NIXON'S SHADOW

Richard Nixon, At 100, Controversial As Ever

Strikingly different takes on the 37th president's legacy

Jan 9, 2013 by David Mark

Editor-in-Chief t

Image: AP.

Wednesday would have been President Richard M. Nixon's 100th birthday. Coverage of the centennial runs the gambit from hateful to admiring, with many clear-eyed observers falling in between.

Roger Simon, Politico's chief political columnist, is rather unsentimental on Nixon. "How should we look upon Nixon a century after his birth and nearly 39 years after his resignation as president? I vote for 'down,'" Simon writes.

Nixon apologists are still trying to whitewash Watergate, Simon adds. "Spare me talk about China and all the wonderful environmental legislation he passed. The guy was a loon and a danger to our country. And it was only when Republican leaders went to him and told him the House would impeach him and the Senate might remove him from office, opening up the possibility he could be criminally charged and go to prison, that Nixon decided to resign and later was granted a pardon from Gerald Ford, also born 100 years ago this year."

At The Atlantic journalist and author John Aloysius Farrell, who is currently writing a book on Richard Nixon, has a somewhat more upbeat view of the 37th president's legacy. "The life of no president says more about this country. Nixon's accomplishments sing of the finest American attributes - daring, audacity, resilience and grit. His fall is an incantation of the nation's flaws, of meanness, prejudice, avarice and corruption."

Via Politico and The Atlantic.

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?	How should Richard Nixon be remembered?

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A crook

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Underrated

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Overrated

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Foreign policy genius

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War criminal

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Jan '13

Heavy-Fed

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Criminal of the War of Drugs.
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Jan '13

TheJimmy

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Very underrated and even more under appreciated.
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Jan '13

AceLuby

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Foreign policy genius? OMG no! The 'madman theory'? Starting riots in S. America? The oil crisis? He's in the middle of a LONG line of foreign policy failures and should be remembered as such.
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Jan '13

tomincali

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simple, compare what he did that lead to him leaving to what we see now and is promoted.
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Jan '13

DARSB

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As Todd Zwillick observed, shouldn't Nixon's age be 100 "minus 18 minutes" ? ;)
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Jan '13

Heavy-Fed

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Obama makes Nixon look like a Boy scout.
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Jan '13

mimi57

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Yes, a Weebalo who hasn't gotten his first badge!
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Jan '13

martydotcom

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Other than the crime of being born half black what has Obama done to compare to the crimes of Nixon. Obama can't compare get real
Just peruse this site
In addition to Watergate
Secretly bombed Cambodia
Covered up facts about the JFK Assination (I don't recall type answers)
Nixon tried killing Castro.
Learn all about his plots to Assassinate Jack Anderson,
Plots Against Ted Kennedy,
Dealings with the Mafia and , Bebe Rebozo his bag man,
Atty. Gen. John Mitchell's wife, Martha, sounded one of the first alarms, telling a reporter,''Nixon is involved with the Mafia. The Mafia was involved in his election.''
Richard Nixon's treason to scuttle President Lyndon Johnson's 1968 Paris peace talks

Tricky Dick was in a class by himself

http://crimemagazine.com/taxonomy/term/5

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Jan '13
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Jan '13

Heavy-Fed

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@martydotcom Did Nixon order the assassination of a 16-year-old American child without a judge or jury?
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Jan '13
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Jan '13

PattyD

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Omg! The liberals are compulsive idiots. Not to mention the fact Nixon is/was a saint compared to Odummy!
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Jan '13

jessejaymes

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Compared to the damage done by Reagan and both Bush's Nixon was a virtual saint.
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Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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The man you call a saint, conservatives on this site would call a liberal, no worse an insult in their mind. But they won't call him that cause they don't bother reading history. It would shock them to see all the stuff he did. Even so, I think nixon a war criminal cause of vietnam...but watergate pales in signifgance to the Patriot Act.
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Jan '13

jessejaymes

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@PoliticalSpice Nixon opened up China to the USA for imports as well. That alone should make him a "liberal".
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Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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@jessejaymes yes. Idea was around long before he took office. Ever see advise and consent. Based on a 1962 novel...
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Jan '13

jessejaymes

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@PoliticalSpice Yup. Nixon was a fish out of water much like Carter was. Carter was the better man but neither were of a personality equipped to deal with the sharks of Washington. I have no doubt that most of what Nixon did was on advice of Halderman and Erlichman.
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Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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@jessejaymes actually, i refuse to acknowledge, as i have an image to maintain, that sone of nixons thinking was quiet sharp, but he was paraniod, like some on this site, and that drove him to do the things that forced his resignation...
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Jan '13

WilliamWindorf

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Anyone who wants to know the truth about Richard Nixon should read the article by Roger Stone who spent plenty of time in the White House. It is at his blog site stonezone.com and you will read inside information available no where else.
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Jan '13

mimi57

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You mean Nixon was MORE of a danger to our country than the current POTUS?
Never, not even close. I'm no fan of Nixon, but the 'damage' he did, was nothing in
comparison to totally dismantling this country! We will find out just how much damage
was done if he ever leaves the White House, I don't think he'll ever leave willingly, even once his term is up...they'll have to drag him out kicking and screaming. along
with Hillary and Nancy and Biden and all the rest...
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Jan '13

OhWiseOne

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I couldn't agree with you more.You're one of my favorites Mimi.
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Jan '13

thejimbo

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Two goobers think alike. ;)
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Jan '13

Mogal

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@jamesmitchell -Bahahahahahahaha!!!!!
Whoops, did I actually laugh out loud?:P
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Jan '13

mimi57

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@jamesmitchell Yeah, some people really know the truth and then there are those
who spend all their time w/ their heads in the sand...Oh, well... Denial, isn't reality.
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Jan '13

Mogal

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@mimi57 Methinks some people spend waaaaaaaayyyy too much time listening to right-wing talk radio. Just sayin'.
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Jan '13

RobertJHarsh

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George W. Bush makes Nixon looks like a cub scout. Bush II wasn't just the worst president, he is the worst human being alive today. Bin Laden could never touch how Bush II and RummyCo, the full service Pentagon, destroyed this country and set back the human race about 50 to 75 years. Nixon just started the War on Drugs to imprison blacks and the poor and murder millions in South America with his CIA.
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Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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What is going on today? This is the second time i voted you up...does that scare you as much as it scares me?:)
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Jan '13

RobertJHarsh

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@PoliticalSpice Yes....yes it does....hey...where's Perry?
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Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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@RobertJHarsh Perry?
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Jan '13

RobertJHarsh

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@PoliticalSpice Perry the Platypus? Don't you have kids?:)
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Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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@RobertJHarsh never married, what gal would have me? Lol.
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Jan '13

thejimbo

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Live chat: Remembering Richard Nixon http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_2233...
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Jan '13

Liberty_Lady

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Roger Stone, a man who was taught the art of politics at the knee of Richard Nixon, has a great piece on his website on 'Tricky Dick.' Go to stonezone.com - great reading.
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Jan '13

Sharpshooter

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I'm disappointed that I couldn't get to Yorba Linda, California today.... I have a bladder full of gift for Tricky Dicky. I'll just think of him while aiming at my photo of El Presidente' , it'll be almost as satisfying.
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Jan '13

Keyjo

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Any man called, "Tricky Dick," is okay with me!
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Jan '13

harold_lloyd

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Deeply flawed, but as far as performance, good results on foreign policy and the environment.
Too liberal to be a Republican these days, he'd be labeled a 'RINO'.
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Jan '13

JohnVicky

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Nixon was evil, but compared with the T'Baggers he was mild. Just take a listen to the Watergate transcripts if you don't believe me.
http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/fi...
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Jan '13

Clarke12

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the way the title is written, you would think Nixon was still alive.
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Jan '13

RandyRouse

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The biggest Drug importer the U.S. has ever had. You can put alot of Smack in a war coffin.
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Jan '13

PayThatCEO

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One of the biggest liars ever to take office.
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Politix

How should Richard Nixon be remembered?

How should Richard Nixon be remembered?