RICHARD NIXON.

In his 2010 blog post "Detroit's Geometric Murals of the Seventies" , blogger One More Spoke writes the following of the 37th president:

Richard Nixon can usually be blamed for most things. Geometric murals of the 1970s are no exception. Not to say he should be blamed in a bad way, just to say his presidency and ultimate resignation resulted in a need to think in shapes. The shapes were a panacea for war and scandal. Subliminally his presence is still felt though. NIXON is the most geometric name of any president we've ever had, so it's no surprise that this style of mural was de rigueur during, and soon after, the Watergate era.¹³

It is perhaps surprising to note that as president, Nixon urged Congress to increase federal support for the arts. The following is from his 1971 address to the Associated Council of the Arts:

We can spend billions on new scientific miracles, on education, on housing, on health care, highways and airports and all the other goods and services that Government is expected to provide -- and in doing so we can meet very genuine needs and discharge very real responsibilities. But this alone would be like designing a violin without the strings.

As we look ahead, 10, 20, 30 years, we can chart the prospect of many great achievements. We have seen technological advance speed up by almost a geometrical progression; already we take moon landings almost for granted. Computers, industrial advances, agricultural breakthroughs, all are multiplying the goods and services our economy can produce.

These material advances are important. They extend man's reach; they widen our range of choices; they make it possible to look ahead toward an end to hunger and misery and disease not only in America but elsewhere in the world as well.

But by themselves those advances can never be enough. The engineers and the scientists can take us to the moon, but we need the poet or the painter to take us to the heights of understanding and perception. Doctors are enabling us to live longer and healthier lives, but we need the musician and the dancer and the filmmaker to bring beauty and meaning to our lives.²²

See 1973 and ART APPRECIATION