I remember when I learned about Richard Nixon in high school. We learned all the good things first, and he was so good, in my eyes, that I actually forgot why he didn't serve 8 years. To me, Nixon was a great man and president who got caught up in paranoia and made mistakes due to it. I know that's an unpopular opinion, but it's the one I hold, and no one has been able to convince me otherwise.

Trump, on the other hand, was never a great president or a great man. I remember faithfully watching Celebrity Apprentice as a kid, and, even then, I knew he wasn't a good a person. It was clear that his allegiance was to making money and that was it. When he ran for president, I was confused, wondering why he would even want to do the job after never doing anything for the country through his businesses.

Richard Nixon made a huge mistake, but he was a patriot. He went to war when he got drafted, even though he was a Quaker and could have gotten out of it easily. Trump, on the other hand, was a healthy young man who deferred the draft five times, apparently lying about having a medical issue. Nixon fought for women's rights, African American rights, and environmental protection, passing legislation to help our people and our country. Trump actively tried to end Planned Parenthood and take away women's rights to their bodies through the Supreme Court justices he's placed. Trump told white supremacists to "stand back and stand by." Trump threatened those fighting for black people's rights with "when the looting starts the shooting starts," but told people trying to revolt against our government, vandalizing the capitol, stealing secure information, and throwing bombs that they were in the right and that he loved them.

No one ever sided with Nixon during Watergate.

This is what is most disturbingly different about Trump and Nixon.

Nixon knew he was in trouble. Nixon knew he would be forced out of the White House. Both sides were against him. Now, Trump is denying that he lost an election, screaming fraud and rejecting our democratic process, but his side is mostly agreeing with him. After he begged and threatened to get votes in Georgia, tried to stop counting hundreds of thousands of votes in swing states, and left his Congress and vice president to fend for themselves against domestic terrorists, who believed everything he said without question. Even after the riot in the Capitol, where Congressmen were scared for their lives, the majority of House Republicans still contested the election results. On top of that, the Minority Leader of the House still voted against impeachment, even though he directly blamed the president for the attack.

And now, here we are, a week after a mess that easily could have never happened, if our president, at the very least, respected our democratic system. And what's happening? The people who can enact the 25th Amendment, the one that will prevent Trump from inciting more riots, are resigning. The Vice President, about whom Trump didn't care enough to release the National Guard, has decided not to call for his removal. This man, even if it wasn't his intention, incited seditious acts. If he did it on purpose, why are we not getting him here for treason? And if it was on accident, how can anyone think he's fit to lead us, safely? This situation is so different from the case of Watergate, where Nixon expected to be convicted by the Senate, resigning instead of fighting.

Yes, Nixon messed up, but we can see that he respected our country. He wanted, and frequently did, the best for us. He knew he messed up in the Watergate Scandal. But Trump wants power and will do whatever he needs to get it. He will never admit to messing up, and his supporters will never think he has either.

One president was a good person who made an idiotic mistake. The other is a selfish person who says and does whatever he wants because he has never faced any consequences due to a sickening level of party loyalty in Congress, despite not representing the same values that the party held when he was elected.