John H. Taylor: Comparing Bush with Nixon
In a recent survey, President Bush ’s negatives outnumbered RN’s. Time for some perspective on the underdogs. First, a list of GWB’s accomplishments from a friend who avoids public political commentary, then a list I compiled last year of RN’s:
President Bush
* Standing up to the right on the immigration issue
* Selecting the most diverse cabinet in American history
* Elevating a black woman to the highest position ever held by a black woman in the American government
* Elevating a Latino to the highest position ever held by a Latino in the American government
* Calling for a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem, the first president to do so
* Using the phrase “occupied territories” concerning the Palestinian problem, the first President to do so
* Incurring the wrath of demagogues like Buchanan in supporting trade with Mexico
* Initiating millions of dollars for African AIDS relief
* Avoiding the hypocrisy of European nations which signed the Kyoto Protocol, and then performed worse than the U.S. in meeting the Kyoto goals
* Appointing two men to the Supreme Court who will follow the Constitution
* Providing leadership on the partial birth abortion issue
* Fulfilling his principle Presidential duty since 9/11: keeping us safe, with no terrorist attacks
* Defanging wild men like Gaddafi
* Recognizing the importance of faith-based initiatives in helping the country’s poor
* Seeing the nuanced problems of government supporting stem cell research
* Leading an historically remarkable military campaign in Afghanistan, succeeding where the British and the Soviet Union had failed
* Cutting taxes decisively as needed to help the economy after 9/11
* Accomplishing what Clinton and the Congress agreed should be done in 1998 but did not have the leadership to accomplish: Regime change in Iraq
* Ignoring the call that Iraq could be invaded only if we also invaded Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, etc.
* Enacting “No Child Left Behind,” which has been a success by all statistical measures, while supporting parent choice
* Leading the economy out of the turmoil of 9/11, avoiding recession for many years (while allowing too much spending)
* Exhibiting a personal life reflecting decency, and the importance of marriage, which also has been reflected in his policies
* Returning the Oval Office to a place of honor in our American government
President Nixon
Foreign Affairs and Vietnam War
- Rapprochement with the People’s Republic of China (1972)
- U.S.-China Shanghai Communiqué (February 1972), whose basic principles have governed Sino-U.S. relations ever since
- Successfully pressuring Kremlin to abandon plans to establish a base for Soviet nuclear submarines at Cienfuegos Bay, Cuba (September 1970)
- Regularization of relations with the Soviet Union, including annual summits, 1972-74
- Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (1972)
- Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (1972)
- Successful incursions into regions of Cambodia known as “Parrot’s Beak” and “the Fishhook,” clearing sanctuaries North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces were using to launch attacks on U.S. and South Vietnamese forces (April 1970); ordering bombing of North Vietnam in May 1972, blunting communists’ spring offensive; and ordering December 1972 bombing, which jumpstarted stalled peace negotiations
- Signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 following implementation during RN’s first term (despite strenuous resistance from antiwar activists and many in Congress) of a successful plan to enable South Vietnam to defend herself without U.S. personnel but with U.S. materiel and air support (called “Vietnamization”)
- Return of U.S. prisoners of war (spring 1973)
- Dramatically reorienting U.S. policy in the Middle East by deepening ties to conservative and moderate Arab regimes (culminating in Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s expulsion of Soviet advisors in 1972 and RN’s Middle East trip in 1974)
- Ordering massive aid to Israel during the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, which Prime Minister Golda Meir said saved her country
- Return of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty (1972)
Domestic Policy
- Appointment of four strict-constructionist justices to the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice Warren Burger and a future Chief Justice, William Rehnquist
- Establishment by executive order of the Environmental Protection Agency (1970)
- Extension of Voting Rights Act, abolishing both literacy tests for voters, which were opposed by civil rights activists, and the Justice Department’s “pre-clearance” of states’ voting laws, which was opposed by state governments (1970)
- Achieving voluntary desegregation of schools in seven Deep South states through formation of State Advisory Committees (1970)
- Establishment by executive order of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise in the Department of Commerce (1969)
- Establishment of the Philadelphia Plan, to increase hiring of minority-owned contractors on big Federal projects (1969), and affirmative action programs establishing goals and timetables for hiring of minorities
- Signing Title IX, prohibiting gender bias at colleges and universities receiving Federal aid; the move was credited with bolstering programs for female collegiate athletes (1972)
- Radical reorientation of Federal Native American policy aimed at encouraging tribal self-determination and deemphasizing assimilation into American society and culture
- Launching the War on Cancer, a $100 million program creating a system of National Cancer Centers (1971)
- Apollo XI landing (July 1969)
- Concept of New Federalism (1969), including programs to aid small businesses, welfare reform, and sharing of tax revenue with states; provided a focal point for debate about the role of government, though many proposals were spurned or watered down by congressional opponents