The notion that the left despised Nixon is largely a myth, perpetuated by right wing nuts who despise the Clintons. The left despised the war, but I wouldn't say the left despised Nixon more than they did Johnson regarding the war. Don't forget, Johnson was so despised because of the war, that he couldn't even seek another term--and he was a very popular president after he was sworn in to replace Kennedy. So popular that he was able to push through the civil rights legislation that had been the biggest item on Kennedy's domestic agenda, and certainly the most controversial.

For some reason, the mean and ugly neo con Republicans and their choir believe that the politics is personal--it isn't. Except with them, of course, because they make it so. They act as if having to share the country with anyone who disagrees with them is the equivalent of living with the enemy. That is the main reason why the Bush regime and it's supporters are so sicko, paranoid, and delusional.