On page 69 of Reinventing Richard Nixon: A Cultural History of an American Obsession, Daniel Frick states:
"The
'completely pragmatic' and 'cynical' reactions of the Watergate
president do not harmonize with the young man whose Quaker family taught
him the difference between right and wrong (RN, 628). Nor do
justifying political espionage and lying to Congress and the public
illustrate any of the personality traits enshrined in the orthodox
success ethic. Horatio Alger's heroes never said, 'Everybody does it.'"
The tension between morality and cynical pragmatism that Frick highlights is also present on page 93 of Anthony Summers' The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon:
"Looking back, [Nixon's long, yet occasional, therapist, Dr. Arnold]
Hutschnecker suspected Nixon had 'guilt feelings' for having pursued
politics in the vindictive style of his father rather than on the
'saintly' path of his mother. Nixon's fervent wish, the doctor felt,
was that someday he would be able to say to Hannah, 'Mother, I have made
peace. Now I am worthy of you.'"
Can one get ahead by taking the
moral and ethical high ground? Or is something that a person once told
me true: that an honest man cannot make it in this world? Granted, it
is hard for a person to be moral when so many around him or her are
immoral: perhaps they are not all breaking the law, but they are
primarily looking out for themselves, and they don't care whom they ruin
or stomp on to advance. I think of the politicians Nixon ran against
in 1946 and 1950: they were principled people, but Nixon was able to run
roughshod over them because he was willing to go on the attack
(sometimes fairly, and sometimes not) and to receive the benefits of
support from wealthy special interests, who provided him with money.
(I'm relying here on Roger Morris' narrative, which I deem to be
credible.) Did those politicians accomplish anything, for themselves or
for others, by standing by their principles? Perhaps not, even though
they may have felt better about themselves than Nixon did (at least
according to Hutschnecker's analysis of what Nixon felt). But we do need more politicians who are
principled and who take on the special interests, otherwise our country
will stay in the same wretched condition. I'll also add that people can
get ahead by being good, on some level, for, when a person has a
reputation for honesty, that can attract customers and employers, both
of whom do not want to be taken advantage of.