After squeaking into the presidency in 1968, Richard Nixon had governed in such a way as to turn his 1972 re-election campaign into a referendum on the Great Society. His vice president, former Maryland governor Spiro Agnew, specialized in erudite, alliterative, bomb-throwing oratory, much of it crafted by a crew of speechwriters that included the future columnists Patrick J. Buchanan and William Safire.
Buchanan still carries a torch for Nixon 50 years later.
