Los Angeles Times: Doyle McManus: What's the Secret of Richard Nixon's Unpopularity?

Source:Los Angeles Times

If all due respect to Doyle McManus who is a very knowledgable Washington political insider and very intelligent about Washington politics: There is no secret to why Richard Nixon is unpopular. "Go to the videotape" as the old sports broadcast saying goes. Or in President Nixon's case go to his tape recordings. You hear the countless remarks having to do with the Watergate coverup and his criminal activities inside of the White House. His ethnic cracks and smears about Italians, Jews, the Irish. The Irish slurs are kind of funny to me since Dick Nixon was an Irishman himself. But his cracks about Latinos as well.

Putting all of that aside however (even if it takes you years to put all of that aside) President Nixon looks better to me forty years later because of what he accomplished as President. And I would take him over President George W. Bush who as far as we know never committed any crimes as President (at least in America) because of what Dick Nixon accomplished as President. In foreign affairs, environmental policy and what he tried to do for the country, but came up short as it related to Welfare reform, health care reform, creating a national energy policy, his federalism program.