Nixon had helped set the stage for the tragedy. Labeling protestors “bums” had been “foolish rhetorical self-indulgence,” as The Economist noted. His inflammatory words, combined with his repeated “assurances that peace was on the way,” had contributed to the “outburst of rage” at Kent State. According to Bob Haldeman, Nixon “obviously realize[d]—but won’t openly admit—that his ‘bums’ remark [was] very harmful.”
