Nixon has been demonized for decades - some justified - some outlandish. Nixon for all his faults was a 'good' president. He made his gaffs, remember the Price Freeze? but he also made some wise decisions, that went against the grain of the military and business power brokers. He was not a pawn of Israel nor was he a mere puppet of the GOP.

His 'loyalty' to the GOP was, however, his eventual downfall and disgrace.

History has judged him unfairly due to the disgrace the GOP brought on his presidency.

Nixon inherited a nightmare of a quagmire in Vietnam. It was a war going nowhere, a virtual standoff between China and the US. It was no-win for either side. How we, the US, ended up in a French created problem in Vietnam is still a mystery. It was not a planned decision to be in a war there, but something where US involvement began during the Eisenhower presidency.

John F. Kennedy had decided to remove the US and our soldiers from Vietnam. He was assassinated shortly after that decision. You can connect the dots. Lyndon Johnson in fear of the military industrial complex (and assassination?) plunged the US into full scale war operations in Vietnam, a decision that solved nothing, and killed hundreds of thousands of people. He too had inherited a quagmire of a no-win war.

Nixon at first, like the others, thought he could change directions, with new management, and win the unwinnable war. Nixon was intelligent, he finally saw and recognized that Kennedy was right, and the US had to get out of Vietnam. He did an about-face and ended the US involvement in Vietnam.

Nixon authored and brokered a withdrawal to end the war in Vietnam. It was not an easy task for any president. Declaring peace seems to take years, when it only takes seconds to declare war. Ending involvement in a undeclared war must have been an even greater nightmare for Nixon.

All these self-righteous hypocrites, religious wingnuts, and neoKon warmongers like to say that the US can't lose Iraq like we lost the Vietnam War.

The US did not lose the Vietnam war. There was no declared war to lose. It was an unwinnable war or 'conflict'. Being Un-winnable, also means it was impossible to lose too. It was a stand-off. Nobody won, nobody lost. There was no face to save. There was no face to lose. It was however, a wise and intelligent decision to get the US out of a conflict that was serving no foreseeable purpose or gain, only the loss of lives of American soldiers and Vietnamese people.

The Chinese government was just as tired and disatisfied with their involvement in Vietnam. They too, like the USA were guilty of war crimes in Vietnam.

The meeting of the minds to end this war was a credit to Nixon. It led to peace with China that has lasted to this day, even though Bush and his neoKons are trying to end that peace, too.

President Carter has also been villainized, demonized and victimized by history. He definately made some mistakes, such as sanctions against Russia, which only served to harm US businesses. It didn't hurt or bother Russia, they just spent their money with other countries. He was blamed for the gas shortages, but he was not responsible for that situation, that was out of his direct control, though he did influence it to a minor degree. The Iranian overthrow of the Shah was not his fault, nor the hostages held by Iran. His mistake was not to have 'valid intelligence' delivered to him from the incompetent CIA warning of the coming coup against a monarchy.

The Shah was a 'somewhat-beneficial' dictator-king. Good for Iran for many decades, but installed and supported by the UK and the US. He overstepped what he thought was his 'right' to rule by blood, and the Iranians installed a democratic theocracy.

Carter will be remembered for brokering a peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David. A remarkable piece of diplomacy that nobody thought possible. That peace too has lasted to this day, though threatened now by the incompetent Bush-GOP  NeoKons.

Reagan was one of the worst presidents the US has had. History, however, has heroized and glamorized him, in spite of his failures and his crimes. He was a popular president and spoke with a flair that endeared him to people in general. Reagan was an anamoly because he had been both Democrat and Republican. He should have been able to mend many fences, but he took advice from incompetent Republicans. He supported and in part financed the war between Iraq and Iran. He was indirectly guilty of war crimes and genocide of Iranians by Iraq.

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