Historians have examined the rise to power of Adolf
Hitler in Germany and asked, “How did this happen?” We must now examine the
rise to power of Richard M. Nixon, former President of the United States, and
also ask, “How did this happen?”
Fortunately the U.S.
Constitution, the balance of powers in the U.S. government, and Nixon’s demise
for other reasons prevented Nixon from doing as much harm as Hitler. Otherwise
Nixon might have fulfilled his stated desire to end the Vietnam war by bombing
Southeast Asia into oblivion.
But why, after the success of
the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, was a racist elected President of the
United States twice, in 1968 and 1972?
The racism of Nixon is now
documented, using Nixon’s own words from his secret tapes, in this YouTube
series produced by Harry Shearer, “Nixon’s the One.” Boston Globe staff writer Matthew
Gilbert nicely summed up this series in his review, “Nixon,word for word” (Boston Globe, November
23, 2014, N16).
Nixon’s racist comments are
shocking. His words are what we could expect from a leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
He blames Jews for the nation’s ills, insults blacks and Latinos, and thinks
homosexuality caused the decline of ancient empires.
Probably most people who voted
for Nixon did not know of his racism. Why, and how, were Nixon’s racist views
kept from the public? Surely he must have expressed them before his election to
President. He had been Vice-President for eight years, and before that a
senator from California.
Just as many Germans alive in
the 1940s said that they did not know that Jews were being exterminated, now
Americans who voted for Nixon may say that they did not know that Nixon was a
racist.
Perhaps they are correct. But
why didn’t the public know?
In response to Gilbert’s review,
I wrote the following letter that was published in the Boston Globe, Sunday,
November 30, 2014, N20 (“Feedback” in the SundayArts section)(not online):
