"When people look at you, they see who they want to be. When they look at me..."

"...they see who they are."

Former president Nixon, in his final White House days, allegedly used to stay up late into the evening, swigging scotch from the bottle, wandering the hallways, and talking out loud to the portraits of different presidents. The quote here is (again, allegedly), something he was said to have been overheard saying to the Kennedy portrait.

If you think about the two men, it is actually quite profound.

Despite their lifelong rivalry and many obvious differences, they shared something in common: they were both profoundly original thinkers who were seen as a threat by the establishment.

Kennedy entertained thoughts of ending the FED issuance of money and destroying the CIA. He also stubbornly resisted repeated pentagon attempts to drum up war in Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam.

Nixon was not an establishment man. The Republican party leadership was unhappy when he took office. and despite his association with Vietnam, he reduced the number of troops by more than half and was the only president (before or since) in the last 90 years to cut military spending.

Both men paid a steep price for their anti-establishment moves.

a reply to: Never Despise

Reagan made a lot of changes that negatively affected me when I was in the military.

One big reason why I left. A lot more of us left, some not by choice.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

Would you give me an example? Not challenging you, just curious.

Reagan is beloved for improvement if the general economy and his cold-war standing up to the Soviets. But he also made some changes that had huge negative social effects. The mass closing of mental hospitals led to the previously-unheard-of "crazy homeless person" epidemic. Minority communities, inner citirs, the rust belt and white appalachian communities frequently went into steep decline. The crack epidemic went down. While Reagan had some positive achievements the 80s was also a time with a darker side for many.