Life after Dick

It’s always been easy to hate Dick Nixon. So easy, that it’s become almost second nature for many Americans. He’s that ugly kid that everyone picked on until he became ugly on the inside too. He was the kid who got cheated until he became a cheater too. That being said, getting picked on is no excuse for abusing one’s office. But for today, on the anniversary of his passing 15 years ago, let us laud his accomplishments, and save our derisions for the other 364 days of the year

To his credit, Richard Milhous Nixon signed into law more civil rights legislation than any else who has held his office before or since, he started the EPA, he and Henry Kissinger paved the way for the era glasnost and perestroika that the Reagan administration would eventually squander. And even though Tricky Dick’s sinister smile is often seen as the face of the Vietnam war, he was the one who eventually pulled us out. It took a lot of guts to be the first American President to lose a war. Sure, this pullout was after he escalated and widened the conflict. Was this abject slaughter, or simply giving it that good old American 110%? Say whatever you want about Dick Nixon, but he sure as hell knew how to try ’till you die, even if that meant lying through his teeth.

Richard Milhous Nixon

37th President of the United States of America

Winner, Loser, Champion, Abuser

January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994