Nixon's the One

[Gordon Fitch]

Rob:
> > > >Yeah, but Nixon did what he had to do in light of the times.  Any
> > > >poll-watching dork could have done most of it - indeed, would have.
> > > >Watergate saved the bastard!  If his tenure had survived the 1973-4
> > > >downturn, what standing he has in the eyes of yer average lefty
> > > >nostalgia-buff would be very different.

Peter K.:
> > > I was very surprised to learn about the good things Nixon had done -
> > > or was forced to do. Still, I associate him with COINTELPRO
> > > and the Vietnam War and the Republicans' "southern strategy."
> > > He was also anti-semitic from what I understand.  ...

Gordon Fitch:
> > It may be that Nixon heartily agreed with Welfare-state
> > practices accompanied by a repression of dissidence at home,
> > and imperialism abroad.  One can hardly say there is some
> > fundamental contradiction between the three, as the ghost
> > of Bismarck could tell you.

Michael Perelman:
> The progressive landmarks of the Nixon administration had far more to do
> with people in the street than those around the White House.

I don't recall any major demonstrations for social-democratic
programs.