My father was a life-long Democrat. He was the country chairman for JFK in 1960 and for McGovern in 1972. The former because he was very excited about getting someone from his generation in the Oval Office, the latter because no one else wanted to be associated with what they believed (and my father knew) would be a catastrophe. But surprisingly on some level, he admired Nixon. Not just because Nixon was of his generation, but from a one-off encounter with Nixon. When Nixon was at Duke Law School, my Dad was an undergraduate at Duke, until he dropped out to join the Marines. But while at Duke, he worked as a busboy in the student cafeteria. And he worked as a busboy in the section used by law students because no one else would because law students were so rude. Dad said the law students, all male B/T/W, would yell at him, "Hey boy, get me a cup of coffee." Whereas Nixon would politely say, "[My father's first name], when you get a chance may I have a refill on my coffee?" Dad said what amazed him the most was not Nixon's politeness, but that Nixon knew his name.
