Why do/did people hate President Nixon?

[cobl04]

I'm Australian, and was just interested to know. Everyone seems to hate him, or not so much hate him but always bag him. The idea came from Good Morning Vietnam, I just watched it. Great film.

 

[U2democrat]

Well for one he put my Dad on his enemies list just for marching peacefully against the war which denied him a Fulbright scholarship

My Dad ended up getting the scholarship after Watergate and everything broke though

He was a very smart man...but his ego and paranoia took over which ended up being his downfall.

 

[Angela Harlem]

"And I'll go into people's houses at night and wreck up the place!"

Richard Nixon's head makes me cry true tears of laughter.

 

[Irvine511]

because of Watergate and the fact that his election in 1968 essentially killed the peace movement dead. think 2004 and how devastated people were when Bush won. it was about the same for Nixon in both '68 and '72.

though, these days, in comparison to Bush, Nixon looks like Lincoln

 

[pepokiss]

well... he did created President Logan on 24

 

[Lila64]

Put 'All The Presidents Men' on your "to watch" list too

 

[intedomine]

well... he did created President Logan on 24

I was wondering how long this thread could last without a mention of the legenary Charles Logan

 

[verte76]

Nixon was a mixed bag. I didn't like him because he was too conservative, prolongued the Vietnam war, and there was Watergate. By the same token, he opened up China and did some other good things.

 

[AnnRKeyintheUSA]

Nixon was really no worse than anybody else, except that he got busted. I'm sure they've all done just as bad or worse.

 

[BVS]

I'm sure they've all done just as bad or worse.

But once again, no evidence, just your own personal hatreds of government?

 

[AnnRKeyintheUSA]

You're far too trusting. That's why politicians are able to fool you. You buy their product, it's worse than being scammed into a pyramid scheme.

I don't 'hate' government for no reason. It's a distrust, disillusionment, and disbelief in the usefulness or honesty of a bunch of prepackaged actors selling you a line of snake oil that will never come true just to get your vote. The joke is on YOU.

 

[phillyfan26]

You're far too trusting. That's why politicians are able to fool you. You buy their product, it's worse than being scammed into a pyramid scheme.

For a second I thought this was BVS lecturing shart, then I realized you're talking to him.

 

[BVS]

You're far too trusting. That's why politicians are able to fool you. You buy their product, it's worse than being scammed into a pyramid scheme.

I don't 'hate' government for no reason. It's a distrust, disillusionment, and disbelief in the usefulness or honesty of a bunch of prepackaged actors selling you a line of snake oil that will never come true just to get your vote. The joke is on YOU.

You have no clue who I do or don't trust. You have no clue my voting record. So don't be fooled into thinking you know shit about me.

You are one generalization after another. Every politician is the same to you, and doesn't even matter if you've done any research on them or not, you paint all politicians with the same brush. Therefore you'd rather sit back and allow the system to remain how it is. That just makes you lazy and apathetic, and a contributor to the problem. Not voting and painting all politicians the same will get you NOWHERE.

 

[LMP]

I put Nixon on the list of Terrible Presidents for the reasons mentioned.

Good 'Ol Dubya, Andrew Johnson, and Andrew Jackson are on that list, too.

 

[verte76]

I put Nixon on the list of Terrible Presidents for the reasons mentioned.

Good 'Ol Dubya, Andrew Johnson, and Andrew Jackson are on that list, too.

Nixon is on my hit list of terrible presidents, too. He got us stepped in Vietnam. Dubya needs to watch what happens to presidents who pardon criminals. True, he can't run for re-election, but it happens to the party. Look what happened to Gerald Ford when he pardoned Nixon. It probably cost him the 1976 election.

 

[LMP]

Jimmy Carter, as good of a guy as he is, had a terrible presidency. The energy crisis, lax foreign policy (Iran hostage scandal anyone?), and terrible dealings with the Soviets all around ('80 Olympics, Carter Doctrine, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan).

 

[U2democrat]

That's why people say he's the best ex-President...and why he wasn't reelected.

 

[LMP]

That's why people say he's the best ex-President...and why he wasn't reelected.

Call me crazy, but if Ahnuld wasn't foreign, I could totally see him having a Reagan-like campaign in '08. The parallels are uncanny.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Be happy, Austrians shouldn't become leaders of foreign nations.

 

[Lila64]

or California for that matter

 

[LMP]

don't you mean Cal-E-forn-E-ah?!

 

[AnnRKeyintheUSA]

You have no clue who I do or don't trust. You have no clue my voting record. So don't be fooled into thinking you know shit about me.

From reading your posts, I would assume you are a very liberal democrat who believes voting for those who seem to advertise your beliefs will bring a positive change to the country. But if you have a voting record at all, you are the one who's been fooled.

Not voting and painting all politicians the same will get you NOWHERE.

So will voting. I'm not wasting my time, you will. The result will be the same.

 

[Varitek]

Be happy, Austrians shouldn't become leaders of foreign nations.

Ha.

Last November I was speaking English with a visiting friend at a very non-touristy beisl in Vienna and this whole table of sketchy old drunk men was watching us eat our schnitzl and staring at us. Finally one of them (who was practically sitting backwards to stare at us) asked in broken English where we were from, and my friend is from California. He turned around and thought for a while and then turned back and informed us that Arnold would be the president of the US in 2 years. I tried to explain that his Geburtsplatz wasn't in America so that couldn't happen but it didn't get through quite right as I didn't know the word for constitution in German. This conversation went on for like 10 minutes, all the while my friend was snorting into her Radler and I was trying to keep a straight face while I talked. It's such a stereotype, the Austrian getting all excited about Arnold's American political career...

 

[Vincent Vega]

Well, who would've thought that Arnold ever became such a successful actor, not alone because of his accent, and now he even became Governor of one of the most popular states of the US.

I think most people in Germany and Austria got positively surprised that he even got re-elected and seems to do rather well.

Austria itself is doing quite well itself, but it's hardly recognized as it's so small and doesn't have so many well-known, international companies. So I can imagine that Austrians look with some pride at what Arnold Schwarzenegger has achieved.

But I can't say for sure, because I haven't rreally been to Austria myself (just went through).

Constitution is Verfassung if you still want to know.

 

[financeguy]

"The world on your shoulders,
The love of your mother,
The fear of the future,
The best years behind you,
The world is getting older ,
The times they fall behind you ,
The need it still grows stronger ,
The best years never found you,

The love of Richard Nixon,
death without assasination
The love of Richard Nixon,
yeah they all betrayed you
The love of Richard Nixon,
death without assasination
Yeah they all betrayed you
Yeah and your country too

Love build around the sandy beaches
Love rains down like Vietnam's leeches
Richard the third in the White House
Cowering behind divided curtains

The world is getting older
The times they fall behind you
The need it still grows stronger
The best years never found you

Ah, the love of richard nixon,
death without assasination
The love of Richard Nixon,
yeah they all betrayed you
The love of Richard Nixon,
death without assasination
Yeah they all betrayed you
Yeah and your country too

The love of Richard Nixon,
death without assasination
The love of Richard Nixon,
yeah they all betrayed you
People forget China and your war on cancer
Yeah they all betrayed you
Yeah and your country too

"In all the decisions I have made in my public life,
I have always tried to do what was best for the nation.
I have never been a quitter!""

(c) Manic Street Preachers

 

[BVS]

From reading your posts, I would assume you are a very liberal democrat who believes voting for those who seem to advertise your beliefs will bring a positive change to the country. But if you have a voting record at all, you are the one who's been fooled.

So then how does change come about, though chaos?

So will voting. I'm not wasting my time, you will. The result will be the same.

So taking a left turn and taking a right turn will get you in the same place? That sounds pretty ignorant.

 

[struckpx]

i don't find him to be that bad of a president. of course, i am referring to his policies, not his outside activities, which i won't get into. he was the first major modern politician to embrace the idea of environmentalism. he began diplomatic talks w/ both the soviets and chinese. Ultimately, watergate lost him his status and that is why people dislike him, and that is when the war in vietnam started to take a fall. we lost that war not because we couldn't win it, but because our country didn't want too.

 

[BVS]

i don't find him to be that bad of a president. of course, i am referring to his policies, not his outside activities, which i won't get into. he was the first major modern politician to embrace the idea of environmentalism. he began diplomatic talks w/ both the soviets and chinese. Ultimately, watergate lost him his status and that is why people dislike him, and that is when the war in vietnam started to take a fall. we lost that war not because we couldn't win it, but because our country didn't want too.

That's quite a revisionist view of what happened...

 

[struckpx]

That's quite a revisionist view of what happened...

oh really........so you are saying he wasn't an environmentalist?

 

[BVS]

oh really........so you are saying he wasn't an environmentalist?

That's the part you think I'm talking about