FILE – Richard Nixon says goodbye with a victorious salute to his staff members outside the White House as he boards a helicopter after resigning the presidency on Aug. 9, 1974. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File) In so many ways, what was considered normal when it came to basic politics has been turned upside-down during the turbulent and ever more anarchistic Age of Trump. For more than a decade now, campaigning, communicating and vetting, has been plunged into a seemingly bottomless abyss of reimagined reality governed by continually changing ideological rules.
This new reality will likely affect the coming midterms as well as the 2028 presidential election. Should that turn out to be the case, how would high-profile politicians navigate such uncertainty? One possible path was recently revealed by Vice President JD Vance: Go “old school” to secure the new school.
The Wall Street Journal recently put out an article about how “Young Conservatives Have an Unlikely New Icon: Richard Nixon.” Some will argue that the young right’s fascination in all things Nixonian is an exaggeration and a fad. Others say that it is real and taking hold. I come down on the side believing that it is real and growing.
I say that as one who is blessed with a number of Gen Z nephews and nieces. Not only is Richard Nixon on their radar, so is Patrick Buchanan, Nixon’s former speechwriter and Ronald Reagan’s director of communications. History has taught us repeatedly that “everything old is new again.” To say that many in Gen Z have lost faith in the Democratic and Republican parties would be an understatement. Many now fear that the “American dream” is dead for them and that their nation is leaving them behind.
So, what to do? For some, it has been to get into the virtual time machine and look at past presidents and policies. As The Wall Street Journal pointed out, many did stop their travel to hover over the time of Nixon. And to be sure, many like what they see.
In conjunction with that reality, on June 25, Vice President Vance stopped by the Richard Nixon Presidential Library for a “candid conversation” on the issues shaping America’s future and to discuss his new book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back To Faith.” During the visit, it was intimated by many in the mainstream media and on the left that Vance uttered some controversial remarks about Nixon and Watergate.
Maybe. But one person’s definition of “controversial” might be another’s definition of “clever” and reading the room properly.
After his remarks, The New York Times’s headline was: “Vance Downplays Watergate and Compares Himself to Nixon.” The paper then further stated that the vice president said that the scandal that ended Nixon’s presidency “would be ‘like a 12-hour news story’ if it happened today” and that the “deep state” had taken down Nixon.
To be sure, there is a growing belief that the “deep state” had worked behind the scenes to take down Nixon. The same New York Times ran an op-ed in February titled: “Seven Pages of a Sealed Watergate File Sat Undiscovered. Until Now,” and conservative commenter Glenn Beck recently aired a podcast episode on “The Shocking Origins of the Deep State Finally Exposed.”
But like President Trump today, Nixon remains hated by the left and is a permanent lighting rod attracting massive energy any time his name is mentioned. That said, one can work to flip negative energy into a positive. It’s a tactic Vance seems to be employing, to great effect.
Of course, it would be a mistake for anyone to assume that the political and policy beliefs of Gen Z are monolithic or carved in granite. They are not. To be sure, many voters under the age of 30 seem to be quite curious about socialism and communism and how it might affect their lives. But many others, especially young men, are leaning more conservative — more old school — and are willing to think for themselves instead of having either political party or any ideology dictate their mindset.
Richard Nixon was a flawed human being. As are we all. But he was also, in many provable and lasting ways, an exceptional president — one who not only came from the working class but understood it and connected with it on a regular (and record-breaking vote-getting) basis.
JD Vance does exhibit some of the same positive attributes as Nixon. He was a senator like Nixon. He is a vice president at about the same age Nixon assumed the office. Both are “men of the people.”
As New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and others on the left push nation-destroying socialism onto the country, more and more young people desperate for a secure and prosperous future will read more about Nixon and see his strengths, policy positions and everyday connections reflected in Vance.
Going “old school” just might help Republicans keep the White House.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.
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