Nixon will be remembered as a classic case of a smart man shitting in his own nest. But he also shit in our nests, and that was the crime that history will burn on his memory like a brand. By disgracing and degrading the Presidency of the United States, by fleeing the White House like a diseased cur, Richard Nixon broke the heart of the American Dream.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Nixon is seen as someone who betrayed the American Dream.
- In plain terms
- He ruined his reputation and the country's spirit.
- What can you take from it?
- Leaders who betray trust damage the national spirit.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What defines a failed leader?
- How do scandals affect a nation?
Another view
Leadership flaws are often subjective.
More from Hunter S. Thompson
It is Nixon himself who represents that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character that almost every country in the world has learned to …
Permalink to quote #88 I went to the Democratic Convention as a journalist, and returned a cold-blooded revolutionary.(referring to the 1968 convention in Chicago]])
Permalink to quote #90 If the right people had been in charge of Nixon's funeral, his casket would have been launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean j…
Permalink to quote #87
Related quotes
In considering our traditional ties with the Commonwealth we should remember that it now differs greatly from the entity which existed 20 or 30 years ago. Many…
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher quote #1 Our great-grand-children, when they learn how we began this war by snatching glory out of defeat, and then swept on to victory, may also learn how the little h…
J. B. PriestleyJ. B. Priestley quote #2 When Nikita Khrushchev wrapped himself in the bloody mantle of the Czars he broke Hungary, he broke the little Communist parties over the western world, and he…
James CameronJames Cameron quote #3