#6: Nixon for President

In 1992 National Public Radio's
Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little.
Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
Page 1 of 2 pages 1 2 >
New political news
Posted by Bob Gomez on Thu Apr 01, 2004 at 12:14 PM
have a great day
Posted by Bob Gomez on Thu Apr 01, 2004 at 12:15 PM
that was good
Posted by ace maverick in WA on Thu Apr 01, 2004 at 02:06 PM
LOL. great one
Posted by Ole on Thu Apr 01, 2004 at 06:11 PM
I think this is second best to the "pi=3" one.
Posted by Alejandra on Thu Apr 01, 2004 at 09:18 PM
of course no one noticed that richard m. nixon has been several years dead now
Posted by "gunner" in upper u.s. on Sun Apr 04, 2004 at 07:39 PM
President Nixon died April 22, 1994 in New York.
Posted by Zack in California on Tue Apr 06, 2004 at 09:05 AM
i stand corrected zack
Posted by "gunner' on Tue Apr 06, 2004 at 09:19 AM
Rich Little's impersonations of Tricky Dick were true classics. And that slogan is pure Nixon. In a perverted way, I'm almost surprised he didn't run again.
Posted by Larry Librarian in Colton, California on Tue Mar 22, 2005 at 09:29 AM
That was very good!!
Posted by Elmo in madisonville texas on Mon Apr 04, 2005 at 05:24 AM
In fact, it was only at the end of the show that Hockenberry announced that it was an April Fool joke, and he explained later that the only callers they took were those who had no clue, those who swallowed the whole thing. I heard it on the freeway, and I was stunned, until I noticed that my watch said it was April 1.
Posted by Billy Ralph on Thu Apr 07, 2005 at 06:20 PM
Does anyone remember the NPR feature on the secession of New Mexico from the US. Burch Bayh was going to be the president. It also aired on April 1.
Posted by laluna in the palace on Wed Mar 29, 2006 at 07:57 PM
Nixon would have been awesome compared to the Dick that actually won in 1992
Posted by Lenny in Ohio on Sat Apr 01, 2006 at 08:02 AM
It's not too hard to fool liberal NPR listeners.
Posted by Valdosta in Valdosta GA on Sat Apr 01, 2006 at 01:15 PM
Lenny, LOL, agreed! P.S. The biggest trade partner ofthe US today and the big naton everyone seems to talk about in the world is The People's Republic of China... and it was Nixon who opened U.S. relations with them!
Also, the Nixon Presidential Library in California is awesome!
Posted by David E. Powell in New Jersey on Sun Apr 02, 2006 at 10:45 AM
we knew that, whenever one brings up nixon, reagan or some other, umm, controversial republican, hordes of loyal grunts rush to their defence, nothing new there. what’s particularly comical, though, is that they would do so in the context of april’s fool, where the point is to poke fun at gullible people. people, for example, who do not even break a sweat reading or hearing things like “my heart and my best intentions still tell me that is true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not”. or who believe that lying under oath about having sex is as bad as, or even worse than, selling arms to a régime you’re at war with or sending burglars to spy on another party. what gusto!
Posted by jief in alicante on Thu Apr 06, 2006 at 07:21 AM
I always had a spot of nostalgia for Tricky Dick. It was a different time back then and Nixon's view of domestic and international policy was both grounded in the past and nuanced through his ability to comprehend global politics. He did kind of get saddled with an unwinnable war and at least listened to some of his critics. Oddly, he was brought down by trying to save his (corrupt) underlings.
Growing up through that war (that he avoided), in an ostensibly more enlightened time, what's George Bush's excuse for being such a stubborn, law-breaking, uninformed failure?
Posted by Jim in Connecticut USA on Thu Apr 06, 2006 at 07:56 AM
He also said "let's take the bull by the tail and face the situation".
Posted by Jeff Stone in Mexico on Sat Mar 31, 2007 at 06:00 AM
Anyone who thinks that Nixon was innocent of anything or was duped into doing what he did is a few french-fries short of a happy meal! Nixon was a crook...plain and simple. Clinton was and still is a liar...plain and simple. He lied about getting his rod polished in the oval office not about committing the act itself. Probably most of the past presidents except Regan and Truman got head while in office and kept us from knowing about it. Nothing new here. Clinton lied and should have been impeached and removed from office. Nixon approved the Watergate scandal and should have been impeached and imprisoned. The reason neither crook was properly punished was due to the inaction of a spinless congress.
Posted by Captain Eddie in Bakersfield,Ca on Mon Apr 02, 2007 at 11:49 AM
Uhuh, but when you think about all the abuses in office, Nixon still couldn't hold a candle to the war criminals in the white house today.
Posted by justice for all in usa on Mon Apr 02, 2007 at 02:08 PM
Page 1 of 2 pages 1 2 >