In a speech the year before he died, the late US president Richard Nixon paraphrased General Douglas MacArthur's famous quote, "old soldiers never die, they just fade away," by saying, "old politicians die, but they never fade away." His words illustrated his belief that his concern for and influence on contemporary American politics remained undiminished at age 80.
Two days before Nixon made the statement, then president Bill Clinton, who had been in office for only two months, had invited him to the White House and had sought advice from him about the art of politics. The two men belonged to different political parties and held different ideologies. When Nixon was president, he was the object of protests by a young Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hillary was also once involved in an investigation into the Watergate scandal. But 20 years later, past grievances vanished with a smile, and for a period of a little over a year, Nixon became Clinton's senior foreign-policy adviser. Thus some people joked that the first year of Clinton's first term in office could also be called Nixon's third term.
Although there had been
several administrations in the White House in the 20 years since he had stepped down, each of Nixon's successors had kept a distance from him. Even fellow Republicans Reagan and Bush never consulted him about na-tional affairs. It was a Democrat, Clinton, who honored him as a respected adviser. Naturally, he felt doubly gratified. Moreover, since Clinton was unfamiliar with international politics, Nixon had the attitude of a third-term president, who hopes to complete his unfinished diplomatic agenda.
Nixon was the one who opened China's door, and it was beginning with Nixon that the Cold War gradually began to draw to a close. These were his contributions to the world and his political legacy. To safeguard these historical accomplishments and to prevent a veering away from the course he had charted, Nixon also felt that helping Clinton was a calling he should accept.
Although former president Lee Teng-hui's (
Nixon helped Clinton behind the scenes, but Lee is openly helping Chen. Furthermore, at the same time Nixon was helping Clinton, he also played the role of a senior shadow advisor to his fellow Republican Bob Dole, who intended to run for president. He certainly didn't favor the other side over his own. In contrast, Lee views KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Nixon was a political animal. He understood power and loved power. Power was like air or water to him -- something he couldn't live without. Other presidents have carefully avoided politics after leaving office, but Nixon was just the opposite. After being out of office for 20 years, he still felt publishing books, delivering speeches, and writing articles was not enough, and he frequently travelled to many countries engaging in diplomacy as a former head of state.
Lee is more fortunate than Nixon. When Nixon stepped down, nobody asked after him, and his popularity could not have been lower. If Clinton hadn't given him the chance for a comeback, he would certainly have been despondent to the end. But a year after leaving office, Lee's popularity is still high, and he frequently makes a great impact on society with his
statements.
Rationally speaking, he shouldn't be suffering from his loss of power the way Nixon did, and he shouldn't have such a strong craving for a third term. In addition, his weak heart should limit his interaction with politics. But 80-year-old Lee has surprised everyone by beginning his third term so quickly. He has become yet more proof of Nixon's phrase that, "old politicians never fade away." But how long can this term of his last? How will history evaluate his third term? No one knows the answers -- yet.
Wang Chien-chuang is president of The Journalist magazine. Translated by Ethan Harkness
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