Nixon was an awful president in many ways, including in some of his foreign-policy choices. But he left no doubt that foreign policy and America's leadership in the world outside its borders was of paramount importance to him.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I liked Nixon fine, but Nixon was not a partier.
The trouble with Nixon is that he's a serious politics junkie. He's totally hooked and like any other junkie, he's a bummer to have around, especially as President.
Nixon was no more a saint than he was a great president.
Nixon was a good president on the environment. Gerald Ford was good.
While he was president, it was popular to be a Nixon hater.
It was accountability that Nixon feared.
Experience helped Richard Nixon, but it didn't save him, and it certainly wasn't a blanket endorsement. He blundered terribly in dealing with Vietnam.
Nixon's grand mistake was his failure to understand that Americans are forgiving, and if he had admitted error early and apologized to the country, he would have escaped.
That was my choice at that time, and I still say Nixon was a great president. A very beautiful and wise man.
President Nixon was a pragmatic strategist. He would engage, not contain, China, but he would also quietly set pieces into place for a fallback position should China not play according to the rules as a good global citizen.