Why Nixon and not Trump?
Today's congressional Republicans are missing something in their hearts and souls that Barry Goldwater and John Rhodes had in abundance.
As Donald Trump’s offenses against the constitutional order and morality mount, I find my thoughts turning to the last days of Richard Nixon’s presidency.
Nixon resigned the presidency over an attempted cover-up of a break-in by Republican operatives of Democratic headquarters. It was Republican members of Congress who ultimately decided Nixon’s fate.
Although Republicans were the minority party in both chambers, it was three Republican leaders who met with Nixon to convey that there were enough GOP votes to impeach him in the House and convict him in the Senate. The delegation included two Arizonans, Sen. Barry Goldwater and House Minority Leader John Rhodes. Nixon chose to resign rather than face that.
Democrats, although in the majority, gave Republicans the time and political space to reach a consensus that Nixon had to go. There were no futile, performative impeachment proceedings to please their anti-Nixon base voters.
These were members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, serious about governing, and serious about their institutional roles.
Republican members of Congress who facilitated Nixon’s ouster saw little to no political consequences, neither recriminations nor retaliations. Goldwater and Rhodes remained pillars of Arizona’s GOP.
In fact, in some cases there were political benefits, including within the GOP base. The Senate held hearings prior to the fateful visit to Nixon. Incisive questioning by Republican Sen. Howard Baker during those hearings propelled him into the first ranks of presidential contenders in 1980. Ronald Reagan ultimately prevailed and made Baker his chief of staff in his second term.
Trump’s offenses, from his attempted coup after the 2020 election to the unscrupulous “settlement” granting Trump and his family immunity from tax audits and establishing a $1.8 billion slush fund to reward political supporters and allies, are orders of magnitude worse than Nixon’s attempted cover-up.
There was another, subtle dimension to the collapse in political support for Nixon, among both GOP officeholders and voters. The release of the Watergate tapes revealed that, in private, Nixon was exceptionally crude and vindictive. In those days, that was considered unpresidential. Trump, in his serial Truth Social rants, is publicly crude and vindictive all the time.
Yet the political reaction to Trump, by GOP officeholders and voters, couldn’t be more starkly different. That’s particularly true here in Arizona, contrary to the example set by Goldwater and Rhodes about unacceptable behavior in the Oval Office.
The frontrunner for the GOP nomination for governor is Andy Biggs. Biggs was at least a peripheral player in plotting Trump’s attempted coup in 2020. As a member of Congress, Biggs voted to reject the Electoral College votes of his own state of Arizona and those of Pennsylvania, prior to a riot by Trump supporters disrupting the proceedings. He remains an abject apologist for all things Trump, whose endorsement he touts.
The alternative in the GOP primary is Congressman David Schweikert. Schweikert, characteristically, tried to play the coup attempt too clever by half. He voted to accept Arizona’s Electoral College votes but reject those of Pennsylvania. Schweikert wants to make the case that he is more electable in the general election without expressly saying why that might be so: that Biggs is too tied to Trump, whose endorsees have lost Arizona statewide elections for four consecutive election cycles.
It gets no better at the national level. Having swallowed so much ethical self-dealing and self-glorification from Trump, as well as his trampling on traditional Republican and even MAGA principles, congressional Republicans are finally having some heartburn over the “settlement”.
This is brazenly sleazy. Trump sues the government he heads. His appointees agree to “settle” the case for complete immunity for Trump, his family, and their businesses from tax audits for all previous years. And to create a $1.8 billion fund to be doled out by a commission Trump ultimately controls.
While the heartburn is welcome, the initial response has been underwhelming. Many GOP grumblers are only talking about putting guardrails on the fund. A self-respecting Congress would pass a bill prohibiting the establishment of such a fund and overriding the tax audit immunity by a veto-proof majority in a matter of days.
There are a number of reasons why this Congress, particularly the Republican members, have considerably less self-respect than the Congress that maneuvered Nixon out of office in the 1970s.
Politically, Trump has a loyal following among GOP base voters that Nixon never developed. In fact, it is sizable enough to make a Trump endorsement a decisive factor in virtually all GOP primaries across the country. Trump wears his vindictiveness on his sleeve. He wants toadies, not independent thinkers and actors, holding Republican seats in Congress. And he’s willing to risk a Republican majority to increase the toady component.
So, there are political risks for GOP politicians to even mildly dissent from Trump today that weren’t there in the 1970s regarding Nixon. However, I don’t think that fully explains or excuses the timidity among today’s GOP political class.
There is something missing in their hearts and souls that was there in abundance with Goldwater and Rhodes. In fact, in a critical mass of the congressional members of that era. A value on personal integrity. A commitment to party and partisan politics, but with limits. A deep respect for, and willingness to defend even against a president of one’s party, the role apportioned to Congress by the founders, including policing unethical behavior by the president.
There are worse fates than losing an election. There are fates far worse than being an ex senator or representative.
There are scores of things about Trump’s second term that are disheartening. The lack of meaningful dissent by congressional Republicans is one of the most disheartening.
Reach Robb at robtrobb@gmail.com.