If you’ve searched “Hunter S. Thompson Nixon obituary,” you’re probably not looking for an obituary of Hunter S. Thompson. You’re looking for the obituary he wrote, the one about Richard Nixon, published in Rolling Stone shortly after Nixon died in 1994. It’s called “He Was a Crook,” and more than 30 years later, it’s still one of the most talked-about pieces of political writing ever published. Let’s untangle what it actually was, why Thompson wrote it the way he did, and how it fits into his long, complicated relationship with Nixon.
What Is “He Was a Crook,” Exactly?
In June 1994, days after Richard Nixon’s death, Rolling Stone published Thompson’s response. It wasn’t a traditional obituary. It read more like an internal memo, framed as coming from Thompson’s self-invented “National Affairs Desk,” dated back to early May of that year. That framing alone told readers something: this wasn’t going to sound like the respectful, measured obituaries running in most newspapers that week.
Thompson didn’t soften anything. He called Nixon a liar and a quitter in the opening lines and kept going from there, describing him as a symbol of corruption rather than mourning him as a statesman. It’s blunt in a way that obituaries almost never are, which is exactly why it’s still being read and shared today.
Why Hunter S. Thompson and Richard Nixon Had History Long Before This
This wasn’t a one-off attack. Thompson had been writing about Nixon for over two decades by the time he died. During the 1972 presidential election, Thompson covered the campaign trail for Rolling Stone, work that later became the book “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72.” Nixon wasn’t just a subject for Thompson. He became something closer to a personal obsession, a stand-in for everything Thompson believed was rotten about American politics.
Thompson once described Nixon as representing the dark, violent underside of the American character, a line that gives you a sense of just how personally he took Nixon’s presidency, and later, Watergate. So when Nixon died, Thompson wasn’t approaching the moment as a neutral journalist. He was closing out a fight he’d been having for twenty years.
Inside the Obituary: Tone, Style and What Made It Different
Here’s where a lot of readers get curious about the term “gonzo journalism,” since it shows up in almost every discussion of Thompson’s work. Put simply, gonzo journalism is a style where the writer doesn’t just report on events from a distance. They insert themselves directly into the story, opinions, exaggerations, and all. There’s no pretense of neutrality.
That’s exactly what “He Was a Crook” is doing. Instead of listing Nixon’s accomplishments and softening his failures the way most obituaries do, Thompson used the piece to make an argument: that Nixon’s legacy shouldn’t be quietly rehabilitated just because he’d died. A few things that made it stand out:
- It rejected the usual “speak no ill of the dead” convention almost entirely
- It mixed dark humor with genuine anger, rather than picking one tone
- It pushed back directly against historians and commentators who were already trying to reframe Nixon’s presidency more favorably right after his death
How People Reacted at the Time
The piece didn’t quietly slip by. It generated real conversation for the same reason it still gets shared now: obituaries just aren’t supposed to sound like that. Some readers saw it as tasteless. Others saw it as one of the most honest political obituaries ever published, precisely because it refused the usual diplomatic softening. Either way, it cemented Thompson’s reputation as someone who wasn’t going to change his voice just because the subject had died.
Is Hunter S. Thompson’s Own Death Related to This Essay? Clearing Up a Common Mix-Up
This is worth addressing directly, because it’s clearly causing confusion in search results. Hunter S. Thompson died in February 2005, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home near Aspen, Colorado. He was 67. That’s a completely separate event from the Nixon essay, which was published more than a decade earlier, in 1994.
The two get tangled together online partly because of how similarly the keywords read, and partly because some articles cover both topics in the same post without clearly separating them. If you’re here because you want to know how Thompson died, that’s the short answer. If you’re here for the Nixon piece, that’s the essay covered above.
The Essay’s Afterlife: Why Writers Still Reference It Decades Later
“He Was a Crook” outlived its original news cycle by a wide margin. Its structure, a blunt, in-character memo tearing into a recently deceased public figure, has been referenced and remixed by other writers for years since, including satirical versions applying the same format to more recent political figures. That kind of afterlife is rare for a piece of journalism from the 1990s, and it says something about how sharply written the original was.
If you want to read the essay in full, your best bet is checking Rolling Stone’s own archives or an authorized Thompson anthology, since reposted versions floating around the internet often aren’t authorized reproductions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Hunter S. Thompson write about Richard Nixon?
He wrote “He Was a Crook,” a blunt, unconventional obituary published in Rolling Stone in June 1994, shortly after Nixon’s death.
Why did Hunter S. Thompson dislike Richard Nixon so much?
Thompson saw Nixon as a symbol of corruption and political dishonesty, a view shaped by years of covering Nixon’s presidency and the Watergate scandal.
When was “He Was a Crook” published?
It was published in Rolling Stone in June 1994, shortly after Richard Nixon’s death.
How did Hunter S. Thompson die?
He died in February 2005 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home near Aspen, Colorado, at age 67.
Is this the same as Hunter S. Thompson’s own obituary?
No. “He Was a Crook” is the obituary Thompson wrote about Richard Nixon. It’s not related to Thompson’s own death, which happened over a decade later.
What is gonzo journalism?
It’s a style of reporting where the writer inserts their own voice, opinions, and experiences directly into the story instead of writing from a neutral distance. Thompson pioneered the style.
Did Thompson cover other presidents this way?
Yes. He covered the 1972 campaign extensively and wrote critically about several political figures throughout his career, though the Nixon piece remains his most famous obituary-style work.
Where can I read the full essay?
Check Rolling Stone’s archives or an official Thompson anthology for an authorized version, rather than relying on unverified reposts online.
Want me to also draft a short editor’s note or disclaimer block for your site flagging that this is commentary/analysis rather than a personal tribute? Given the confusion already happening in the SERP, that kind of clarity near the top could actually help this page’s click-through and reduce bounce.