22 April—Richard Nixon died of a major stroke 32 years ago on this day in his 81^st year. He was, according to Henry Kissinger, who served as his National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, an unpleasant, foul-mouthed, drunken, often incoherent, antisemitic madman. (We won’t go into why Kissinger stuck by Nixon through his entire presidency, but their symbiotic relationship was highly successful for both the United States and the world.) But at least Nixon was “not a crook”—in his own words, anyway, as he defended himself against charges of corruption and obstruction of justice in the Watergate scandal.

Nixon insisted that he had never profited from public service, which, while not exactly true, isn’t too far from the truth, since neither he nor his family milked his political offices—congressman, senator, vice president, president—to any great extent. Even after he resigned the presidency to beat impeachment and certain conviction (sizable Democrat majorities in both houses of Congress, with enough eager Senate Republicans joining Democrats for conviction), his income and tax fiddles were relatively minimal.

All of Richard Nixon’s presidential successors have done considerably better than he in retirement. “Dead broke” (according to Hillary) when they left the White House (in good part thanks to Willy’s personal legal expenses), for instance, the Clintons are now said to be worth something like $200 million, largely from astronomical speaking fees of $200,000 and more. And the Obamas are probably worth close to $100 million, also from incredible six-figure speaking fees.

But unlike big-time self-dealing grifter Donald Trump and his malevolent spawn, who have monetized, compromised, and thoroughly corrupted the United States presidency as had never been done nor even thought of (probably) by any previous president, Richard Nixon didn’t profit monetarily when he was in the White House.

And before leaving Trump, Henry Kissinger didn’t have too much to say about him in public. But he did observe that the orange menace’s approach to politics and diplomacy was too centered on one person—himself—and tended toward excessive confrontation. Really? Donald Trump?

As for Dr. Kissinger’s assessment of Nixon’s deficiencies applying to Trump, while he’s certainly not a drunk and probably not an antisemite, he most assuredly is an unpleasant, foul-mouthed, often incoherent madman . . .