Which was or is more hated, Nixon or Trump?

Wow... LBJ and Ladfybird. I had to dust off the cobwebs to remember back that far.

 

Actually the name of the play was “Macbird.” You could never get a play to run off-Broadway like that today.

 

Trump in gonna be more infamous than Nixon for sure

 

It's spelt B.I.D.E.N. but it's not on the list.

 

Biden will have the college professors and the professional historians there to save his image. The foolish notion that Biden is among the ten best presidents now is an indication of what his official reputation will be in the future.

In that respect, he will be like Lyndon Johnson who also gets high marks from the progressive historians. Their fathers and grandfathers hated Johnson when he was expanding the Vietnam War, but now the succeeding generations praise him as the president who expanded civil rights for minorities (rightly praised) and extended the FDR New Deal programs (wrongly praised because it did great damage to the Black family and culture). Those historians have almost total amnesia about Vietnam.

Historical interpretation and politics are intertwined as they never have been before. Most any president who supported expanding the power and scope of government will be praised. Those who tried to stem it, or even questioned it, will be condemned.

 

Overall, most Americans approved of Nixon until Watergate. He had a 51% overall job approval until then along with being a landslide winner over George McGovern in 1972. Even Democrats were giving Nixon an average of 42% job approval until Watergate. When Watergate broke, Nixon’s job approval dropped like a two-ton boulder in a lake. Having lived through all of the above, I’d say hate doesn’t apply to most Americans. There was no doubt Democrats didn’t like Nixon, but again, hate is a word I don’t think applied. After all pre-Watergate, his first term, over 40% of Democrats approved of the job Nixon was doing. Then 36% of democrats voted for Nixon in 1972. Watergate changed the environment around Nixon. It left a lasting impression that Nixon was hated or disliked which wasn’t true until Watergate.


Trump on the other hand, only 41% of all Americans approved of the job he did as president, Democrats giving Trump only an 8% job approval with 5% of democrats voting for Trump in 2020. You can feel the hate democrats have for Trump, whereas that feeling wasn’t there for Nixon. 84% of democrats have an unfavorable or negative view of Trump today. There isn’t a party breakdown in Nixon’s favorable/unfavorable, but in November 1972 Nixon was seen 76% favorable by all Americans, 21% unfavorable. Only Watergate dragged Nixon down and changed folks perspectives about him leaving most folks today with the impression Nixon was hated.


One must remember that we’re dealing with two different political eras here. Today, we’re in this modern political era of polarization, the great divide, the super, mega, ultra-high partisanship. This didn’t apply back in Nixon’s era. Back then there really wasn’t that huge ideological divide between parties. Both had their conservative and liberal wings. The democrats their solid conservative south, the republicans their most solid Rockefeller liberal northeast. The democrats were known as the big tent party, the working man’s party. The Republicans the country club party or the businessman’s party.


Back in Nixon’s era, roughly 45% of all Americans identified with the democratic party, only 25% with the Republican Party. It was a must for a republican presidential candidate to win a sizeable vote from those who were democrats in order to win the election. Remember this was a time when the democrats controlled the house of representatives for 40 straight years, 1955-1994. They also controlled the senate for 34 of those 40 years. Today, party affiliation is democrats 27%, republicans 25%. A huge difference from Nixon’s time. No doubt Trump is the most hated.

 

@perotista, that is a pretty depressing assessment. The trouble is it's true because the mismanagement of our monetary and fiscal policies is gradually destroying the dollar. It will not continue to be "the world's go to currency" much longer if "Bidenomics" continues to be the root of our policies.

 

I don't know about hate, but Trump is considered an idiot, and not only in US, but globally.

 

I think the depressing assessment is where we’re at today politically, not back in Nixon’s time. I actually miss those times. It was a time when both major parties were filled with pragmatists. Where compromise and playing the old political game of give and take took place. There wasn’t such a thing as straight party line vote. Here’s an example of some of the most important legislation at that time.

Social Security votes in Congress.

House - Democrats 284 AYE 15 NAY – Republicans 81 AYE 15 NAY

Senate – Democrats 60 AYE 1 NAY – Republicans 16 AYE 5 NAY


Medicare votes in Congress.

House – Democrats 237 AYE 48 NAY – Republicans 70 AYE 68 NAY

Senate – Democrats 57 AYE 7 NAY – Republicans 13 AYE 17 NAY


Civil Rights Bill votes in congress.

House Democrats 153 AYE 91 NAY – Republicans 136 AYE 35 NAY

Senate Democrats 46 AYE 21 NAY – Republicans 27 AYE 6 NAY


Today, you’d have one party voting all in favor, the other party voting against. Also, once it was confirmed of Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, at least half of all Republicans favored his impeachment. You’d get nothing like that today as seen in Bill Clinton’s and Trump’s senate trial votes.


As for the ever-rising national debt, I do think that will spell the end of us. Sooner or later, everything, money wise will come crashing down on us. That will make the great depression look like a walk in the park.

 

I Write In

LBJ!


Moi