[dd74]

Well, at least Ben Stein is fun to watch on TV. Nixon, on the other hand, should go down as the most underrated president of the 20th Century. Yes, he was instrumental in committing a crime and trying to cover it up. But everything Racerbvd lists is true. This man deserves much more credit, and not until the so-greatly-self-enamored Bernsteins of the world retire from the limelight, will that credit finally come to Nixon. After all, as far as Vietnam, at least he had a directive. Johnson just kept flinging more Americans into the fire.

I look at Nixon this way: he is a man who became president at the wrong time. The U.S. was eating itself alive then. If McGovern won, we'd probably be worse off. Yes, he was paranoid, and he lied, but honestly, who hasn't since then in the guise of Reagan, Clinton and Bush II. And with the exception of Clinton, both Reagan and Bush II have treaded on some pretty thin legal and/or ethical ice.

My thinking is if Nixon had been president instead of...say Carter...we wouldn't have the troubles we "think" we have in Mideast today.