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

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"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.

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.

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.

This is an excellent book. Well written and compact. No wasted words in this story.

It's vintage Nixon and he's at his best. It's full of fascinating stories and hard, tough insights into power politics. His core belief is that your life needs to be dedicated to some cause greater than yourself. It's an idea well worth pondering.

Probably the biggest weakness is the masterful spin on any of his problems. It's almost as if he's running a political campaign. Every controversial issue is turned into a positive reflection on his career. You know he's got to be lying at least a little bit, but you just can't figure out where. Oh well.

First, let me say that I rated this book at 4 stars. In my ranking system, a 4 is a very good score. I rarely ever give a 5, because it implies perfection.

With that said, I do believe that this book is worth reading for anyone interested in bettering themselves. Whilst the subject is about politics, many of the stories revolve around human nature and Richard Nixon gives some utterly insightful advice.

It is definitely worth reading.

Richard Nixon's In The Arena is a political masterpiece. He demonstrates remarkable insights into the forces of the world of politics. It is odd that a man who had such a profound knowledge of the system and an understanding of how it can be tamed made such foolish errors in his own administration. The book, however, indicates that his legacy will be more than just the Watergate scandel, and more than the resignation of the presidency. Much like a lion tamer who one day loses control of his beast, so too Nixon lost the power over politics, but that does not repudiate his long career of dominating in the arena.

This books tells you very interesting things about Politics and Life in general. Definitely, Richard Nixon was a very intelligent man.

Something I find fascinating and mysterious is that the most intelligent President of USA has been the only one to be dismissed, the one who obtained one of the most landslide victory of USA's electoral history (1972) and the one who had more enemies in the Press.

This is not only one of the best books President Nixon wrote, but I have also found it to be one of the best written by any President. What makes it so good is the fact that you do not have to be a fan of Nixon's in order to appreciate it. Instead you get a personal view of his feelings on a variet of subjects. Even his most fierce critics would give him credit for giving excellant advice. In this book people of all sorts of professions can find sound advice for everyday events and aspects of their lives. I would love to discuss this book with anyone who is interested. Brian Maughan

Atlanta, Georgia- The title In the Arena comes from a quote from Theodore Roosevelt. The quote states:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how strong a man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and counts short again and again; who becomes there is not effort without error and short coming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

As time passes Richard Nixon wisdom and judgment seems timeless. This book is a deeply personal book, because it exposes his faults and failures. After he had disgraced himself by resigning the presidency, Nixon was asked what he would do with the rest of his life. If he might stage one last comeback. His answer before the Oxford Union in 1978 became is mantra. He stated, "So long as I have breath in my body, I am going to talk about the great issues that affect the world. I am not going to keep my mouth shut. I am going to speak out for peace and freedom."
Arnold Toynbee in his book Study of History describes what he calls the phenomenon of withdrawal and return as a "disengagement and temporary withdrawal of the creative personality from his social milieu and his subsequent return to the same milieu transfigured in a newer capacity with new powers." Examples are Mohammed, Confucius, Peter the Great, and you can include Richard Nixon in the mix.
Nixon's life was one of always being underestimated and working harder than anyone else. Yes he made mistakes, but he also had great successes. This book allows you to gain insight into one of the most complex political figures of our nation's history. His intellect and curiosity of ideas and solutions about some of our world's biggest challenges is admirable.

In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat and Renewal by Richard Nixon humanizes this man behind the growling smile and waving peace signs of victory that have become an iconic caricature of this former president.

I read this book when I had just graduated High School (over 15 years ago) and I still think it and Atlas Shrugged have had a profound effect on my life (I am in fact trying to purchase it for my cousin off to boarding school this year). It is Nixon looking back on his life discussing various subjects, from alcohol to negotiating. It thoughtful and timeless. It is a great book to give to a young adult to help shape their morals and to develop their decision making process. It is a Nixon at the end of his life trying to give advice to future generations not on global politics, but on life choices. Regardless of what you think of the man, he is an authority on life decisions and their consequences.