#dick nixon's homophobia once again being peak comedy 50 years later
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winterbirb · 2 years ago
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Upon assuming office, President Richard Nixon reportedly told his staff that foreign policy was to be handled by the White House, "not by the striped-pants faggots in Foggy Bottom."
The offensive language apart, such uneasiness about the State Department appears to be the rule rather than the exception. Recent presidents seem quickly to have concluded that, except for the Secretary and a handful of others, people in State are not to be trusted. Many New Deal, Kennedy, and Carter Democrats believed State to be hidebound and resistant to progressive policies; many Eisenhower, Nixon, and Reagan Republicans were convinced it was infested with suspect left-wingers and liberals. Regardless of party, presidents often are predisposed to blame State for unauthorized leaks of sensitive information.
— Foreign Policy, Spring 1987, "Why State Can't Lead"
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