“I gave them a sword. And they stuck it in, and they twisted it with relish. And I guess if I had been in their position, I would have done the same thing.” — . What Nixon said,
Donald Trump could easily say about himself. Of course, he will not. Richard Nixon was the last president who faced anything like the legal jeopardy former
President Trump is facing — plus a frothing electronic lynch mob. The end game for both Nixon and Trump has some eerie similarities. Detested by the media, the New York-Washington elites and the left, both Nixon and Trump were subject to a nonstop campaign to destroy their administrations and their futures. Both played off the haters for political gain. Both ended up making severe errors in judgment that brought them down. Trump even managed to get incriminating himself. But Trump is not Nixon; he is, at best, a smaller, weaker, more vacuous version. Unlike Trump, Nixon had a real worldview — a vision of a world with a restored balanced of power and subsequently stable, peaceful relations between the great powers. Nixon was determined to see his vision through and formed an administration built to achieve that goal. Trump, however, believes only in himself, hamstringing efforts by his administration to achieve lasting results. Nixon accomplished much both in domestic and foreign policy, in spite of facing
Democratic majorities in
Congress. Nixon (a relationship later botched by future presidents), and extricated (imperfectly) the nation from its . Nixon , to people with disabilities and worked to . Trump’s foreign policy is, at best, a draw. While the and a few were completed, he and got by
China. That he cut through the policy inertia to move toward leaving
Afghanistan is to his great credit. But he could not close the deal — something Nixon would never let fall through the cracks. His domestic policy accomplishments included a and a that his successor within weeks of his inauguration. And Trump faced far less adversity that Nixon. Nixon had to sparked by Lyndon Johnson’s spending and Vietnam escalation, the subsequent , and an caused by decades of increasing dependence on imported
Oil. Trump entered office with . He faced one major crisis in the and, unsurprisingly, . Trump’s hesitating, vacillating response ended up dooming his reelection. In times of crisis, the
American people tend to rally around their president, but that only lasts as long as the president demonstrates leadership and determination. Trump only demonstrated confusion, indecision and doubt. Even in scandal, Trump does not compare. The sum of misdeeds by the Nixon administration under the heading of “ ” was sprawling and complex. But for a botched burglary, they might have gotten away with it (and to be fair, Nixon’s all abused the power of the presidency for political aims, just not as extensively as Nixon). Meanwhile, Trump is getting caught for in his bathroom, (unsuccessfully) and . That’s one pathetic collection of felonies. But there are two ways in which Trump and Nixon diverge. First, Nixon was a winner. He won the of any
Republican in 1972, in addition to his . He was on the winning national ticket in , equaling Franklin Roosevelt. Even in 1960, there is some dispute, with historian casting doubt on the result and , award-winning biographer of Lyndon Johnson, certainly implying that
Texas was stolen for opponent John F. Kennedy (see pp. 150-155 in his book “The Passage of Power”). Second, Nixon was willing to sacrifice for the country. Most people don’t realize Nixon was not impeached. Articles of Impeachment were voted out of committee, but the process had not started. Nixon might have held on to enough votes to forestall conviction. But . He knew impeachment would be profoundly damaging to the nation and Republicans. He kept a low profile through the 1974 and 1976
elections (where Gerald Ford, improbably, almost won). Can anyone imagine Trump sacrificing anything for the GOP or the country? So far, that’s an emphatic “No.” In fact, Trump seems to be to wreck Republican
election prospects.
Republicans escaped the damaging effects of Nixon and Watergate by 1980 and the nation moved decisively to the right for nearly 30 years. Nixon somewhat rehabilitated himself and became a respected voice on international relations. Today’s Republican Party is not nearly so fortunate. Trump is determined to stick around no matter the cost to everyone but himself. He already cost Republicans control of the U.S.
Senate in , and he is primarily responsible for the to be in power. Trump is just a shadow of what Nixon was as a president and a politician, but the damage he is causing Republicans and conservatives is exponentially greater than anything Nixon ever did.