Customer Reviews

Nixon in Winter : His Final Revelations about Diplomacy, Watergate, and Life out of the Arena

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This isn't a biography. The author isn't distanced enough for that. And it is hardly a tribute, because the shadow of scandal never leaves the portrayal. I would say this book is a memoir of a young graduate student's intellectual travails with an aging Nixon. His story is very complicated, and his reflections, on politics, the end of the cold war, and scandal, are absolutely riveting. Nixon's evaluation of his own foibles mesmerizes. What does he say about Watergate, 20 years later? How does he think his mother, deceased by then, would have judged the events, and him? I won't spoil the story; it's well worth reading. The only part I was troubled by was the author's portrayal of herself. There's just the slightest hint of condescension for the old man. Fully armed with fresh graduate school knowledge of world affairs, she sees herself as the person who prodded Nixon into revelation. It seems a bit self-serving. Still, that's a minor qualm in a book that, perhaps unintentionally, creates sympathy and respect for the man. As presented here, he clearly is human and, in a way not seen in today's callow politicians, brilliant.

If one ever wonders what qualifies Monica Crowley to be a talk show host, if one ever questions what relevance her opinions or insight have for the rest of America, if one ever doubts that Monica Crowley is a qualified author, this work will provide a resounding affirmation of her talent, intelligence, and ability. Before WABC and before a Columbia Ph.D., there was only the college of Richard Nixon. Crowley traveled the globe with Nixon, soaking in every detail, every nuance of his intellect and capacity for foreign affairs and political strategy.
Concerning posterity, Nixon always knew when he spoke to or with Crowley that he was speaking to history. Nixon has already sought to rewrite his legacy in his memoirs RN as well as In the Arena. Nixon's qualifications are manifest in his own writings as well. Crowley does an excellent job of highlighting Nixon's capacity for political intelligence and machinations while simultaneously showing readers that Nixon is more than a one-dimensional paranoid recluse. Crowley feels obliged to mention Watergate because it figures into Nixon's legacy so prominently but she does not dwell on a low point in an otherwise important career. She also does an excellent job of showing that there are two sides to Nixon: the steely statesman who opened China, diffused tensions with the Soviet Union, and worked toward peace in the middle east (all coauthored with Henry Kissinger) as well as the man behind the myth, saddened by the death of his wife, concerned about the health of his new foreign policy assistant, and full of colorful tales about fellow political personalities from his time in office. It is at this point and at this separation where Nixon comes off as the "grandfather" type that Eisenhower seemed to personify to the average American forty years earlier.

I must first admit that I am a great admirer of President Nixon. It is a delight to read his candid thoughts from informal settings. I literally laughed out loud more than once. This books displays President Nixon's wonderful insights in ways that even he couldn't express through his own works. Being able to read his true inner thoughts in private settings without the sugar-coating that is necessary when speaking or writing for the public was a pure delight, not to mention educational. From the triumphs and failures of his presidency to current political scandal and policy to personal beliefs on life itself this book delivers President Nixon perhaps at his best. I found myself nodding in agreement time after time, whether it was in reading his refelective analysis of the Vienam War or his take on the Thomas Confirmation Hearings (by the way what the heck has happened to Arlen Specter since then. I have to believe that President Nixon would be as disappointed in him as I have been over the past year or so). Even the most adamant Nixon-hater would have a hard time putting this book down, for it does give everyone a look at the inner-man. And, I for one do not see how any unbiased reader could conclude upon reading this book that Nixon is the man that the press and others have attempted to make him out to be. Frustrated by the ignorance of the general public regarding the misconceptions about President Nixon this book has refreshed my memory with ample ammo to combat such misguided beliefs. The genuineness is fascinating, the opinions are entertaining and discerning. I couldn't put it down. 5 stars.

As Crowley herself says, if history judges Nixon's presidency on the White House tapes and transcripts, he deserves a chance for his entire life to be judged on all of his life's activities, including his "winter". This book provides an extended view of Nixon in the last four years of his life.

A few of the reviewers here questioned whether Crowley's writings accurately recount Nixon's comments and confessions in an objective manner, and they wonder if he would have really opened up to her... My first take on this was a once powerful, now-fallen, guilt-ridden old man hires an attractive twenty-something female grad student - someone naïve and susceptible he can impress and dominate - to rewrite his legacy, gloss over his mistakes, and show how even after all that happened, he was indeed great. Did she - at this time in her life - have the necessary knowledge, historical context and maturity to discerningly ferret out, deduce and capture the real truth from Nixon's rhetoric?

Soon into the book, I began to realize these worries were moot, as conversations recounted by Crowley show the familiar arrogance, criticisms, paranoia, self-absorbtion and the meddling that are indeed vintage Nixon.

Nixon's musings on the collapse of Communism, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin were very interesting and provided a good review of a monumental set of events of world history. In fact, the first half of the book was a play-by-play of early 90s American-Soviet foreign policy with color commentary by Richard Nixon. So much so it became droll and I find myself skimming along to the sections on Vietnam and Watergate.

Part 3 focused on Nixon's reflections on Watergate. Crowley captures the range of feelings that must have plagued Nixon over his final 20 years - admission of culpability interchanged with minimization of his role and his being a victim of a liberal media and a turbulent time in history. He makes the point that his escapades were politics-as-usual and FDR, JFK, and LBJ all used the same dirty tricks he did. Crowley also captures Nixon's pleasure of seeing Clinton go through the same torture with Whitewater as he did with Watergate.

Part 4 continues commentary from Nixon on political scandal de jour and Part 5 focuses on Nixon's thoughts on philosophy, family and faith. On this last part, I wasn't particularly prepared to visualize Nixon puttering around the house in his pajamas talking about these things, but one realizes that he too was, in fact, human.

The book was not chronological, as each part recounted relevant items to the subject from Crowley's four years with him, which made it a bit difficult to follow on occasion. For the most part, beyond being "linearly-challenged" and the early preoccupation with Russian events, "Nixon in Winter" was fairly enjoyable.

-Nixon In Winter- is a very human portrait of one of the most significant and controversial figures and minds of the twentieth century. Monica Crowley has performed a great service to the memory of Richard Nixon with her previous book -Nixon off the Record- and her current work. Too often, we allow a single event fix itself in our minds and bar a fuller understanding of who someone was and what they wanted. For Nixon, the event was Watergate. Nixon made his mistakes -- big ones -- and had his faults -- but the qualities that carried him to the presidency -- a keen mind and principled determination never faded. Crowley's book is not a justification of Nixon's sins. Instead, it illuminates how a president, even a fallen president, can continue to exert his influence on the national and international scene from the shadows, and at times on the main stage. It also shares the personal beliefs and feelings of an elder statesman on a wide range of topics - foreign policy, scandals (both Nixon's and others), philosophy, religion, human nature, family, and age, mortality, and purpose. This is accomplished by book showing the former president through the eyes of a young woman who worked with him for four years as his foreign policy assistant. It reveals Nixon during highs and lows, in private and public moments, in joy and in outrage as he struggled to remain a factor in the life of America, and perhaps, redeem himself. Nixon, playing on MacArthur's famous line stated, "Old politicians sometimes die, but they never fade away." This quote from the book essentially sums up the motto Nixon tried to live up to in the winter of his life, and Crowley's book illustrates this perfectly.

Monica Crowley has written a gem of a book detailing aspects of the last four years of Richard Nixon's life. Born in 1968, the year of RN's first presidential victory, the young author served as foreign policy assistant to the 37th president during those last years,1990-4. What strikes the reader is the fact that Nixon was always the man in the arena. Although he resigned the presidency in 1974 RN continued to be a significant influence in foreign policy due to the sagacious advice he gave to his successors, both in public speeches, articles and books as well as in private briefings and memorandums.To use a showjumping analogy, he may no longer have been the man in the saddle, after 1974, but he was still in the arena constructing the course and putting a few others over the jumps! This is also a book about books. Nixon was a prolific author and Crowley worked on his last two books, 'Seize the Moment' and 'Beyond Peace,'. The author outlines the energy and passion of RN in his preparation of these publications.. Crowley divides her book into neat compartments. Thus, under the heading Nixon and the World, there are chapters on the end of the Cold War, China, the Gulf War and the legacy of Vietnam.There is also interesting chapters under Scandal and Reflections. The Nixon- haters will hate this book because it does not portray RN as the Devil, a fascist, evil or any other of the highly biased descriptions that this highly intelligent man and political strategist had to constantly endure throughout his political life. However, neither has Crowley simply written a puff-job on her former boss. She shows Nixon railing against his old enemies-Democrats, liberals, the media and even his own Republican side but there is also humour in RN's outbursts that frequently had me chuckling.Indeed, even though I work in the Australian media, it is hard not to sympathise with some of Nixon's allegations of continual media bias that he considered dated back to the Hiss affair. Above all Crowley has produced a lively read of America's GOP, (grand old pol), in the winter of his life, that allows the reader to make their own decisions on this complex political figure-surely a refreshing change from the ravings of some writers who attempt to reduce Nixon to the same level as themselves. In doing so, and in using an insider's knowledge of the man, Ms Crowley has provided much winter warmth.

I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of Richard Nixon. I was 8 years old when Watergate happened, so he really isn't of my generation - but I thought I would read this book to learn more about Mr. Nixon in his post-Watergate life.

I found the book compelling and informative. I especially liked the personal reflections of Mr. Nixon, and was sitting on the edge of my chair when he seemed almost ready to reveal "Deep Throat."

I think Ms. Crowley displayed a sensitive, remorseful man in his waning years, desperately hoping to force historians to reassess his legacy. After reading this book, I hope they do.

I read the authors other book on Nixon, Nixon Off The Record and enjoyed it, therefore, I thought I would give this book a chance. To be up front I do not have a deep interest in Nixon or that I think Nixon spells out some overly insightful view of the political landscape. It was just that this author did such a good job of detailing out (quoting) so many of Nixon's musings about the political landscape from 90 to 94 it made for interesting reading. This fact brings me to the first concern I have had with this and her other book and that is how could anyone truly remember these detailed conversations, even if she documented them the minute she left his side? What I finally decided was to go with it and just assume that if the author did ad lib a bit here and there that she spent so much time with Nixon that the ad lib was probably close to the truth.

As with the first book the thing that really surprised me was just how petty Nixon came off. He was whining and complaining about the press in about every three sentences. Regardless of the situation, he somehow related it back to how the press and Democrats unfairly went after him during the Watergate scandal. At this point in his life he must have focused on it so much that he saw the whole world through this hate filled prism. As the book went on his views on liberals also was detailed more and more and to call the comments ugly would be fair. The books finished with a chapter on religion and human nature and this is when the long knives really came out. If there was a social issue that Nixon did not agree with then it was somehow a negative plot or character trait displayed by "The Liberals" who he tried to insinuate where on the verge of destroying the American society.

I was still surprised at how Nixon downright disliked all the Presidents that came after him. In his mind, they all fell short of his accomplishments and were far from a close second. He of course would then work in a diatribe about the press and how they will never give him the credit he deserves. It was interesting that he had such a low opinion of Bush Sr., he went after Bush on the way he dealt with Russia, but he also let him have it about every aspect of his Presidency. Yet his opinion would change the minute anyone in the Bush administration called him. Once he was shown some attention his opinion would suddenly change and all was right again with Bush, at least for a few weeks. I was surprised by this very apparent selfish and almost immature behavior.

Overall Nixon came off as a man with a very bruised ego and a bit bitter. My view of the man was not enhanced after reading these two books, in fact I think less of the man. I thought he some good views on the political situation of the time, but it was basically common sense. I kept thinking that if you follow politics you would have many of the same observations. I guess I just thought given his long career that he would somehow have insight that really would have surprised me. Overall the book was very interesting and a fast read. I had trouble putting it down. If you are interested in American politics then this a great book.

This book is very well written and gives the reader insight into President Nixon's thought process and reasoning behind some of the nation's most historic events. I wish that the media would give more attention to the good things that the former President did for this country instead of constantly focusing on JFK's and LBJ's Vietnam War and Watergate which in many ways humbles in comparison to today's events. But at least this book allows the reader to find out the truth on some subjects and gain more knowledge of President Nixon. Thank you Ms. Crowley for writing this book.

In "Nixon In Winter", Monica Crowley admits the reader into a day-to-day working relationship with of one the premier lives of the Twentieth Century over its last four years. This is interesting, both in terms of the character study of Nixon and the issues with which he dealt.

The book consists mostly of monologues or dialogues, dominated by Nixon, and Crowley's observation of actions. The author was a graduate student who worked as Nixon's foreign policy adviser from 1990-4. During this time she assisted him in writing his books, traveled with him and listened and elicited his views on the topics of the day.

This book opened my mind to several new concepts about Nixon. I had known that Nixon had written several books after leaving office. I had not realized the intensity with which he pursued his role as a continuing force in international politics. He devoted the best of his energies to this work. The planning for his trips to Russia and China included arrangements to meet the leading figures, those from whom he could learn and on whom he could exert influence. He viewed himself as the only world figure who could bridge the chasms between the U. S. and these foreign powers, chasms often caused by contemporary policies with which he was unassociated. To the end of his life, Nixon strove to mold world affairs to his vision. Frustrated by his inability to directly influence affairs, he had to work through his successors for whom he had varying degrees of respect. He alternatively predicted, assessed and railed against the coverage of his trips by the media. He seemed motivated both to redeem himself as well as to make a difference in the world.

Nixon continued to resent what he saw as a double standard, a practice under which he was found culpable for actions which were accepted or overlooked in other presidents. He never really accepted that his actions in connection with Watergate in any way justified the censure which he suffered.

Revealing also are the insights into the private Nixon. The Nixon who served food, sometimes with help, the Nixon who attributed the attention of Chinese crowds to the presence of Americans, rather than the presence of President Nixon and who wondered why strollers on the sidewalks of New York would look at traffic when he went to the city. The way he dealt with Pat's illness and confronted his own impending dissolution provide a window into his soul. The Dick who would greet Trick Or Treaters on Halloween is a man to whom I can relate.

I have heard it said that Nixon was a near genius, and Crowley's reports of they philosophies which he read and understood support that assessment.

Nixon comes across as a very interesting man, but one with whom I think it would be difficult to interact. Crowley seems to have enjoyed a good relationship, primarily by listening and doing the chores requested. He does not seem to be one with whom a visitor could have had a real exchange of ideas. He seems to be one to whom each contact was an opportunity to persuade with his "talking points." He seems to have learned by his own observations and readings, not by exchanging ideas with others. He seems to have been one who was interested in influencing the powerful, but who had no time for common Americans. I may be wrong, but I could envision engaging Presidents Ford, Carter and Bush in a fairly normal conversation, should I run into them in an airport or Sam's Club. I cannot envision any such discussion with Nixon.

All things considered, I rate this as a very engaging book. I judge a book, in part, by whether it whets my appetite for more. This really did that. I look forward to reading Nixon's books again, now with a better understanding of their purposes. I want to read more about his life and magnificent career. This proves that "Nixon In Winter" made an impression on me. This is a book for anyone with an interest in Nixon and who wants to understand him better.