August 9 was the 40th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s resignation from the presidency. I saw Nixon once in person, in June 1973, when I was age 8. The Watergate story was a year old then, and Nixon was receiving Soviet chief Leonid Brezhnev at the White House. My grandmother took me to the welcoming ceremony on the south lawn. Brezhnev was late. During the wait one or two of the military personnel standing at long attention collapsed. Finally, the arriving helicopter could be heard. “What took you so long?” I exclaimed, trying to be cute, drawing laughter from the crowd immediately around us.
When Nixon and Brezhnev reviewed the troops, Brezhnev led Nixon toward the crowd where we stood. For a few moments they stood immediately before us. Looking up at them, they each seemed to have giant red faces, both smiling. My grandmother was virtually squealing, as were many others, as many excited arms reached out towards Nixon and Brezhnev.
Nixon was the memorable President of my childhood. He was discussed all the time, admiringly or disdainfully. My father liked him, my mother didn’t. My grandmother told me that some blamed Nixon for the Vietnam War, but she didn’t think either he or President Johnson were at fault. On Election Day 1972 my whole second grade class, except for one brave boy, was for Nixon. Our teacher was for George McGovern. “Are you a Nixon man?” my great grandfather asked me while visiting that Christmas. My parents took me to Nixon’s inaugural parade, which of course was on a freezing January day. In third grade, our teacher explained Watergate to us. Every day I came home from school my mother was watching the inescapable Watergate hearings. I recall watching when a “surprise” witness, White House aide Alexander Butterfield, announced there was a White House taping system.
On August 8, 1974, I was with a Summer camp group at a Washington, DC park on a searing hot day. The buzz all that day was that Nixon would announce his resignation that evening, which I watched. The next day I watched his emotional farewell to the White House staff, and his final thrust of the victory sign as he boarded a helicopter. The Washington Post headline the next morning was the biggest print I ever saw: “Nixon Resigns.”
Nixon didn’t fade away for long. His multi-night 1977 television interview with David Frost, which I watched, announced his return to public life. As a teenager, I read a couple of his books, and a couple times I wrote him for his autograph, to which he always promptly responded. His performances were always compelling. Unsurprisingly, his 1994 funeral, with long time friend Billy Graham preaching, Bob Dole crying, and Bill Clinton eulogizing, was highly watchable. He would have enjoyed it.
Probably Nixon would also appreciate how much he still occupies in the national consciousness. The 40th anniversary of Nixon’s resignation ignited still more national consideration of his legacy. Last week I went to hear former White House counsel John Dean, a key Watergate figure who turned against Nixon, discuss his new lengthy book on Nixon’s demise, which heavily relies on newly transcribed Nixon White House tapes. I also went to hear historian Douglas Brinkley’s new book on pre-Watergate tapes. Dean focuses on Nixon’s disastrous Watergate decision making. Brinkley focuses more on Nixon’s more successful foreign policy, culminating with his China breakthrough. The two books showcase the two sides of Nixon. One is privately mendacious and vindictive. The other is a visionary for world order and peace.
Nixon’s dark side perhaps owes to the perceived slights and setbacks of his childhood and youth. His quest for global quietude owes at least partly to his religious upbringing, which was primarily Quaker but also included a Methodist influence through his father and also his wife. A veteran of WWII, Nixon obviously rejected Quaker pacifism. But he remained committed to the pursuit of peace. And his Methodist side likely fueled his often forgotten commitment to social reform, including civil rights.
The complexities of his background and character ensured that Nixon’s very active life included both triumph and calamity. In his funeral sermon Billy Graham preached that Nixon was now with His Savior. I hope so.
Comment by MarcoPolo on August 10, 2014 at 2:14 pm
In 1974, I was nineteen years of age, registered for the draft, and I resented Nixon for all the obvious reasons. Not to mention his smarmy character and lack of transparency. The decision to pull out of Vietnam was met with great relief for me, and my classmates. But there was still the fact that Nixon, and his administration were in power.
It is still difficult to put him in a more favorable light, but that’s just me….AND History!
Funny how ten years difference in age (among many other variables, of course), can change one’s perspective of a guy who clearly was a crook.
Comment by Girtupyourloins on August 12, 2014 at 9:08 am
Revisionist history is amazing and scary. the Vietnam War was the brain child of John F(up) Kennedy and Lyndon (racist) Johnson. The war drug out so long because of Harvard intellectuals like Sec of Defense McNamara, who had an algorithm for bombing sorties!Total BS and it ham strung the military. Nixon at least listened to the military and put pressure on the NV to negotiate for peace. Kennedy almost started WWIII with his bumbling incompetence. Nixon gave us arms reduction with the Reds. These are the historical fact. Nixon greatest sin? In the media’s eyes? He was’nt as attractive as the deviant Kennedy
Comment by MarcoPolo on August 12, 2014 at 9:52 am
Actually, the “Domino Theory” was the prevailing philosophy of the day, what with Communism in Russia AND China, but the whole mess was exacerbated with the false flag of the (non) incident of the Gulf of Tonken (sp?).
Way too many soldiers died for a lost cause, and I was certain to try and understand why I was going to be deployed for such a folly, that I couldn’t bring myself to respect Nixon OR Johnson.
I agree, that McNamara wasn’t the right guy for the job, but we shouldn’t have been there anyway.
My candidate for President in ’72 (McGovern) would have made a difference if those who were under the age of 21 could have voted. As it was, I was grateful for Nixon’s self-removal from power.
Comment by Girtupyourloins on August 12, 2014 at 10:28 am
While I agree Nixon was a crude man, as far as i know he never whored around on Pat. I heard a comparison once between the Nixon family and Kennedy family. Nixons father was a self made business man who bought and built their first home from Sears and Roebuck. Kennedys got their money running illegal liquor. In the service; Nixon run the most efficient supply company in the pacific-Kennedy got his fast nimble PT boat cut in half by a Japenese Destroyer. Nixon had the smarts to attend Harvard, but could’nt afford it, Kennedy had the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. I agree with you it was the honorable thing for Nixon to remove himself. I beleive he did care for the country—unlike the current occupant of the WH who will damage the country and opponents with methods (i.e IRS harrassment etc) and actions to serve the fantasies of the Marxists. Remember my friend all the black eyes and shame this great country has done, has been under the leadership of the left.
Comment by MarcoPolo on August 12, 2014 at 10:58 am
Not to perpetuate this thread with things non-liturgical, but I’m afraid we disagree about the Left vs Right when it comes to providing what is best for our fine country.
The Reagan and Bush (43) administrations efforts for deregulation and plutocracy building, did more damage to our national, and the world economy than any Democrat ever could have.
I’m not fond of Obama’s foreign policy either, but his heart is in the right place, and if it weren’t for the obstruction from the Right-wing, we would be enjoying a more robust economy today!
Comment by Girtupyourloins on August 12, 2014 at 12:01 pm
We need a whole re-education going on here. The “Right-wing” is not obstructionist, they are representing their constituents. If the Marxists cant convince 50% of the country of their leftist dreams too bad. Reagan was an outstanding success because he could communicate an idea, and he turned out to be right. Plus he ended the cold war. Besides the Democrats were given a TRILLION dollars to stimulate the economy, but wasted it on union pay backs and pagan enviro dreams.
Left and Right is liturgical. A brief summary:
#1Forced relocation of the five native american tribes of the SE America to OK—Democrat Johnson (They even imprisoned christian missionaries to the indians)
#2 Slavery; Democrats
#3 Jim Crow laws: Democrats (read Condi rices biography)
#4 Forced internment of Japanese Americans–Democrat Roosevelt
#5 Inceneration of 250K men women and children with nuclear weapons–Democrat truman
#6 Absolute destruction of the city of Detroit (and the black family0–Democrats
#7Institutionalized Human sacrifice–yep demonrats
The list does go on. And you wont hear about it in the NYT or government re eduction camps i.e public schools. You are right my friend we do disagree
Comment by MarcoPolo on August 13, 2014 at 9:34 am
You are quite right, we don’t agree on much at all.
Such is the marvel of this world, and so goes humanity, careening along it’s wobbly course, only doomed because of itself!
Peace be upon you my friend.
Comment by Girtupyourloins on August 13, 2014 at 9:46 am
And also with you
Comment by Realitycbd on August 11, 2014 at 11:59 am
The one positive – the only one, as far as I can tell – from Nixon’s presidency is that by running against the socialist McGovern, he forever broke the Dimocrats’ political hold on the South, which had existed since before the Civil War. He was a vile man, but vileness is relative, and compared to his successors, he was less vile.
Comment by ron_goodman on August 11, 2014 at 2:09 pm
George McGoven was a socialist? Who knew?
Comment by Scott on August 25, 2014 at 5:19 pm
Mark, I sense your admiration — and hope — for President Nixon, and I share the same. Like you, he was the defining President of my childhood. I, too, watched the resignation speech and the August 9 farewell and departure. Unlike you, however, my mother was a Nixon fan, and I remember the tears in her eyes that morning as Nixon left office. Nearly 20 years later I watched his funeral and was pleased to see the convocation of former Presidents with the then current President giving a eulogy. Nixon was indeed a complicated man, but, in the end, I believed him to be one truly devoted to his country despite his flaws.