Do you know Golda Meir called Nixon - she said she needed his help or Israel would not survive. Nixon said when he was a child, his mother told him one day he would be in a position to help Israel and make sure you help them.
Nixon in turned sent everything that Golda asked for and, as we know, they survived! Now he already knew he was in ‘hot water’ politically/water gate - at this time but he did not care about himself so he did the right thing for Israel! That was MAJOR. The right man, in the right position at the right time!
That is one of the items I lumped into how excellent he was in foreign affairs.
Do you recall the “Cambodian Incursion”. Allowed to procede, it would have completely cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Of course the Dems in the house principally and Walter Cronkite complained so much one would have thought Nixon ordered the nuking of Haiphong Harbor. Anyway, he was politically forced to withdraw and the rest is history.