Politics & Power Quote by Solomon Burke

There is something almost mischievously countercultural about praising Nixon in the same breath as calling him “beautiful and wise.” From Solomon Burke, a soul singer whose authority comes from lived feeling more than policy white papers, the line reads less like a brief for Nixonism and more like a stubborn assertion of personal sovereignty: “That was my choice at that time.” He frames the endorsement as an act of will, not a verdict delivered by the historical consensus.

The phrasing is telling. Burke doesn’t say effective, strategic, or even good. He says “great,” then pivots to aesthetics and character: “beautiful and wise.” That’s the vocabulary of gospel and R&B, where moral truth is carried by tone, charisma, and the sense that someone can see beyond the room. It recasts presidential judgment as a kind of spiritual or performative appraisal, the way an audience might describe a commanding singer.

The subtext is defensive because it has to be. Nixon is a cultural shorthand for scandal and paranoia; to praise him invites ridicule. Burke anticipates that, anchoring the claim in time (“at that time”) while refusing to disavow it (“I still say”). It’s also a glimpse of a particular moment when some Black entertainers and business-minded artists flirted with Republican proximity, betting on access, order, or personal relationships rather than party narratives. Burke’s insistence isn’t naïve so much as human: loyalty to the story you lived, even when the archive disagrees.