Nixon - hate him or love him?

[Mtsui]

Richard Nixon is undoubtedly one of my favorite presidents.

I'm posting here to learn about what you all think about him. Tell me some of your thoughts about his role during China, Watergate, Vietnam, etc.

[V Profane]

Richard Nixon is undoubtedly one of my favorite presidents.

So W., second favourite, yeah?

[Scarecrow]

Let's start by finding out why exactly he is your favorite President.

[Zephyrus055]

He's one of my favorite presidents, because his administration represented unapologetic pragmatism and real politik. It sought a global balance of power and detente, and strategic decisions in foreign policy were actually made. It was a huge difference from the religious and ideological fanaticism of the Republican Party today. The problem with Nixon was that he was not very good at hiding his Machiavellianism from the public.

[Mtsui]

One of my favorites* but certainly.

Call me sick/disgusting (whatever you like) but I am generally in favor of being Machiavellian. If we think about what Machiavelli wrote in "The Prince" and imagine what the Prince of Princes might be like, then we would have Richard Nixon. What did he get out of being so extreme? Well he reached out to China, which would have been an impossibility had he not taken the risk to hide everything from the domestic public. He passed the Economic Stability Act, which helped America's economy prosper just before the Yom Kippur War. It was his toughness and his secrecy that allowed progress for the world. How else could China have been reached? He was so tough that he could actually reach out to the communists at that time (sort of like what Reagan did). It was, like he said, "We can do what the Democrats say they're going to do."

Perhaps it's ironic that we used the ends to judge him then - the Watergate Crisis. Putting himself above the law is intolerable. What failed him was probably his inability to trust (the very same thing that gave him so much power) His paranoia eventually overwhelmed him, and that's how we remember him today. The tough man that broke the law all for his own gains. But what is? History cannot forget his achievements as a political mastermind. Did he achieve all this only for himself? I would argue that he didn't, but some would argue that he did. His character is still very controversial.

So where is this all leading to? It's the fact that he's SO interesting. His mindset, his boldness, his past, how he memorized every single one of his speeches and actions before presenting himself, how each line is carefully constructed; how can such a poltiical genius like that not be one of your favorite presidents? No wishy-washy - just straight down to business.

[MacGuffin]

Nixon actually was a great president... in foreign relations only (how much Kissinger was a part of this is speculation).

When it came to the domestic sphere, he was a disaster. Watergate was only the tip of the iceberg.

I find him fascinating as well.

[Animalia]

Nixon was really the trailblazer, in the contemporary history of the United States, to really take the concept of Hobbes 'Leviathan' and apply it to a domestic political environment. For those unfamiliar with 'Leviathan', one of the Hobbesian contentions is that the 'sovereign' should have unchecked power and is essentially above the law and can't be held accountable for abuses of his power, in securing the Convenant between the Sovereign and the people. This Convenant includes: protecting the people from domestic and foreign enemies.

From a constitutional perspective, Nixon was not 'above' the law, but he perceived himself to be when he said, "When the President does it, that means it is not illegal". One of the major Constitutional challenges involving Nixon involved Nixon attempting to use and expand the concept of executive privilege to deny the ability of the legislative branches to control him.

He very much introduced American society to the concept of 'Emperor' as President and made it easier for the Executive Branch, in later presidencies, to accumulate power and to be held less accountable for the abuse and mis-use of power.

While not completely successful in his attempts to circumvent the Constitution (:PP) the way he used his power left a legacy and justification for other Presidents to use. For example, it seemed legitimate under the Bush II/Reagan adminstrations to break the law if there was a compelling geopolitical or national security interest to defend ie. Gitmo, Iran/Contra.

I liked his pragmatic approach to affairs, but breaking the law is breaking the law, even if there's a great reason to do it.