Customer Reviews

Richard M. Nixon: The American Presidents Series: The 37th President, 1969-1974 (American Presidents (Times))

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It's unfortunate that Elizabeth Drew refers to Monica Crowley as a Watergate-era aide in this book. Ms. Crowley worked for Nixon as an aide in the Nineties, when she was in her twenties. She would have been around five or six years old, had she worked for Nixon when he was president. Such a careless mistake makes me cautious about Drew's research methods, and gives ammunition to her critics.

At the outset of her short biography of Richard Nixon (1913 -- 1994), Elizabeth Drew quotes Henry Kissinger's comment: "Can you imagine what this man would be like if someone loved him"? Nixon served as the 37th President of the United States and as the only president who resigned from office following his efforts, and the efforts of those close to him, to obstruct justice in the wake of Watergate. As the reviews on this site show, Nixon still inspires strong passions, predominantly negative, in many people. And these negative views were undoubtledly earned by Nixon's actions which threatened the rule of law of our political system.

I was alive during almost the entirety of Nixon's political career and able to remember most of it, including the 1960 election and Nixon's presidency. I have always found Nixon an enigmatic figure, and in my younger days admired him more than I should have. Elizabeth Drew's short biography, "Richard M. Nixon" (2007) written for the American President's series is unsparing in its criticism of Nixon. Yet Drew shows some sympathy for her subject and some appreciation of his strengths. Her book was not easy to read, with its reminders of our recent American past and with the appeal Nixon at one time had for me; but I found it rewarding as well as troubling. Drew has, on the whole, tried to present a balanced picture of Richard Nixon.

Drew portrays a Nixon who is introspsective and a loner -- he is intelligent, highly driven to succeed, and resilient. The Nixon of her portrait is also an extremely ruthless vindictive and unprincipled paranoid, who drinks to excess, is merciless towards his perceived enemies and opponents, and viciously anti-semitic. Drew shows that these aspects of Nixon were inextricably intertwined and operated to doom his presidency.

Drew traces Nixon's complex psychological make up to his days as a child in California growing up in a loveless, poor home with few friends. Nixon became a loner and a fighter -- qualities he was able to recognize in himself. The traits that would doom his presidency -- the corruption and the no-holds-barred dirty campaigning, were evident in his first campaign for Congress in 1946, in his Senate campaign of 1950, and in his activities in securing a place on the Republican presidential ticket in 1952. Many of Nixon's advisers from his early political years found a place in his presidency.

During his presidency, Nixon had a modestly progressive domestic program, for which Drew may not give him enough credit, including substantial environmental reforms, increased aid for the poor, the end of the draft, an activist approach to the problems of Native Americans, and other matters. Nixon was, Drew points out, the last progressive Republican president, although much of this may have resulted from his relative uninterest in domestic affairs. In foreign affairs, Nixon established detente with the Soviet Union and broached an opening with China -- large accomplishments which Drew justly praises. Nixon had many other foreign policy setbacks, and he protracted the United States involvement in Vietnam which -- together with Watergate -- became the defining aspects of America for an entire generation. Drew briefly but powerfully describes the Watergate story which led to Nixon's disgrace and to his resignation from office to avoid impeachment. It was an extraordinarily difficult time for our country.

There was a quality of grit and fight in Richard Nixon which was a strength as well as the source of his downfall. Thus Nixon was able to surmount any number of setbacks which could have ended his career -- his 1952 "Checkers" speech, the loss of the presidency to Kennedy in 1960, the loss of the California governorship in 1962, and the resignation from the presidency itself. Following his resignation, Nixon attempted to rehabilitate himself in a series of books, speeches, and interviews, and soirees in an attempt to portray himself as an "elder statesman". In part, he succeeded. Nixon was also able to transform his early background of poverty and to use it in terms that resonated with many Americans -- paradoxically in Nixon's criticism of elitism and of those more fortunate than himself whom, he believed, stood in his way. In the turbulent times of the late 1960s, during his presidential campaign, Nixon's slogan was "bring us together." Unfortunately, he was unable to use the gifts he possessed in a constructive way but instead pursued a course that led to a devaluation of our political life and to his own self-destruction.

Elizbeth Drew's book is a good introduction to a tortured man and to his presidency.

Robin Friedman

Even thirty years after his presidency and fourteen after his death, Richard Nixon is still a controversial leader. Drew who lived through Watergate can't seem to get past the anger she feels toward Nixon. Nixon's presidency was one of brillance and stupidity. Brilliance in his pragmatic handling of domestice issues and his careful handling of foreign policy, and stupidity in creating a wall around himself with bad advisors and then committing crimes. Give credit where credit is due, but Drew states that Nixon, although smart, was not really a good politician. One comment is very telling. Nixon's first cabinet did not have stellar quality, because there were no good quality people there. Then Drew goes on to tell the Eastern establishment was not represented in this cabinet. Maybe, just maybe Nixon was right when he talked of the elitist Eastern establishment because it is obvious Drew is from this group, being a former writer for the New Yorker.

Another telling comment is the drug charge brought up in The Arrogance of Power. She then tells how Nixon probably took drugs, along with being drunk on most nights. Again, I have issues with both the objectivity of the drug charges. With other writers, it is obvious Nixon was under tremendous strains and used drink as an escape clause during this time. However, I don't think he was an alcholic. I guess Drew just wanted to rip down this man once more and the American President series let her.

This series is fine. I learned a lot about the American Presidents. It was sad that Drew had to write on Nixon. She proved Nixon's theory that the Left took the sword and twisted it. Unfortunately Nixon is dead. He had brillant moments in foreign policy. He also did stupid and criminal things that resulted in his resignation from the American presidency. Drew is not an objective author.

Shortly before his death in 1994, Richard Nixon was asked how he thought history would remember him. "It depends who writes the history" was the reply that our 37th President gave and this book reflects that prediction.
Hopefully, people will not rely on this 151 page volume to provide a definitive account of Nixon's life and works. Drew made her bias known throughout, particularly linking Nixon to racism. Though she did give him credit for a number of foreign (openings to China and Russia and an end to American involvement in Vietnam)and domestic(OSHA, EPA, revenue sharing)
initiatives, the book was hardly balanced. I am glad that three other reviewers thus far have noted the same lack of objectivity.

I am a big fan of the 'The American Presidents' book series. Many have some interesting perspectives on the men they are presenting. Every book in the series does a good job until I read this one. If I had wished to read a book about Watergate or the author's idiotic attempts at psychiatry I would have bought a book on Watergate or a beginners book on psychology. Aspects of the Nixon presidency like his foreign policy victories in China, Russia, and Vietnam are missing. Nixon's debateable domestic programs and nuclear freeze politics are hardly examined. His political battles in getting to Congress, the Vice Presidency, and remaking the Solid South are invisible.

The only interesting section of the book has to do with Nixon's reinventing himself after each of his defeats yet the author never gives Nixon credit for anything. Instead the book devolves into personal attacks and inane theories from the author. I asked for a biography but instead got a one sided political attack in the image of Ann Coulter or Al Franken.

Terrible.

If you are looking for a good Nixon book try any book but this.

I always like reading Elizabeth Drew's journalism, and this book does have her signature style and depth. But I did not enjoy the book very much, maybe because the subject itself is so unpleasant: Richard Nixon was a driven, miserable man, unfit to be President, however brilliant a political operator he was.

Drew goes into useful detail about what happened around Watergate--we tend to forget the details--as well as Nixon's Checkers speech and other milestones. It does a very good job of portraying his dirty tricks, the way he defamed his political opponents with lies and innuendo. One thing I hadn't known was how truly bad he was on civil rights and other liberal issues--he is sometimes thought of as the "liberal Republican"--dragging his feet on legislation and trying to scuttle it behind the scenes, and, when he couldn't get away with that, taking credit for its passage.

The book chronicles Nixon's tireless attempts to make a comeback after his disgrace and resignation, and to go down in history as a statesman; and those efforts may prove to be partially successful. But the picture we come away with is of a very disturbed, unbalanced man, who had to be hidden away and protected by his underlings from causing great harm to the nation during his periodic breakdowns while he was presiding over the nation.

Given only this book to read, one might assume that Richard Nixon was a crazed man that accomplished little good for his country. While Nixon is a very flawed character in history, and some of his actions can be described as criminal. The tone of this addition to The American Presidents series shows a marked level of bias and gross errors that other reviewers have noted. A positive aspect of Nixon is rarely shown.

Included in this brief biography are some facts that I did not know despite having read several books on Nixon and Watergate. However, the overall lean of the book brings in to question the truthfulness of these facts. A book that makes accusations of chemical dependency loses credibility when it makes larger ommissions and factual errors. Nixon was in fact weak on domestic policy. However, he was quite savvy in his foreign policy which comes easier to most presidents. Still, the author gives Nixon little credit for opening realtionship with China. Readers with lesser knowledge might think this is a trivial note in Nixon's presidency while he spend most of his time conjuring up scandals.

Obviously The American Presidents series is designed for school libraries more than extensive research. Still adults can enjoy the learning experience. Yet this particular book seem to have an agenda to lead readers in a negative direction.

Aside from maybe Tom Wicker's volume about Dwight D. Eisenhower, this book is by far the worst in the series. You needn't look hard to find the obvious biases throughout. Ms. Drew is an unapologetic Nixon hater and has been her entire career. Reading this book you get the sense that Nixon didn't do anything good for this country. It's the same nonsense that mars a lot of the earlier literature about Nixon. Ms. Drew misses a chance to put her previous thoughts about Nixon aside and re-examine his career which is what the most recent volumes and scholars about Nixon are discovering. Instead, she can't let go of Watergate. Other volumes, like the one written by John Dean about Warren Harding, took the time to do their homework and actually came up with some conclusions that challenged earlier perceived notions and really added to our understanding of the men who have held the office. Not drew. Instead we get the same old tired, lame and factually incorrect Nixon bashing. It's not surprising given Schlesinger's own hatred for Nixon, but selecting Drew to write this book was a disservice to this series. This is a truly unworthy entry in an otherwise good series about our presidents.

On NPR, Elizabeth Drew declared that she had written this contribution to the AMERICAN PRESIDENTS series to fend off the growing popular nostalgia for Nixon. And contributors to this lively but uneven series set out to write concise treatments of the chosen president and his presidency. As someone who has actually read this book, as a constitutional historian who has worked on the subject and as someone who lived through the Nixon Presidency and paid attention, I think that on the whole she has achieved both goals. I well remember her first book, AMERICAN JOURNAL: THE EVENTS OF 1973-74, one of the best of the Watergate books, and this one is worthy to stand alongside it. It provides a neat and reliable synthesis of some of the best Nixon and Watergate literature. It also is unsettling in that its portrait of the Nixon administration -- which is solid and well-grounded in memoirs by participants as well as in the secondary literature -- shows that the Nixon administration was in many ways the harbinger of tendencies that dominate the administration of George W. Bush. The one real flaw in this book is the writing, which is usually clear but sometimes cliched and now and then clumsy. The unevenness of the writing surprised me, as both the author and the book's editor are able and have done great work in the past. One example will suffice: In her Watergate chapter Drew describes Nixon giving one speech with his shoulders above his head -- an act of contortionism that boggles the mind.

So you don't think there's anything new to say about Nixon? So did I, but I was wrong..... Elizabeth Drew is just one of the best, smartest reporters around and her clear-eyed and cogent anaylsis will be an eye-opener both for those who are old enough to remember the Nixon presidency, andfor those studying it for the first time. Highly recommended.