Nixon's spirit of moderation

Aug. 9, 1974, brought a disappointing end to one of the greatest presidencies in our nation’s history. It was that day that Richard Milhous Nixon resigned in the face of certain impeachment.

Nixon’s role in Watergate and its cover-up was as stupid as it was unnecessary. Nixon won the 1972 election by a landslide. There was no need to break into the Democrats’ headquarters.

But it happened, and the consequences tarnished what was certain to be a fantastic legacy.

As a liberal, I’m not supposed to be saying this, but we could use more Richard Nixons. He was moderation epitomized. It was Nixon who initiated détente, laying the groundwork for the end of the Cold War. He enforced desegregation of schools in the South. He opened up China.

And the environmental regime we live with today was created during Nixon’s reign. The Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Air Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act were all signed into law by a Republican.

He did whatever he needed to do when he needed to do it. Facing rising inflation, Nixon implemented price and wage controls, making use of a power many Democrats would feel uncomfortable with today.

Nixon implemented federal affirmative action. He supported the Equal Rights Amendment.

He was not without flaws. A man of few strong principles, he did most of the above just for the votes. He bombed Cambodia. He routinely tried to enforce U.S. will on Latin American countries.

Nevertheless, when he arrived in the Soviet Union for a visit just a month and a half before his resignation, he was greeted by cheering crowds of Soviet citizens.

If Richard Nixon or someone like him appeared today, would we cheer for him? I seriously doubt it.

In 1974, Newt Gingrich kicked off his first congressional campaign with these words: “Greedy economic giants are raping the environment.”

That October, Gingrich gave a speech criticizing the big oil companies and demanding they open their record books for public inspection. This is hardly the Newt Gingrich, or the average Republican, of today. Maybe everything was just better in 1974.

There is some hope.

If Mitt Romney wins the nomination, we all know he will make it back to the ideological center in record time for the general election. On the off chance he beats Obama, he will probably govern America as he did Massachusetts — with a centrist stance.

Look at Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republicans of Maine. Snowe is pro-choice and voted to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Both are consistently endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT advocacy group in the United States.

I’m not saying Republicans need to be Democrats. Too often in our democracy do we destroy what makes our government great: ideological diversity.

However, Republicans today are, to quote Mitt Romney, “severely conservative.”

If only they were more like their most famous felon.

­— shlumorg@indiana.edu