Posted on 03/11/2013 10:32:50 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Few presidents in modern times have been as interested in gun control as Richard Nixon, of all people. He proposed ridding the market of Saturday night specials, contemplated banning handguns altogether and refused to pander to gun owners by feigning interest in their weapons.
Several previously unreported Oval Office recordings and White House memos from the Nixon years show a conservative president who at times appeared willing to take on the National Rifle Association, a powerful gun lobby then as now, even as his aides worried about the political ramifications.
“I don’t know why any individual should have a right to have a revolver in his house,” Nixon said in a taped conversation with aides. “The kids usually kill themselves with it and so forth.” He asked why “can’t we go after handguns, period?” …
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
To those who are too young to remember, or are who are unwilling to grudgingly admit, President Nixon's actions were a major reason that Israel won the Yom Kippur War, and did not go nuclear on the Arabs! Because of Watergate, all decisions on any foreign adventures had to go through Henry Kissinger. Despite this, and Spiro Agnew's resignation, President Nixon stubbornly insisted that Operation Nickel Grass, the air-resupply (and later maritime re-supply) to the IDF of war materiel during the Yom Kippur War, take priority over everything else! This re-supply prevented a rout of the IDF by the millitary of four Arab countries, supported by six Muslim countries, the Soviets, Cuba and the Norks. It should be noted that only Portugal and the Netherlands allowed US aircraft carrying supplies for Israel to refuel at their bases because of the fear of an Arab oil embargo.
According to Bill McKay, Producer of Against All Odds: In Search of a Miracle, President Nixon, as a child growing up in Whittier, CA, was read stories of Old Testament heroes by his mother. One day, she told him that he would someday be in a powerful position and able to save the Jewish people. In 1973, Golda Meir exhausted all efforts to get US assistance through Henry Kissinger, and finally called President Nixon directly, explaining that without assistance from the US, Israel would be lost. Remembering what his mother said, he signed an EO and directed her to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to request what was needed. Doubtless, if Nixon had not followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would have still defeated the Arabs, but Nixon chose to follow His leading and re-supply the IDF.
Among the over 100,00 tons of war materiel supplied were 40 F-4 Phantoms and 46 A-4 Skyhawks, some of which came from USAF units, and many of which saw use during this war, providing the IAF with air superiority. While much of the additional materiel arrived after the cease-fire, it allowed the IAF more freedom in their planning and execution of the war.
As a side note, for me as a somewhat conservative Canadian, the contempt that President Nixon had for Pierre Turd-owe and Turd-owe's contempt for him, suggests a certain respect should be afforded Richard Milhous Nixon! There are many reasons that I sometimes refer to the current occupant of a big white house located in downtown Washington DC as 'Turd-owe-with-a-tan'!
Operation Nickel Grass was poorly executed and resulted in the 1973 oil crisis, against which no action was taken by the US.
Take note that nobody here is equating Nixon to Carter. (Ironically, Carter was an enemy of Amtrak, cutting its funding by two thirds.)
The Vietnam War is JFK’s war, Eisenhower merely had advisers there doing what they they should be doing, just as we have advisers in all kinds of hot spots today.
JFK came into office and kept escalating and increasing the numbers of “advisers” to very high numbers in time he had 16,000 American troops over there and had the Vietnamese president killed and bingo, war.
JFK was not going to withdraw, that is something that the left tries to promote, but even Bobby told us that his brother wasn’t doing so.
1961 – John F. Kennedy sends 1,364 American advisors to South Vietnam. Still no land reform. An operation of U.S. military pilots and planes were ordered to bomb targets in South Vietnam. The operation is cancelled moments before takeoff.
1962 – The number of U.S. advisers increases to 9865. U.S. pilots are clandestinely bombing North Vietnam in an attempt to destabilize the Ho Chi Minh government. “The U.S. did not want to harm relations with Diem, and he was the last political stronghold in Vietnam facing the communists. This ‘fact’ is debatable...”
1963 – 15,500 Americans in Vietnam. Diem is losing his grip on the Buddhist revolutionaries. Kennedy agrees with South Vietnamese generals to remove Diem. With the CIA’s conveying Kennedy’s approval, Diem is assassinated in a military coup and succeeded by a series of military commanders.
“When Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, there were 16,000 US military advisers in Vietnam. The number of troops grew to more than 500,000, and the war raged for another decade.
The US gave Israel war material but also pressured the Israelis to slow up on destruction of the Egyptian army that was cornered by General Ariel Sharon’s spearheads.
They were afraid of the Soviet threats about intervention.
The US was in a very precarious position regarding energy. Attacking the Arabs to control the oil could have resulted in the Soviets attacking and likely attacks on Israel. I do believe, that at that time, the US should have started doing much more oil exploration in the US and Canada and looking into ways to refine bitumen more economically. Unfortunately, the oil companies continued (and continue) to depend upon easy to produce, M. E. oil.
Though likely, it was not certain that the Israeli army could have destroyed the 3rd Egyption army AND maintained its integrity on the west side of the Suez Canal. (David Elazar chief of Israeli headquarter staff stated on 3 December 1973 "As for the third army, in spite of our encircling them they resisted and advanced to occupy in fact a wider area of land at the east. Thus, we can not say that we defeated or conquered them.") The destruction of the 3rd Army would likely have cost hundreds or perhaps thousands of Israeli soldiers. In the end, by not destroying the Egyptian 3rd Army, the US was able to pull Egypt out of Soviet influence and act as a negotiator of a peace treaty, rather than merely a cease-fire.
This peace has held reasonably until the current Pre__sent decided to endorse those amazing upholders of peace, the Muslim Brotherhood. (sarc.)
We do and have had advisers everywhere, we have advisers all over the place and it has nothing to do with war, America was not fighting a Vietnam war under Eisenhower.
JFK started the Vietnam war.
“Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.” - Mark Twain
No wonder you are a JFK apologist and ignore history.
Yeah, I’m sure he was in favor of the Holocaust, helmet laws, abortion at ten months, fiat money, subaru money, handicapped access for exotic dancers — pay attention folks, this is Partisan Media Shilling *once again*, part of the meme-building and mind management of the Party of the Single Party State. Thanks Olog-hai.
Worth repeating...
He was better than Kennedy and JBJ, that’s not saying much,
Horrible RINO President.
I'd go soo far as to say Spiro was the best Governor MD had in my lifetime.
That was my first thought, but I doubt that many people know Nixon was a Quaker.
JFK had a pretty good tax cut, and it was LBJ who got it through Congress when he became president.
I think the real problem with Vietnam was Walter Cronkite and the politicians wouldn't allow our military to win.
JFK was pond scum like his entire family is pond scum. He was one of the best democrats of the 20th Century which makes him still one of the worst Presidents ever (no other President is worse than the 20th century democrats and Obama who were all union labor bought and payed for). A broken clock is right twice a day. He lowered the top rate from 91% to a mere 70%. I’ll take it but should he STILL be getting this level of praise for that? Just for being not as big of a communist as certain others? If there were freepers back then they would shake their head and laugh to see all the love JFK gets from the right in moder times. It may be helpful to praise him if you are Scott Brown running for the Senate or George Bush arguing for a new tax cut (look here the only example of a democrat lowering taxes!) but that’s just rhetoric for the rubes.
Everything horrible that Johnson (a top 4 worst President along with Obama, Carter, and FDR in whatever order) did Kennedy would have done if he had only lived long enough.
And as awful as Tricky Dick turned out in the 70’s I sure as hell wish he had been allowed to take office after he rightly won in 1960. The 60’s were a disaster for America.
JFK should never have started the Vietnam War, nor unionized government workers, nor created the mentally ill homeless with that last bill that he signed, nor given us the 1965 Immigration Act which doomed America.
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