See if you can figure out what these guys were talking about:
Nixon: CBS came on with a movie. They had two magnificent handsome guys, and a stupid old fellow in it. They were glorifying homosexuality!
Ehrlichman: Was that a panel, sir?
Nixon: Hell no, it was a movie!
Haldeman: No, that’s a regular show, it’s on every week. And usually it’s just set in the guy’s home. It’s usually just that guy, who’s a hardhat.
Nixon: That’s right, he’s a hard hat.
Ehrlichman: And he always just looks like a slob.
Nixon: Looks like Jackie Gleason.
Haldeman: And then he has this hippie son-in-law. And, uh, usually the general trend of it is to downgrade him, and upgrade…
Nixon: Upgrade the hippie son-in-law.
Haldeman: Make the square hardhat to be bad.
Ehrlichman: What’s it called, I’ve never seen it.
Nixon: Archie is the guy’s name.
Ehrlichman: Now that’s real family entertainment, isn’t it?
Nixon: The point that I make is that goddamit, I do not think that you glorify, on public television, homosexuality! You ever see what happened, you know what happened to the Greeks? Homosexuality destroyed them. Aristotle was a homo, we all know that. So was Socrates.
Ehrlichman: But he never had the influence that television has.
Nixon: The last six Roman emperors were fags. You see, homosexuality, immorality in general, these are the enemies of strong societies. That’s why the communists and the left-wingers are pushing it. They’re trying to destroy us.
I don’t know why people are complaining about the NSA. We should record everything so we don’t miss any gems like this priceless exchange about All in the Family. The Nixon Archives are almost inexhaustible in their ability to provide comedy gold.
Also, everyone knows that Nixon was, as he’d put it, a fag.
Not really, but it would be irresponsible not to speculate.
Magnificent homosexuals and a hardhat!
Scary thing is, there’s zero daylight between that and the Republican base today.
Sounds like he inspired The Village People.
Was a sign of the times when Jack Anderson got a tip that Haldeman and Ehrlechman were gay lovers and enjoyed a tryst in the mornings before going to the WH. False tip but made the news.
Here’s a fun little ditty about the gang.
A bit unusual for a straight man to say “magnificent handsome guy,” but it’s more curious that he saw two guys like that in that episode when most of us only saw one.
A good day at the office.
That’s great. The post had me with:
Of course Nixon was gay. He never denied it, right? And, about those late night meetings with J. Edgar…
Although given that the most emotion he ever displayed in his public career revolved around his dog, perhaps his attraction to guys wasn’t the worst of it? Hey, I’m just asking the question…
I want to know who the “two magnificent handsome guys” were on All In The Family?
Was he referring to the episode where the retired NFL football player that was Archie’s buddy came out to Archie in the bar? That’s the only show I recall dealing to any extent with male homosexuality. But that was only one guy, not two.
That would be the correct episode, and like you, I scratched my head as to the second “magnificent handsome guy” that Nixon saw.
I think the friend was played by Adam West of Batman fame! Magnificent!
Jeesus, what a loon. And Nixon’s one of their “smart” ones! The Repub Party has been an intellectual and moral disgrace for so long that it simply must be genetic…
I don’t remember Adam West appearing on All In The Family. I know in the gay football player episode, the storyline revolved around Mike’s nerdy and somewhat effeminate friend, Roger, who owned a camera store that Archie’s football buddy frequented. Archie pegged Roger as a flaming gay, when he wasn’t. And the macho, broad shouldered football player ended up being the gay guy. Much to Archie’s surprise, of course.
Yeah, the google can’t confirm it, so I’m wrong, my apologies. Musta been an Adam West look-alike!
iirc, the Archie’s ex-fooball player friend, Steve, owned the camera store and occasionally employed Mike’s friend.
You are correct!
And after all Aristotle or Socrates (unclear)… “never had the influence that television has.”
Stifle.
All of those Cold War guys remind you of Dr. Strangelove. There was some sort of communism=homosexual conflation going on in their minds. And they went looking for both. Likely had its origins somewhere around the FBI.
Forget Aristotle, Dick’s dissin’ All in the Family! Archie’s chair is in the Smithsonian, for Christ’s sake! Next to Columbo’s raincoat! Downright un-American….
“communists and left wingers pushing [homosexuality]…They’re trying to destroy us.”
At least the thread of insane conspiracy theories has held up over the decades in our braindead GOoP. It’s the glue that holds all noble patriotic American “conservatives” together!
So, through this transcript we discover:
Clearly, Norman Lear was an Enemy Of The State.