I was enjoying the side-by-side photos of Trump and Nixon with their thumbs up (left) supposedly projecting supreme confidence which Raw Story used to illustrate the article Trump allies plan to rip apart major post-Nixon reforms that limit presidential power: report.
The reason Nixon's photo was used is because of the following:
As the paper (NY Times) writes, Trump and his allies want to rip apart many of the guardrails that were put in place after the presidency of Richard Nixon that prevented presidents from abusing their power to go after political opponents.
Putting them side-by-side conveys a second message. It is, of course, the ultimate fate of Richard Nixon.
Putting photos of the two of them side-by-side isn't new, for example:
Nixon's fate should represent a cautionary tale for Trump.
There are certainly other historic leaders he should be thinking of to disabuse himself of his confidence thinking he is going to heroically make it through all of the attempts to bring him down. From Hitler to Hussein, history is fraught with stories of leaders who thought they could rule their domains as they wished with impunity only to go down in humiliating defeat.
Let's consider one leader that may not immediately come to mind: Napoleon, and where he ended up if only because like him Trump could be incredibly lucky and not spend his final years in an actual prison.
Both could end up in serving a sentence living in a house near the sea.
If Trump was sentenced to home confinement he would live in the luxury of Mar-a-Lago, quite possibly minus the fun of being able to hold parties with adoring fans.
The watercolor of Napolean shown on St. Helena, where he was forced to live in exile by the British, may look idyllic but his accommodations were anything but luxurious.
Consider this from Wikipedia:
Napoleon stayed for two months at Briars pavilion before he was moved to Longwood House, a large wooden bungalow on Saint Helena, in December 1815. By this point, the house had fallen into disrepair. The location and interior of the house was damp, windswept and unhealthy. The Times published articles insinuating the British government was trying to hasten his death. Napoleon often complained of the living conditions of Longwood House in letters to the island's governor and his custodian, Hudson Lowe, while his attendants complained of "colds, catarrhs, damp floors and poor provisions."
Modern scientists have speculated that his later illness may have arisen from arsenic poisoning caused by copper arsenite in the wallpaper at Longwood House.
With a small cadre of followers, Napoleon dictated his memoirs and grumbled about the living conditions. Lowe cut Napoleon's expenditure, ruled that no gifts were allowed if they mentioned his imperial status, and made his supporters sign a guarantee they would stay with the prisoner indefinitely. When he held a dinner party, men were expected to wear military dress and "women [appeared] in evening gowns and gems. It was an explicit denial of the circumstances of his captivity".
While the Longword House wasn't Mar-a-Lago, it is interesting to note that he was allowed to hold parties. It would remain to be seen if Trump's "gaolers" would allow him to throw parties.
