Customer Reviews

RN : The Memoirs of Richard Nixon

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In this autobiographical account of his career, former President Richard M. Nixon narrates his career from its earliest beginning in Yorba Linda, Ca. thru his election and ultimate resignation as President in 1974. In a literary format reminiscent of Franklin D. Roosevelt's' "Fireside Chats," the author narrates the behind the scenes actions in some of this nations' most critical decisions.
Key sections include his coming to national prominence during the trial of Alger Hiss, and the elections of 1952, 1960, 1968 and 1972. The most critical period is his six year stint as President between '68 and '74 when he and National Security Advisor, later Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, successfully exploited the Sino-Soviet rift making an end to the war in Vietnam possible, the 1973 Arab-Israeli War ending with Americas' brokering a peace treaty between the seemingly intractable foes, and the success of détente over the objections of liberal and conservative critics. Despite these monumental successes in foreign policy a malignant cancer was steadily growing on the Nixon presidency; it was called, "Watergate."
The author chronicles the events surrounding Watergate in painstaking detail. Throughout he contends that he never authorized the break-in at Democratic Headquarters and had no knowledge of it in advance. He states flatly his principal accuser, John Dean, was lying when he stated otherwise. He also says he was effectively tried by a hostile press based on leaks of "secret" material from "informed sources" whose objectivity and integrity was highly suspect. Is his story true? This is the only format in which his story is told completely, devoid of the hype that surrounded the first ever resignation of a U.S. President. You owe it to yourself to read his account before you make up your mind.
This book is a first-person account from a key player in some of the most momentous events in the history of this nation. As is true of any autobiography, it is somewhat suspect. No author can be completely free of bias. However the tragic and untimely end of his career cannot and does not negate his undeniable successes. I strongly recommend this book to any serious student of history, political science, and/or international relations. I am much better informed for having read it. You will be as well.

I first read this memoir 20 years ago. I was in my early twenties but even then it caught my interest and held it throughout the whole book. I have recently looked through it again. It's a lengthy tome, but well-written, with good characterization, and details that enlivens events for the reader. It was the first of its genre to turn me onto other presidential memoirs but none I read afterwards ever matched the depth of his.
The book not only describes his personal and family life but key players and world events at the time, a good study in political history now. There was plenty going on during his presidential years, a war abroad and civil unrest at home. He did not end the war as soon as he should have - the memoirs could not dodge this, as well they should not. That fact alone, and the loss of life entailed by it, mattered more to me than Watergate ever did.
But I liked and respected Nixon, even during the Watergate years. And in his memoirs, he was candid about his actions of those days and accepting of the consequences.
Whatever else history may say about him, Richard Nixon had been a major political figure for many years of his life, served his country and cared deeply about it.

For anyone fascinated by the only president in history to resign from office, Richard Nixon in his own words provides the first-hand account of the reasons for the events that triggered a national civil and presidential history crisis. "I saw Watergate as politics pure and simple," Nixon writes, adding he'd "play it tough" because his "enemies" would. But Nixon's downfall is put a part of this extensively written memoir, focusing also on the ex-president's incredible achievements as a peacemaker and his rise to national recognition as a fervent anti-Communist and his about-face in reaching out to the world's two most powerful communist countries (China and the former Soviet Union) once in office. Much of Nixon's own memories have been written in other publications, but this one adds (to a very limited degree) some reasons for the abstracts that were Richard Nixon. He tells us the night of his first presidential race loss to John F. Kennedy was the longest of his life, hinting that the election embittered him the rest of his public life. Yet, 12 years later, in 1972, when he was overwhelmingly endorsed by the American public in one of history's most lopsided presidential races, Nixon admittedly was unable to savor the mandate of the nation's choice, instead caught in some inexplicable dark mood caused by, Nixon profers, the looming storm of Watergate, his party's failure to wrest the House and Senate from the Democrats, or whatever else was at the core of the very man himself. Nixon, in his own words, is a mandatory addition to any Nixon library, and its historical value is apparent even if the reader disagrees with the man's explanation for some of the petty characteristics that brought down what may well have been one of the most productive presidential administrations in history.

Nixon's book is excellent reading and a must for all those who appreciate history. He's a good writer, and easy to pick up for the average reader. Scholars will also enjoy it. There's a good chunk of the American Century covered in this tome: he becomes a Congressman in the late 1940s, and you get to learn about HUAC and the Alger Hiss case which made him famous. Then he is quickly a Senator until he's tapped by Ike to be Vice-President. Next his failed presidential bid and governor bid of the '60s. Then the comeback that no one thought was possible. Nixon is really insightful in this book. He spends the most time on his presidency and it's really interesting. It ends after his presidency in the '70s, so you have over 25 years of political history plus his personal life before that. It's a very long book (1000+ pages) but well worth it.

Having read this book, I can finally say that I am historically informed as to the time in question. I myself was born long after the events told here. A major portion of the book's interest is based upon hearing an exhaustive detailed report on the day to day functions of the Presidency. The fact that Nixon actually wrote his book, unlike Kennedy, whose Pulitzer Prize winner was ghost-written, makes it all the more enjoyable. Nixon's side of the story is finally told in a skillful manner that cannot be interrupted by the harrangue of some foolishly inept liberal intent on forcing their own opinion of a complicated era. Finally, Nixon's mistakes do not qualify him as the greatest criminal of the twentieth century, as one reviewer so eloquently wrote. If Nixon did in fact have knowledge of the Watergate break-in, (and it is hard to believe he did not) then he is still no worse than Truman, LBJ, or even the greatly beloved John F. Kennedy. It is a singular characteristic of liberal thinking to declare that a "third rate burglary," is worthy above mass murder etc, for the title of worst crime and the person by whom the burglary was ostensibly commited the worst criminal. Nixon's greatest asset to the common man was that he did not shrink from the political arena that was from the beginning tilted against him. The elitist minority of this country remains, sadly, under the delusion that the disappearance of Nixon from the national scene put to death the existence of the great silent majority. America still more closely resembles the rough edges and imperfection of Nixon that it does to the unrealistic and contrived memory of Kennedy as a lust and corruption tainted savior.

A good autobiography is one in which the author shares himself with the reader, his dreams and aspirations, his joys and sorrows and if you are lucky, his inner thoughts and emotions. President Richard Nixon does this in his memoirs and when you finish this massive book, you feel for the guy, understand him better and realise that the public at large do not understand or appreciate one of the greatest presidents of all time.

That may sound like a big statment, but when you look at what Nixon accomplished both domestically and foreign policy wise, you realise that this man did more than most presidents to shape the world into a better place. He opened China in 1972 and used the leverage of his visit to conclude the ABM and SALT I treaties with the USSR. He strengthened NATO and always accorded foreign leaders with great respect. He brought the US back from the brink of civil war by ending the Vietnam war, abolishing the draft and cracking down on extremists like the Weatherman. He created the Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA)and reformed healthcare and the welfare system.

Great acheivements obscured by Watergate: this book helps explain Nixon's mistakes in handling the situation, and he doesn't hide his criminal behavoir. But you understand that he played by the rules of his predessors who also bugged people and covered up, but that he got caught for it.

A Greek Tragedy was Nixon's life, but what I take home from his book is the man's intellegence, his vision and his belief in never giving up until you have reached the mountain's summit.

This was one of those books where I accepted the points the author made, but disagreed with the conclusions. Nixon [painfully] recalled the events surrounding Watergate. Clearly, the press and Congress were out of control and acted shamefully (creating false charges, leaking national security information, etc), but this did not exonerate Nixon's actions. Clearly, Nixon did not set any evil precedents for Presidential behavior; he merely got caught lurking around a political blackhole destined to suck in a president at some point in history. Nixon's behavior could probably even be construed as "wholesome" vis-à-vis most of his predecessors. But, again, this still did not exonerate his actions.

Nixon's book gave me more respect as well as less respect for politicians. I came to appreciate the emotional extremes of winning and losing - simply surviving?! - in political life as well as the strength of character required to face inevitable adversity inseparable from a life in politics. I also gained a sense of the extreme measures some people [honestly...mostly his opponents] were willing to go to hurt others for no particularly inspiring or justifiable reason.

As much as what Nixon said, what he didn't say stood out in my mind. Nixon was able to produce stunning feats of foreign diplomacy through principled negotiation from a position of strength coupled with a sincere interest to develop strong personal relationships with world leaders [though having Henry Kissinger on the team didn't hurt]. Nixon applied only half this formula to Congress and never took the time to develop mutually respectful relationships with key Democrats. Despite having received campaign contributions from Democratic leaders during his easy victory over McGovern, Nixon started his second term by declaring war on government - on an inept Congress and on a bureaucratic executive branch - rather than seizing the opportunity to bring people together. He should have learned from his foreign policy successes.

All considered, Nixon wrote a fascinating study of his life. And, if you don't like it, just toss it on the fire (i.e. its about five trees worth of paper)...

From his childhood in Whittier, CA, to his fall from grace with the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon relays his thoughts and ideas to the reader with excellent fluency and non-pretentious language and style. Nixon does not over-glorify himself, but he manages to show us both his good intentions and inevitable flaws. Recommended for anyone with the slightest interest in Nixon or US politics...it's far more readable and far more personal than any other book on Nixon.

Nixon became president the month I was born and had left the scene before I became politically aware. Nobody spoke of him during the 70's, or of Johnson for that matter - they belonged to a past era which nobody much wanted to revisit, and so I knew very little about either of them as a kid or teen.

By resigning Nixon had admitted at least some guilt in the vast number of things he was accused of and his abdication was a political cataclysm. Through my childhood years he lived out his old age as a pariah off in San Clemente, California, the personification of the period of enormous turbulence during the height of the Vietnam war. He was the living embodiment of the dark heart and excess of the GOP, and everyone, especially in Democratic Massachusetts, considered him a cancer on the body politic and was happy he was gone.

But his resignation was sincere and he was mostly contrite. In retirement he was a sad old giant in exile and after a while the Press which had hounded him out of office allowed him some dignity as an elder statesman and left him alone.

He's nothing like the caricature I expected. I have to say - I really like him. He's very thoughtful, well spoken, modest, with good intentions towards the country and had a warm, respectful dialogue with the major statesmen and characters of the day.

It's a beautifully written book. It was easy to see how he had become a leader. He had the air of solid, calm composure and reasonableness which I admire. As for doublespeak tendencies, the clues are missing for someone who didn't live through that time period.

The contrast with Bush could not be more clear. Maybe the candor came from Nixon's retirement, but I can't imagine Bush being this straight and honest with his audience. POTUS 43 isn't smart or eloquent enough to write this kind of book, and he's too secretive to make that leap of trust with the little people to allow them into his mind.

Of course Nixon was at least as bad as Bush - he was famous for having a blind-spot as big as a barn, which one can see in his writing. Despite the resignation, he wasn't entirely remorseful - he saw himself as the victim of many media conspiracies and other antagonists, both real and imagined. But Nixon has the breadth of worldview and honesty with himself, and by extension the reader, to allow us into his world.

His dark tendencies had other origins. In an era when 30 soldiers were being killed in Vietnam every single day - over ten times the volume of Iraq - and the world convulsing in protest and chaos around them, Nixon's lieutenants and were just brutalized by their environment and lost their sense of direction and fought back with every realpolotik' weapon and dirty trick they could imagine.

Nixon himself is much too close to the action to see how complicit he was - and as the leader he was de-facto fully culpable. But he did take responsibility resign over it - so if it is noble to forgive, then he deserves some rest.

My folks on the other hand strongly disliked Nixon because they thought the GOP machine had sabotaged all the moderate Democratic primary candidates, leaving only Muskie and worse, McGovern, who were far too weak and radical. So he had effectively dismantled the American democratic process - even aside from the Watergate bugging and coverup. Nixon's Southern Strategy of making the GOP a safe place for whites upset by the Civil Rights movement, is still the dominant fault-line in American politics.

Now, after the cancer has been lanced and we have survived him, Nixon's transgressions feel like water long past under the bridge. I'm only sad and sorry that he passed away. He was a wise, complex man and this book shows that his shadow is still very large.

It was risky business for Nixon to write an autobiography for at least a couple of reasons. First, his many detractors would clearly be quick to jump on any discrepancies in the work. Second, as more and more classified information is released by the government, Nixon stood to become a well-documented liar, assuming that there were a few stretchers herein -- and Nixon would have known that such information would be forthcoming someday. Still, he had the brass to write it, and it's a darn fine book.

This autobiography is somewhat unusual in that, not only did Nixon write the book, he also wrote IN to the book, even though he, himself, may not have realized this. In other words, we can tell a LOT about Nixon just by reading between the lines of this one. We can detect when he felt adversarial about someone (the media, for example), and we get a clear feel for some of his well-known (and often well-deserved) paranoia.

Some will bluntly say that Nixon was a crook. Perhaps this is correct but he was an incredibly intelligent and complex man and many positive initiatives were achieved during his long tenure as U.S. President. Of course, he covers all these events in the book and we get a feeling of having the inside scoop for having read about them in this work. So, really, this volume is an excellent "history book" for the era that it covers (essentially, the period from Nixon's birth up through the Watergate affair).

Probably the most profound facet of "R.N." that I picked up on was that Nixon was a huge patriot. He fostered incredibly strong beliefs in manifesting his visions for a great America -- of course, his facilitation of some of those ideas is what got him into trouble.

Nixon remained necessarily vague in certain details of the Watergate scandal and a few cracks in his story have already emerged as a direct result of Privacy Act releases. No doubt, a few more will be forthcoming. But honestly, many of these "events" are simply a matter of perspective, Nixon's paradign versus that of his enemies. In these cases, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

I most enjoyed reading about Nixon and his family as he grew up which is a large portion of the book. Nixon was a hard worker and, frankly, I admire his achievement of becoming President, since he was one of the few who made this life-leap, absent a silver spoon.

I read MANY books (3 a week for years) and "R.N." is one of the top 20 books I've ever read and it's in the top 5 of my non-fiction list. Don't be put off by politics in this instance -- this tome of an autobiography is a real page-turner and well-done.