[Yo-Yo]

Tricky Dick had his faults, but he was not involved in Watergate. That was a John Dean operation, and G. Gordon Liddy was made to be the fall guy.

Nixon was guilty of participating with the coverup afterwards when Dean and others (Bob Haldeman, etc.) convinced Nixon that coming clean about the Watergate break-in was a bad idea.

Then Nixon had to go and erase the 19 minutes of tape where he incriminated himself about going along with the coverup.

But Nixon got us out of Vietnam, and Nixon opened up trade with China (probably a bad thing in the long run, but quite a diplomatic coup at the time,) and through Kissenger almost brought about peace in the Middle East between the Arabs and Israel.

[Paladin2]

Nixon’s extraction from Vietnam was lame in planning and execution.

He had no secret plan.

[Olog-hai]

Ironic that John Dean said in 2018 that Nixon “might have survived (Watergate) if there had been a Fox News”; Dean admits that the whole thing was media-driven, right there.

Nixon opening up trade with Red China was indeed a bad thing altogether, not just in short run and long run. Have a look at certain goals of the communists for the USA:

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of communist domination.
   
   
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the UN. …

This lines up with the views of Karl Marx on free trade:

…(I)n general, the protective system of our day is conservative, while the free trade system is destructive. It breaks up old nationalities and pushes the antagonism of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie to the extreme point. In a word, the free trade system hastens the social revolution. It is in this revolutionary sense alone, gentlemen, that I vote in favor of free trade.

Handing victories to communists is no way to defeat them, but to make them stronger.