Nixon, Reagan and Politics of Charm

Nixon is one of the most hated people in American politics; and I think that he gets a bad rep. Nixon did a lot of things that should make American liberals happy. He opened the door to China; he started the Environmental Protection Agency; and he replaced a conscript army with a professional army.

Reagan was far more right-wing than Nixon; yet he does not get nearly as much criticism. I have no idea as to why this is. Maybe he was more charming than Nixon; but that does not make him better than Nixon.

The people who value charm above other qualities are always going to go for the people who are superficially charming but evil inside. They will value charming manipulators who don't have their best interests at heart. That the same people who hated Nixon would love Reagan shows that these people aren't thinking straight and that, in this case, they attract to themselves political figures who pretend to be nice while in fact being terrible.

I for one would take Nixon for Reagan any time. He may not have been charming; but he was hard-working and thoughtful, and he cared about the country. He implemented a lot of policies that came from the American Left; and the American Left owes a lot to this man.

I want to see credit be placed where credit is due. Nixon has done a lot of good for America. Things need to be put into perspective; and that is, give credit to those who deserve credit, regardless of whether or not they are charming or popular.