10 Ways Hunter S Thompson Was Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die

Though Thompson was an outspoken hater of the then presidential candidate, the infamous journalist was somehow permitted some intimate time with Nixon during his first run at being president in 1972. Documenting the campaigns of various candidates in what would become 'Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72', Thompson often sided with the Democrat candidate George McGovern and fiercely described Richard Nixon in terms such as “a swine of a man” and proposed that when he died he should have been dumped in the sewers.

What would you do if someone publicly said these things about you? Would you try to destroy their reputation? Maybe gather some thugs to beat the living hell out of them? Or would you invite them to sit down and talk about sports?...What do you mean that last idea was totally stupid? Yes, amidst the stresses of the campaign trail Nixon reached out to Thompson and offered the journalist a ride from one conference to another. He did this so they could have a private interview, but only, as his bodyguards told him, if they talked about American Football.

In the end Thompson somehow stuck true to this and, weirdly, found himself having a pleasant time with Tricky Dick, noting that the man had good taste in sport. It was as bizarre a notion has having a pint with Theresa May and not trying to glass her, or seeing Trump on a golf course and not trying to glass him. No, you have a weird fixation with glassing people.