In The Nixon Years

On August 9^th, 1974 I was playing songs by Cosby, Stills & Nash on my acoustic guitar at The Potbelly Inn, near Lake Tahoe, California.  On the television playing above the bar, the news was riveting; it was the President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, informing the nation that he was resigning the Presidency.  I easily recall that moment vividly in my mind.  I can see me watching from my bar stool as others also sat amazed and relieved that he took the action he did;  Impeachment was imminent, and it looked very possible we were going to witness the very first president of the United States be removed from office.  Thirty-nine years later I still remember the event, better than I can the first moon landing; 20 July 1969, or the death of Walt Disney; December 15, 1966.

  I remember I was glad; in those days I was easily influenced by others opinions; doubly so when they were passionate.  I took on the well shared opinion that Richard Nixon was a villain of unequaled proportions; in the same contemptible league as Revolutionary traitor Benedict Arnold.  It wasn’t until decades later I discovered the many good things the man had done in contrast to what I considered vile; not the least being his bold visit to China in 1972 while still serving as President.  It was bold in many ways that now shape the world I know.  Back then, the accepted political stance of our government was to ignore China; because it was communist.  Ignore a quarter of the globes population as if it didn’t exist.  We were a proud and arrogant nation still basking in the victory of World War II.   The average man-on-the-street still cultivated an enviable and blissful trust in their government; even if challenged daily as that trust was tainted by continued news of skullduggery and conspiracy concerning our country’s involvement in the Vietnam War, and the boys who were being sent to fight and die there. Back then most of us were clueless to the widespread, deep and pervasive corruption that was normal in the back halls of our government;  we still dreamily like to believe people we elected to go to Washington were going to do good; unlike today where it’s to do well.  It would take several more decades of scandal to convince even the most devout idealist that just maybe we’ve been fools to trust those guys with anything more dangerous than a potato gun…and even that with serious reservations. 

Yet despite the infamous historical claims of malfeasance, Richard Nixon was a proponent of policies that transferred power from Washington D.C. to the states; something I continue to embrace as being in keeping with the spirit of our constitution.  He also launched initiatives to fight cancer, and enforced desegregation in Sothern schools; he implemented environmental reforms long before anyone had any real concept of the green movement.  He successfully managed to refocus NASA onto the Shuttle program after the successful walk on the moon.  I suppose the truth of it being, his was a time of great conflict and crises; we witnessed the oil embargo that woke America up from its self-serving importance; of course there were going to be many more, we’re easily lulled to sleep.   Mostly his only true legacy seemed to revolve around the Watergate scandal and that’s sad.  Not that it occurred, so much as, all it did was serve to be a template on what not to do when caught.  It’d be naïve for me to suggest his actions were isolated or all that aberrant from those being practiced for generations of politicians; his was the sin of leaving evidence.  After his resignation he received a pardon issued by his successor, Gerald Ford, an action many consider the ending of Gerald Ford’s political career as well.

  I suppose the reason I am writing about this at this anniversary of the event is, of all things I use to benchmark my passing years, how in the world did I default to the resignation of Richard Nixon?  I’d venture to guess because it was the beginning of my awakening to the real nature of a vicious and competitively indifferent world.  I’m still learning, but I know this with certainty:  If I am taken by surprise; or feel disappointed in the actions and behavior of others, that it’s not their fault so much as it is my own for painting them in an opinion I fashioned out of thin air.