Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon in Radioactive Man #1.

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. The Simpsons and Futurama have made a running gag out of using a fictionalized version of Nixon as a recurring antagonist. The Radioactive Man comics maintain this tradition, having Richard Nixon appear as an authoritarian, right-wing presence in each issue of the first limited series that Bongo Comics released. As the series progresses, he becomes increasingly antagonistic, corrupt, paranoid, and totalitarian.

• In Radioactive Man #1, Nixon appears heading up a Congressional hearing that accusing publisher William G. Maimes of anti-American activities. In this, he played a role similar to the real-life role of Estes Kefauver, presiding over Senate hearings about the dangers of comic books.
• In Radioactive Man #88, Nixon briefly meets Radioactive Man in his civilian identity of Claude Kane III minutes before doing an on-air interview with Gloria Grand.
• In Radioactive Man #100 (not part of the first limited series), Nixon signed a photo for Radioactive Man, which the Irradiated Crusader keeps on the wall of his Containment Dome.
• Radioactive Man #216 references a past incident where Nixon increases in size and becomes a cannibalistic monster. Claude then indirectly assists in covering up the Watergate scandal. In the Poster Pit, we see a satirical poster of Nixon as Radioactive Man and Vice President Spiro Agnew as Fallout Boy.
• In Radioactive Man #412, Nixon heads up a shady cabal known as the Bonfire Club. Elsewhere in the issue, we see William Casey stealing President Carter's presidential debate documents, suggesting that Nixon and Casey conspired to rig the 1980 US presidential election.
• Radioactive Man #679 has Nixon acting as the issue's (hidden) main antagonist. He spends the issue plotting to undermine the confidence and credibility of superheroes and get the 22nd Amendment repealed so that he can run for office again. He puts the Superior Squad and some of their allies in an elaborate fake reality. He then secretly manipulates a fake Nega-Pneumatica from behind a curtain (a la The Wizard of Oz) in an attempt to kill the heroes, thwarted when Glowy catches him and chases him off.

  

  Richard Nixon with Dr. Crab in Radioactive Man #1000.

• At the very end of Radioactive Man #1000, we see Nixon conspiring with Dr. Crab, despite their divergent ideologies. Nixon lives on as a perserved head (as in Futurama) even after his real-life death in 1994.
• Although it didn’t take place in a Radioactive Man comic, Bartman #3 depicts Kang and Kodos watching Nixon on television attempting to kiss a crying baby.