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.
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
Putting it to work
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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