If capacity is the measure of trust, we might have to say we trusted Richard Nixon more than most presidents, but that seems to be a quite unlikely claim in the vernacular. Perhaps Europeans, who were not subject to Nixon's tax audits, FBI investigations, and election shenanigans, could give most weight to his capacities in attempting to reduce the scale of international conflict in at least his China policies. Many Americans would not so easily have slighted the political abuses, which seemed to be driven not by concern with his better policies but by personal paranoia.

QUESTION: Does trust hinge on capacity or on moral/political conduct? The passage suggests these diverge sharply in Nixon's case.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 776