Richard Nixon on The Purpose of Life

[SUpersaiyajinjerkbag]

What does this have to do with greek films?

[draoi99]

Fuck Nixon. Better off being a bum than carpet bombing Cambodia. He knows that now.

[GiveCourage]

According to the Positive Psychology research from Martin Seligman, there are three parts to happiness that we can call: the good life (maximizing pleasure), the life of engagement (people and activities), and the meaningful life (working towards goals, leaving legacies, etc.) Compare that with what Nixon says :D

[RADIXCHRISTUSMOLE]

I like to put it this way: A life without passion is an ozymoron.

[SUpersaiyajinjerkbag]

Nixon, underrated yet disgraced the republican party...best of both worlds

[truepurposeoflife]

first time watching n this video.

thanks.

good video.

[leoamar4385896]

Republican translation: Arbeit macht frei! Nazi translation: Work until you die.

[dr1345]

@leoamar4385896 That's true. If you born privileged hard work can make you happy and you become a president in the end. For the rest of us hard work is not gonna make us happy because we work shitty dead end jobs and end up with a hunch on our back. His words are true, but that truth is not the same for everybody.

[TheYvdW]

@dr1345 I disagree. Why wouldn't it be true for everybody? Just because not everyone will become a president or a millionaire? I know rich people that are happy and I also know a lot of working class people that are happy and satisfied with their lifes. People need goals, realistic goals, to fulfill themselves. That's practically what he meant. Oh, by the way, Nixon wasn't rich at all and still became the president.

[seanpdineen]

The old man was right.  Life without meaning

[usindependent50]

...because what makes life mean something is purpose. A goal. The battle. The Struggle, even if you don't win it...

[Matthaios47]

dam i always find myself repeating this video because it is my view 100% Me its not how much money you make but it is simple about Purpose

[HumanityWins]

yea. have to keep the sheep calm and working... do extra hours just for nixon! rofl

[posuerbuster]

This old creepy son of a bitch was so crooked they had to screw him into the ground after he dropped dead.

[Reggie1971]

He was the most profound President we've ever had. He was more human. He was smarter. He was more detached. He was more tuned in....than any other President. How can you not be fascinated by this man?

[pantalaemon]

@Reggie1971 because he was a spineless pig.

[Reggie1971]

@pantalaemon By your comment I cann access you without question as a common moron.

[pantalaemon]

@Reggie1971 nope, just a little biased. but seriously, nixon was an evil man, and i don't understand how so many people can not see that. of course he was more complex than i described him as, but in the end, it's still true.

[pantalaemon]

@Reggie1971 furthermore, i'm sorry, i failed to back up my original point: you asked: how can you not be fascinated by this man? answer: because he was (to many people, at least) a spineless pig. Hence, i don't see how this gives you the means to label me a common moron.

[sieracki001]

As bad as Nixon was (spying on Americans,etc,etc) I do wish that he was around today and was a Republican leader. All we can muster is Trump and Palin???? What happened to the Nixons, the Goldwaters, all the folks in the 20th century that were history makers. The Rep part is a joke now. These guys preparing to run in 2012 are just silly and are microbes compared to Nixon.

[cheeriosinabowl]

Nixon had a very high IQ, he was razor sharp and very intelligent.

Nobody ever kicks a dead dog, as the old saying goes.

[jerzy862]

These have to be some of the most eloquent words I've ever heard. From anyone.

R.I.P. President Nixon

[thealiaslife]

Who speaks like this unless they're acting? Anyone here who's sucked in by this, you're being played for fools. He was a better actor than Reagan.

[RockyBalboa211]

@thealiaslife: I speak like this, and I don't act! :D

[lejlu]

First 40 sec I got a tear in my eye. What a speaker, he touched something in my heart.

[CounterCultureLives]

Imagine a GOP ticket of Sarah Palin / Dan Quayle in 2012!!??

[BuzzyFredrick]

the nixon years were a glorious time for the USA.-save for Viet Nam...A truly wily and daring man, who was a real poker player, a real shark. This shark however just got caught. Caught on a technicality-- its not like watergate couldnt happen to democrats. God bless you, Dick. --Clinton, another good president, made the office look even worse with the cigar sucking lewinski..........America should be proud of her presidents - she's chosen well, especially Obama.

[bzurvalec]

Nixon is REALLY a shame to me and a real example of wasted talent. I say this because he PROBABLY WAS one of the most articulate, talented and brightest individuals to ever become President. The problem was, he was also one of the most self-absorbed, heartless and power-hungry individuals to hold that office. His legacy of being one of the worst Presidents of all time is well-deserved and he brought it on himself.

[66reasons]

I love this man. Great President!

[DiverseLA]

Not a fan of Nixon but what he said here was deep and true, at least from my experience.

It's not about always achieving your goals, although that is nice. But the fact is you're going to fail at different things in life. It's about having a goal and having a purpose - and trying.

[Makreel44]

Nixon was a smart man, too bad his career ended that way

[davidleigh65]

love him or loathe him there's no question tricky dicky lived for politics...the last 20 years of his life must have been very difficult for him....as he clearly felt he still had alot to contribute to US and world politics but would never be rehabilitated because of watergate etc.....i dont think the republicans ever even invited him back to appear at one of their conventions.....so seeing this you cant help but feel some sympathy for the man!

[bzurvalec]

@davidleigh65 I agree with everything you wrote here except for the "sympathy" part. To me, Nixon epitomized everything that is wrong with man. That is, his primary focus in life was all about the shallow, primitive endeavor of making himself as powerful as possible. He cared NOTHING about his fellow man, nor who got hurt as a result of his quest for power. I'll save my sympathy for someone like a Gandhi who was SELFLESS and sincerely cared about improving our flawed human race.

[davidleigh65]

@bzurvalec thanks and yes theres a lot of truth in what you say but i do think that by the time in his life when this interview was conducted nixon seemed to have developed a profound insight into the mistakes he had made. Mistakes he was fully aware ended his political career in an instant - to the extent that he was shunned by how own party. The party he dragged back from near extinction following the goldwater fiasco. im sure many modern republican wish the had him now and not sarah palin

[bzurvalec]

@davidleigh65 Well for his sake, as well as my own constantly-depleting faith in mankind, I sure hope he eventually realized that what he did was wrong. And yeah, as far as Sarah Palin goes, I really don't even know what to say at this point...

[CounterCultureLives]

@bzurvalec HOW can you POSSIBLY not know what to say about Sarah Palin?? After all, she can see Russia from her house!!

[bzurvalec]

@CounterCultureLives If nothing else, she certainly is entertaining...perhaps even more so than #43. Back in 2000, I didn't think that was humanly possible.

[falconhead67]

this is good stuff

[JSavic]

But, after he resigned, his life lost purpose in life. Did nothing for 20 years & then snuffed it. Actually, it was impossible to rehabilitate him.

[Morningstar91]

Amazing ! even at the very end he wanted to get back to the game! he was obsesed with power.

[LazyCheeseburger]

this man was a piece of shit

[kopitetommy]

Well said President Nixon

[BranIL28]

Nixon= Good Man.

[migu9999]

kill 2 million vietnamiese.

[nonplayerzealot4]

@migu9999 They were called Communists back then.

[SSJ2Starscream]

Nixon is a genius

[aeronuk1]

Some say he was "gotten rid of" partly for the same reasons JFK was gotton rid of, ie, for ending the Vietnam war early and depriving the Military Industrial Complex of their precious and vital war profits. I'm sure the sinister internationalist and Bilderberger Henry Kissinger played his part in Nixons demise.

[zthetha]

"The purpose of life, Dickie...?" surely that's simple - not to get caught!

[quivalla]

I don't care if Nixon found the cure for cancer or saved babies from burning buildings. He obstructed justice and and seriously abused the power of the presidency to a level that compromised the constitution. He authorized theft and espionage on the American people. If you think that nothing or that his IQ makes it okay yer all idiots.

[lelouch3]

@quivalla ur an idiot

almost every president has abused his powwer, and nixon was no different.

[barito7]

Nixon knew of Kennedy's assassination.

[hcdragonfly]

You are right, Nixon. Taiwan is part of China.

[calimar28]

Nixon paid off the debt, he ended the war in Vietnam, he did a lot of good (wrong on the gold stadard tho), and Watergate he knew nothing about until the investigation started. Then he made his only mistake...he authorized money to be spent to cover it up to protect his freinds that were guilty. His loyalty to his friends brought him down. But he was very smart and a great president.

[RJY4356]

@calimar28 He didn't pay off any national debt but he did manage to have almost zero deficit his first year in office and very small deficits in the early 1970's.

[nonplayerzealot4]

@calimar28 Nixon was the one who created the atmosphere where a Watergate could happen (and he -HAD- already known that his people broke into Ellsberg's shrink's office). Nixon was naive enough to expect his underlings to protect HIM. Big mistake. HR Haldeman may have fallen on his sword for Nixon, but John Dean wasn't that type of guy. However, I do believe that Nixon's bad relationship w/ the media screwed him most. Reagan may have been able to escape the same situation due to people's trust.

[Cstrife234]

@calimar28 Nixon wasn't a great president. Have you ever heard of Watergate? I've heard all the tapes. He kept the Vietnam war going and kept it going, when a good part of the nation said NO. Loyalty to your friends, when they are being unlawful and bad is not an excuse. What he said here is true, however. I believe he may have come in to do something good, but he didn't. Simply ending a war after fueling it for so long is not something to be commended.

[2pacoverbig]

HE IS A CROOK

[pinkfloydicus]

i cant really comment on any of this because i wasnt alive at the time, but anyone who's seen the matrix will know what im talking about when i say that richard nixon and agent smith's pronunciation of the word 'purpose' is identical

[toby099]

yeah they kinda sound alike

[angrychair07]

nixon is only 1 of 2 presidents that wasn't a mason still to this day... the other was jfk

[SUpersaiyajinjerkbag]

I agree with him except for travel I fucking love travelling

[CounterCultureLives]

@SUpersaiyajinjerkbag RMN isn't saying that there's anything wrong with traveling...... but golf, hunting, and travel shouldn't be our purposes in life.

Now, as for FISHING not being our purpose in life?? Sorry, but Nixon is completely WRONG about that!! ;o)

[Flyingpig437]

how do you know?

[angrychair07]

handshakes and small symbols the masons love hidden messages plus most are open about being just not what they do once behind closed doors

[SHMUJEW]

jews? I loved nixon , I hated the left...ortholdox judaism is the only foundation for recognizing evil and destroying it...destroying evil is the entire raison detre of judaism...the left destroyed america not nixon

[NeilFraudstrong]

I've said it in various videos 1000 times, but I hate when people consistently rank Nixon low on the all time Presidential rankings. The Watergate scandal really clouds peoples memories. I see him as low as 30th and 35th and that is just not right. Say what you want about the man's morality or character, but aside from Watergate he did an above average job, far better than most. He didn't have anything to DO with Watergate initially. That's something people always confuse.

[posuerbuster]

This creep was so crooked that after he dropped dead they had to screw him into the ground. Fact.

[devilndeep]

You weren't even born you queer. You and your profile is what's creepy! Sick fuck you are

[posuerbuster]

@devilndeep Nixon was so crooked they had to screw this low life into the ground after he dropped dead. Stop jerking to kids CREEP.

[gbarcks7]

fucking jews did a good job of making a good president look bad. So sad the only thing anyone EVER ties to Nixon is watergate. They think his concern of Jewish influence has no significance. Typical retarded brainwashed Americans. So sad..

[AtoZor0through9]

Hmm, I'm pretty sure Kissinger is Jewish. I'm Jewish, and I agree with everything Nixon did. Nixon would use the word Jew to describe liberals, since many of the people who he prosecuted during the McCarthy era were Jewish spies from Russia. I don't think he harbored any anti-Semitic beliefs. You, on the other-hand..

[jkkey]

R.I.P Nixon! he was a true political warrior. It has always puzzled me how he was so demonized over watergate. i understand it was wrong and illegal but it seems like chicken shit compared to what other presidents, senators, etc.... have done and gotten away with. almost like a conspiracy or something.

[BamaChris]

Nixon is the president who I feel that my personality is most similar to. He despised "cheese-eating intellectuals" and was just a hard working, purpose-driven man. He resented the way that the patrician snob Kennedys looked down on self-made men like himself and LBJ.

[marcostar57]

Nixon had a bit of a chip on his shoulders but I can understand how he felt that way -- but did you know that he and JFK had mutual respect for one another and were in fact pretty good friends during their years in Congress & and (Nixon) as VP. (Read "Kennedy & Nixon" by Chris Mathews).

[BamaChris]

yeah. he and JFK were friends until the 1960 campaign. he never forgave JFK for stealing the election.

[NeilFraudstrong]

I agree. I run a John Lennon YouTube channel and despite their major differences, I also think they were very similar. Both had chips on their shoulders, both were driven to succeed with a drive that far exceeded most, both felt as if the world had cheated them in some ways, they felt attacked and paranoid by many people around them, they were stubborn in certain ways, and they were always out to prove something to the world that they felt had not given enough.

So different, yet so similar.

[Flyingpig437]

Compared to a lot of people Lennon wasn't very driven at all. He got lucky. I can't imagine he would have put much effort in if things got tough and he had to hold to a long term vision.

[fibes55]

A brilliant, talented man who could do many things well.

[dumballover123]

this is the most sense nixon has ever made in his life... well said, and, though it's hard for me to admit, beautifully said.

[Outlaw1257]

Dumballover;

Don't let it be hard to admit; I'm a long-haired, bearded, Liberal Democrat hippie, and I've been one of Nixon's defenders in certain matters.

Irrespective of party lines, Nixon was a foreign policy genius, and many domestic programs advocated by Liberals were instituted during his administration.

Compared to the assaults on the US Constitution an the crimes foisted upon us under 8 yrs. of Cheney / Bush, Watergate was nothing more than a tawdry spectacle.

[ponderer2009]

Another thing about Nixon: Every sitting president has done worse than his bungled Watergate break-in...that's not why he was impeached. He was impeached because he made too many personal enemies in the Washingron power loop.

On a wider, public level, his impeachment was a kind of "human sacrifice" for the vietnam war. Even though he ended it rather than started it, he became its symbol. In ancient cultures they sometimes sacrificed the king to the gods if the harvest was bad or whatever.

[ponderer2009]

As Kissinger said, history will treat Nixon far kinder than his contemporaries did. In reality by today's standards, he's rather centrist instead of right-wing. He pulled troops out of Vietnam and ended the war, and by splitting China and Russia via triangular diplomacy, he want a long way towards setting the stage for the end of the cold war.

Unfortunatlely, as "Outlaw1257" said, his personal failings were his downfall. He wasn't very smooth or diplomatic, and made lots of enemies.

[SUpersaiyajinjerkbag]

Would that make nixon a nerd? A smart person who fails because of raging social retardation?

[Outlaw1257]

What I find ironic is how Nixon spoke of how, in the grand scheme of things, the material trappings that so many people spend their lives chasing after mean so little; yet, that was an ideology that the people of Woodstock Nation (the "longhairs" that Nixon viewed as "the enemy") were proclaiming all along.

[markitopapito]

A 1000 times YES!

[Outlaw1257]

"Drinking too much, talking too much, thinking too little...."

So true!!

[TruthorDare21]

I dont get tired of watching this man on youtube..lol He was a great and very smart man..I think the last smart Republican president..No insult to Regan though..he was a good man but not that bright

[Outlaw1257]

Actually, T/D21,

Nixon was incredibly intelligent, but not very "smart"; that's part of what led to his downfall. His high intellect, combined with his personal insecurities, made him appear aloof.

Ronald Reagan, on the other hand was very "smart", but not all that intelligent. He was a great communicator, and his charm made him a formidable opponent.

BTW, while I speak as a Liberal Democrat, I'm ever mindful of the strengths that each of these two Presidents brought to the Oval Office.

[searcherboy]

Nixon was talking about himself here. By this time, his life consisted of trying to fill the idle hours at San Clemente, struggling against boredom and depression, plotting to restore his ruined reputation. He was no different from the rich idlers he so disdained.

[joe2stones]

I seem to recall that he wrote 5 books after his resignation. Not sure how many rich idlers do that.

[locobuick]

Right you are, joe2stones. And speaking of stones, the great President Nixon had quite a pair himeself.

[dr1345]

@searcherboy well he was all bored and philosophical and shit because they had no internet back then. coz if they did he wouldn't be talking about purposes and shit, he 'be busy searching for midget porn and stuff.

[NEDM77]

This is absolutely true what Nixon says. Sadly, as a culture, we're forgettign this in the west.

[Thejbirdy]

As much as I loathed Nixon for his racism and hatred he speaks truisms here. Funny, he's speaking for all the people he associated with and he himself lived in Palm Springs!

I think he talks from the soul of his days as a younger man.

[joe2stones]

I don't think Nixon was a racist. He always had a very progressive policy towards blacks. He sounds bad on the tapes but that was the way many men spoke about minority groups at the time.

[Thejbirdy]

Have you heard or read (transcripts) from some of these tapes? I mean it's "Jews" this and "n***ers" that, I think it is some pretty harsh stuff. It's the other way around sir, he HAD to make policy to look good to a "liberal" public eye for that time.

[geejo68]

You realize he grew up in a time where nigger or negro was as commonplace a term as African-American or Black would be today. He was born in pre-holocaust society where the jews were respected about as much as the blacks were, and it wouldn't be until after his presidency that the full ramifications of the holocaust would be realized. Take that into consideration before you pass judgment.

[Thejbirdy]

You realize what absurd logic you have made in that statement? The President of the United States, a man who represents ALL people and who sets an example for children young and old deserves just plain old dismissal on issues like these? Im sorry sir, I do not agree with you.

[joe2stones]

Nixon was for civil rights before it was popular to be for equality. He was for civil rights before the Kennedys.

[Thejbirdy]

Evidence? The civil rights movement was not about politicians when it first began, please site evidence.

Thanks.

[joe2stones]

I didn't say Nixon started the civil rights movement, so I'm not sure what you are talking about. Read Conrad Black's "The invincible quest." if you want to know more about his civil rights record.

[Thejbirdy]

And I never suggested Nixon started the civil rights movement at all, that statement is utterly illogical.

You said he was for civil rights before it was popular and Im saying it had nothing to do with politicians when it first began.

Period.

[joe2stones]

Yes, you did suggest that, when you said the civil rights movement was not about politicians when it "first began." Its reasonable to assume those who were there when it first began started the movement. Before it was popular means before it was popular among politicians.

[Thejbirdy]

It wasn't originally political at all, it was a grassroots movement that began and rose up to the point that politicians had no other choice but to get involved. Now please site some evidence that Nixon was involved before civil rights became popular? What, was he black at some point? LOL.

[joe2stones]

Yes, I know the movement didn't begin with politicians. If you read the above statement correctly you will see that I am talking about Nixon relative to OTHER politicians. Whew.

[Thejbirdy]

Uh...yeah.

[TruthorDare21]

Very true, I agree with you it was the 60s, and 70s.. That how none blacks expressed about minority

[w00twood]

A fine man, despite some serious wrongdoings.

[lilius777]

I like Nixon.

I like the way he talks.

[jfk144]

even if you dont win....

[jfk144]

fuck me, what statement from a man that the press had me and us believe was a twat, well he still is a twat but what a smart twat he was...

[geejo68]

You're retarded. Literally. Go fuck yourself hippie.

[Dmasterman]

Nixon was great.

[oceanontube]

Can somone please link me the full interview? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

[dpman72]

I've been all over youtube begging like a tramp forever wanting it, with no luck.

[geejo68]

it's broken up into several parts. It's like playing Where's Waldo to find them all.

[ERASERHEAD18]

Charles Manson once said in an interview that Nixon was the best president the USA ever had. Why ? Quote : "Because if I'm gonna have a president fighting for my interests, I'd want him to be the toughest, meanest sonofabitch there is. and he was !" lol

[lazarus0202]

He was, at one time, someone who considered himself above the law. He was cruel to the constitution and abused power.

But I like what he said here. He is really right about that. He hated the excess of the rich.

[GO22JETS]

Solid!

[ComedyJesus]

wisdom 10, ethics 1.

[wackaloo123]

That is genius.

[dkjaerwdww]

nixon was a lot of things - but stupid certainly wasn't one of them.

i heard in one of my courses that he scored above genius level in an IQ test. Very gifted man even if his personality was stilted.

[Cstrife234]

@dkjaerwdww Yet, he went along with Watergate. IQ doesn't make you smart, nor moral.

[traklwright1]

Wow--a very powerful clip. And I'm no Nixon fan. But this is quite a stirring piece of commentary.

[wodegukali]

Chinese people always loves him

[freedom8758]

"They don't know life" - Dick owned this interview!!

[aames82]

I've always been impressed with Dick, he is the quintessential American politician. Very sharp, and forced to conceal his depth. Why do we want our leaders to be of average intelligence? What does that say about us?

[wolfgangle]

I was a child at the time but I always liked him a lot. Despite what the selfrightous lynch mob yelled at him. He was no saint but had a good, highly intelligent nucleus.

[chocopopo]

Ironic that he has no interest in living the materialistic lifestyle which sums up the American dream. That's got to teach us a lesson. An American who rose from poverty, then had it all, then realised it was worthless.

Maybe Dick should have been a communist? lol

[FloodingMayhem]

The sentiments are most inspiring.

[llapole]

what a great man.

[jwhyte67]

Very true