Why was Nixon so hated by liberals at his time?

[Sir Mohamed]

Why was Richard Nixon so disliked or hated by liberals; even before Watergate? I mean he wasn't a staunch conservative, especially not as president. He supported civil rights, had accomplishments on the environment, did not end social programs, was socially a moderate and pursued detente. Even Reagan was more liked by Democrats at the time, and he was far more conservative than Nixon. If you ask me, Nixon would be too liberal for the modern GOP.

[Cassius]

Three reasons I think:

1. Nixon established and maintained a reputation as a staunch anti-communist, and did this partly via campaigning on the theme strongly in his early political career (in both his house and senate races), and partly via associating himself, at least initially, with Joe McCarthy and the HUAC in the late 40s and early 50s.
2. The way Nixon conducted himself, especially in his early political career, was often quite aggressive (one of the reasons Eisenhower selected him to be his running mate was essentially that he could be the 'nasty cop' to his 'nice cop' during the campaign). The various charges of corruption didn't exactly improve his image in the eyes of liberals either.
3. In the latter part of his political career, Nixon positioned himself as the voice of 'Middle America's' backlash against political agitators, hippies, draft dodgers, rioters and the like, and his rhetoric essentially targeted 'liberals' (his description of his constituency as the 'non shouters, non demonstrators' implied the opposite of liberals) and pointed the finger of blame squarely at them for the troubles America was facing both at home and abroad.

Of course, Nixon had a very long career at the forefront of national politics, and had to adapt himself to the changing political scene - however, people did remember the Nixon of previous years, and his reputation as a hardline anti-communist attack dog stuck with him throughout his political career.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Cause he exposed a communist spy in the government, which to liberals is the worst thing you can do

[NeverAgain]

Cause he exposed a communist spy in the government, which to liberals is the worst thing you can do

lol.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Because of his role in the Hiss case.  Then, after Watergate, they piled on, accusing him of other crimes he DIDN'T commit.

[Sir Mohamed]

Cause he exposed a communist spy in the government, which to liberals is the worst thing you can do

I doubt this. I first also thought about his anti-communism (but he pursued detente nevertheless), but almost all leading politicans were anti-communists at that time, including liberals like Truman, JFK and LBJ.

[Cassius]

Cause he exposed a communist spy in the government, which to liberals is the worst thing you can do

I doubt this. I first also thought about his anti-communism (but he pursued detente nevertheless), but almost all leading politicans were anti-communists at that time, including liberals like Truman, JFK and LBJ.

I don't think many liberals found his anti-communism that problematic in principle, I think it was more the vociferousness with which he espoused anti-communist rhetoric during his earlier career that turned them off to him.

[Blair]

Surely his bombing of Cambodia and other foreign policy issues were a part once he was President

[OSR stands with Israel]

Cause he exposed a communist spy in the government, which to liberals is the worst thing you can do

I doubt this. I first also thought about his anti-communism (but he pursued detente nevertheless), but almost all leading politicans were anti-communists at that time, including liberals like Truman, JFK and LBJ.

well he exposed a commie spy in the truman admin which made dems look bad , not the anti commie part but the fact that a spy was in the goverment during dem rule and he exposed it made thaem hate him

[Lincoln Republican]

Nixon had the persona of someone who was insecure, vengeful, paranoid, dishonest, manipulative, and was not easy to like among Republicans and conservatives, let alone by Democrats and liberals, but he was a politician extraordinaire.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Cause he exposed a communist spy in the government, which to liberals is the worst thing you can do

I doubt this. I first also thought about his anti-communism (but he pursued detente nevertheless), but almost all leading politicans were anti-communists at that time, including liberals like Truman, JFK and LBJ.

I don't think many liberals found his anti-communism that problematic in principle, I think it was more the vociferousness with which he espoused anti-communist rhetoric during his earlier career that turned them off to him.

Exactly. RFK worked for Joe McCarthy and he never apologized for it.

[All Along The Watchtower]

this is so Atlas

[Antonio the Sixth]

Here we go again... *sigh*

[Mr. Smith]

'Nam, gutting PBS [or trying to but Mr. Rogers saved that], beginning deregulation, and Watergate are some excellent reasons.

Also, the Overton Window was in the correct place of politics [instead of in this f&*ked up right-wing dystopia that Reaganomics brought forth], so Nixon was actually somewhat conservative.

Adjust the window rightwards and split the politics with Barack "I would've been a Reagan Reupblican in the '80's" Obama, and the personality with Hillary Clinton [because nothing annoys the media and outgoing ideologues like an introvert], and you could easily ask in a decade "Why did conservatives hate Obama and Hillary so?".

[dead0man]

Nixon had the persona of someone who was insecure, vengeful, paranoid, dishonest, manipulative, and was not easy to like..., but was a politician extraordinaire.

Hillary?  Ok, maybe not insecure.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

For the same reason Clinton was hated by conservatives so much...he often co-opted their issues. Just like Nixon was better than Kennedy and Johnson on issues like school desegregation and the environment, Clinton was better than Reagan and Bush on issues like crime and welfare reform.

Why was Reagan better-liked the Nixon even though he was further to the right? I can think of two things...

1. There was no major war during Reagan's presidency (unlike Nixon and Dubya)...that may have kept liberals' hate in check somewhat

2. Reagan's a hard guy to hate as a person...he's too charismatic. That's not the case with Nixon

[SWE]

jesus christ what is this