The Rubin Report Skip navigation dave rubin Create Avatar image Richard Nixon's Biggest Mistake Wasn't Watergate, It Was This | Presidents Series | Jeffrey Tucker
Feb 19, 2026
Jeffrey Tucker, founder of the Brownstone Institute and economic commentator, offers a concise mini bio and perspective. He explores Nixon’s foreign-policy wins like opening China and ending Vietnam. He also discusses Nixon’s 1971 end to the gold standard, wage and price controls, inflation, and how personal insecurity shaped big-government choices.
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Childhood Memory: Supporting Nixon In Class
- Dave Rubin recalls first political memory as Watergate and being the only third-grader who said he supported Nixon.
- He describes childhood classroom polarization and a surprising early affinity for Nixon without knowing details.
Triangulation Fueled Unlikely Achievements
- Nixon practiced political triangulation, doing unexpected policies across the spectrum like opening China while also creating the EPA.
- His unpredictability yielded major diplomatic and domestic actions that surprised both allies and opponents.
1971 Dollar Shock Changed Global Money
- Nixon's 1971 decision to close the gold window ended the postwar dollar-gold link and the Bretton Woods discipline.
- That move enabled fiat expansion, removed fiscal restraints, and set the stage for sustained inflation and bigger government.