In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal [Hardcover]

Richard Nixon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1990

Former U.S. President Richard Nixon candidly reflects on his career and discusses such topics as the U.S.S.R., Gorbachev, secrecy, Watergate, and more.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Sgd Ltd edition (July 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671723189
• ISBN-13: 978-0671723187
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,672,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nixon Looks Back at a Rich Life in the Arena, May 12, 2000

By 

David Montgomery "Book Critic" (davidjmontgomery.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Arena: In the Arena (Paperback)

"Life is a roller coaster, exhilarating on the way up and breathtaking on the way down." -Richard Nixon, In the Arena

Richard Nixon spent most of his eighty-one years "in the arena," serving his country as Congressman, Senator, Vice President, President, and, finally, elder statesman and foreign policy mandarin. He was one of the most controversial figures in American public life; "Tricky Dick," the man you loved to hate. He started his career as a hero to conservatives, a dedicated anti-Communist, the vanquisher of Helen Gahagan Douglas and Alger Hiss. Later he enraged many those same supporters by imposing wage and price controls and opening China to the West. He was the leader of the Silent Majority, the ender of the Vietnam war. He was also crippled by disgrace; the only President forced to resign his office.

In the Arena is not a conventional memoir. Nixon already covered the essentials in his 1978 volume, "RN." Rather, this is more of an introduction to the man himself; a personal, intimate, conversational book about how he felt and thought, and what he believed. It is a reminiscence about the major points in his life, both high and low-the subtitle of the book is "A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal"-and a commentary on some of the events that have occurred since his earlier autobiography. This is by no means the definitive book on Nixon, but it does provide intriguing insights into the mind of a most intriguing man.

Some of the more interesting revelations in the book are Nixon's personal dealings with and reactions to the famous men he knew and met in his life. Herbert Hoover, MacArthur, Churchill, de Gaulle, Adenauer, Kennedy, Eisenhower, and many others. He had their respect, if not their friendship, and he was able to deal with them as an equal, both before and after his presidency. He relates engaging impressions and revealing insights of these Titans of history. Gorbachev, he reveals, was better educated and more charismatic than Brezhnev so he came off as being a benign presence, but, in truth, he was no less ruthless. "[B]eneath the velvet glove he always wears, there is a steel fist." Mao told Nixon that he preferred "rightists" like him because "those on the right can do what those on the left can only talk about." Chou En-Lai was a ruthless negotiator with an all-encompassing understanding of international affairs. MacArthur was the most fascinating speaker he ever met, able to deliver, off the cuff, hours of brilliant, hypnotic rhetoric. The only leader Nixon ever met who could equal him was Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore.

Nixon also writes about Watergate, although, predictably, he makes no stunning confessions or apologies. He admits his responsibility for the cover-up, but denies having any role in the crime itself. He also continues to emphasize the political aspects of the scandal. He paraphrases Talleyrand: "Watergate was worse than a crime-it was a blunder." He reveals that even he did not know about all that was going on. He did not give the matter sufficient attention because he was preoccupied with his China initiatives and his efforts to end the war in Vietnam. He admits regret for considering options that were clearly illegal. Ironically, his order to kill the investigation, the famous "smoking gun" which ultimately led to his resignation, was disregarded. He also discusses his agonizing over accepting the pardon offered by President Ford. "Next to the resignation, accepting the pardon was the most painful decision of my political career." Ultimately, though, he concluded that the continuing obsession by the people with Watergate was crippling the nation. That and his own "desperate financial situation" left him with little choice.

Nixon also writes passionately about his role in the Vietnam War. "A day did not pass during my years in the White House that I did not hate the war in Vietnam." Nixon's mother, of course, was a Quaker and his upbringing had to influence the way he felt about such things. He especially loathed the tremendous human suffering caused by war. Still, he felt that the nation's course was a necessary one and that our goals in Indochina were "worthy and honorable." "I would have done anything to achieve them by peaceful means. But no such options were available." He believed that it was "imperative both morally and strategically" to help free the countries of Indochina, but that did not "lessen the burden [he] felt from leading our nation in war." As always, Nixon remained committed to the ideal of "real peace", that is, an end to war. We cannot achieve what he calls "perfect peace"-an end to conflict-because conflict is the natural state of affairs in the world. However, real peace is obtainable, if only we can take the profit out of war. He believes that this is possible because the destructiveness of nuclear weapons has made world war prohibitively expensive, and because increasing world prosperity has drastically reduced the desire of nations to increase their wealth by acquiring more territory and resources.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personal and Analytical, May 4, 2004

By 

Dr. W. G. Covington, Jr. (Edinboro, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal (Hardcover)

Since the former president granted my request and sent me a personal autographed copy absolutely free I am biased about this book. I think it is well-written, insightful, personal, and philosophical all in one package. His approach to life was essentially life it to the hilt, have something to show for your existence, hence the title. He was not hesitant to enter "the arena." In fact, his life was lived in the arena. President Nixon was both a thinker and doer.

While he lived adventurously on two levels, the mental and physical, he was somewhat neglectful of the spiritual arena. He talks about his Christian parents, especially his mother, but he doesn't address spiritual matters in his personal life in any great detail. I know he was on friendly terms with both Billy Graham and Norman Vincent Peale. I'm sure they had some Christian influence on him.

In this book, the president looks back on life as an elder statesman. Some of the advice he gives is pertinent to any arena. When he talks about living with a purpose that transcends self, the focus is beyond political. He devotes time to the human condition, overcoming personal challenges, victories, defeats, and renewals. This is a well-thought out book. Any open minded reader would be stimulated by it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasure expierence to read it, July 29, 2006

By 

Lucio Sergio Catilina (Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal (Hardcover)

Why is it pleasurable to read this book ? Because you have the impression of sitting with former President Nixon having him telling you his experience as a politician, truly revealing, with simple but skilled language, anedoctes of his life and his mind about a lot of topics.
I really enjoyed having this presidential chat with President Nixon and every once in a while I will surely have some other ones by reading some passages of " In the Arena", a memoir narrated not in chronological order, but according to certain matters he deals with.