One of the most annoying discussion topics I encounter on liberal message boards is “worst president ever” threads naming Richard M. Nixon. I was only ages 6-11 during his tenure but I as most non-leftist Americans do, remember him to be probably one of the most effective administrators in government of the 20th century. To think they dragged him down and ruined the man over the perception of his dishonesty- the country went along with it because by golly, they would clean up Washington politics once and for all!
We had no idea what a good thing we had and kicked him to the curb.
I didn’t think much about Dick Nixon until one Sunday morning I happened to be up and Meet the Press was on, must have been around 1987 or so. It was not long before his death, and at the time IIRC the Gipper was giving some rather embarrassing performances on Capital Hill, not to cast aspersion on him but he wasn’t too sharp with his defense on Iran-Contra.
A young Tim Russert was guest hosting and had a long interview with the former President and it was both a treat and very sad at the same time. His mind was like walking into a library with every question Russert asked, Nixon’s brilliance, especially in foreign policy, was incredible. I say sad because while Reagan was a great motivator, and inspiring speech giver, I felt if Nixon had been getting grilled on Capital Hill he would be the one embarrassing them. Sharp as a tack.
What struck me was the impression I got of Nixon’s character. I’d almost been taken by his critics’ revisionist impression of him as a dishonest, fearful little man but he was both humble and confident, and above all sincere.
The last thing Russert asked was what his greatest regret of his career was. You might expect “that I didn’t tell the truth right away” or “that I didn’t fight the charges” or some variance of such a selfish hope to repeal a mistake, salvaging his humiliation. No, he said it was his failure to assertively take command of the situation in Vietnam and immediately bomb Hanoi, in defiance of Congress. Had he done so, he said, he would have saved countless thousands of lives of both US soldiers and Vietnamese citizens, a mistake he said that weighed heavy on him since he left office and would until he died.
I thought that was a very selfless thing to hold as your biggest regret, considering his career’s end.
(sorry about the length, thought I’d share a little respect for a man who rarely gets any)
I'm quite sanguine about the prospect that Nixon will rank among the greatest U.S. presidents when this era becomes the subject of genuine historical appraisal, say 25 years from now. The team of Nixon and Reagan was the best setup and closer combination in U.S. history -- they were, in presidential terms, what Duane Ward and Tom Henke were to closing out ball games in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
I don't know if you have read it, but the timely publication of Nixon's The Real War during the spring of the election year (1979) that saw Reagan displace Carter from the presidency not only helped to oust Carter, but it set the stage for Reagan, and served as 'the Bible' for the Reagan Presidency.
No other President's speechwriters had it as easy as Reagan's did: everything Reagan thought and believed is contained in The Real War, including the notion that the Cold War struggle was a contest between "good" and "evil", using those words in their soundest, least polemical sense.
I was gladdened to read in the recently published Reagan Diaries that Reagan was pleased to acknowledge Nixon's assistance in remodelling his approach to the Soviets -- and that he continued to send a birthday greeting to Nixon each year of his presidency. It was of course Nixon, not Thatcher, who convinced Reagan that talking to Gorbachev would have productive results: the INF Agreement and the legitimation of a path-of-no-return for a Soviet implosion under the pressure of U.S. economic might.
It is intriguing that Reagan and Nixon, being such different personality types, did not find each other's company especially congenial, but as recorded in Mitchell's Tricky Dick And The Pink Lady, the two men had such an identity of viewpoint that Reagan, even while Reagan was still a registered Democrat, switched his vehement support for The Pink Lady to Tricky Dick, and he proselytized vigorously in behalf of Nixon's election to the U.S. Senate. That is the stuff of real history.