"Even in scandal, Trump does not compare. The sum of misdeeds by the Nixon administration under the heading of “Watergate” was sprawling and complex. But for a botched burglary, they might have gotten away with it (and to be fair, Nixon’s predecessors all abused the power of the presidency for political aims, just not as extensively as Nixon). Meanwhile, Trump is getting caught for stashing classified documents in his bathroom, begging for votes (unsuccessfully) and paying hush money to a stripper. That’s one pathetic collection of felonies. But there are two ways in which Trump and Nixon diverge. First, Nixon was a winner. He won the biggest vote percentage of any Republican in 1972, in addition to his win in 1968. He was on the winning national ticket in four of five attempts, equaling Franklin Roosevelt. Even in 1960, there is some dispute, with historian Irwin Gellman casting doubt on the result and Robert Caro, award-winning biographer of Lyndon Johnson, certainly implying that Texas was stolen for opponent John F. Kennedy (see pp. 150-155 in his book “The Passage of Power”). Second, Nixon was willing to sacrifice for the country. Most people don’t realize Nixon was not impeached. Articles of impeachment were voted out of committee, but the process had not started. Nixon might have held on to enough votes to forestall conviction. But Nixon resigned. He knew impeachment would be profoundly damaging to the nation and Republicans. He kept a low profile through the 1974 and 1976 elections (where Gerald Ford, improbably, almost won). Can anyone imagine Trump sacrificing anything for the GOP or the country? So far, that’s an emphatic “No.” In fact, Trump seems to be going out of his way to wreck Republican election prospects. Republicans escaped the damaging effects of Nixon and Watergate by 1980 and the nation moved decisively to the right for nearly 30 years. Nixon somewhat rehabilitated himself and became a respected voice on international relations. Today’s Republican Party is not nearly so fortunate. Trump is determined to stick around no matter the cost to everyone but himself. He already cost Republicans control of the U.S. Senate in both 2020 and 2022, and he is primarily responsible for the most left-progressive administration since Lyndon Johnson to be in power. Trump is just a shadow of what Nixon was as a president and a politician, but the damage he is causing Republicans and conservatives is exponentially greater than anything Nixon ever did."