SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA — On an August day way back when in 1974, the president of the United States resigned, and my mother disappeared. She didn't take any of us kids with her and didn't say where she was going. But she was gone for a couple hours.

The day that Richard Nixon finally faced mounting public pressure against him for his Watergate burglary coverup and conduct of the Vietnam War came at great cost to the country. Several Republicans senators went to the White House and told him the truth: They would no longer support him, and he had to go or else be forced from office. It was all over and done.

Compared to our president now, Nixon doesn't look so bad. Oh, don't get me wrong. Nixon was bad, with his own secret enemies list, but Donald Trump is shockingly in a league of his own. His enemies list is long and public. When he came back to the White House, he vowed to make it all about "retribution."

That is the one promise Trump kept, getting even with the universities, journalists and lawyers he felt looked down upon him. It was both personal and strictly business at the same time, to echo a line from "The Godfather."

Nixon understood the use of the federal government, that its purpose was to actually assist citizens in need of health care, nutritional assistance, scientific research and clean air and water. Yes, Virginia, Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency.

Trump is trying to destroy it from within, by naming a director, Lee Zeldin, to dismantle its mission. This is happening during the hottest summer in memory, with wildfires burning in Europe and the Northwestern United States, due to climate change.

Oh, didn't you know? Trump says climate change is a "hoax" and insists that fossil fuels are superior to solar or wind renewable energy. You never know whether he believes his own lies because he tells them so often with such bluster.

Enriching himself to the tune of $2 billion by nefarious means is another one of his mind-blowing feats. There is no senator who has the courage to confront him face-to-face. Trump has carefully groomed his Cabinet members to look and listen adoringly. Nobody does it better than vain Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who helped Trump blunder into a catastrophic war with Iran.

For 250 years, the garden of American democracy bloomed; it wasn't all pretty, but the nation had peace and prosperity by the year 2000.

The Smithsonian Institution planned for 10 years for how to celebrate the 250th birthday year 2026 on the National Mall, raising $40 million for a special folklife festival that Trump canceled. The nation's storyteller, the Smithsonian is now under a cloud, with Trump publicly challenging some exhibitions.

That is what authoritarians do: Throw out the books and records telling the truth of the past. They also scapegoat certain ethnic groups (like Haitians) and direct a private police force like Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Have you seen Lafayette Square lately, in front of the White House? It looks like a jail holding cell, all boarded up.

Are you ready for an IndyCar "Freedom 250 Grand Prix" coming to race around precious capital streets hugging the National Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue? Yes, that's coming on Aug. 22-23.

Trump hit the nail on the head when he said, "I can do whatever I want." In his first term, wiser heads kept his worst ideas at bay.

Now the beast is out of the cage. There's no telling what he'll do in the upcoming midterm elections. Pray for peace.

My mother, Judith, a professor with long flowing hair, raised us on antiwar protests in Madison, Wisconsin. We have reason to believe she was on Nixon's enemies list.

That day, seeing Nixon's stage exit, she jumped in the car and drove down to San Clemente, where his plane landed. She had to see his Shakespearean downfall. She said the scene was somber. All his critics stood on one side of the airfield, and his supporters stood on the other.

When the vanquished Nixon emerged, the historic moment melted into silence.

The author may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. To find out more about Jamie Stiehm and other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, please visit creators.com.

Photo credit: Library of Congress at Unsplash