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Richard Nixon has never been one of my favorite people anyway. For years I've regarded his existence as a monument to all the rancid genes and broken chromosomes that corrupt the possibilities of the American Dream; he was a foul caricature of himself, a man with no soul, no inner convictions, with the integrity of a hyena and the style of a poison toad. The Nixon I remembered was absolutely humorless; I couldn't imagine him laughing at anything except maybe a paraplegic who wanted to vote Democratic but couldn't quite reach the lever on the voting machine.

Hunter S. Thompson#81

PoliticsLeadershipCorruptionMoralitySymbolism

About this quote

What does it mean?
Nixon is depicted as a symbol of moral corruption and unfulfilled American potential.
In plain terms
Nixon represented a broken version of the American Dream.
What can you take from it?
Leaders can symbolize national moral failure.

Where it applies

  • historical judgment
  • political analysis

Putting it to work

  • critique symbolic leadership

Questions to consider

  • What does a leader represent?
  • How do you judge history?

Another view

Judging a leader solely by personal flaws ignores policy actions.

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