# Nixon and well, kinda Trump... **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 19, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-and-well-kinda-trump/772399 "2016-11-19T03:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-and-well-kinda-trump/772399/1 "2016-11-19T03:43:35Z")
I am wondering what the older SD community recalls about what Nixon’s first election was like. Since Nixon was once McCarthy’s right-hand man in the Communist Witch Hunt, did Nixon’s election spread paranoia throughout the land sparking traumatic fears of a rebirth of McCarthyism after ruining many innocent and good people? How did America respond to the first election of Nixon? Or, did Nixon’s election pass in a relatively transparent fashion? I am a just a little too young to know. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-and-well-kinda-trump/772399/2 "2016-11-19T04:04:19Z")
Interesting thought that both Nixon and JFK were friends and admirers of the senator. Bobby worked for him, and he was always an honoured guest at the Compound. For some reason the word Compound appears to have gone out of fashion for estates. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-and-well-kinda-trump/772399/3 "2016-11-19T04:10:46Z")
Nixon was a progressive. You cannot compare him with Trump. Secondly, Nixon was a member of the _House_ UnAmerican Activities Committee. MacCarthy was a Senator and while Nixon did become a Senator eventually, he tended to stay away from MaCarthy, looking towards higher office. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-and-well-kinda-trump/772399/4 "2016-11-19T04:29:10Z")
As someone who lived thru the Nixon election, I can tell you it was _nothing_ like the Trump one. Nixon provided a Phoenix-like resurrection after his famous 1962 “last press conference” speech where he said [we didn’t have him to kick around anymore.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon's_last_press_conference) Then he came back so we could kick him some more. By “kick,” he meant “elect.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-and-well-kinda-trump/772399/5 "2016-11-19T04:41:05Z")
Nixon didn’t try to pretend he was an outsider. By 1968 he had been involved in Washington politics for over twenty years. His persona was that he was the insider who knew how to get things done (mainly getting America out of the Vietnam War) and that he was the mainstream candidate who would calm things down domestically. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-and-well-kinda-trump/772399/6 "2016-11-19T06:11:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > …(mainly getting America out of the Vietnam War)… '68 would have been pretty cool if it hadn’t been so hideously awful. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-and-well-kinda-trump/772399/7 "2016-11-19T13:30:52Z")
The remarkable thing about the '68 election was George Wallace running as an independent. He won 5 states. The second “remarkable” thing was the chaos that ensued at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. And yeah, Nixon was the consummate insider. Remember, he had been Eisenhower’s VP in the 50s.