“It's like Nixon. There were a lot of people that supported Nixon until he was out of office.”
Poor example. Within four years of his leaving office, Nixon was writing bestselling books. One of them, The Real War (New York: Warner, 1980) helped Ronald Reagan win the presidency and was instrumental in formulating the Reagan Doctrine. Nixon's status as an elder statesmen grew during the remaining years of his life.
Nixon and Clinton even became pals in Nixon’s Final Days.