Laird to Rest

Melvin Laird, the lone semi-honorable, useful member of the Nixon Administration, has died of complications of respiratory failure at the age of 94. After 9 terms in the House of Representatives representing Wisconsin, Laird became President Richard M. Nixon’s first secretary of defense, where he transitioned from the draft to an all-volunteer army, pushed responsibilities onto the South Vietnamese army while trying to wind down American troop involvement, and opposed bombing North Vietnam and invading Cambodia. All these positions differed with his stance as a congressman, where he had repeatedly attacked President Lyndon B. Johnson for escalating the war too gradually, accusing him of playing for a tie rather than trying to win the war. Things look a little different when you’re in the room where it happens. Laird’s positions also contradicted stated White House policy. Luckily, Nixon was renowned as being a laid-back boss who welcomed opposing viewpoints. Oh, no, wait, he had Laird’s top aide’s phone tapped. Laird scared the Soviets into a strategic arms limitation agreement by suggesting the US would expand its arsenal if they didn’t sign. Laird stepped down as defense secretary after one term, becoming Nixon’s chief domestic policy adviser, and drawing the short straw in trying to convince Vice President Spiro T. Agnew to resign after pleading no contest to accepting bribes. Laird left the White House as the Watergate crisis deepened, becoming the senior counselor on national and international affairs for the Reader’s Digest Association.