Nixon WAS NOT A GOOD PRESIDENT

[Hippo_Tron]

It amazes me how many people seem to think this. When Nixon was in office there was a huge Democratic Majority in Congress that sent him progressive legislation. He signed it because it probably would have been overridden if he had vetoed it.

Meanwhile the FBI harassed civil rights and anti-war groups and did tons of illegal wiretapping (see the Church Committee), the CIA overthrew Allende in Chile and installed Pinochet, Vietnam was escalated, and we started a secret illegal war in Camboida.

All in all I'd say that Nixon's abuses of power were up there with Bush's if not even worse.

[galaxy21]

1. desegregated schools?

[trof]

28. You really think Nixon did that?

:rofl:
Sorry, that's just SO ridiculous.

[Johonny]

32. He "did" it

meaning he let it happen, then used the court system to try to get it over turned. That was his MO throughout his presidency. Let progressive legislation pass and then get it into the court system. Basically it made it look like he was both for it and against it depending on who he was talking to.

[NJSecularist]

2. Nixon's only shining light was his foreign policy, and he had a few blunders there too..

Like Cambodia.

I think he would have ranked as an average president if he wasn't so deranged and unable to trust anybody.

LBJ escalated Vietnam, not Nixon.

[galaxy21]

4. he was pro choice too

[Hippo_Tron]

6. No, he started installing right wingers on the supreme court

He wasn't nearly as successful as Republicans today and again partly because there was a very powerful Democratic Congress. Nixon put Rhenquist on the court who was the mold for Scalia, Thomas and all of the other right wingers on the court today.

[Hippo_Tron]

5. No, Nixon escalated Vietnam while lying about deescalating it...

And Cambodia isn't just a little blunder. Our actions there led to a genocide. And again, everyone seems to forget about Pinochet that murderous dictator that he helped install.

Nixon did one good thing in foreign policy and that was China.

[liberal N proud]

3. Still bu$h makes him pale in comparison

Granted much of the damage done by the Nixon gang lead to the bu$h regime so they are tied through Raygun in the severity of the crimes against the constitution.

[Hippo_Tron]

7. Bush has had Tom DeLay and Bill Frist to help him do his bidding

So yes in terms of domestic policies, he has been worse, but that is because of the makeup of congress. Also you have to consider 9/11 and how he got a free pass to do whatever he want following that.

Bush with no 9/11 and a Democratic Congress would be comparable to Warren Harding.

[liberal N proud]

9. Everything that happens within the realm of presidential oversight

has to be considered.
Even if you take 9/11 and a complacent Congress out of the equation, bu$h has absolutely no success what so ever.
All failures

[mulsh]

8. "Nixon was piss poor card cheat"

said my great aunt Kitty who knew Dick and Pat before he went into politics. She always liked Pad thought Dick was a "weasly asshole".
As for president, the OP is absolutely correct. Nixon and his people laid the ground work for the disasters of Reagan and the Bushes.

[Gman]

10. Who in hell says he was a good president??

Notice they never say, "What would Nixon do?"

[galaxy21]

11. If Nixon's a failure because of Vietnam why isn't LBJ considered a terrible president?

He was so bad, a guilty conscience ended up killing him.

[Gman]

12. Huh??

It's not that simple. There are many, many more issues than just Vietnam.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Uh, they're both considered terrible presidents.

:shrug:

[galaxy21]

17. Nixon usually makes the worst president polls...LBJ doesn't

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Nixon was the worst president after Bush II.

I can think of several that were worse than LBJ.

[galaxy21]

20. LBJ had civil rights...but it will always come back to Vietnam for him

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. Yeah, LBJ also voted against civil rights.

He didn't pass civil rights out of the goodness of his heart.

[galaxy21]

23. Didn't he bump off Kennedy? I remember that WINK!!!

okay that was a joke. Mostly.

[Zynx]

42. That is completely not true. On balance in the Senate he was a backer of civil rights.

He also recognized that the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act would cost the Democrats dearly in the southern states.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

56. You'll want to double check that.

Because he killed several civil rights bills while he was in congress.

[Zynx]

41. LBJ didn't disgrace the office like Nixon did.

I'm sorry, Watergate is a big deal.

[galaxy21]

43. I think vietnam is a way bigger deal than watergate

starting an unwinnable war>>>>>>>> Nixon being an asshole.

[Zynx]

44. That was in motion long before Johnson got in there.

I do not blame Johnson fully for it.

[galaxy21]

45. the buck stops somewhere

Why do you think he drank himself to death? He knew what he'd done.

[Individualist]

13. Only DLC dems think he was a good president

[galaxy21]

14. Not getting out of Vietnam sooner was Nixon's biggest mistake to a lot of people

Forgetting that he wasn't the one who got us in that mess in the first place.

Of course, he should have got out way, way sooner. But in the end he listened to the public, and later admitted it was public pressure that convinced him.

Constrast this with Mccain and Cheney who don't give a damn what the people think .

[acmavm]

15. Nixon was crazy and scared the shit out of everyone. I think the current

republican squatter in the White House to be on a par. One big difference, Nixon could get some things right.

[pink-o]

19. Nobody I know thinks Nixon was a "good" prez

..They will cite certain of his actions that are good--like opening diplomatic relations with China and Russia, but those of us who were cognizant while he was in the Oval Office have resisted the history re-write. It's just that in comparison to what we have now, Nixon looks like an amazing, progressive visionary.

Hell, even Dan Quayle looks like a fucking Menza member when you stand him beside Dim Son Monkeyboy!

[aquart]

22. Who said that????

[Rex]

24. Nixon did a few good things, like most POTUS do but overall

was a horrible POTUS and disgraced the office. If anyone deserved impeachment, it was Nixon.

[galaxy21]

25. What about Bill? He turned the American presidency into one big blow job joke

I'm not saying Nixon was Lincoln or anything. But he was more good than bad.

[Rex]

27. Maybe AFTER he left office. While in office he was a horrible

POTUS. Just one small example; allowed this horrible fiasco we call Health Insurance to be run by private corporations - what a huge mistake we see it is today. As for Bill, at least he left office with a surplus and a economy that was rebounding after years of Reagan fuckups. Anytime someone throws Clinton at me to defend a horrible POTUS, I just laugh. Comparing apples to oranges.

[galaxy21]

29. Clinton was a way better president than Nixon, but he disgraced the office as much as Nixon

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. Actually, no. Clinton just got a blow job.

Nixon actually disgraced the office.

:shrug:

[Rex]

31. Exactly.

Apples to oranges.

[galaxy21]

33. that blowjob was why gore didn't win in 2000

People wanted integrity and Bush made a big deal out of being faithful to his wife.

Bill is the main reason we got stuck with Bush. Al Gore blames him for it as well.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

34. Gore won in 2000.

He's not the president because of fraudulent voting in Florida.

Certainly nobody voted for Bush because of "integrity."

[galaxy21]

35. well, then Bill's to blame for it getting close enough for them to steal it

If Bill had just controlled himself Gore would have walked into the presidency easily.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. Who are you trying to kid?

You're not doing a very good job.

[galaxy21]

37. After Bill, polls indicated people wanted a more moral president and bush fit that profile for a

lot of people.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

38. What on earth makes you think Bush is a moral president?

[galaxy21]

39. I don't. I think he's scum. But other people bought into his act.

[NJSecularist]

40. Well, he got 50+ million to buy into his shtick. They were fooled. n/t

[mondo joe]

55. Like all Freepers, you attribute magical powers to Bill and his dick. Start a religion,

if you're going to be so woo-woo.

[jackson_dem]

52. Gore also ran a bad campaign...

[mondo joe]

49. You're saying a consensual blow job is as bad as violating the constitution?

What a sicko.

[galaxy21]

50. Not tha actual act...Bill did the real damage afterwards

In retrospect, he should have resigned. It would have been better for the party and country. Gore would have had a pretty good shot of getting re-elected in 2000, I think. As it is, he spent too long playing second fiddle to all the clinton's scadals.


I don't judge Bill for having an affair, but it's hard to deny the long term damage he did by refusing to resign...he had only two years left anyway. He should have done the decent thing and handed over to Gore.

[mondo joe]

51. To the contrary - the witch hunt against him was the disgrace. The people expressed

great support for Clinton.

Your Coulter talking points are old and false.

[galaxy21]

53. There was no good reason for clinton to stay, only his ego

[mondo joe]

54. He had the overwhelming approval of the people, and no reason to yield to a Republican witch hunt.

Your Coulterisms don't belong on DU.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

26. Come on, Shrub makes Nixon look like a innocent babe. That said, in regard to Nixon

A few years after his resignation, there was an attempt to rehabilitate his image and I found it appalling. It was also appalling that upon his death, the American flag was flown at half staff for him.

[proud2BlibKansan]

46. Agreed

He was evil.

[galaxy21]

47. He wasn't a nice person that's for sure- dishonest, ruthless, paranoid, somewhat crazy

But unlike Bush or LBJ he didn't get the US involved in an unwinnable war that cost thousands of lives.

Watergate was a big deal, but it was an embarressment not a tragedy. Iraq and Vietnam are tragedies.

[proud2BlibKansan]

48. He actually did a few good things for the country

But I think his evil acts outweigh any good he did.