History Quotes / RichardNixon

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->''Sub specie aeternetatis'', one set of politicians spying upon and sabotaging another is hardly of cosmic significance. But oh the deliciousness as the whole sleazy, robotic crew, even unto the highest reaches of the White House, [[LaserGuidedKarma gets its comeuppance!]] Every morning’s news brings further revelations, further scandal, as the network of the corruption of power extends upward and outward. One by one they topple, as the President becomes so short-handed that some have to [[DiggingYourselfDeeper double up on jobs]]. One thing is certain: it couldn’t have happened to [[SarcasmMode a nicer or more deserving bunch of guys, or to a more deserving institution]].

->At the very time that overt anti-Semitism was beginning to vanish from mainstream American culture, Richard Nixon was perhaps the most profoundly anti-Semitic president in U.S. history. In the Nixon tapes, he repeatedly accuses American Jews of placing ''"[[GreedyJew Jewish interests]]"'' before American ones, an almost verbatim reuse of one of 19th-century Europe's most pernicious anti-Semitic canards. Despite this Nixon surrounded himself with Jews at high levels in the White House: Leonard Garment (chief economic advisor), Ben Stein (chief speechwriter), William Safire (campaign manager), Murray Chotiner (adviser and campaign manager), and of course Secretary of State Henry Kissinger...Nixon's obsession with the Evil Jew was just part of a profoundly paranoid personality that saw [[StringTheory vast, byzantine conspiracies]] lurking everywhere. It is ironic (but predictable) that such a committed conspiracy theorist was responsible for some of the most outrageous conspiracies ever perpetrated in American politics.
-->--'''''Wiki/RationalWiki'''''

-->-- After [[SoreLoser losing]] the California gubernatorial election, 1962

->''"You won't have Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is [[TenMinuteRetirement my last press conference]].. "''

->''"Our teachers, preachers, and politicians have gone too far in advocating the idea that each individual should determine [[HypocriticalHumor what laws are good and what laws are bad, and that he then should obey the law he likes and disobey the law he dislikes.]]"''

->''"This is'' not ''an [[NewSpeak invasion of Cambodia]]."''[[note]]It's an "incursion", instead.[[/note]]

->''"Let's look at the strong societies. [[ArsonMurderAndAdmiration The Russians.]] Goddamn, they root 'em out... You think the Russians allow dope? Homosexuality, dope, immorality, are the enemies of strong societies."''

->''"There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have [[RacistGrandpa a black and a white]]. [[AndTheRest Or a rape.]]"''

->''"[[HobbesWasRight People react to fear]], not love. They don't teach that in Sunday school, but it's true."''

->''"1 in 10 chance perhaps, but save Chile...[[KnightTemplar Make the economy scream.]]"''

->''"We gotta [[NukeEm nuke 'em]], Henry."''

->''"People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Well, I'm NOT a crook.]] I've earned everything I got."''

->(to Kennedy's portrait)'' "When they [the American people] look at you, [[TheAce they see what they want to be]]. When they look at me, [[ThisLoserIsYou they see what they are]]."''

->''"Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. [[RevengeBeforeReason And then you destroy yourself.]]"''

->''"I was not lying. I said things [[NoExceptYes that later on seemed to be untrue.]]"''

->''"I played by [[InherentInTheSystem the rules of politics as I found them.]]"''

->''"[[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem Well, when the President does it that means that it is not illegal.]]"''

->''"[[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,902452,00.html Nixon's the One]]"''

->''"''[T]''he weirdest man ever to sit in the Oval Office."''

->''"My God, if I had done everything Richard Nixon told me to do, I'd probably be in Leavenworth today!"''

->''"We were going after an espionage ring, not just Daniel Ellsberg... We didn't know if there were [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness spies all over this country ]]at that point..."''

->''"The President wants me to argue that he is as powerful a monarch as UsefulNotes/LouisXIV, only four years at a time, and is not subject to the processes of any court in the land except the court of impeachment."''

->''“In America, the President is the emperor in addition to being the prime minister. He is, no matter that his term as such is limited, the sovereign. When it is contemplated to execute the king, it is necessary to think first about the consequences on the people, rather than on the judicial poetry of the sentence... If Nixon were impeached, the punishment [[ShameIfSomethingHappened would be visited primarily on the state]]... it is necessary to remind oneself that the sovereign is unique: that the punishment of the whole of the state is never justified.”''

->(weeping) ''"I don't think any president has been more wrongly persecuted than Nixon, [[WorstWhateverEver ever]]. I just think he was a saint."''

->''"Richard Nixon is a no good, lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he'd lie [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat just to keep his hand in.]]"''

->''"Do you realize the responsibility I carry? [[OnlyICanKillHim I'm the only person]] standing between Richard Nixon and the White House."''

->''“He’s like a Spanish horse who runs faster than anyone for the first nine lengths and then [[EpicFail turns around and runs backwards]]. You’ll see; he’ll do something wrong in the end. He always does.”''

->''"The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of [[PointyHairedBoss political adolescents]] to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.''

->''"Can you imagine what this man would have been if someone loved him?"''

->''"Nixon is not to be explained, he is not to be rationalized at all."''
-->--'''Creator/SammyDavisJr''' on his buyer's remorse

->''"It struck me from time to time that Nixon, as a character, would have been so easy to fix, in the sense of removing these rather [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex petty flaws]]. And yet, I think it's also true that if you did this, you would probably have removed that very inner core of insecurity that led to his drive. A secure Nixon almost surely, in my view, would never have been president of the United States at all."''

->''"How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic president, so brilliant and so morally lacking?"''

->''"When Nixon took office, ''[he]'' tried to persuade the public that protest would not affect him. But he almost went berserk when [[FauxHorrific one lone pacifist]] picketed the White House."''

->''"He could shake your hand and stab you in the back at the same time... He was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning."''

->''"Not even Richard Nixon felt comfortable around Richard Nixon."''
-->-- '''{{Website/Cracked}}'''

->''"He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears but by diligent hard work, [[BaitAndSwitchComment he overcame them.]]"''

->''"It was Kissinger who inaugurated the second front or [[StateSec home front]] of the war; illegally wiretapping the telephones even of his own staff and of his journalistic clientele... Incredibly, he contrived to argue in public with some success that if it were not for democratic distempers like the impeachment process [[BastardlySpeech his own selfless, necessary statesmanship]] would have been easier to carry out."''
-->-- '''ChristopherHitchens'''

->''"He is ours in a way that the queen is not England's, because she was invented by history, while Nixon [[MixAndMatchMan made himself up]], with [[AbstractApotheosis a lot of help from all of us]]... In Nixon we are able to observe our faults larger than life. But we can also, if we try, see in this huge, dusty mirror our virtues as well."''

->''"''Film/DirtyHarry'', in 1971, was the first formation of the Nixonian hero. Or, no, let's be even more accurate, he was the second. Nixon was the first. The avatar of our own internal darkness, Nixon was brought out of the most needed retirement in human history to serve as the electoral knight of the forces of inertia. No. Not inertia. Nixon was not merely a force of non-change, but a force of [[GrumpyOldMan rolling back change]]. He is our id turned to the task of undoing human progress...''Dirty Harry'' is merely what happens when one undertakes the insane task of turning Richard Nixon into an action hero."''

->''"I've been saying for many years that we don't really have a two party system in this country, and certainly we don't really even have the appearance of one...UsefulNotes/BillClinton and his '[[NewEraSpeech New Democrats]]' did away with all that by putting the last knife in the back of the working class, though in truth the process began when Nixon -- so-called champion of the Silent Majority-- went to China to open up its labor camps and sweatshops to American corporations."''
-->--'''[[http://secretsun.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2014-11-14T10:37:00-05:00&max-results=3 Christopher Loring Knowles]]'''

->''"''Sub specie aeternetatis'', one set of politicians spying upon and sabotaging another is hardly of cosmic significance. But oh the deliciousness as the whole sleazy, robotic crew, even unto the highest reaches of the White House, [[LaserGuidedKarma gets its comeuppance!]] Every morning’s news brings further revelations, further scandal, as the network of the corruption of power extends upward and outward. One by one they topple, as the President becomes so short-handed that some have to [[DiggingYourselfDeeper double up on jobs]]. One thing is certain: it couldn’t have happened to [[SarcasmMode a nicer or more deserving bunch of guys, or to a more deserving institution]]."''

->''"I have tender feelings for Nixon, [[NostalgiaFilter because everybody has warm feelings about their childhood]]. Actually, I didn't like the Watergate trials 'cause they interrupted ''Series/TheMunsters''... Nixon was the last liberal president. [[WhatTheRomansHaveDoneForUs He supported women's rights, the environment, ending the draft, youth involvement]], and now he's the boogeyman? [John] Kerry couldn't even run on that today."''

->''"'''''Who's kicking who around now?!'''''"''

->''"'''''ARRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!'''''"''

->''"Forget the myths the media's created about the White House. The truth is, [[HanlonsRazor these are not very bright guys]], and things got out of hand."''

->''"How could [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong a simple burglary]] turn into all this?"''

->''"No matter how many awards or column inches are written about you, or how high the elected office is, [[DudeWheresMyRespect it's still not enough.]] We still feel like the little man. The loser. They told us we were a hundred times, the smart asses in college, the high ups. The well-born. The people who's respect we really wanted. Really craved. And isn't that why we work so hard now, why we fight for every inch?"''

->''"You don't understand. They're playing for keeps, buddy. The press, the kids, the liberals--they're out there, trying to figure out how to tear me down...This is about ''[[ItsAllAboutMe me]]''. Why can't you understand that, you of all people? It's not the war--It's '''[[ThirdPersonPerson Nixon!]]''' They want to destroy Nixon!"''

->'''Nixon''': Bold moves, Henry. That's what's needed right now. We can't let these fuckers think we're weak.
->'''Kissinger''': ''([[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent semi-intelligible]])'' Yes. They must fear [[TheCaligula the madman Richard Nixon.]]

-->-- '''Series/DoctorWho''', "[[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS32E1TheImpossibleAstronaut}} The Impossible Astronaut]]"

->''"There is an old Vulcan proverb: 'Only Nixon could go to China.'"''

->''"NO! I thought I made it clear the first time this came up: I ''don't want him in Hell''. [[EvenEvilHasStandards It's not fair to my other guests.]]"''

->''"I know I will go to hell, because [[KarmaHoudini I pardoned Richard Nixon.]]"''
-->-- '''UsefulNotes/GeraldFord''' (attributed)

->''"The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.''
-->-- '''UsefulNotes/GeraldFord'''

->'''Nixon''': Bold moves, Henry. That's what's needed right now. We can't let these fuckers think we're weak.\\
'''Kissinger''': ''([[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent semi-intelligible]])'' Yes. They must fear [[TheCaligula the madman Richard Nixon.]]

-->-- ''In the Arena'' (memoir)

-->--'''Music/SammyDavisJr''' on his buyer's remorse

->''"The President wants me to argue that he is as powerful a monarch as LouisXIV, only four years at a time, and is not subject to the processes of any court in the land except the court of impeachment."''

!!!Quotes by Nixon

!!!Quotes about Nixon

!!!Nixon in fiction

-->--After [[SoreLoser losing]] the California gubernatorial election, 1962

-->--"What Has Happened to America?" (1967)

-->--Transcripts from White House tapes, 1971

-->--Transcripts from 1972

-->--Quoted by William Safire, ''Before The Fall'', prologue (1975).

-->--During a phone call from Sec. State Kissenger reporting a lack of progress on Vietnamese [[GunboatDiplomacy peace talks]] (attributed by David Young)

-->--Televised press conference with the Associated Press, 1973

-->--Farewell speech following his resignation from the Presidency, White House East Room (8.9.74)

-->--'''White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman'''.

-->--'''Gen. Alexander Haig'''

-->--'''Egil Krough''', Watergate "plumber'

-->--'''James D. St. Clair''', defense counsel in ''United States v. Nixon''

-->--'''William F. Buckley''', ''New York Post'', 4.28.1973

-->--'''Ben Stein''', ''All the Presidents Men: Revisited'' (2013)

-->--'''UsefulNotes/HarryTruman'''

-->--'''UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy''' (attributed)

-->--'''UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson'''

-->--Cabinet member '''Elliot Richardson'''

-->--'''Howard Zinn''', ''A People's History of the United States''

-->--'''''{{Website/Cracked}}'''''

-->--Journalist '''James Reston'''

-->--'''ChristopherHitchens'''

-->--'''[[http://projectnes.blogspot.com/2011/01/walter-pretending-dirty-harry.html Phil Sandifer]]'''

-->--'''[[http://bastiat.mises.org/2014/07/princetonhistorianjustgetoverwatergatealready/ Ryan McMaken]]'''

-->--'''JonathanCoulton''', "The Presidents"

-->--'''Music/ManicStreetPreachers''', "The Love of Richard Nixon"

-->--'''Music/PhilOchs''', "Here's To the State of Richard Nixon"

-->--'''Curtis Mayfield''', "If There's Hell Below, We're All Going to Go"

-->--'''EltonJohn''', "Postcards From Richard Nixon'", about Elton and lyricist Bernie Taupin first arriving in L.A. and providing escapism for American music listeners during the Nixon administration.

-->--'''Giant cyborg Nixon''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

-->--'''[[BrainInAJar Ordinary disembodied Nixon]]''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

-->--'''Deep Throat''', ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''

-->--'''''The Final Days''''' (1989 film)

-->--'''''Film/FrostNixon'''''

-->--'''''{{Film/Nixon}}''''' (1995 film)

-->--'''''{{Film/Watchmen}}'''''

-->--'''''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica''''' #175

-> '''River Song''': Richard Milhous Nixon. Vietnam, Watergate...there's some good stuff too.\\

-->--'''Jules Fieffer''', [[http://www.adambaumgoldgallery.com/feiffer_jules/dick_n_pat_outlaw_footballWB.jpg political cartoon]]

-->--Transcripts from 1971

-->--Transcript from White House tapes, 1972

-->-- '''[[HunterSThompson Hunter S. Thompson]]'''

-->-- '''[[HunterSThompson Hunter S. Thompson]]''', in his obituary to Richard Nixon, "[[http://www.theatlantic.com/past/unbound/graffiti/crook.htm He Was A Crook]]".

-->-- '''[[HunterSThompson Hunter S. Thompson]]'''

-->--'''''FrostNixon'''''

!!!Nixon in fiction
->''"Do you remember\
Your President Nixon?\\
Do you remember\\
The bills you have to pay\\
For even yesterday?!"''
-->-- '''DavidBowie''', "Young Americans"

->''"Nixon was a sweating, filthy liar..."''
-->--'''JonathanCoulton''', "The Presidents"

->''"The love of Richard Nixon\\
Death without assassination\\
The love of Richard Nixon\\
Yeah they all betrayed you\\
People forget China\\
And your war on cancer\\
Yeah they all betrayed you\\
Yeah and your country too"''
-->--'''Music/ManicStreetPreachers''', "The Love of Richard Nixon"

->''"Oh here's to the land you've torn out the heart of\\
Richard Nixon, [[GetOut find yourself another country]] to be part of"''
-->--'''Music/PhilOchs''', "Here's To the State of Richard Nixon"

->''"Everybody smoke\\
Use the pill and the dope\\
Educated fools\\
From uneducated schools\\
Pimping people is the rule\\
Polluted water in the pool\\
And Nixon talkin' 'bout '[[HeadInTheSandManagement don't worry]]'\\
He says 'don't worry[='=]"''
-->--'''Curtis Mayfield''', "If There's Hell Below, We're All Going to Go"

->''"And Richard Nixon’s on his knees he’s sent so many overseas''\\
''He’d like to know if you and me could help him in some way''\\
''[[VillainWithGoodPublicity A little camouflage and glue]] to mask the evil that men do''\\
''A small diversion caused by two''\\
''Pale kids come to play''\\
''And we heard Richard Nixon say, 'Welcome to the USA'"''
-->--'''EltonJohn''', "Postcards From Richard Nixon'", about Elton and lyricist Bernie Taupin first arriving in L.A. and providing escapism for American music listeners during the Nixon administration.

->''"We are amazed but not amused''\\
''By all the things you say that you'll do''\\
''Though much concerned but not involved''\\
''With decisions that are made by you''\\
''But we are sick and tired of hearing your song''\\
''Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong''\\
'''Cause if you really want to hear our views''\\
''You haven't done nothin'"''
-->-- '''Music/StevieWonder''', "You Haven't Done Nothin'", written about Nixon following his resignation.

->''"'''''Who's kicking who around now?!'''''"''
-->--'''Giant cyborg Nixon''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

->''"'''''ARRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!'''''"''
-->--'''[[BrainInAJar Ordinary disembodied Nixon]]''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

->''"Forget the myths the media's created about the White House. The truth is, [[HanlonsRazor these are not very bright guys]], and things got out of hand."''
-->--'''Deep Throat''', ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''

->''"No matter how many awards or column inches are written about you, or how high the elected office is, [[DudeWheresMyRespect it's still not enough.]] We still feel like the little man. The loser. They told us we were a hundred times, the smart asses in college, the high ups. The well-born. The people who's respect we really wanted. Really craved. And isn't that why we work so hard now, why we fight for every inch?"''
-->--'''''FrostNixon'''''

->''"You don't understand. They're playing for keeps, buddy. The press, the kids, the liberals--they're out there, trying to figure out how to tear me down...This is about ''[[ItsAllAboutMe me]]''. Why can't you understand that, you of all people? It's not the war--It's '''[[ThirdPersonPerson Nixon!]]''' They want to destroy Nixon!"''
-->--'''''{{Film/Nixon}}''''' (1995 film)

->'''Nixon''': Bold moves, Henry. That's what's needed right now. We can't let these fuckers think we're weak.\\
'''Kissinger''': ''([[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent semi-intelligible]])'' Yes. They must fear [[TheCaligula the madman Richard Nixon.]]
-->--'''''{{Film/Watchmen}}'''''

->'''Captain America''': All right, Mister! End of the line! Now let's [[DramaticUnmask have a look underneath your cowl]] before--Good lord! [[YouExclamation YOU!!]]\\
'''Nixon:''' Exactly! But high political office didn't satisfy me! My power was still too constrained by legalities!
-->--'''''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica''''' #175

-> '''River Song''': Richard Milhous Nixon. Vietnam, Watergate...there's some good stuff too.\\
'''The Doctor''': Not enough.\\
'''Song''': Hippie!
-->-- '''Series/DoctorWho''', "[[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS32E1TheImpossibleAstronaut}} The Impossible Astronaut]]"

->'''Pat Nixon:''' What are all those thousands of people doing down on the field, Dick?\\
'''Dick:''' It's the Half Time entertainment, Pat.\\
'''Pat:''' What are they holding up signs saying 'Withdraw Our Troops', Dick?\\
'''Dick:''' GET MITCHELL! We have to [[AllCrimesAreEqual outlaw football.]]
-->--'''Jules Fieffer''', [[http://www.adambaumgoldgallery.com/feiffer_jules/dick_n_pat_outlaw_footballWB.jpg political cartoon]]

->''"There is an old Vulcan proverb: 'Only Nixon could go to China.'"''
-->-- '''Spock''', ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''

->''"NO! I thought I made it clear the first time this came up: I ''don't want him in Hell''. [[EvenEvilHasStandards It's not fair to my other guests.]]"''
-->-- '''The Devil''', ''WesternAnimation/GodTheDevilAndBob''

->''Do you remember\

For even yesterday?!''

->''The love of Richard Nixon\\

Yeah and your country too''

->''Oh here's to the land you've torn out the heart of\\
Richard Nixon, find yourself another country to be part of.''

->''Everybody smoke\\

He says 'don't worry[='=]''

->''And Richard Nixon’s on his knees he’s sent so many overseas''\\

''And we heard Richard Nixon say, "Welcome to the USA"''

->''We are amazed but not amused''\\

''You haven't done nothin'.''

->''"People react to [[HobbesWasRight fear]], not love. They don't teach that in Sunday school, but it's true."''
-->--Quoted by William Safire, ''Before The Fall'', prologue (1975).

!Fiction

!Quotes by Nixon

!Quotes about Nixon

->''"You won't have Nixon to kick around any more."''
-->--'''Nixon in 1962'''

-->--'''Nixon in 1973'''

->(to Kennedy's portrait)'' "When they [the American people] look at you, [[TheAce they see what they want to be]]. When they look at me, [[ThisLoserIsYou they see what they are]]."''
-->-- Attributed, ''Final Days'', p. 303

->''"People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Well, I'm NOT a crook.]] I've earned everything I got."''
-->--'''Nixon in 1973'''

->''"Let's look at the strong societies. [[ArsonMurderAndAdmiration The Russians.]] Goddamn, they root 'em out... You think the Russians allow dope? Homosexuality, dope, immorality, are the enemies of strong societies."''
-->--Transcripts from 1971