Richard Nixon is back, baby! Our 37th president is having a moment, thanks in part to some recent plugs by Vice President JD Vance but mostly because of an innovative barrage of social-media-savvy short videos created by the Richard Nixon Foundation. There’s a speech about America’s greatness that dissolves into Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” There are quick shots of Nixon paired with Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire.” There’s a Nixon video montage set to the 1980s British synth-pop song “The Promise.”
Viral fame in 2026 is certainly an ironic turn for Nixon, who always felt snubbed by the cool kids. While the establishment media went gaga over Kennedy and Camelot, Nixon’s image was that of the unshaven grocer’s son, perpetually mopping sweat from his brow.
No more. In the age of social media, it’s possible for middle-class strivers like Nixon to bypass traditional media and star in flattering reels that make them look cool, all while Drake raps in the background.
The Nixon Foundation deserves praise for its social media acumen, but I’m convinced there’s more to this renaissance — the term of art is “Nixonmaxxing” — than slick marketing. Young people don’t just start digging someone like Nixon because of some clever videos. Nor is it only a fit of nostalgia, like the inevitable return of flared jeans. And it can’t be entirely explained by youthful rebellion masked as detached irony. There must be another underlying reason why today’s young Republicans want to rehabilitate Nixon.
As usual, the answer is all about Donald Trump. The two men, needless to say, have some things in common. So if you rehabilitate Nixon, you normalize and elevate Trump in the process.
Like Trump, Nixon was highly combative. He played up culture war divisions to win elections. Once elected, he embraced the imperial presidency (“When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal”). He even tried to impede investigations and use executive agencies for his own political purposes (sound familiar?).
Nixon lost to Jack Kennedy in 1960. He lost his bid for governor of California two years later. The so-called experts said his career was over. But Nixon showed them, winning the presidency in 1968, and then delivering one of the biggest political landslides ever in 1972. It’s the same resilient, never-say-die quality that allowed Trump to endure scandals, impeachments, a presidential loss, indictments and assasination attempts — and just keep coming.
Ultimately, Nixon was taken down by the media — as well as the so-called “deep state” (a point recently made by Vance, which I take to mean “Deep Throat,” the pseudonym for secret informant Mark Felt, then-deputy director of the FBI). Sure, Nixon was forced to resign, but what was he supposed to do? The liberal media had a virtual monopoly on disseminating information, and this meant that even Nixon’s fellow Republicans didn’t have the backbone to support him.
In this regard, Trump’s presidency is the fulfillment of the dream that things would have gone differently for Nixon — for America — if the pesky corporate media didn’t control everything (part of the reason Trump is so keen on having his loyalists take over CBS, etc.).
In contemplating why Nixon is having another moment, there’s also this: The comparisons to Ronald Reagan (who has long been the beau ideal of a Republican president) are not flattering for Trump.
Reagan had movie star looks. Reagan gave eloquent, soaring speeches. Reagan won the Cold War. Nixon, in short, is the more convenient model for Trump apologists.
And yet, for all the cynical, pro-Trump reasons that Nixonmaxxing has taken off, I still think it could be a good thing. Because, if you look a bit closer at Nixon’s life and legacy, I’m not sure it’s a comparison that Trump should actually want to invite.
Unlike Trump, who was born on third base, Nixon said of his Quaker upbringing: “We were poor, but the glory of it was we didn’t know it.”
Nixon was married to just one woman, Pat Nixon. He also came to the presidency with lots of experience. He served in World War II. He was a congressman, senator, and vice president before running for president. He was a deeply knowledgeable and intellectually serious policy wonk. And rather than relying on loyal family members and unqualified sycophants for advice, Nixon turned to experts like Henry Kissinger.
For many Americans, Nixon’s foreign policy record is marred by Vietnam, but he also achieved the historic opening of China. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, Nixon took some very liberal positions — supporting affirmative action, embracing price controls and creating the EPA. The contrast with Trump — who, although he lacks a coherent conservative philosophy, is not willing to give his political adversaries any wins — could not be greater.
Another huge difference becomes obvious when you listen to Nixon give a speech or an interview and find that you actually might learn something. This is even true for the short videos that are generating social media buzz. Take, for example, this black-and-white video of a young Nixon talking about the awesome responsibilities facing postwar America. Sure, it’s fun that Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” is playing in the background, but the video has the kind of substance that is hard to imagine Trump authentically channeling.
One of my favorite Nixon speeches was his final address to members of his Cabinet and White House staff. A Nixon Foundation video highlights that speech, with a chastened Nixon advising that “greatness comes not when things go always good for you, but the greatness comes and you are really tested when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes, because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”
A bit later, Nixon told those gathered: “We want you to be proud of what you have done. We want you to continue to serve in government, if that is your wish. Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.”
Compared to Trump, Richard Nixon was a very good man. Watching these videos makes me like him even more — makes me long for a leader, flawed though he was, who was capable of introspection, someone who cared about policy and ideas and was able to give a speech about them. For these reasons, I see it as a positive development that so many young Republicans might now have a better president to admire.
Matt K. Lewis is a NOTUS Perspectives columnist.
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