In Search of Nixon by Bruce Mazlish

Author:Bruce Mazlish [Mazlish, Bruce]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Historical, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781351513012
Google: CzMrDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-07-05T04:58:31+00:00

5 The Presidential Nixon

What are the characteristics of Nixon as President? How can we relate the projections of his personal drama to the political arena and to his conception of the Presidential role?

Preliminary to our effort to establish this relation, we must remind ourselves of a difficulty to be borne constantly in mind. How are we to distinguish what is particularly personal to Nixon from what is characteristic of all politicians? This is a sticky issue for all psychohistorical work. The need to believe well of oneself, to think of oneself as principled and fair, and to avoid self-examination seems to be characteristic of politicians as a group; as the journalist David Broder suggested to me, perhaps it is a minimum requirement of their egos to sustain them against "the terrific competitive pressures of their profession." So, too, simple political necessity often forces politicians to take public positions during a campaign diametrically opposed to what they know to be right and truthful. Once again, the question of "degree" arises. More than this, however, the question of "fit" also is raised: the way in which an individual's personality allows him to be a "typical" politician (Adlai Stevenson obviously had difficulties in this respect), and the ways in which the behavior of politicians "fits" the expectations of their constituents.

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