Republicans have every reason to be nervous about November.
asserted
Republicans → have → November
But after spending the past two days at the Nixon Foundation’s Grand Strategy Summit, I regained some hope.
asserted
I → spend → hope
Our 37th president reminds us that Republicans not only have the power to win elections, but to beat the left decisively, as long as we understand what made Richard Nixon so popular in the first place.
asserted
Nixon → remind → place
Now, “Nixon” and “popular” don’t really go hand in hand in the public imagination.
asserted
Nixon → go → imagination
But Nixon is having a new moment online.
asserted
Nixon → have → moment
A generation that was previously taught that there is nothing more to Nixon than Vietnam and Watergate is taking a second look.
asserted
that → teach → look
At the summit, Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) pointed to a part of Nixon’s story that helps explain why.
asserted
that → point → story
Long before the White House, Nixon earned a scholarship to attend Harvard, but his family needed him at home.
asserted
family → earn → home
His older brother Harold was sick with tuberculosis, and the family grocery business was suffering.
asserted
business → suffer → tuberculosis
Nixon decided to stay in California, attend Whittier College, pick up produce in the early morning, and help keep the family business running.
asserted
Nixon → decide → business
He put his family before Harvard.
asserted
He → put → Harvard
As Moore put it, duty begins with the people closest to you.
asserted
duty → put → you
“You have to take care of things at home first.”
asserted
You → have → home
That instinct would become central to Nixon’s politics.
asserted
instinct → become → politics
Moore added, “Nixon was first and foremost a fighter for the American people.”
asserted
Nixon → add → people
And the people rewarded him for it.
asserted
people → reward → it
Nixon won 49 states in 1972 with the largest share of the popular vote ever won by a Republican presidential candidate.
asserted
Nixon → win → candidate
He did so by building an extremely popular majority coalition united by principles that sound familiar to conservatives today: anti-communism, foreign policy realism, strong economic growth, and a commitment to draining the Washington swamp.
asserted
that → do → swamp
But unfortunately, conservatives have largely forgotten one of the foundational pillars of Nixon’s legacy: the environment.
asserted
conservatives → forget → legacy
In his 1970 State of the Union address, two years before his landslide 49-state victory, he called the environment “the defining issue of the new decade.”
asserted
he → call → decade
That year, he created the Environmental Protection Agency, signed the Clean Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, created the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and launched the Legacy of Parks program, which converted more than 80,000 acres of federal property into 642 new parks.
asserted
which → create → parks
He also signed the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
asserted
He → sign → Act
While subsequent administrations certainly abused these laws, at root, they were designed to deliver clean air, clean water, and a strong environment.
asserted
they → abuse → air
And they did.
asserted
they → do → ?
The Clean Air Act alone prevented more than 200,000 premature deaths in its first 20 years.
asserted
Act → prevent → years
The ESA helped save 99% of listed species from extinction.
asserted
ESA → help → extinction
Nixon did not do all of this because he was a liberal but because, as a conservative, he wanted the government to serve the people.
asserted
government → do → people
Then, like now, Americans want clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment, without sacrificing economic and energy dominance.
asserted
Americans → want → dominance
That’s what Nixon delivered.
asserted
Nixon → ’ → what
On top of his environmental achievements, he launched Project Independence to achieve energy independence.
asserted
he → launch → independence
Where left-wing environmentalists treat energy as the enemy, Nixon understood that energy production, done right, is cleaner than the alternatives and essential to national strength.
asserted
production → treat → strength
Republicans have done best when they imitate this Nixonian drive for the best of both worlds.
asserted
they → do → worlds
On that front, President Donald Trump has some genuine wins.
asserted
Trump → have → wins
The Trump administration’s deregulation of nuclear energy will create a cleaner, more reliable grid.
asserted
deregulation → create → grid
The private sector’s unprecedented buildout of solar energy is putting that technology on track to become the world’s largest power source by 2035.
asserted
buildout → put → 2035
And the EPA’s new study screening drinking water for over 1,400 contaminants, including PFAS and mifepristone, represents exactly the kind of targeted, science-driven protection Nixon championed.
asserted
Nixon → screen → protection
The EPA has proposed rescinding drinking water standards for four PFAS “forever chemicals” and delaying enforcement on two others, leaving millions of people exposed to contaminants linked to cancer, immune disorders, and developmental harm.
asserted
EPA → propose → cancer
The administration also moved to protect glyphosate in court, even as MAHA voters reading ingredient labels and filtering their tap water are watching closely.
asserted
voters → move → water
These are precisely the voters Republicans can’t afford to lose.
asserted
Republicans → afford → ?
They care about solving real problems the most effective way possible, whether it’s flammable rivers and dangerous air in the 1970s or contaminated water and pesticide reliance today.
asserted
it → care → 1970s
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
