What Trump could learn from Nixon: Column

Democrats beyond a certain age, reeling from the recent president election, might recall the enmity and contempt with which they viewed another polarizing president, Richard Nixon. And, perhaps, they take some solace from the fact that after they suffered under his rule for more than five years, Nixon was driven from office — forced to resign in 1974 because of his wanton disregard for basic principles of America’s democracy.

Now they have another reason to be angry at him: Surprisingly, Nixon was an early booster of Donald Trump's career in politics. Back in 1987, in a personally addressed and signed note, the disgraced former president lauded a Trump TV performance and cited his wife's belief that whenever Trump decided to run for office, he’d win.  

Did this note put the idea that he could be president into Trump’s head? Probably not — but it certainly must have reinforced whatever notions might already have been brewing there. And Trump prizes the letter. He recently told friends he plans to hang it in the Oval Office.  

Trump would be wise to eschew Nixon’s flagrant disregard for the Constitution, and steer away from the racism evident on the Nixon tapes and the racial elements of Nixon's "Southern strategy." Nonetheless, he could draw some positive lessons from this Republican president's foreign policy choices.

Though Nixon built his career through fervent anti-communism, he was a realist when it came to foreign affairs. Recognizing that communist China was here to stay, and a potential strategic ally in the Cold War with the Soviet Union, Nixon’s decision to open relations with “Red China” was a masterstroke. 

During Trump's campaign, he spoke harshly, to put it politely, about China. But China isn’t going away; it will only get stronger over the years. Far better to work out our differences with the Chinese leadership — both economic and geopolitical — than to drive them back into close alliance with Russia.

Nixon also was realistic about the limits of U.S. military power. He tried desperately to win the Vietnam War or negotiate a favorable peace during his early years in office. When it became clear that the war was unwinnable on the battlefield and at the negotiating table in Paris, however, he drew down U.S. troops and negotiated a peace that at best allowed a “decent interval” before the U.S. ally's defeat became inevitable.

Trump has generally been cautious about U.S. involvement in the many conflicts in the Middle East: That's not the case with many of the individuals who appear slated for high positions in his administration. The new president would be wise to follow his own instincts and avoid new or deeper involvements in the region. Most important, he should not allow his aides to draw the U.S. into a war with Iran.

The existential threat of nuclear war provides another example of Nixon's realism. Even while confronting the Soviet Union, he was willing to talk with Soviet leaders about ways to reduce nuclear dangers. This led not only to understandings between the two nations’ armed forces about protocols to avoid inadvertent conflict, but also to the first U.S.-Russia arms control agreements. He negotiated Strategic Arms Limitation Talks I, which for the first time placed numerical limits on the two countries’ long-range nuclear forces, as well as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which put tight limits on both countries’ missile defenses.

Trump has stated that he believes he can “deal” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. One good place to start would be with nuclear issues, as that evil genie seems to have been creeping out of its bottle in recent years.

Trump might have drawn political inspiration from the late Richard Nixon. He should definitely draw on the 37th president's good instincts in foreign policy. His place in history, to say nothing of the United States, would be far better for it.

Barry M. Blechman is co-founder of the non-partisan Stimson Center.

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