Why do so many people forget that Nixon was a great president?

Question

I've studied presidents of the 20th century a good deal and it is obvious that up until watergate, Nixon had proved to be one of the better presidents of the century. Why is it that democrats like to write him off as a terrible president when in fact he was far better then most of the democrat presidents of the century, especially Carter.

Under Nixon.. detente with Soviet Union. opening of relations with China, replaced US troops in Vietnam with Vietnamese troops (thus withdrawing the US from Vietnam), and dmoestically he was considered a centrist and at times even more liberal, and was re-elected in the biggest landslide victory in US history.

Answer 1

Unfortunately Watergate will all he'll be remembered for historically. Even though he was probably one of the best foreign policy Presidents we've ever had. And a lot of his domestic programs did the country some good.

Answer 2

Nixon was the only President in history, in over 200 years, to be forced from office for corruption. That makes it inevitable, and probably fair, that he will be remembered largely as a failure.

I can't give him any real credit for his Vietnam policy. During his administration, thousand more Americans died in Vietnam, and the war was widened into Cambodia. Nixon knew the war was a lost cause and should have gotten out immediately. Extending the withdrawal over years just disguised that it was an admission of failure and prevented the collapse from occurring before the '72 elections. Had Nixon withdrawn more promptly, thousands of American dead and wounded would have been prevented and the genocide in Cambodia might well never have happened.

Nixon did handle relations with the Soviet Union and China quite well. He also had some domestic successes which you don't go into. Most of these, as you point out, were relatively liberal, such as the creation of the EPA. Some of his policy proposals which didn't succeed were more liberal than anything likely to be proposed by a major Democrat in this election. There were some real achievements, but they don't outweigh the failures.

Answer 3

You're forgetting that he expanded the war in Vietnam and Cambodia before "vietnamesezation"(sp). We signed a cease fire with the north (which was never implemented) then told the south they were on their own. What Nixon did then is what republicans are accusing the democrats of wanting to do in Iraq, only they use the phrase "cut and run".
If Nixon had not thought that the power of the presidency exceeded the power of the other two branches, he might not have gotten in trouble. However his ego got in the way and he failed to uphold what he swore to uphold, namely the constitution. That undermines the very structure of our country and is more devastating than the poor performance of any individual president.

Answer 4

It really all boils down to his scandal. He had a lot on his plate, and took some desperate measures to fix things. But he still was a great president, and it's ironic that the left would attack him, he was one of the most left-leaning republicans in recent times.

Answer 5

I always felt "Tricky Dick" had done a good job. He just got caught in some stuff. Other Presidents not get caught. They all are going to have a dark side to some point. Big Business and Lobbyiest put them there, so, it a "Scratch my back" type situation.
http://www.historylink.org/db_images/Nixon68.jpg

Answer 6

Because he was out for power at all costs. Mussolini made the trains run on time, but he was still a despot. Nixon was a brilliant statesman and global strategist and even created the EPA - but his disregard for the rule of law was something of a black eye.

Answer 7

Because all of his well doings were overshadowed by a scandal. No one is perfect, but our expectations of a President are very high and they should be. Keep your record clean and you will be honorably remembered.

Answer 8

Nixon was a smart man whose foreign relations was ahead of it's time .