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How Nixon Considered Himself a Conservative
A History of the American People | 1997 | Paul Johnson

Posted on 06/21/2005 7:31:19 PM PDT by gusopol3

p.746:The history of the media towards Nixon and his administration, which became more and more intense in 1970-72, mingled with the attacks by the new youth culture toward authority of any kind, gave a misleading impression that Nixon was in trouble. It led the Democrats, in 1972, to permit themselves the indulgence of a candidate who was popular with the students and the liberal media, George McGovern of South Dakota. His platform was an immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Viet Nam and an increase in welfare spending. Nixon was delighted. He told his staff:"Here is a situation where the Eastern Establishment media finally has a candidate who almost totally shares their views." The "real ideological bent of the New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and the three TV networks" was "on the side of amnesty, pot, abortion,confiscation of wealth (unless it is theirs), massive increases in welfare, unilateral disarmament, reduction in our defenses and surrender in Viet Nam." At last, he concluded, "the country will find out whether what the media has been standing for during these last five years really represents majority thinking."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: conservatives; nixon; pauljohnson; presidents

1 posted on 06/21/2005 7:31:19 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: gusopol3

A "big tent" conservative presents his credentials, whether he instituted wage and price controls, which he abandoned rather than extending or fine-tuning.


2 posted on 06/21/2005 7:35:09 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: gusopol3

Nixon was a conservative. People who didn't live through those times don't realize how much giving some lip-service to the liberals was a matter of life and death. They were just as goofy as they are now, but they also featured anti-Vietnam homicidal nuts.


3 posted on 06/21/2005 7:43:49 PM PDT by JennysCool (Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have.)
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To: JennysCool

I agree, which is why I'm dismayed at the ready acceptance of Kennedy on the boards and general disparagement of Nixon.


4 posted on 06/21/2005 7:47:30 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: gusopol3
Nixon was conservative by the standards of those days. He wouldn't be really considered one with his positions today.

JFK would be considered a conservative by today's standards.

And if that's not ironic, nothing is.

5 posted on 06/21/2005 7:48:11 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: gusopol3

I hear ya.


6 posted on 06/21/2005 7:49:19 PM PDT by JennysCool (Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have.)
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To: Dog Gone

sometimes a person's enemies define him better than anything else. Nixon's enemies were also Goldwater's, Reagan's and Bush's. The same people are friends of Kerry, McGovern and Kennedy.


7 posted on 06/21/2005 8:07:19 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: gusopol3
It's hard to argue with that. The only thing I can say in rebuttal is that the definition of a conservative has moved to the right over the past 50 years.

The left has pretty much stayed the same only they have adopted a much nastier tone since they lost power.

8 posted on 06/21/2005 8:13:06 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: JennysCool

I agree. Not a conservative on every issue mind you and a big-tent establishment Republican. Nixon was a pretty stuffy uptight guy who hated the wacky leftists. So did Spiro who was a former dem from Maryland. These guys had a blend of moderate and conservative elements to them.


9 posted on 06/21/2005 8:17:21 PM PDT by plain talk
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To: gusopol3

Nixon put perhaps the 2 most liberal justices on the Supreme Court.


10 posted on 06/21/2005 8:17:37 PM PDT by buckeyesrule (God bless Condi Rice!)
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To: Dog Gone

Anti-Communism was the big tent for conservatives. National Review got a whole lot less cohesive to me after the fall of the USSR.


11 posted on 06/21/2005 8:17:44 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: gusopol3

If you ever have a chance to watch Barry Goldwater's 1964 convention speech you'll notice that Nixon in the background was less than thrilled.


12 posted on 06/21/2005 8:19:06 PM PDT by buckeyesrule (God bless Condi Rice!)
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To: buckeyesrule

I know, and Whizzer White was probably Kennedy's best appointment. Remember, Nixon had two(?) probably more conservative appointees blocked-- one was Carswell.


13 posted on 06/21/2005 8:20:47 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: buckeyesrule

Goldwater's opening remark was to thank Nixon.


14 posted on 06/21/2005 8:21:55 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: Dog Gone
JFK would be considered a conservative by today's standards.

JFk was an NRA member, he wanted a strong defense- but yet avoided war, lowered taxes, supported american industry and jobs with tarriffs, prohibited trade with our enemies, was against crime esp the mafia, wanted a strong US dollar, kept the gold standard, was against federal deficits and submitted a balance federal budget,

No question that JFK is more conservative than any republican in or running for national office today.

15 posted on 06/21/2005 8:30:38 PM PDT by SandyB
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To: gusopol3
I'm no fan of the Kennedy's, any of them. The apple didn't fall from the tree in that family. History is nicer to assassinated Presidents than it might otherwise have been, especially when that President is the media's guy. Some of my extended family paid a price for Kennedy ambition, so I was given a different view of him than many.

Anyway, to understand it better, ya gotta look deeper than the guy at the top of the ticket. This article is a couple of years old, but might give a touch of context to help understand how things can seem so topsy turvy.

http://capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2865 Nixon,
16 posted on 06/21/2005 10:05:26 PM PDT by GoLightly
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To: SandyB

assassinated Diem, leading to Viet Nam involvement by slow degrees; was so "conservative" that Goldwater was traveling the country gathering forces to challenge him, and almost decided not to run when he was replaced by Johnson ( were conservatives at the time confused that they needed an alternative to the great "conservative" in the White House?); was so against the Mafia that he shared a "girlfriend" with Sam Giancana, and with crime in general that he let his AG brother off without investigation of his involvement with Marilyn Monroe on the day that she died; ordered up IRS investigations on folks with loud outboard motors on their boats; told everybody in the Presidential debate he was going to defend Quemoy and Matsu, off the coast of Formosa, but then failed to intervene on an island 90 miles from Florida; talked tough defense, but McNamara was his legacy.


17 posted on 06/22/2005 5:22:46 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: GoLightly

any analysis is incomplete without putting the liberal, monolithic media at the center of the web. Their ability to destroy, distort and censor was the prime factor of an awful lot that happened between 1960-80 and beyond.


18 posted on 06/22/2005 5:29:08 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: GoLightly

any analysis is incomplete without putting the liberal, monolithic media at the center of the web. Their ability to destroy, distort and censor was the prime factor of an awful lot that happened between 1960-80 and beyond.


19 posted on 06/22/2005 5:30:03 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: gusopol3

any reply is incomplete without posting it twice.


20 posted on 06/22/2005 5:31:10 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: gusopol3
any analysis is incomplete without putting the liberal, monolithic media at the center of the web. Their ability to destroy, distort and censor was the prime factor of an awful lot that happened between 1960-80 and beyond.

I agree, though I wanna start earlier. I don't know how much earlier, because I can't speak from personal experience. But, I know a little bit of the earlier history, so wanna include parts of it.

My family situation involved Dave Beck, tho it's complicated to explain how & why. Louis Nizer wrote about it in one of his books.

21 posted on 06/22/2005 6:26:33 PM PDT by GoLightly
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To: gusopol3

LOL


22 posted on 06/22/2005 6:26:59 PM PDT by GoLightly
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To: GoLightly

if you ever have time to outline the story, ping me. It sounds interesting. Thanks.


23 posted on 06/22/2005 7:30:52 PM PDT by gusopol3
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To: gusopol3
your list is pretty trivial compared to mine. I really dont care about outboard motors or who his girlfriend was. The fact is, that he did NOT make vietnam an american war. He did intervene in cuba with a total naval embargo.

If your list is the best you can come up with, it makes Kennedy look pretty good, esp in these days when our current president has trillion dollar deficits, is buddies with communist china, and is involved in an endless war in the middle east - something Kennedy would never have done.

24 posted on 06/22/2005 8:09:26 PM PDT by SandyB
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To: JennysCool
Nixon was a conservative

wage price controls, did not end the vietnam war(Eisenhower ended Korea in 6 months), took us off the gold standard, opened the door with communist china to where we are now dependent on the communist chinese for our manufactured goods and to lend us money, appointed liberals to the supreme court, etc.

25 posted on 06/22/2005 8:14:58 PM PDT by SandyB
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