Soo great

He is the true king of country

A TRUE LEGEND!!

Thank you..

Ken Worth I just said that to myself ! bout made me tear up! He was the best!!

It choked me up too, Ken. I was 15 years old then and even then Merle was one of my favorites. I miss him, and George, and Johnny, and Waylon, and Conway so much. They just didn't sing country music .... they WERE country music.

@@3069mark v

He was one of my favorite I have C D by him handsome too

It made me tear up, too.

As a patented lyer and crooker he was

He's definitely the best.

Steven T: Yes, he did become a fine person, citizen, and artist. He's always been my favourite country singer. I'm sorry he's gone, but happy that he doesn't have to witness where his country is heading. It's so very sad. May he rest in peace.

Reagan was the BEST president ever!!! Trump is following in his footsteps!! Let's Pray for Trump!

Due in no small part to Johnny Cash who told him to just be honest writing songs and tell them the truth they'll love you for it. He took that advice to heart needless to say! @Steve Jones

Reagan was a GREAT PRESIDENT. I'm proud I got to vote for him twice. ( I also LOVE Trump and will vote for him twice ) Merle was always a "fine citizen, person and artist". Anyone with no piss and vinegar ain't worth a shit even if they get in some trouble.

Right. Who wants to have to do a little self reflection?

No offense intended, but isn't that what everyone says, that America was better in the past and today the USA is horrible and miserable? Trust me - twenty years from now, people will be whining the same way, saying they miss how great America was in the 2020s! Go back far enough and you'll probably find people saying the Declaration of Independence was a mistake and things were better under George III.

Then you’ll be complaining about how wish you could return back to the 20s cause everyone is divided by race color. You white folks would love that wouldn’t “y’all”.

Amen and amen.

We need to stop these people that are deliberately trying to tare it down

​@@ElMencho.Every white person doesn't fit this picture you are trying to paint

If watch merle sing okie from muskogee "the wagon house" Performance you'll see the same look

they loved each other til the end! she said Merle couldn’t stay in love but about 6months at a time!

Merle was an American and proud of it and Nixon got a hard time from the Press and did far less than Clinton and Biden did and won 49 states and got crucified ! It’s depressing how corrupt this nation has become. But there is always music 👍❤️🇺🇸🎸

@@martinhanley9524 wajt do you say? He have lying tricking and it's not an issue for you?

or vice versa

so true!

yep, go from being a criminal to singing for a room full of criminals

@@shermansav Or you're delusional.

So well put!

Angika johnson

It must have been so surreal, an honor to be sure, but he did not agree with Nixon’s politics nor his ethics or lack thereof. During the years he was eligible for the draft he was in prison, though, and I heard him say once that he could never protest a military action because he didn’t have the information the people high up who made these decisions have and he never had the experiences that soldiers had in the field. Only they were qualified to define the war as in the country’s interest and for the cause of freedom. Or not. Later he would call Nixon a traitor to the country, but not, I think, until after Nixon’s death.

Merle Haggard knew country!!!! and loved his!

Nixon inviting Haggard the the WH, was more of a political stunt than anything. He simply wanted to reach voters that listened to country music. I can see it was a great honor for Merle.

@@rickallen6378 That's always the reasoning behind any president inviting celebrities to the White House.

Nancy Phillips me xx the bezrnof merme hag Vthe eat The best of .erle haggRgd

That's a very endearing comment thank you for sharing. We like President Nixon as well and ol time country music. May God bless America. #MAGA

You realize he could have ended the Vietnam war sooner but he drug it out so he would get re-elected.

And was opening up China a good thing? Our manufacturing base went there and therefore it's much harder to make a decent living.

If by 'going to China' you mean befriending the greatest mass murderer in human history and 'getting them out of Vietnam' you mean purposely sabotaging peace talks in 68' then yeah, God Bless Tricky Dick'.

According to his book, he was glazed. Every time I watch this, I have to laugh. Bless his heart, he did pretty darn good.

He sure looks it.

That song is very important today

May be one of the reasons he messed up a lot 😂

Amanda tompkins - Yes; I thought he had a cold or something.

Does it really matter? Romanticizing it tells me a lot. Been there I do the same thing

Tom Dale: Haggard and Alan Jackson are my two all-time favourites in country music. I'm not surprised that the Hag praised the three you mentioned, especially Jackson.

speed, pot, and alcohol?

Yes twice and Kennedy center achievement award..Nixon and reagan

Yes, I wonder who that was? Please, everybody. VOTE HIM OUT!!!

Damn Biden

Also funny is how Merle proclaimed his appearance before Pres. Nixon as the greatest day in his life then a few years later in the song "Are The Good Times Really Over For Good" included the line 'back before Nixon lied to us all on TV"!!

+Gilstrap2009 Early Merle and later Merle..... quite the dichotomy . Say no to drugs!!!

+BIRDCHRIS1 Indeed.

I won't comment on the politics, but it's great to have comments like this to identify musicians as us youngsters simply don't know who the less well known players are in footage like this. Thank you sir!

Thank you Sir,for your service!!!

All presidents defend military might ...they are the same in that way

Yes all my Vietnam vets loved nixon back then and still do.

Thanks for your service. Nixon,to me, was a fraud in every sense of the word. He used the war to continue his political career.He lied to the American people to get elected,then re-elected by saying he had a plan to win the war,or to end the war honorably when he had no such plan at all.Every president involved with that war--Kennedy,Nixon,and esp Johnson were careless in sending troops into battle for no viable reason and no plan to win it.History should not be kind to any of them.

@@joshbates7568 Well then they are fools...he extended the war so he could win in 72'. He basically allowed our soldiers to be killed to help his political career

MrRonskiman he was indeed

He was clearly nervous and in awe of the President at the end.

I think it's funny how Nixon was big on Merle at the time for his patriotic songs and love of country,and later merle called him a liar in the song"are the good times really over for good"

Lol

@@captinbeyond Well, Merle called Nixon that because it was the truth. Imagine the field day he'd have writing a song about the current so-called president. (Sorry, but I can't capitalize the word until there's a worthy person holding the office.)

@@corriecrazy I can imagine Merle would probably vote for the current president..not because he is a great person, but more to do with him not being the socialist democrats running against him.On Trump's worst day, he is heavens above anyone being offered up by the democrats. I think Merle could spot a fake( Biden) and a commie( Bernie)

@@captinbeyond Oh, well. Can't win 'em all.

They should have played that as tricky was waving from the hilo. lol

@@stevemcdaniels2825 And as Trump was being inaugurated.

It didn't come for another decade.

cindy what county do you live in. I ask that because if you make a statement like that. You sure are not a real America.Because he was a lierand a crook. Nixon is in the top three worst president in this great country.He choice for not ending the Vietnam war cost ten of thousands. Of America soldiers lives. Than you have got enough nerve to say “ He was a good statesman”. WOW SMH

But a criminal.

Criminal Statesman what's the difference

@@normahinkle2539 You must just be anti Nixon, and most likely a Republican hating democrat. It wasn't Nixon's war. He inherited the war. We were involved with Vietnam for Decades before Nixon's arrival, and the French were fighting the war before that. Our first involvement of any kind with Vietnam began with Franklin Roosevelt, then Truman. Then Dwight Eisenhower sent Advisory troops over there after the French pulled out, and John Kennedy sent more once he took office. Then when Lyndon Johnson took office he began escalating the situation, sending large numbers of combat troops, initiating the United State's actual combat role. After these decades of involvement, it was Nixon who deescalated the situation, by pulling troops out, ultimately ending the war. And as far as being a liar and a crook... The only difference between Nixon and any other president, is that Nixon just happened to get caught. As years go by, people get tunnel vision looking back, and only remember certain things. For the most part, the only thing people associate with Nixon is Watergate. When judging Nixon in his entirety, he wasn't that bad of a president. He did some things wrong, but he also accomplished a lot of good things too.

@@normahinkle2539 You said " Nixon is in the top three worst presidents in this great country." Obviously Trump is another, and who is the third?

I’m old enough to remember and not too old to forget. It WAS a different universe.

@@brucekuehn4031 It sure was a different universe. Please someone, take me back there.

And you know this how about Merle hating Nixon? Asking for a friend

Nixon's lies were nothing compared to what we've been told lately about Obamacare, Benghazi, the IRS scandal, email on private servers, etc.

Boy, you have that right!... Richard Nixon's antics, look like positively Micky Mouse stuff , compared to what's going on now.

D Storm it's Highwaymen Riding Time again. we all know who said the word stoned the first time at one of their shows. I have a particular purpose to provide funding for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Badlands, South Dakota. it's a long story. I invited 2 homeless American Indians to stay in my RV. That is how I learned of Their lives, or maybe call it, no life. send this message on it's way. magic will do the rest 💙 sharon, Minnesota girl

Which politician doesn't lie?

The new lyrics are "BACK WHEN ALL DEMOCRATS LIED TO US ALL ON TV!"

Sizeable_Lad: But it was true.

Corrie Crazy i know it was im not calling merle a hypocrite or anything, i just find it ironic is all

It's Bonnie Owens, his wife.

you may be right

@@Callipygous1975 Bonnie is not a blonde, she is the brunette behind Merle

@@oxtuckian You are probably right. She did dye her hair sometimes. She looks 3 inches taller than Merle. Was she that tall? Also the blonde looks taller than tiny Barbara M.