Richard Nixon explained in 26 portraits

Nixon will forever be defined for me by his appearance in Futurama. He was mocked so thoroughly throughout my childhood that it's always jarring for me seeing him as a real person in old debates and TV appearances. Ironically, this is a trait that he shares with his arch enemy, JFK.

Nixon was not "unshaven" during the famous Kennedy-Nixon Debate of 1960. He just didn't use any makeup like Kennedy did, and he didn't totally grasp the "power of the visual image" that black-and-white TV introduced in the 1960 campaign. (Before 1960, television was not much of a political factor.) Polls taken after this famous debate showed that persons who listened only on radio thought that Nixon "won" the debate, while those who watched on TV thought Kennedy had won. Kennedy and his younger campaign team grasped the power of television early on as well as the necessity of looking good on TV. So Kennedy took great care in picking out his clothes, his haircut, being tan, and wearing makeup to make the best possible appearance. Every politician since then has worn makeup to appear on TV.

Did anyone else notice that a good 90% of the artists in this video are 80+ now? Apparently picking up a pen and drawing makes you immortal in more ways than one.

I had no idea about the ‘V for Victory’ thing, I feel like I always learn something new and weird on your channel.

When I was in HS the editorial cartoonist gave a lecture to my history class. I remember him saying Nixon was a goldmine for cartoonists.

The long nose and droopy cheeks are iconic for Nixon cartoons. All you’d need to show me is those characteristics in a drawing and I’d recognize it as Nixon

As a Chinese, the cartoon of Nixon and Mao playing ping-pong first came to my mind.

6:50 its a Nix-nack

Great video! Love this format and I wish to see more! I feel like Queen Elizabeth would be an interesting one in this format

In the Futurama episode that you mentioned, Leela has this line: "Fry, he opened up relations with China. He doesn't want to hear about your ding-dong." In the episode's audio commentary, one of the writers recalls how difficult it was to come up with an example of something positive that Nixon achieved while in office. The China thing is also mentioned in 'The Love of Richard Nixon', a Manic Street Preachers song released 10 years after Nixon's death - and one that's surprisingly sympathetic to the former president. Speaking as an outsider (I'm a Brit born in the early 1990s), history seems to remember Richard Nixon as one of the bad guys, but the Manics song tries to remind you that he was also a human being who presumably wanted to be a force for good in the world.

I was born in the late sixties to people who really hated Richard Nixon. I was told much later by them that they have expected my first words to be "Goddamn Nixon" It can't be overstated how divisive he was at this time.

I really liked this video. It reminded me of the Bill Clintom cartoon video, another one of my favorites. It's really interesting to see people's feelings towards prominent figures through contemporary artistic depictions. It's love to see more of these, either about other presidents or perhaps Canadian figures.

"I am not a crook" is a famous phrase that President Richard Nixon said during a televised press conference on November 17, 1973, at Disney World in Florida.

"When I was 16, I e-mailed Aislin to ask him about this." God, I feel like a loser, lol. 😂🤣😂

The point about Nixon's transition from a contemporary to a historical figure is so interesting because of how many of the policies he started like the war on drugs, environmental legislation, relations with China are probably more relevant than ever.

The Richard Nixon Foundation keeps getting recommended to me on YouTube, and now I got this video. YouTube really wants me to like Nixon I guess. 😂

I think it's also interesting how the visual exaggerations of depictions of Nixon bled into vocal impressions. Like how some people when doing a Nixon impression shake their head and mumble to imitate his jowls.

Man I love Ralph Steadman so much. He draws regular people and scenes like horrifying monsters but at the end of the day they're just spiritual caricatures. His art is like looking at funhouse mirrors but on a dose of mescaline

Huge Hirschfeld fan here, JJ. Own a few pieces of his, and I actually met the artist himself back in the '80's. Thanks for showcasing his work.

I’m always impressed more by Nixon’s popularity than by the animosity to him. I feel like for my entire life the president has been widely reviled by his opponents. The depiction of W’s motorcade in Death of a President springs to mind. But Nixon was legitimately popular, and won a huge share of the vote in ‘72.