixon’s resignation, landed some of his closest advisers in jail and ushered in a far-reaching legislative crackdown on executive overreach.

Now, Nixon is being recast as a forerunner of “America First” by a new generation of conservatives: a combative president loathed by the press and besieged by investigators who was brought down by the same establishment they believe targeted President Trump.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: History
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1 posted on 07/18/2026 11:15:58 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

He took us off the gold standard…unforgivable.


2 posted on 07/18/2026 11:17:41 AM PDT by Cowgirl
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To: MinorityRepublican

I cannot wait until adding “maxxing” to the end of a word goes out of style.


3 posted on 07/18/2026 11:18:52 AM PDT by Antihero101607
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To: MinorityRepublican

At least it beats the fake JFK that some conservatives have come to believe.


4 posted on 07/18/2026 11:22:49 AM PDT by ansel12
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To: MinorityRepublican

Nixon was not a conservative.


5 posted on 07/18/2026 11:29:19 AM PDT by maro (MAGA!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

The components of a system can be manipulated to create a false image of the system itself.

Nothing should be taken at face value.

Most of all, we shouldn’t believe anything the media tells us.


6 posted on 07/18/2026 11:30:48 AM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: Cowgirl

There are more than a few reasons many conservatives dislike Richard Nixon, and his abandoning the Gold Standard is one of them. The EPA is another, and there are a few more.

And those are valid criticisms. As you imply, his abandonment of the Gold Standard did indeed lay the groundwork for a lot of mischief in governance and fiscal policy.

But I will always admire and be grateful to Nixon for his Operation Linebacker II, the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong with B-52’s, and the mining of the Haiphong harbor in December 1972 that finally drove the Communists to the treaty signed in January 1973, just two weeks after they cried ‘Uncle”.

Nixon loved this country. The methods used by the Left in general and the Media in particular against Nixon were dusted off and used against Reagan, Bushes, and Trump. Nixon just didn’t have any way to fight back.

Trump bypasses the Media and Democrats, and doesn’t hesitate to flip them the bird in public. In his day, Nixon couldn’t do that. Heck, look what the did to Rockefeller when he DID flip them off. Different time, for sure.


7 posted on 07/18/2026 11:30:57 AM PDT by rlmorel (Factio Communistica Sinensis Delenda Est)
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To: MinorityRepublican

I still have my complete WaPo with the giant ‘NIXON RESIGNS’ headline.


8 posted on 07/18/2026 11:32:19 AM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: All

Richard Nixon, patriot at heart, was burdened and even corrupted by his decades of business with the global crime syndicate.

For example, Nixon had a central role in the business of Project Paperclip.


9 posted on 07/18/2026 11:32:25 AM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Horrible icon: A very Liberal Globalist


10 posted on 07/18/2026 11:33:01 AM PDT by cowboyusa (YESHUA IS KING OF AMERICA!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

I’m 72 years old so I remember his administration very well. He got my South on the road to Republicanism which has been a huge winner. My one gripe with him is that he let winning the Vietnam war slip away at Christmas 1972 by not letting the total bombing of the North go for another week or two. They were on their knees by that time and ready to do most anything to get out from under the B52s and mines blocking their ports. But by then Nixon only wanted the POWs back and winning the war was not even on his agenda. S Vietnam would rival S Korea today had he finished the job.


11 posted on 07/18/2026 11:33:10 AM PDT by Midwesterner53
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To: maro
Nixon was not a conservative.

No but he stood up to the Left and the Deep State.

12 posted on 07/18/2026 11:33:17 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: reasonisfaith

He was a globalist


13 posted on 07/18/2026 11:34:09 AM PDT by cowboyusa (YESHUA IS KING OF AMERICA!)
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To: All

Nixon set up a sort of dead man’s switch.

He told the deep state cabal, and Kissinger was front and center, that if they came after him or his family he’d release the Nicola Tesla equations, which would have destroyed the cabal’s petrodollar system.


14 posted on 07/18/2026 11:35:26 AM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: cowboyusa

He was controlled by the globalists. From the surface it looks the same as being a globalist, but it’s very different.

At heart Nixon was a patriot.


15 posted on 07/18/2026 11:36:33 AM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: MinorityRepublican

At least.


16 posted on 07/18/2026 11:36:49 AM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: cowboyusa

As you know, the cabal exerts their control with death threats to family. This is one of the most powerful ways to control people.


17 posted on 07/18/2026 11:37:59 AM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: reasonisfaith

He gladly expanded the Worst Society. Sorry, JFK record is more Conservative than his. He was a rhino


18 posted on 07/18/2026 11:40:14 AM PDT by cowboyusa (YESHUA IS KING OF AMERICA!)
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To: reasonisfaith

True.


19 posted on 07/18/2026 11:41:59 AM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: maro
Nixon was not a conservative.

I've often thought it interesting that Nixon and Trump were the two most socially liberal Republican presidents in modern times and no two men were more hated by the Left.

20 posted on 07/18/2026 11:42:22 AM PDT by Drew68
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