'Smart girls' never swear, Nixon claims in new White House tapes

&#039;Smart girls&#039; never swear, Nixon claims in new White House tapes — (Image credit: Gianni Ferrari/Getty Images)

Former President Richard Nixon believed women never swore — at least not the nice attractive ones. That tidbit comes from Vanity Fair, which cleaned up and pored over thousands of hours of Nixon's White House tapes.

After chief of staff H. R. Haldeman informs Nixon that some girls do indeed swear, Nixon offers up this gem:

"Oh, they do now? But, nevertheless, it removes something from them. They don't even realize it. A man drunk, and a man who swears, people will tolerate and say that's a sign of masculinity or some other damn thing. We all do it. We all swear. But you show me a girl that swears and I'll show you an awful unattractive person.... I mean, all femininity is gone. And none of the smart girls do swear, incidentally." [Vanity Fair]

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.