[microbet]

My father is a very very partisan Democrat and hates Nixon for all the reasons that everyone else does, but he has worked for the government since before Nixon and will tell you that Nixon had the most professional and competent administration of recent history.

An administration appoints several layers of officials below any level that gets noticed by the media and some administrations have filled these appointments with cronies (Bush-Reagan), unqualified idealouges (Carter), or wet behind the ears MBA's without program knowledge who reinvent themselves in circles (Clinton), but the Nixon administration generally appointed qualified professionals.