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If Watergate had never happened...

If Watergate had never happened would Nixon be remembered as a good President?


  • Total voters
    35
Nixon was the one who started the drug war, but Reagan was the one who kicked it into overdrive. For this reason Reagan has faded in my view with the passage of time.

Yeah. To be honest, I think I dislike Reagan even more.
 
Try to separate facts here: yes the Pinochet era was a disaster for Chileans and scarred them forever,
but strictly from an American perspective, it didn't materially harm us



It did with the innocent people who were harmed by those people.

Try to tell them how great the USA is.
 
Nixon was the one who started the drug war, but Reagan was the one who kicked it into overdrive. For this reason Reagan has faded in my view with the passage of time.
True.

Nixon gave us the DEA and the war on drugs.

The Reagan administration greatly expanded it:

Zero tolerance
Stiff mandatory minimum sentencing.
Drug testing
Banking transaction reporting & monitoring
Asset seizure
Summary confiscation of cash & property
etc., etc.

I essentially see it as, "Nixon gave us the War on Drugs - the Reagans made it a War on the American People".

Consequently, our Constitution stands in tatters ...
 
It did with the innocent people who were harmed by those people.

Try to tell them how great the USA is.

We can agree that Nixon was a good president for Americans, and a poor American president for Chileans.
 
If Watergate had never happened...

...would Richard Nixon be remembered as a good President?

Legacy-wise, 20+ years after he would have left office at the end of his term.
Are you asking what if Nixon had never illegaly spied, or what if the brake-in was a success and we never found out about it?
 
If Watergate had never happened...

...would Richard Nixon be remembered as a good President?

Legacy-wise, 20+ years after he would have left office at the end of his term.

Not sure. East Timor, Augusto Pinochet. Of course, these things were and still are relatively unknown so who knows?
 
a better question would have been

if the 1960 Election had not been stolen from Nixon, would he have been as paranoid as he was in 1972?
 
a better question would have been

if the 1960 Election had not been stolen from Nixon, would he have been as paranoid as he was in 1972?
Not all who fear their political rivals, commit crimes to further their political aspirations ...
 
Are you asking what if Nixon had never illegaly spied, or what if the brake-in was a success and we never found out about it?
The intent was if he had never illegally spied, but the other is a fair question, too. Just specify which one when/if you answer.
 
I went with other. I think Nixon's 2nd term he was going to fall in popularity and ultimately hurt his legacy even without watergate. For Nixon to be remembered positively I think he would have had to call it quits after one term. He seems a little unstable to me. He would have done something else if not watergate. To quote Nixon, "When the president does it, it's not illegal". That mindset would eventually doom anyone.
 
In the best 5 presidents in the last 50 years I had Nixon on my list as 1 of the best, because up to Watergate he was pretty damn good. And it was the cover-up that destroyed him, not the actual crime. But it is usually the cover-up that does these guys in.
 
Not too long after Nixon died I heard a close aide and long time friend of his being interviewed on a radio talk show (I forget who now). When talking about Nixon's formality and personality the host asked him, "If you two were sitting alone in a row boat in the middle of the ocean, do you think he still would have insisted you address him as "Mr President?"

The guy responded, "Oh, yes, absolutely."

And this guy was a personal friend outside of politics as well. I thought that little tidbit was an interesting window into Nixon's personality.
 
In the best 5 presidents in the last 50 years I had Nixon on my list as 1 of the best, because up to Watergate he was pretty damn good. And it was the cover-up that destroyed him, not the actual crime. But it is usually the cover-up that does these guys in.

A lot of people feel that if he had sucked it up and apologized that the controversy would have withered away. The American public, at least still then, was pretty forgiving.

Most of the same people, however, also feel that apologizing was simply not doable for Nixon, hence he became a victim of himself.
 
Not all who fear their political rivals, commit crimes to further their political aspirations ...

crimes were committed against nixon in 1960 so he did the same in 72
 
And how is it a simple question? In Never Neverland?

How on earth is anybody going to predict how Nixon would have been remembered if there had not been a Watergate.

1. there was a Watergate

2. He did not complete his presidency

3. people cannot predict how a president would have been viewed without him having finished his presidency. Maybe he would have solved world hunger, maybe he would have started world war three.

Grade for your poll: F (two can play that game)

Well, it seems you are beyond intellectual discussions...
 
Well, it seems you are beyond intellectual discussions...

You are free to think that, I know better.

I gave a very clear answer to this poll (hence my voting for "other"). This was a rebuttal, not an attempt at a discussion.
 
crimes were committed against nixon in 1960 so he did the same in 72
Sorry TurtleDude, I'm not fully sold yet on Mr. Nixon being a victim of 'crime' (if you're referring to the election & Chicago's input) - but that pales in comparison to disagreeing with your proposition that those in office can be justified in committing crime.

I can't think of any reason why we would allow a sworn elected official (a sitting President no-less!) to commit crimes to further his political career.

America is country different than others: we are not a 'people', we are not a 'culture', we are not a 'former monarchy', we are not a 'geographical area', we are not a 'theocracy' - we are an idea! And that idea was laid forth in the Constitution. Without law, we are nothing, and I have little respect for those that break it (particular our civil servants and elected officials).
 
I said yes, absolutely. He was an exceedingly good President and I believe would have been remembered and considered as such.
 
If Watergate had never happened...

...would Richard Nixon be remembered as a good President?

Legacy-wise, 20+ years after he would have left office at the end of his term.

Probably but everything that came after would have changed. Carter would have never been elected. Ted Kennedy may have taken that slot which makes it unlikely Reagan would have been elected which then takes out the Bush pair in his wake. Watergate really set off some electoral dominoes.
 
If Watergate had never happened...

...would Richard Nixon be remembered as a good President?

Legacy-wise, 20+ years after he would have left office at the end of his term.

Hell, by today's standards, the man was a saint.

He was actually a great President overall, I think it speaks to how far we, as the Public, have fallen when we outed Nixon for Watergate, but now don't seem to give a fudge about any misdeed of our politicians. But if you look at a lot of what Nixon did, there were lots of positives. Remember the old Vulcan proverb, "Only Nixon could go to China".
 
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If Watergate had never happened...

...would Richard Nixon be remembered as a good President?

Legacy-wise, 20+ years after he would have left office at the end of his term.

He did create the Chinese problem. ;)
Of course, they say that prepared the way for the fall of the Evil Empire. :)
Come to think about it, that has made Russia more dangerous.
Hmmmm?..?
 
NO!!! He took us off the gold standard (this is worse than Watergate). Gave us OSHA which probably was good in the beginning but has become waaaaay too powerful. Created the EPA which is KILLING us now. He opened up relations with China and now you can hardly buy anything that was not made in China and you can't get a job because everything is being manufactured in China. No, Nixon was not a good president and Watergate was not the worst thing he did.
 
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