I can always remember this date because it’s also my dad’s birthday, what a gift he received! The overrated Princess Diana wedding happened on mine in 1981, I will never understand Americans’ obsession with a foreign royal family when we have our own inbred morons: Kennedy, Bush, Kardashian, Hilton, Taft, Rockerfeller, etc.
Anyway, I clearly remember the day before too. Mom was rather stoked for she had no love for America’s first president from California. I was walking into the kitChen in the apartment we were renting. I think I asked what was up, mainly on the TV. Mom answered there will be a new president. I had little idea what the heck that meant. I did know Nixon was the butt of numerous jokes around the house and Rich Little.
I was so disgusted over the whitewashing he received at his funeral 20 years ago. Especially the “genius” move of going to China, aka the cynical mindset known as “the enemy of my enemy is my ally.” It sure backfired, namely with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan; in case you don’t follow history or the news, they contained future members of the Taliban and al-Qeda.
The true story the GOP likes to cover up is why Nixon bailed. Earlier into his second term, vice president Spiro Agnew took off to avoid going to prison regarding different corruption matters. The Watergate matter was happening concurrently which led to another Senator confirmation hearing to appoint a new veep; this happened in the Sixties to install Hubert Humphrey after JFK died. Fearing the outcome, Nixon’s flunkies did pre-interviews to make sure who they nominated would cooperate. House Minority Whip Gerald Ford got the nod; higher ranking Republicans didn’t have a great loyalty to Nixon and probably knew they’d be committing political suicide. Many recalled Tricky Dick’s ruthlessness in the Fifties.
The worst-case scenario eventually happened, the process to begin an impeachment was underway in the Democratic-controlled House. It was still early. Then Teabagger Godfather Barry Goldwater rushed in to tell Nixon how badly the Senate vote was going to be should the trial go through; FYI, the Senate acts as the jury and 67+ saying “guilty” results in the president’s removal.
Nixon being the coward he always was (spoiler alert, it’s a major hint in the new X-Men flick), resigning and getting VP Klutz to pardon him was the way out. He went on to provide hours of fodder for SNL thankfully.
For years, Tricky Dick fleeing like a third-world dictator made the Republicans seethe. How they wanted revenge despite their St. Reagan dismantling the nation (firing PATCO, emptying the mental hospitals, blaming the poor for being poor, out-of-control military spending, etc.). Bill Clinton didn’t quite give it to them on a silver platter, billionaire misogynist Richard Mellon-Scaife needed to fund the Arkansas Project to keep picking away. And again, like their failure against Andrew Johnson, they didn’t have a compelling case made with the public beyond them not liking the guy in the White House.
It’s days like these I’m grateful we don’t have cable. There’s probably endless cycles on “the news” with Nixon minion Gordon Liddy spinning a yarn of new lies.
If there is a Hell, may Nixon be in it. Not for Watergate necessarily, mainly for his red-baiting with Senator Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn.