Compared to today's "conservatives" Nixon was pretty moderate. At least on domestic issues. If I remember 16 year old me, it was Viet Nam where he was hawkish. Watergate did him in but that was nowhere near what Trump has done in the past 8 months to this country.
I don't know, it's been a downhill slide a while now. MAGAs make Birchers look like choirboys.
BTW Goldwater was right.