Before Democrats consign to Donald Trump the title of worst president ever, they might want to remember the last couple of times they tried to give that label to a Republican. It’s going to be pretty hard to dislodge Millard Filmore, Franklin Pierce, Zachary Taylor, and Herbert Hoover from the bottom of the presidential trash heap. In their rush to wave good-bye to President Trump, they have forgotten the other President DJT is most often compared to, Richard Nixon. While Democrats systematically try to undo Trump’s legacy, they should actually evaluate what he accomplished. A fresh look at Nixon might slow down their rush to pass historical judgement.
Democrats, as well as a good portion of the country, hated Nixon by the time he resigned. There were also a lot of predictions that Nixon was the worst president in modern history. I admit that I also hated Nixon. First, because he ran against one of my childhood idols, John Kennedy. Then I hated him because of Vietnam. He was my commander-in-chief, but I thought his war policy, particularly when I found myself in Cambodia, to be awful. And then there was Watergate. It was a sin against democracy, not to mention stupid, to spy on the Democrats. After the disastrous DNC in 1968, and the debacle of McGovern, Nixon couldn’t have lost if he tried. The Democrats were clueless. Over time, however, I learned some facts that began to cool my hatred. Facts like JFK was a serial cheater who probably stole the 1960 election.
After almost five decades of study, it is clear that I was wrong about Richard Milhouse Nixon. He was not the worst president ever. Not even close. I no longer hate him, and I have even developed a grudging respect for his accomplishments.
First and foremost, he ended the Vietnam War. Those who are too young to remember, do not have to imagine how divided the country was over the war. Take our political divisions now and multiply them by a factor of ten. Look at the video of the violence during the DNC in Chicago in 1968 or the slaughter of students at Kent State. Those videos show a much worse situation than what occurred on 1/6/21 in terms of people involved, level of brutality, and number of deaths. Nixon ended all of that in a way that satisfied both the right and the left. In fact, if the Democrats hadn’t cut off military supplies to South Vietnam, it might still exist today.
The second thing that Nixon did which made the world a better and safer place was to open a relationship with China. Only a Republican with strong anti-communist credentials could have ended the cold war with China. The long term benefits this has been to the U.S. is subject to debate, but there is no doubt that a China engaged with the rest of the world through trade is better than a secretive and heavily armed China with nothing to lose in a war. If nothing else, the Korean Conflict taught us that fighting a country with a billion people is not a great idea.
The third thing he did was set up the EPA. I understand that most people think protecting the environment is a Democratic stump issue, but it was a Republican, Richard Nixon, who created the agency. More importantly, the EPA worked. It may be hard to imagine for younger people, but environmental issues, such as climate change, are much harder to see than the issues we faced in the sixties and seventies. Flying across the country back then meant that you couldn’t see the ground over much of the east or west coast from 35,000 feet. Worse still was a river that emptied into Lake Erie catching on fire. Pollution was literally in most people’s faces. The EPA has done a good job of cleaning up our air and water while many toxic waste dumps have been identified and are in the process of being cleaned up.
Thanks to Nixon, the air along the Front Range is cleaner than it has been in decades. Nixon certainly had many flaws and made bad decisions. But that shouldn’t blind us to the good that he did. I only mentioned three of his major accomplishments. There are more. The lens of history takes time to focus. It seems to me that if it can change our view of Nixon, then Trump deserves the same grace. History, like good BBQ, cannot be rushed. Being convinced of how history will view Trump is like predicting the winner of Super Bowl C. Only Tom Brady can guess that. The rest of us should have the good sense to wait.
