Nixon was much smarter, of course, and he knew how to behave himself in public. Privately, however, he was a hot mess in some of the same ways as Trump. For example:
Nixon was a deeply insecure man who possessed a persecution complex and this shaped his interactions with political opponents and the press. He was a fierce political fighter, believing that each of his political battles possessed the highest stakes. Branding himself as an anti-communist crusader in the 1940s and 1950s, Nixon then ran on a platform of squashing the counter-cultural elements of the 1960s and standing up for an under-represented 'silent majority'. This proved to be an effective political strategy because it painted the picture that he and his supporters were victims of the same persecution.
Nixon was obsessed with his with public appearance and his standing versus past presidents. During the televised Kennedy-Nixon debate, Nixon had been compared unfavorably to the younger, handsome Kennedy and many experts believed that this unfavorable comparison swung the election in Kennedy's favor. Nixon ordered his aides to remove pictures of older presidents from the White House and hired Roger Ailes, who would later go on to found Fox News, to craft his public image. But while Nixon attempted to present a positive, controlled image to the public, Nixon's ambition and paranoia dominated his most controversial political actions.
Did he really love his country?
Nixon achieved his ultimate political success during the 1968 Presidential Election versus the Democratic candidate, Hubert Humphrey. It was here that Nixon engaged in arguably his most controversial plot which undermined President Lyndon Johnson. His campaign adviser, Anna Chennault, established a back-channel communication with the South Vietnamese to prolong the Vietnam War until Nixon was in office. Nixon placed his own ambition ahead of the lives of American servicemen so that he could be the one to negotiate the end to the conflict.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/characteristics-of-richard-nixon.html
And:
Nixon believed himself to have many public enemies — so many, in fact, his staff maintained an “enemies list” of more than 200 perceived media adversaries and political opponents. ... Kissinger’s lighthearted cracks merely fueled Nixon’s paranoia. When Kissinger began publicly joking about Nixon, Nixon ordered that Kissinger and other administrative officials be spied upon...
Nixon also lacked self-awareness....“Nixon showed almost [no self-awareness], until the last day,” Thomas said. “He’s leaving the White House, and right before he gets on the helicopter, he says, ‘You can hate your enemies, but if you do, they win.’” That was Nixon’s first moment of self-reflection, though it came too late to positively impact his presidency.
The president was also what Thomas deemed an “odious blurter.” In addition to making anti-Semitic comments, Nixon would often say whatever came to mind — no matter the consequences.
https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/richard-nixon-his-own-worst-enemy/
I'm sticking with Fat Nixon. It fits.
= new reply since forum marked as read
