Nixon’s Demise as a
Right-Wing Coup
Peter Schultz
Since Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980 and re-election in 1984, it’s obvious
that American politics has had a decidedly right-wing tone and substance. But
what if it hasn’t been recognized the degree to which the rise of right-wing
politics in the US was facilitated by left-wing politicians and players
participating in the overthrow of Richard Nixon? That is, what if Nixon’s
overthrow was engineered by conservatives who hated both his domestic and his
foreign policies and that they were successful because they had left-wing
allies who, for various reasons, also hated Nixon? And what if these
left-wingers didn’t understand that they were actually undermining the
possibility of a left-wing politics arising in the United States, a possibility
that seems until this day impossible?
To understand this, it is necessary to also understand that the conventional
narrative regarding the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s demise is more or less a
fairy tale. While Nixon was guilty of obstructing justice in trying to cover up
the burglary at the Watergate, the motivations that led to those burglaries
were nothing like those attributed to the Nixon administration. Moreover, what
Nixon and his supporters did regarding the 1972 presidential election had been
done quite often and was anything but unique. The motivations of Nixon’s
enemies, his right-wing enemies, were political while they knew or didn’t care
that the burglary itself was not political. These right-wingers were out to get
Nixon because he was willing to betray South Vietnam by seeking “peace with
honor” [but not with victory], because he went to mainland China wanting to
make China a legitimate member of the international community, and because he
sought détente with the Soviet Union. He was willing, therefore, to bargain with
“evil Communist empires.” From the outset of his administration, the Joint
Chiefs of Staff had been spying on Nixon and Kissinger, which led to the
creation of “the Plumbers,” Nixon’s way of trying to keep control of his
agenda. When Nixon learned of this spying, he refused to hold those responsible
accountable, in large part because he feared how the military would respond
were he to do so. And even to the end of his administration, Nixon seemed
unaware of just who his enemies were, e.g., Alexander Hair, Howard Hunt, and
James McCord.
As the right-wing opposition to Nixon grew and gained strength, they managed to
ally themselves with left-wingers who hated Nixon for his past sins, his
earlier anti-Communism, his take down of Alger Hiss, his “dog whistle”
politics, and his rejection of their bona fides as proper elites. The Watergate
burglary was like a gift to right-wingers because they could use it to draw
left-wingers into their opposition to Nixon and to use them to ensure his
demise, even his removal from the presidency. Thus, although the Watergate
burglary had very little to do with electoral politics, it could be used as the
centerpiece of what was said to be Nixon’s attack on American democracy. In
fact, Nixon and his minions did very little that was unusual with regard to
“dirty tricks.” Nonetheless, the left-wingers were only too happy to go after
“Tricky Dick,” even to the point of not considering what the broader political
implications would be of his demise. They didn’t seem to realize what was
actually going on, that by undoing Nixon, who was not a right-wing Republican,
they would be contributing to a right-wing coup so that anyone following Nixon
in the presidency would have to embrace right-wing causes, like ending détente
with the Soviet Union or rejecting a broader rapprochement with mainland China.
Not surprisingly, when Ford and Carter tried to continue some of Nixon’s
policies, both failed because of right-wing resistance, as was to be expected.
By successfully removing Nixon from the presidency, the right-wingers then took
center-stage, so to speak, in the drama of American politics. And along with
Nixon’s landslide victory in 1972, which destroyed the legitimacy of the
McGovern alternative in the Democratic Party, once Nixon was gone, driven from
office by both right-wingers and left-wingers, the strongest forces in American
politics were right-wing forces. So, by allowing themselves to be blinded by
their hatred of Richard Nixon, the left-wingers undermined themselves and the
possibility of a left-wing politics in the United States. The best they could
do was to rally around “New Democrats,” like Bill Clinton; that is, around
Democrats who seemed like “right-wingers lite.” And, of course, Clinton did
little more than continue what was called “the Reagan Revolution,” while trying
to disguise this fact with such meaningless programs as “Reinventing
Government.”
So, it would seem that the left-wingers did not recognize the political
implications of Nixon’s demise; that is, the implications for the character of
American politics broadly understood. And whatever the cause of this
phenomenon, by participating in the overthrow of Nixon, the left-wingers had
sealed their own fate. Henceforth, they would not, could not be a powerful
political force or play a central role in the American political drama.