Astral Codex Ten

Richard Nixon

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Richard Nixon

Article

Richard Nixon is a recurring person in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 5 times across 5 issues between March 12, 2021 and June 12, 2025. The archive places it in contexts such as “Richard Nixon had exactly this idea in college”; “Powell, about to be elevated to the Supreme Court by Richard Nixon”; “his recent pardon of Richard Nixon”. It most often appears alongside Reagan, Watergate, Bush.

Metadata

  • Category: People
  • Mention count: 5
  • Issue count: 5
  • First seen: March 12, 2021
  • Last seen: June 12, 2025

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Richard Nixon Vs. Cool
March 12, 2021 · Original source
In Rick Perlstein's excellent "Nixonland", he says that Richard Nixon had exactly this idea in college, and managed to make it work pretty well. He also ties this in to Nixon's future success at building a Republican "silent majority" coalition of anti-hippie reaction vs. the latte-sipping NYT-reading 70s liberal "consensus". If I may quote at length:
Book Review: A Brief History Of Neoliberalism
May 04, 2021 · Original source
In the US case I begin with a confidential memo sent by Lewis Powell to the US Chamber of Commerce in August 1971. Powell, about to be elevated to the Supreme Court by Richard Nixon, argued that criticism of and opposition to the US free enterprise system had gone too far and that ‘the time had come—indeed it is long overdue—for the wisdom, ingenuity and resources of American business to be marshalled against those who would destroy it’. Powell argued that individual action was insufficient. ‘Strength’, he wrote, ‘lies in organization, in careful long-range planning and implementation, in consistency of action over an indefinite period of years, in the scale of financing available only through joint effort, and in the political power available only through united action and national organizations’. The National Chamber of Commerce, he argued, should lead an assault upon the major institutions—universities, schools, the media, publishing, the courts—in order to change how individuals think ‘about the corporation, the law, culture, and the individual’. US businesses did not lack resources for such an effort, particularly when pooled."
Your Book Review: The Outlier
July 08, 2022 · Original source
Despite the fact that his gubernatorial campaign was premised entirely on obscuring his actual beliefs, he opens his presidential campaign with the slogan “I’ll never lie to you.” He runs an Obama-esque campaign, emphasizing his personal background and outsider status rather than any specific accomplishments. By the time he wins the primary, he has a huge polling lead over the incumbent president, Gerald Ford, who’s unpopular thanks to his recent pardon of Richard Nixon and the memory of that time he slipped and fell down the stairs of Air Force One.
Inline links: that time he slipped and fell down the stairs of Air Force One
Your Book Review: Public Citizens
June 23, 2023 · Original source
So he started a new organization dedicated to doing just that: the Center for the Study of Responsive Law. His newfound fame enabled him to recruit a prestigious group of young lawyers from elite schools, including President Taft’s great-grandson and Ed Cox, who married Richard Nixon’s daughter while working for Nader. “It’s like you’re looking at the names of the Pullman cars,” said one of Nader’s early employees, in a joke that today requires so much explanation I almost regret including it in this piece9.
Inline links: 9
"But" vs. "Yes, But"
June 12, 2025 · Original source
No, you’re confusing him with Richard Nixon.