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Readers React: Nixon’s accomplishments shouldn’t be forgetten

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To the editor: Though I don’t take issue with Doyle McManus’ account of how Richard Nixon’s shadowy side contributed to the downfall of his presidency (especially with much of it captured on tape), I believe that even Nixon has a chance at redemption by history. (“What’s the secret of Nixon’s unpopularity?,” Column, Aug. 9)

I will always be personally grateful for the cease-fire he brokered with North Vietnam in 1973 to bring a halt to the war. At the time, I was stationed on a Navy ship that had sustained combat damage and casualties in 1972, and we were on our way back for a second deployment when Nixon announced the cease-fire.

As a child in the 1950s, I lived through air-raid drills to prepare us to survive a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Our relationship with “Red China” was frozen in hostility. As McManus notes, Nixon broadened the dialogue with Russia and broke new ground with China.

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It is possible to change the course of history for the better. Thank you, Mr. President.

Gerome Torribio, Pomona

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