Barack Obama’s approval ratings are finally higher than Richard Nixon’s. But this is only because forty years ago Nixon was in the midst of a dramatic collapse in public support from which he would not recover.
Obama’s Gallup approval rating is holding just under 50%. It does not yet show signs of damage from the trifecta of scandals (the IRS targeting conservative groups, the Justice Department targeting the press, and the Benghazi leadership failure and cover-up) plaguing the administration. Forty years ago Nixon’s approval was five points lower, but this was a record low for the well-liked 37th president. ...
In June 1973, the Watergate hearings were just getting going. It was before “I’m not a crook,” the Nixon tapes, the 18 and a half minute gap, the Saturday Night Massacre, and still 14 months before Nixon’s resignation. Today people think that these events typified Nixon’s term in office, and that he had always been disliked. But Nixon’s fall was stunning because he was a wildly popular president with a solid list of domestic and international policy achievements. If it could happen to him, it could happen to a much weaker president. Like the one we have in office right now.
(Excerpt) Read more at rare.us ...
