Nixon brought Greenspan and several other Jews from private business into government service in his administration, e.g., Arthur Burns, Herb Stein, Ben Stein, Henry Kissinger, Leonard Garment, Bill Safire. In some instances, Nixon rescued them from an obscurity they richly deserved, e.g., Burns urged wage-and-price controls on Nixon.
As for Nixon and the Jews, all that need be said on this subject was concisely said by Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin: "Clinton's not the best friend Israel ever had. Bush was OK, Carter was God-awful, Reagan was wonderful to us, but Israel's life was endangered only once and the man who saved us was Richard Nixon. Thank God for Richard Nixon."
As for the relative intelligence of the U.S. Presidents of the 20th century, most objective analysts conclude that Nixon was likely the most intelligent of the group. If anything else need be said on this subject, it was said by another, more gifted economist than Greenspan, namely, Milton Friedman who, when asked his opinion of Nixon by Charlie Rose in a PBS interview, replied:
"Nixon was one of the most intelligent men I have ever known."
Amen.
One of the most annoying discussion topics I encounter on liberal message boards is “worst president ever” threads naming Richard M. Nixon. I was only ages 6-11 during his tenure but I as most non-leftist Americans do, remember him to be probably one of the most effective administrators in government of the 20th century. To think they dragged him down and ruined the man over the perception of his dishonesty- the country went along with it because by golly, they would clean up Washington politics once and for all!
We had no idea what a good thing we had and kicked him to the curb.
I didn’t think much about Dick Nixon until one Sunday morning I happened to be up and Meet the Press was on, must have been around 1987 or so. It was not long before his death, and at the time IIRC the Gipper was giving some rather embarrassing performances on Capital Hill, not to cast aspersion on him but he wasn’t too sharp with his defense on Iran-Contra.
A young Tim Russert was guest hosting and had a long interview with the former President and it was both a treat and very sad at the same time. His mind was like walking into a library with every question Russert asked, Nixon’s brilliance, especially in foreign policy, was incredible. I say sad because while Reagan was a great motivator, and inspiring speech giver, I felt if Nixon had been getting grilled on Capital Hill he would be the one embarrassing them. Sharp as a tack.
What struck me was the impression I got of Nixon’s character. I’d almost been taken by his critics’ revisionist impression of him as a dishonest, fearful little man but he was both humble and confident, and above all sincere.
The last thing Russert asked was what his greatest regret of his career was. You might expect “that I didn’t tell the truth right away” or “that I didn’t fight the charges” or some variance of such a selfish hope to repeal a mistake, salvaging his humiliation. No, he said it was his failure to assertively take command of the situation in Vietnam and immediately bomb Hanoi, in defiance of Congress. Had he done so, he said, he would have saved countless thousands of lives of both US soldiers and Vietnamese citizens, a mistake he said that weighed heavy on him since he left office and would until he died.
I thought that was a very selfless thing to hold as your biggest regret, considering his career’s end.
(sorry about the length, thought I’d share a little respect for a man who rarely gets any)