He created the EPA Started the "war on cancer" Ended the draft Did well with the deficit Guaranteed health care (which would become HMO's) Continued to work to end segregation and instituted Title IX, helping women gain fight discriminate.
[i][b]That said,[/b][/i] his extreme paranoia and eventual Watergate scandal worked to overshadow the good he'd accomplished. So did he do some good things? Undeniably. Was he a good president in the overall tenure of his office? Some would argue he tainted the institution and view of authority irreparably.
@Graylight Nixon never authorized the bungled Watergate burglary but he was seen as being part of the coverup after he learned about what the Committee to Re-Elect the President had stupidly done. I think it was blown way out of proportion by his enemies. If you want to crucify someone badly enough, you'll find any excuse. Watergate says more to me about Nixon's enemies than about Nixon, how badly they wanted to crucify that President. In his autobiography, Nixon says how his predecessors' election games were no different in terms of questionable morals or tactics than Watergate, but that the Democrats were held by a different standard and got away with things like that routinely, no one cared.
@SteinbockundLoewe He may not have sanctioned it, but it was Nixon's administration. He was, in all senses, the man on watch. As the man at the top, the responsibility lay with him. The fact he lied about it and obstructed justice made him all the more impeachable.
At least he had the grace to step down before that happened. Can you believe you can say that seriously? Nixon had the grace to stand down. We've fallen far.
Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, he was a good president except for that one little thing.....and just think people are getting away with so much worse these days. He almost looks angelic. Almost.