1) You are known by the company you keep
2) Franco kept company with Hitler and Mussolini
3) Hitler and Mussolini were Nazi and Fascist, respectively, and the “Bad Guys” collectively
4) Franco, therefore, was...?
No wonder it took America so long to figure out who the Bad Guys actually were in WW-II.
A patriot, willing to accept aid from shady sources because he was fighting for his country's life. Those were dangerous times.
No wonder it took America so long to figure out who the Bad Guys actually were
Indeed. A lot of Americans never figured out that one of the worst Bad Guys was good old Uncle Joe Stalin -- who was present at the war's creation. Given American's blind stupidity about the mortal threat of communism -- the only aid freedom-loving America sent Spain in the 30s went to the wrong side -- is it any wonder Franco took his help where he could find it? His fundamental decency -- and ultimately his ability to restrain irresponsible elements -- are evident in the plain historical fact that Spain declined to aid his Nazi/Fascist "friends" in the second World War.
Recalling America's perverse blind-eye wartime policy towards the Soviets, I can only agree.