Nixon was sleaze well before he ran afoul of Kennedy. He earned the name “Tricky Dick” for his campaign in California against Helen Douglas. I’ve provided a link to a pretty good discussion of that. What it doesn’t mention is Nixon’s snide (and sleazy) remark that even Douglas’s underwear was pink. When I read that many years ago, I thought that Douglas had blown the opportunity to ask Nixon if Pat knew he was checking out other women’s underwear drawers…
Nixon was sleaze well before he ran afoul of Kennedy. He earned the name “Tricky Dick” for his campaign in California against Helen Douglas. I’ve provided a link to a pretty good discussion of that. What it doesn’t mention is Nixon’s snide (and sleazy) remark that even Douglas’s underwear was pink. When I read that many years ago, I thought that Douglas had blown the opportunity to ask Nixon if Pat knew he was checking out other women’s underwear drawers…
http://www.californiascapitol.com/2011/11/how-tricky-dick-nixon-became-tricky-dick/
And let us not forget “Checkers”…
Or “a plan to end the war” …
Another thing about Nixon/Kennedy is that Joseph Kennedy Sr. was a big fan of Nixon.
Nixon could have been remembered as a great statesman, but he couldn’t overcome his own failings.