Dennis Breslin wrote:
> I don't think Nixon was another Bismark or somesuch prince using
> the welfare state for his own ends. That comparison misses the
> prosaic play of the period's politics and ignores the real drama
> of the time. Perhaps Moynihan's ego aspired to fill the Bismark
> role, but he was more or less a bit player.
>
> The expansion of the welfare state during Nixon's time was a
> result of pragmatic compromises with a Democratic Congress which
> itself was a contested setting where liberal idealism bargained
> with pork barrel politics over the shape and size of federal
> programs. It was also a time where the political center of
> gravity was perhaps a more moderate Republicanism which
> had made some peace with New Deal welfare policies and favored
> something like social engineering in addressing social issues.
> But it was indeed a period of street demonstrations - certainly
> over the war, but also over the environment and even over welfare.
> Remember the movement to organize poor people. I think Nixon was
> pretty much stuck with the politics he inherited and had his
> second administration occurred with Watergate, he would have
> begun to curtail even more than he did the government initiatives
> that grew during the sixties.
>
> I forget what prompted Justin's comments about how compared to
> the present even someone like Nison might look to left-leaning.
> But given the tidal changes in politics, most groups have moved
> considerably to stay afloat. Most leftists of the past are too
> left-leaning for today.
>
>
> Gordon Fitch wrote:
> >
> > 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.