Wednesday, August 8, 2012

On this day in history.....

Richard M. Nixon resigned from the office of President of the United States.  He was the only President to step down from office.  I was just a kid at the time, and I sort of felt sorry, he had such a sad look to him.  I recall my mom having no sympathy for the guy, which was why I sort of felt bad for him.  To be on Mom's bad side was NOT a good thing.  In honor of this anniversary, I am posting a post totally devoted to the man.  Enjoy!

Below are some interesting things "Nixon"


The Nixon Mask:  While other presidents have had their faces sculpted in granite, cast in bronze, or even carved into the side of a mountain, Richard Nixon's face gave birth to the most popular political mask in history—a pop-culture phenomenon so enduring that it has its own Wikipedia entry.



Who can forget Dan Aykroyd's famous version of Nixon on Saturday Night Live.  Long before Tina Fey parodied Sarah Palin, Aykroyd paved the way for political satire on the show.  He didn't have to look like Nixon...and lets face it, he didn't, but he still managed to pull it off with his hilarious interpretation.  In one episode, Aykroyd, as Nixon, is promoting Nixon's new memoir, suggesting that since Americans didn't have him to kick around any more, they could buy the book and kick that instead: "Why, Pat's already on her fourth copy!"  Funny Stuff.


Dan Hedaya as Nixon from the film "Dick" does a wickedly funny version of the man.  He looks quite a bit like him too!  Nixon has been portrayed in many films, but Hedaya's version always has me cracking up....I bet you cant say the same for Anthony Hopkins performance in "Nixon".  

I used to have a major crush on Dustin Hoffman...isn't he cute?!

No discussion of Nixon's impact on pop culture would be complete without mentioning All The President's Men, which recreates the Washington Post investigation that led to the first resignation of a sitting president in American history. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman inspired multiple generations of idealistic future reporters as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who dig deeper and deeper into a third-rate burglary attempt until it becomes the scoop of the century and the gold standard for all political scandals.  Guess they didn't call him "Tricky Dick" for nothing!

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