Tangled Web: The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency [Hardcover]

William P. Bundy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1998

A masterly study of the most celebrated legacy of the Nixon years, "Tangled Web" scrutinizes not only the details of the outcome of Nixon-Kissinger policymaking in every respect, but also provides an assessment of short-term gains and losses and enduring legacies. 16 photos. 5 maps.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

William Bundy has a lifetime of experience in the foreign policy arena; not only did he hold positions in the Defense and State Departments and the CIA throughout the 1950s and 1960s (which led to his becoming one of the protagonists of David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest), he was also the editor of Foreign Affairs magazine for 12 years. So when he turns his attention to the foreign-policy record of the Nixon administration, you can be sure that he speaks from an informed perspective.

A Tangled Web is a detailed history that covers the multiple intricacies of Richard Nixon's dealings with other countries. While recognizing that a discussion of Nixon's foreign policy is inevitably a discussion about Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, he believes that Kissinger's influence has been overestimated. Although Kissinger frequently carried the ball, Bundy's contention is that it was the president who was calling the plays. To extend the metaphor, Bundy takes a hard look at just how much yardage the Nixon team was able to gain on each play. His ultimate judgment--that Nixon's penchant for secrecy and deception led to a dissolution of trust that ultimately weakened America's position as much, if not more, than it strengthened it--is not precisely revelatory, although it has rarely been articulated with such detail. --Ron Hogan

From Publishers Weekly

Bundy, a former adviser at the State and Defense Departments as well as the CIA under presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, and editor of Foreign Affairs from 1972 to 1984, here recaps U.S. foreign policy during the Nixon era. He has a lot to say, some of it negative, about the role of Henry Kissinger as Nixon's special assistant for national security affairs, then as secretary of state. Bundy credits Nixon as a brilliant strategist who was undone by his tendency to exclude the public and Congress from his deliberations. He is less charitable to Kissinger, whom he describes as obsessed with control and often making errors of judgment when refusing to consult professionals at the State Department and failing to bring Congress into his confidence. Bundy takes a jaundiced view of the memoirs of both men in their respective depictions of what transpired in Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as what he describes as their self-serving accounts of the opening to China and relations with the Soviet Union. He does credit the Nixon Administration with successful policies in the Middle East, many negotiated by Kissinger, to defuse Arab-Israeli conflicts, and concedes that Nixon was a skillful maneuverer and an experienced analyst. He maintains that Nixon's foreign policy accomplishments were undone less by Watergate than by the president's obsession with secrecy and his practice of deception. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 647 pages
• Publisher: Hill & Wang Pub; 1 edition (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809091518
• ISBN-13: 978-0809091515
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fair criticisms and justified accolades for both men, September 9, 2003

By 

William D. Tompkins (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tangled Web: The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency (Hardcover)

i disagree with most reviewers in their criticism of mybundy's handling of this book. i thought it painted a fair picture for criticism of nixon and kissinger. rarely do you find a book that doesnt overpraise them or treat them as war criminals. mr. bundy did both v ery well here. the layout of the book and the smotth read of text made this an enjoyable and learning experience. i highly recommend

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and detailed but needs better organization, January 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Tangled Web: The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency (Hardcover)

Bundy's book is in-depth, comprehensive and far-reaching, covering every imaginable aspect of Vietnam-era foreign policy from Bretton Woods to U.S. elections to "peace with honor" to Watergate. Since the volume is organized by years in office, however, and not subject matter, there is considerable discontinuity in discussion of topics like the end of the Vietnam war and improving Chinese relations which took place over a number of years of Nixon's presidency. This discontinuity is worsened by the sheer amount of information presented in each chapter, leaving as many as 100 pages between discussions of any topic. There is little summarization of events in each chapter, leaving the reader at a loss for conclusion at the end of each presidential year. As an overview, the volume is simply overwhelming, but for the in-depth scholar, Bundy puts all of Nixon's foreign policy in one convenient location.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent analysis of a key period., March 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Tangled Web: The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency (Hardcover)

Provides an excellent description of the Nixon/Kissinger approach to diplomacy. The density of the volume, and the complexity of the thesis coupled with the format in which it is presented (a chronological instead of by subject) makes this ideal for scholars, but may be to difficult for those who are looking for an overview of the period.