Nixon was elected in 1968 by claiming that he'd end the war in Vietnam almost immediately. I was 18 years old at the time and this was a BIG DEAL to all of us!
He got himself elected, and INSTEAD of ending the war he escalated everything. He did a turnaround and said the US had to negotiate a "Peace With Honor" whatever that bullshit means. The war was still going on when he ran for re-election 4 years later. So many of our boys were killed and wounded in Vietnam and Cambodia. So many lives were ruined by the war protests, splitting for Canada, draft-dodging, etc.
Yes Nixon did some progressive stuff but it had nothing to do with socialism. It had to do with getting re-elected in 1972 - which he managed to do in a landslide. Nobody in Congress screamed about "the bloody deficit" in those days for a number of reasons, mainly having to do with tax moneys coming in at record rates.
Looking at Nixon's record as a whole, the evil of the Vietnam War and his Watergate lies really outweigh the good legislation he did pass. I think those progressive programs would have happened even if Hubert Humphrey had won in 1968. And if Humphrey HAD won, the war would have been over before 1970. I can guarantee it.
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