Richard Nixon

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• 9/12/2021
  

  The Missed Lesson of Vietnam: Plan for Unconditional Victory or Don't Intervene at All

  by James D. Robenalt

  Comparisons between American withdrawal from Vietnam and Afghanistan miss a key point: failure was overwhelmingly likely from the beginning because, if the United States was unwilling or unable to secure unconditional surrender, time was on the side of its foes. 

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• 6/6/2021
  

  Whataboutism Didn't Get Nixon Off the Hook. It Shouldn't Stop Investigation of the Capitol Riots

  by James Robenalt

  There's a long and ignominious tradition of playing "whatabout" to thwart investigations into official misconduct, so it's no surprise the move was part of Republicans' rejection of a January 6 commission. 

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• 6/6/2021
  

  John Cena's Taiwan Controversy Recalls Richard Nixon's Biggest Mistake

  by Justin Coffey

  John Cena's recent social media kerfuffle over Taiwan reflects the legacy of Richard Nixon's acquiescence to a "One China" policy advanced by the People's Republic, in hindsight the worst error of his presidency.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  4/10/2021
  

  Ramsey Clark, Attorney General and Rebel With a Cause, Dies at 93

  Ramsey Clark's tenure as Attorney General saw the aggressive enforcement of civil rights law; his liberalism strained his relationship with Lyndon Johnson, who blamed Clark in part for energizing the "silent majority" that led Richard Nixon to victory. He continued in private life to represent unpopular defendants and oppose American militarism.

• 
• 4/11/2021
  

  Gordon Liddy and the Greek Connection to Watergate

  by James H. Barron

  The recent death of Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy has sparked renewed interest in the intricacies of the affair. The author argues that the material the "Plumbers" sought in the burglary related to a Greek journalist's efforts to expose illegal contributions by the Greek dictatorship to the 1968 election campaign of Richard Nixon. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  3/22/2021
  

  Filmmaker’s Suit Says A&E Networks Suppressed ‘Watergate’ Series

  A documentarian is suing the A&E cable network claiming it didn't promote his 2018 Watergate series out of deference to Trump voters. The network says the decision was based on ratings and defends its record of airing controversial subjects. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Daily News
  3/9/2021
  

  The Truth Will Come Out: As With Nixon, Time Will Darken Views Of Trump And His Supporters

  by Elizabeth Holtzman

  The former New York Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, who pushed for articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon, argues that that president's partisan supporters looked foolish when even more facts came to light. Will the same happen to Trump's congressional allies? 

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• 2/28/2021
  

  The "War on Cancer" at 50: The Most Fruitful Failure in Human History

  by Judith L. Pearson

  Announced by Richard Nixon in 1971, the "War on Cancer" has not yielded a cure. But it has driven research that has deepened understanding of cancers and developed life-saving treatments, while erasing ignorance and stigma. It has been one of humanity's most successful failures. 

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• 2/14/2021
  

  What Becomes of a Broken Party?

  by James Robenalt

  The Republican Party seems to be refusing the opportunity to save itself by rejecting Trumpism. His acquittal in a second Senate trial means he will be free to demand the party bend to his will or be destroyed. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  1/15/2021
  

  The Lessons of the Nixon Pardon

  Isaac Chotiner interviews Rick Perlstein on the nature of presidential misconduct and accountability. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  12/15/2020
  

  James Flug, Who Helped Block Nixon Nominees and Investigated Watergate, Dies at 81

  James Flug, an aide to Senator Ted Kennedy, played a significant role in Senate investigations and in the successful political opposition to Richard Nixon's Supreme Court nominations of Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell. 

• 
• SOURCE: National Geographic
  12/4/2020
  

  The Contentious History of U.S. Presidential Pardons—From the Whiskey Rebellion to Watergate

  Rumors that Donald Trump has considered offering preemptive pardons to his children and inner circle of advisors prompt a consideration of the history of the pardon power. 

• 
• SOURCE: Foreign Affairs
  12/8/2020
  

  Cleaning House: Watergate and the Limits of Reform

  by John A. Lawrence

  The reform agenda of the "Watergate Babies" class elected to Congress in 1974 achieved important successes but failed to prevent either the rise of the imperial presidency or increased partisan polarization. 

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• SOURCE: New York Labor History
  12/6/2020
  

  The Hardhat Riot: Nixon, New York City, And The Dawn Of The White Working-Class Revolution (Review)

  Historian Michael Koncewicz reviews a new book on the notorious "Hard Hat Riot," when a mob of construction workers and Wall Street traders attacked antiwar protesters; the incident remains a touchstone for thinking about the politics of class and the culture war. 

• 
• SOURCE: University of Virginia
  12/1/2020
  

  How the 1968 Presidential Transition Compares to Today’s

  by Marc Selverstone

  Taped recordings from the Lyndon Johnson White House reveal the conflict between LBJ and Richard Nixon over the degree to which a president-elect could expect to influence policy before being inaugurated. 

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• SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review
  10/26/2020
  

  Q&A: Historian Rick Perlstein on Media ‘Bothsidesism,’ and Why 2020 Definitely Isn’t 1968

  Rick Perlstein has been reluctant to do media appearances, perceiving that journalists may use historical analogy as a shortcut to investigating and explaining the present. He discusses his thoughts on history and the media with CJR. 

• 
• SOURCE: WGBH
  10/26/2020
  

  To Understand The Spectacle Of Presidential Debates, Look Back To 1960, Says Harvard Historian

  Fred Logevall, author of a new JFK biography, discusses the 1960 presidential debates between Kennedy and Nixon. 

• 
• SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times
  10/26/2020
  

  If only Richard Nixon had Listened to Jackie Robinson — The GOP Might be Doing Better than Trump Today

  by Paul Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick

  Despite Jackie Robinson's intercession, Richard Nixon's moment of indecision in 1960 allowed Jack Kennedy to connect his campaign with the cause of Martin Luther King and civil rights. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/20/2020
  

  Watergate Led to Reforms. Now, Would-Be Reformers Believe, So Will Trump

  Jack Goldmith and Robert Bauer, legal veterans of the George W. Bush and Obama administrations respectively, are proposing a slate of reforms to limit executive branch powers. They hope to match the legislation passed after Watergate and the revelations of intelligence community abuses exposed by the Church Committee.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/10/2020
  

  Taking Page From Authoritarians, Trump Turns Power of State Against Political Rivals

  No attorney general since John N. Mitchell, who served Mr. Nixon and brought conspiracy charges against critics of the Vietnam War, bent the Justice Department more in a president’s direction than William Barr.