Word: nixon
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...hard edge returned when Nixon compared Gorbachev with two other Soviet leaders he had dealt with: "Unlike ((Nikita)) Khrushchev, he has no inferiority complex. He is totally confident, in command, and secure . . . Gorbachev is as tough as ((Leonid)) Brezhnev but better educated, more skillful, more subtle . . . Brezhnev used a meat axe in his negotiations. Gorbachev uses a stiletto. But beneath the velvet glove he always wears there is a steel fist...
...major objection to SDI," Nixon wrote, was "because he believed that if SDI went forward there would be a massive spiral in the arms race." Once again, Nixon's memo implied that he agreed with Gorbachev, and he urged Reagan to consider a strategic arms deal that would protect the U.S.'s right to continue "purposeful research" in SDI while trading restrictions on deployment for reductions in Soviet missiles...
...memo also contained a number of personalized grace notes that could only have been flattering to Reagan -- and therefore might have made him more receptive to Nixon's advice that he should deal with Gorbachev: "I sensed that Gorbachev's attitude toward the President and the First Lady was one of genuine affection. His last words to me as I was leaving his office in the Kremlin were, 'Give my warmest regards to President Reagan and to Lady Nancy...
...memo concludes with a pungent reminder -- to Reagan and to history -- that Richard Nixon, while priding himself on his pragmatism and statesmanship, yields to no one in his basic distrust of all Soviets, including Gorbachev. "He is the most affable of all the Soviet leaders I have met, but at the same time without question the most formidable because his goals are the same as theirs and he will be more effective in attempting to achieve them," Nixon wrote. "What we must always bear in mind in dealing with the Soviets is that while lying is an accepted practice...
When people talk politics, they often drift into the realm of the absurd as the evening grows old. What if Ted Kennedy ran against Richard Nixon? And later, by bedtime: What if Johnny Carson were a candidate? Now a nationwide poll for Spy magazine answers these pressing questions. Kennedy, for example, would beat Nixon decisively, 52% to 29%. As for following Reagan from Hollywood into politics, the clear favorite is Charlton Heston, followed by Paul Newman and Bill Cosby. (Carson comes in sixth.) Asked which candidates seem the "craziest," voters singled out Jesse Jackson, Pat Robertson and Alexander Haig...