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Drawing on thousands of pages of archival material and on interviews with surviving associates, presidential biographer Reeves paints a complex, sometimes disturbing portrait of the man forever enshrined as Tricky Dick.

"I have decided my major role is moral leadership," Nixon wrote in 1972 in one of his myriad memos to himself. (As Reeves writes, "Whatever else he accomplished, Richard Nixon produced more paper and tape than any president before or since.") That resolution quickly collapsed; instead, as the Vietnam War shaded into defeat and protests at home mounted, Nixon sank into a siege mentality, seeing himself as a lone crusader at war with the rest of the world. Reeves examines the cat-and-mouse quality of Nixon's relations with his inner circle and family, as well as the excruciating collapse of national leadership in the wake of missteps, miscalculations, and sheer crimes. Rigorous and thoughtful, Reeves's book adds much to our understanding of Nixon's troubled presidency--and of his troubled soul. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (30)

History by a Syndicated Columnist
Open up a number of major newspapers and every once in awhile you'll find a column penned by Richard Reeves. Given the limited space available in a newspaper op/ed section, Reeves is rarely given a chance to provide a detailed analysis on any topic. Instead, he writes intersting opinion pieces on national affairs that are usually worth reading even if you don't agree with him.

In his new book regarding President Nixon, Reeves employs a similar style in recounting Nixon's five plus years in the White House. In many ways, this book is a compilation of anecdotes and brief historical passages that gives readers a glimpse of the Nixon White House and of Nixon himself.

The key thing to remember is that it will be little more than a glimpse. If you are looking for a detailed study of the Nixon presidency, you might want to look elsewhere.

The positive thing about this subject is that there are so many books regarding the Nixon years. If you lived through the era and have read many of the other books such as Haldeman's diary, Nxion's own autobiograhpies or even Anthony Summers hatchet job, you'll enjoy this book too.

My only complaint about the book is actually a central part of its premise. The book centers solely on Nixon without examining his relationship with others. For example, I would be surprised if there are more than 10 mentions in the entire book about Pat Nixon. There is also very little about his relationship with political supporters other than brief mentions about Watergate-related scandal. Part of Reeve's thesis, is that Nixon was very isolated in the White House and had little human interaction. The recent theatrical movie also portrayed a very narcisistic human being too. However, Nixon wasn't a hermit. He did have friendships with Bebe Rebozo and others and had a enough people skills to set the record for being on the cover of Time Magazine more than any other person. I wish this book would have delved into that greater.

In short, this is not the definitive book on the Nixon Administration. Yet, it is an enjoyable read that will certainly bring this era in history back to life. Regardless of your political leanings, Nixon' presidency is worth learning more about and understanding.

Amazing Look at a Fascinating and Enigmatic Man
"President Nixon: Alone in the White House" is one of those rare biographies that manages to capture the very essence of its subject. Mr. Reeves, who had access not only to President Nixon himself but to most of Nixon's key advisors and confidantes, has written a book that reveals Richard Nixon's motivations and thus goes a long way toward explaining some of the strange things Nixon did as President. What we see in the book is a man who assumes that all men approach life the way he does--and his approach is quintessentially Machiavellian. Nixon truly believes that all men cheat, lie and are out to get him. All is fair in politics. By assuming the worst in others, Nixon guarantees the worst in himself.

And yet one catches glimpses of Nixon the man where one feels a certain amount of compassion. Nixon was a melancholy and lonely individual, distrustful of those around him. He was a politician who had an aversion to people. He feels awkward in any social situation, to the point where his interactions are meticulously scripted beforehand on one of his handy yellow legal pads. In one hilarious sequence, Nixon is up all night writing and memorizing a script for an "off the cuff" speech he is planning to give the next day. What is amazing is that he does not see how ridiculous it is to be scripting an unscripted speech. Nixon also spends hours writing memos to himself about how he wants to be perceived. Each one of the memos drips with irony, for he sees in himself all the things that he is not. One cannot help but feel compassion for a man so out of touch with who he is.

Reeves argues that Nixon is at his best when looking at the bigger picture, in "connecting the dots" of major policy decisions and their historical precedents as well as the possible outcomes. This is the Nixon who takes the bold steps to open up Communist China and to bring a much-needed thaw to the festering Cold War with Russia. Reeves also shows a Nixon who realizes the disaster of Vietnam but doesn't know how to remove the U.S. and preserve the honor and dignity of the nation. One must admire Nixon for his foreign policy successes and for his broad thinking in this area. The book also paints an interesting portrait of Henry Kissinger, showing him to be brilliant but incredibly vain and condescending. Kissinger spends a great deal of time making sure Secretary of State Rogers is out of the loop on every major foreign policy decision.

Domestically, however, we see in this book a Nixon who is all politician and zero statesman. He waffles on integration, does little to help Blacks because they vote 90% Democrat, and panders in the worst way to groups he believes he must win over in order to win reelection in 1972. Nixon tells his dynamic duo, Haldeman and Erlichman, not to bog him down with policy details, then buries himself in such details as replacement shower heads for the White House or the clownish design for the White House security force. We also see Nixon the bigot, saving his cruelest cuts for the Jews. In these glimpses we see just how shallow and ignorant Nixon could be, despite his moments of greatness. The last section of the book deals with Watergate and the events that brought Richard Nixon to disgrace. It is not a pretty sight, and just goes to show how thoroughly Nixon was involved in the cover-up and how much he enjoyed the dirty tricks attributed to his campaign. At one point, after George Wallace is shot, Nixon laments the fact that Nixon's men didn't think to go into the would-be assasin's apartment and plant McGovern literature to discredit his opponent.

Upon finishing this book, I immediately wondered if Reeves began working on a sequel, following Nixon from his resignation through his period of exile and disgrace to the era of his partial rehabilitation near the end of his life. I certainly hope Reeves follows up, for the story of Nixon the private citizen in the years after his fall from power would be fascinating and remains largely untold.

This is a good book, and I believe that both fans and detractors of our former President would enjoy it. Reeves has not written it to discredit the man, but to try to explain him. After finishing the book, I felt I knew the real Richard Nixon somewhat better, and that had Richard Nixon had a different take on the motivations of his fellow man, he may have gone down as one of our better Presidents.

Nixon vs Nixon
Richard Reeve's biography President Nixon: Alone in the White House chronologically details the Richard Nixon presidency from the day he was inaugurated until the resignations of Haldeman and Ehrlichman. Reeve's depiction of the Nixon presidency will leave many shocked, appalled, and at times dumb founded. Those who read this book will find it an enlightening ride into the mind of Richard Nixon and his "close" associates. This book shows a man who was insanely paranoid, to the point where he would spend more time memorizing speeches then on the actual policy he was speaking of. A man who made racist and bigoted jokes routinely. Reeve's also shows a "softer" side of Nixon, one who believed he had to, and was, doing well for the world. Richard Nixon was a man out of touch with himself, staff, and family. This lack of comprehension for anyone around him and himself was evident through his staff and how unorganized they truly were. Often staff members would tap each others phones and hide behind one lie after another. One downfall to President Nixon was at times the book became tedious, thus making it hard to follow along and keep up with all the people. Those who grew up during the Nixon presidency or anyone curious about the man Richard Nixon, this book is for you. I highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks they know all about President Richard Nixon.

Scholarly, informative, well-written.
An astounding amount of research went into producing this very informative book. Richard Reeves has given us a detailed view of the Nixon presidency starting with the first inauguration in January, 1969. Oddly, except for a very brief epilogue, the book ends in April, 1973 with the resignations of Haldeman and Erlichman. This despite the fact that Nixon would remain in office more than 15 additional months before resigning himself.
President Nixon: Alone in the White House consists of a chronological compilations of events occuring during Nixon's tumultuous tenure.
The well documented facts presented in this book leave the reader with the following impressions:
On the positive side. Nixon was an extremely knowledgeable politician with a very sophisticated understanding of geopolitics. He had a clearly defined vision of America's place in the world and was not afraid to take bold steps to enhance the country's position of power on the world stage.
On the negative side. Nixon, the individual, was petty, vindictive, distrustful and self delusional. He was very much a loner who spent an inordinate amount of time by himself. As chief of staff, Haldeman's primary function was to prevent Congressional leaders, Cabinet members and White House staff from getting in to see Nixon. It appears that the only adviser who had unfettered access was Henry Kissinger. Furthermore, in the Nixon White House, there was no need for the likes of Karl Rove or Karen Hughes. When it came to public relations and building up the President's image, Nixon handled all of that himself, in microscopic detail. And we find in Nixon a man whose moral compass was more than slightly askew. The Watergate break-in, which ultimately led to his downfall, was only one of a number of illegal or unethical acts sanctioned by Nixon to gain advantage over his political enemies.
President Nixon: Alone in the White House is a valuable resource for understanding the Nixon presidency. Anyone reading this book, no matter what their level of knowledge about Nixon might be, will be guaranteed to learn new things about this fascinating, enigmatic figure.

WOW!
Even after watching the NIXON movie and hearding many stories from many different people, I still didn't know who Dick Nixon really was. That is, untill I read this book. I found out who the man really was and what he wanted and did accomplish in his presidency. I learned about his paranoia and how his gruffness to everyone. At the same time, I learned that there was a sweeter, younger side to him that he rarly shared with anyone. If I could talk to Nixon now, I don't think that I would learn anything about him that I didn't learn in this book. I highly recomend this book. ... Read more

Book Description

It's time to revisit Watergate. In this compelling reexamination, Liebovich draws extensively from newly available sources, including recently released Nixon Oval Office tapes, FBI reports, and personal reminiscences of cover-up leader John Dean. Liebovich sheds new light on the Nixon administration's extensive foul play, zeal to battle and manipulate the press, scandalous miring, and eventual political disgrace. ... Read more

Book Description

The first rigorous psychoanalytic investigation into the heart and mind of Nixon explores the forces and events that shaped his complex personality, presenting an enlightening portrait of a troubled man whose insecurities doomed him to suffer the most sensational downfall in American political history.

Reviews (1)

Interesting but not enough
Psycobiograghies are new in genre, but they may be enlightening, provided the subject that is being studied is analysed deeply.
So, to write a similar kind of work regarding so complex a man as was Richard Nixon requires a good amount of knowledge about his life, his personalandpolitical choices and particularly the latter for the very reason that are the most delicate : how can this be accomplished with a book a mere 149 pages ? Inevitably the informations here given verge on the general and the analysis done seems to be a little bit amateurish. Although the book is good to read, it certainly does not say the last word on Nixon'personality - not in the least !
In the end, I appreciate the choice of having chosen former president Nixon as a subject, but that would have required a very bigger work, at least three times as big as the size of the present book. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Good bio / bad man
The American political system at its worst! This view of Nixon reveals a despicable man, doing whatever he could do to discredit his opponents, manipulate whoever he could, lie, and cheat to get elected. Hard-working, brilliant, but disgusting. Nixon even tried to undermine peace attempts in Vietnam just before the 1968 election. All that said, the incumbent president wasn't much better, as those peace attempts were really lies propagated by the LBJ administration to influence the election in Humphrey's favor. The 1968 campaign was absolutely horrid and unforgivable. What was different between Nixon and LBJ is Nixon's paranoia and vindictiveness.

It's interesting how Ike never really endorses Nixon, even when his grandson married Nixon's daughter. Finally, from his hospital bed Ike endorses him before the 1968 election, but even then it was lukewarm. Ambrose - who wrote an Eisenhower biography as well - contrasted the two. He says Ike loved life and loved people, while Nixon was distrustful of people, and gave in to hate. Ike brought people together; Nixon tore people apart. Ambrose cites a diary entry from Ike's secretary during Ike's administration: "The Vice President [Nixon] seems more like someone acting like a nice man more than a nice man".

The author commented how much different the Nixon administration may have been had Nixon had his first choice - Bob Finch, a genuine nice person - as his running mate. As it was Nixon surrounded himself with clones, all vindictive and paranoid. All fed his paranoia and anger and goaded his wrath. Their daily orders - delivered via comments in the margins of Nixon's daily news summaries - were very telling (and extremely interesting).

Nixon's foreign policy accomplishments - the settlement with North Vietnam, the opening to China and détente with the Russians - were indeed exceptional. But could these events have happened sooner had Nixon not circumvented his own State department in order to increase the histrionics and guarantee the credit for himself? Also, regarding the China and Russian initiatives, the author poses an interesting rhetorical question - who could have done it but Nixon, since he did not have to deal with a Nixon critic!

This is the middle book of a Nixon trilogy, so you don't get the childhood and Congressional years, or "Nixon in winter", but you get to know the man, and it is depressing.

Character Matters
As usual, Stephen E. Ambrose is flawless in this middle edition of the Nixon trilogy. The book is quite long and detailed to a fault. The detail includes huge quantities of actual quotes, painting a picture of Nixon about as clear as one can get on any man.

The picture I got was of a man not well suited for the presidency. Intelligent, clever, creative, bold, knowledgeable on world affairs, yes. But he also had character flaws. Over-sensitive almost to the point of paranoia, Nixon was driven by an obsession to be President more than the desire to be presidential. His statement in the later David Frost interview that, "If the President does it, it's not illegal," is very telling. The ends justified the means. He had the ability to rank goals above consequences, and almost everything he did was for the acquisition or preservation of political power.

The best example is Vietnam. He took four years to end a war he knew early on could not be won. His delays were to search for ways to avoid being the first American President to lose a war, and to prevent the staining of American honor. Both of which would have cost Nixon reelection in 1972. Ambrose makes the point that half the names on the Vietnam War Memorial are from the period of Nixon's futile attempts to foil Hanoi and fool America. People should never have to die to protect a politician's legacy.

I see Nixon and Clinton, representing both political parties, as two good examples of why character matters when we vote. For some reason, the presidency attracts extreme or narcissistic personalities whose motivations are more for glory than good. After reading Ambrose's book, the simple question, "Why does this person want to be president?" will rank higher in my mind.

Another eye-opener in the book was the lesson in political science. Nixon was neither an appealing candidate, nor a rallying ideologue. He scraped his way to the top because he was the consummate partisan politician. Ambrose shows a glimpse of the American political system's underbelly: maneuvering, manipulating, prevaricating, waffling, and backstabbing. He makes it easy to forget that despite the warts, our republican democracy is still the best system in the world.

The irony and enigma of Nixon is that he also opened up China, warmed the Cold War with the Soviets, began nuclear disarmament, and other worthy and statesman-like accomplishments. The book, like Nixon himself, will mean different things to different people. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of BIG ICE

The rise of Nixon
The second volume of Ambrose's three-volume biography of Richard Nixon covers the period from Nixon's defeat in the 1962 gubernational election in California to his re-election as US President in 1972.

In his refreshingly frank Foreward, Ambrose states that "I confess that I do not understand this complex man". And indeed that problem of assessment runs throughout the book - Nixon, and his first Administration were full of contradictions, big pluses and minuses, which make an objective view very difficult.

Ambrose's analysis of Nixon's time "in the wilderness" until his nomination as the Republican candidate for the Presidency in 1968 was particularly interesting: not so much a time of drift as of recovery and preparation. The man's sheer drive and ambition must have been huge.

The nightmare of Vietnam looms large in this book, quite rightly. Looked at in hindsight, Ambrose reveals the utter absurdity of US policy at the time - all the more tragic as lives were being sacrificed even though there was no clear goal and real hope of victory had long since gone (if indeed it had ever been a realistic ambition).

Ambrose takes care not to neglect domestic politics, US-Soviet and Sino-US relations, and describes the beginnings of Watergate. At the end, I reflected that whatever nostalgic image we are presented of the 1960s, society was in fact deeply divided. Ambrose writes with great unease about the duplicity of all of the politicians of the time and condemns equally the excesses of the protesters. The summer of love? Perhaps not.

A man to whom nothing mattered except power!
Stephen Ambrose's second volume of Nixon:
"Triumph of a politician" is just as good as
volume one.
This is the heart and soul of presidential politics.
Surely we have the politicians we deserve, but some of them
are complex, confusing, ruthless, criminal, fascinating,
moving, grand and great - which kind of make it hard
for us poor voters. Nixon was all of that! as is so
clearly demonstrated in this
portrait of the Nixon presidency.

In 1962 Nixon held his famous last press conference
after losing the California gubernatorial contest.
The reporters wrote his political obituary.
Five years later he had held hundreds of press
conferences and was on his way to becoming president!

He won the presidency over Humphrey in 1968
partly by the not very statesman like behavior of
namecalling and allegations about Humphreys neglect of
national defense and his softness on law and
order and his willingness to spend the country into
bancruptcy. Or perhaps he almost lost because
of these wild charges?

I think the book explains how it all happened.
Even the parts that are really unexplainable.
Fascinating.

-Simon

Calling All US Politics students
Ambrose's style is excellent for the US politics student. He covers all fields of policy but centers, quite rightly, on Vietnam. Ambrose is very perceptive about Nixon the man, without being too sychophantic he is fair on the guy -- though maybe not always very complimentary. The book is very nicely balanced and the chronology does not flow perfectly so that Ambrose is able to concentrate on policy areas rather than conducting a simplistic and boring narrative. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Indispensable
H.R. Haldeman was the crew-cutted former J. Walter Advertising Executive who joined on the Nixon campaign as an Advance Man, a job that if it is done right, no one notices - but if it is done wrong can destroy a candidacy. Haldeman always made sure every detail was attended to and post-election went on to be one of the most in control and feared Chief of Staff's in Presidential history. Haldeman cashed in shortly after Watergate with his own memoir which he later said didn't turn out the way he wanted thanks to publishers, editors and so forth and hardly got the attention of other Watergate memoirs such as 'Blind Ambition' and 'Will'. We didn't hear much from Bob Haldeman after his release from the Federal Lockup in California. After his death however, according to his wishes, his wife released his diaries the fact that they even existed was a bombshell and they were as complete and detailed as one might expect from this meticulous organization man. These memoirs make you the fly on the wall of the Nixon White House and we witness it go from full of hope, thrill and promise to descending deep into the pit of Watergate until the "cancer" that John Dean described as growing on the Presidency consumes Haldeman himself and the diaries come to a close. A true historical artifact not to be missed.

Exhaustive review of the Nixon Whitehouse...
As Chief-of-Staff, Bob Haldeman is to be commended for keeping such a detailed review of his White House years even during his "fall from grace" in 1973...That being said, the reader should be ready to be taken on an exhaustive and sometimes hard to follow review of the Nixon Administration. A previous knowledge of the Nixon Presidency and particularly Watergate is essential to get the most from this book. I found myself skipping pages as discussion after discussion about Grand Jury testimony and policy meetings on Watergate flooded the chapters towards the end of this book. I gave it 4 stars because the beginning of the book dealing with the initiation of the Nixon Presidency and the day-to-day observations (pre-Watergate) of an intelligent and observant White House executive far outweigh the "burned-out" and frustrated entries that close the book. The most surprising conclusion that I came away with was that Haldeman seemed to be a warm/accomodating "real" person, not the "Nixon Nazi" that he's been made out to be in other works on Watergate. Good reading

Not as good as prior book. More a daily notepad than story
A reader said that the book was a continuation of the 1970s policy-deny,deny, deny.

First of all, it was not a story or an analysis. Read Haldeman's prior book, THE ENDS OF POWER for that sort of thing.

Second, the DIARIES were more like a 5 1/2 year daily memo pad, talking about the day to day operations, from the mundane to the high charging.

Put that in your blowhole and smoke it!

Good insight into the NIxon White House
Nothing in this is going to break Watergate wide open. But if you are interested in the goings-ons in the NIxon White House, this is an excellent book. A little slow at times, but well worth reading.

Brilliant, facinating look inside the Nixon White House
H.R. Haldeman was Pres. Nixon's chief of staff, and right-hand man. Thus, he was privy to all the secrets and intrigue of Nixon's presidency. Haldeman kept an exhaustive written and oral diary of those years, and now they are available in book form. The book is an abridged edition of the diary (but it's still quite long) and is facinating reading. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

nixon analyzed
a somewhat critical discussion of nixon's personality and the theories of how he became the man who was eventually impeached. some valid points inthe book that i was unaware of before and then some points which i just sat back and sighed about

A Perfect Example of Propaganda as History...
Dr. Fawn Brodie, who died in 1981, earned a reputation in her lifetime as one of the most controversial historians in America. The product of a strict Mormon upbringing, she rebelled against her faith to become an outspoken feminist and critic of all things she deemed conservative. She also pioneered a new type of historical biography - the "psychoanalytical" school of historiography. Not only did Dr. Brodie write about the lives, successes and/or failures of her subjects, she also attempted to "go deeper" and, using psychology, analyze the motivations and psyches of her subjects. At times her (then) original approach could reap handsome rewards, such as when, in her still-controversial "intimate" biography of Thomas Jefferson, she argued that he had had an affair with one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings. Many historians hotly disputed this, but her claims were proven to be true when DNA testing done a few years ago revealed that Jefferson had fathered at least one of Hemmings' children. However, there are also major weaknesses with the "psychological" approach to history, in that it is difficult to analyze someone you've never met, and can lead to mistakes. In this biography of Richard Nixon - her last book before her death - Brodie examines a man whom she admitted to "despising" long before she even began her research. And, unfortunately, this biography is littered from beginning to end with Dr. Brodie's loathing for Richard Nixon and everything connected with him. From his childhood forward Nixon is consistently viewed in the worst possible light. The book is also filled with numerous errors in judgement, as well as factual errors. For example, Brodie finds great significance in a letter that Nixon wrote as a schoolboy. Nixon wrote the letter as if he were a pitiful dog who was being abused by his "master". Brodie argues that this letter "proves" that Nixon was an abused child, and that his father probably beat him. However, research by later historians has proven that this letter was actually done as part of a class assignment, and that ALL of the kids in Nixon's class wrote the same letter - so Brodie's conclusions are obviously flawed. In another telling passage, Brodie harshly criticizes Nixon for his 1950 Senate campaign against Helen Douglas, his Democratic opponent. She accuses Nixon of "smearing" poor Mrs. Douglas as a Communist (Nixon's nickname for her in the campaign was the "Pink Lady"). What she never mentions is that the "Communist" charge was first aimed at Mrs. Douglas by her opponent in the Democratic primary, not Nixon, and that Mrs. Douglas, far from being an "innocent" victim, actually started the mudslinging by trying to accuse Nixon of being a Communist and/or Nazi-type leader! One does not have to be an admirer of Mr. Nixon to realize that this "biography" is anything but impartial or fair-minded. Indeed, later historians have regarded this book as the original "hatchet job" on Nixon, and a work which has been copied by other "Nixon haters". If you want to read a truly fair-minded (and far superior) book about Nixon, I'd recommend reading Stephen Ambrose's excellent "Nixon: The Education of a Politician" - it's much more objective, well-researched, and even-handed - instead of this hopelessly biased "psychological" analysis. ... Read more

Book Description

From one of America's most distinguished historians comes this classic analysis of Richard Nixon. By considering some of the president's opinions, Wills comes to the controversial conclusion that Nixon was actually a liberal. Both entertaining and essential, Nixon Agonistes captures a troubled leader and a struggling nation mired in a foolish Asian war, forfeiting the loyalty of its youth, puzzled by its own power, and looking to its cautious president for confidence. In the end, Nixon Agonistes reaches far beyond its assessment of the thirty-seventh president to become an incisive and provocative analysis of the American political machine. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Forgotten masterpiece
It's too bad that this book is out of print. Probably it stopped selling because of its title -- people must have assumed that it was only relevant for the Nixon era. Not so! The book is valuable today for the evocation of the early part of that time (especially the summer of 1968), but more than that, it is a masterful analysis of that collection of shared intellectual assumptions that make up a great deal of American political (and other) impulses -- specifically, that set of post-Lockean interpretations of social, moral, economic and political life which fall under the rubric of "liberalism". Wills details the connection between Nixon and this background, and the results are far-ranging. Many of the great American assumptions about life are implicated and their mythical foundations revealed: equality of economic opportunity, electoral "mandates", democracy via fair elections in countries that do not have them, fair competition of ideas in academia, and others. Wills leaves no stone unturned. The book deserves to be reprinted again.

Original review above was July 1998; Below added Jan 2003:
Hurrah! It's back in print! Get your copy before it disappears again!

I should have mentioned that, in addition to the fun of watching Wills dismantle the superstructure of liberalism, the book provides great pleasure through its style. Wills writes non-fiction better than most poets write sonnets. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Well balanced with the focus on Watergate
This third volume of the Nixon series is dominated by the Watergate scandal, with Ambrose skilfully detailing how the great election victory in 1972 slowly unravelled, as the full weight of the media and Democrat-controlled Congress worked to expose the whole tawdry episode. During this era, there was also the bombing of Hanoi followed by the Vietnam ceasefire, and summits with the Soviet leadership, but Watergate overshadowed all. Ambrose makes it clear that Nixon reinvented the story over and over, and bears a large burden of blame for the predicament he found himself in. He also makes clear that this was the opportunity for Nixon's arch enemies in the media and Congress to go for blood. The descent into the nightmare of possible impeachment and eventual resignation reads like an inevitablity, that Nixon lasted till August 1974 said a lot about his tenacity and stubborness in the face of relentless adversity.

The recovery of Nixon was never fully realized, although he was an authoritative elder statesman in later years, and Ambrose shows that Nixon had regained a fair amount of respect in his later years. Since his death the left has continued to disparage and villify his legacy, but as hard as it is to defend Nixon at times, he was still a statesman to be reckoned with, and his foreign policy record, especially with his China trip, is one of distinction. The eastern establishment despised Nixon, but he did not cater to them, it was the silent majority that was his constituency. One finishes this book wondering where America would have gone had the Watergate scandal not occurred.

A Nixon Finale
I enjoyed this concluding part of Stephen Ambrose's three-volume biography of Richard Nixon. This could have been the most difficult of the volumes to write - as the author needed to write in a way which maintained the reader's interest through the often tortuous intricacies of Watergate. I thought that the dangers (or challenges) were twofold: a reader's familiarity with the issues behind and history of Watergate could produce boredom, or the sheer complexity of the affair could bewilder the less well-informed reader.

I sat somewhere in the middle - I knew the broad issues (having read Woodward and Bernstein, and seen various TV documentaries) but being a non-American, my grasp of the relative roles and importance of the various US institutions involved and the politico-constitutional nuances was to say the least, tenuous. I think that Ambrose succeeded in both keeping my attention and guiding me through the whole affair: the book read at times like a political thriller, but with passages which guided me through the more complex issues. Whether or not this would bore politically aware Americans is not for me to judge.

The vast majority of this book is (rightly) devoted to Watergate. I thought that Ambrose made a good point, and one which is perhaps forgotten as the collective memory of the 1970s fades, that Watergate became such a tremendously irritating bore - people wanted rid of it because it was just so tedious, seeming to have been dominating the news forever, and producing a sclerosis in the body politic when major events of world importance needed to be addressed. Again, not being an American, I can't attest to the accuracy of Ambrose's point, but it seems to me to ring true.

The remainder of the book deals with Nixon's post-resignation reconstruction of himself, and one has to admire Nixon's sheer tenacity and willpower. At the end, Ambrose attemps an assessment of the man and his impact on America and the world. It's up the each reader to take his/her own view on that assessment, but in this cynical world when our trust in politicians seems to be ebbing ever further away, I thought that it's tempting to agree with Ambrose that Nixon's tragedy was that he got caught.

Watergate happened in a democracy!
Stephen Ambroses third Nixon Volume : "Ruin And
Recovery" takes on into the heart and soul
of democracy.
Cynics accustomed to political scandal might
be bemused by Watergate. What was all the
hullabaloo really all about?

Ambrose puts it something like this in the book:
To the british, with their official Secrets Act, nothing
that Nixon had done seemed that out of the ordinary,
much less illegal. The Italians simply threw up their hands
at the crazy Americans. To the French. Watergate
confirmed their suspicions about the naive Americans.
In west Germany, the frequent comparison of Nixon
to Hitler by his enemies in America showed either
how little the Americans understood Hitler,
or how little they understood Nixon, or both.
Nixons friends in China, could not understand
why he just didn't shoot his critics.

But in a democracy you must play by the law,
and you must trust and have faith in the wisdom
of the election process.
Watergate was all about how these things were
violated and how american democracy proved strong
enough to recover.
Ruin and Recovery reads like a detective story,
absolutely undeniable brilliant stuff. best book ever
it was the best book ever my bum is on the swedish! my bum is on the book hehe

A great objective piece of writing
This book seperates fact from fiction, truth from distortion. This final book about Nixon by Stephen Ambrose does a great job of giving both deserved criticizm and deserved acclaim for Nixons final years in the white house and his recovery afterword. Probably the best and fair book regarding Nixon from 1973-1990. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Misleading Title
Perhaps a better title would be "Nixon Juxtaposed." A standard biography focuses on the person,up close and either distorting or ignoring the context. This text pulls the camera back to a distance where the lense incorporates the events and other personalities which were operating simultaneously, giving Nixon a context. And with the broader lense of context comes further revelation. "Nixon and His America" should be read after two or three "hard" biographies. When you think you know Nixon up close and in detail, step back and understand him in bas relief.
If you are of an age that you can remember Nixon as Vice President and forward, then you can participate in this book by comparing your recollections of events with this account. You may or may not adjust your perception. We are all products of our environment and the age in which we live. Nixon was no exception. He, as all of us, had many facets. "Nixon and his America" reveals yet another.

There are better Nixon biographies
I consider this biography to be a disappointment. It is not a "true" catalogue of Nixon's life nor is it an interpretation of his presidency. Nor is it a portrait of "Nixon's America" as the title implies. Whatever this book is, it will not enlighten the reader about who Richard Nixon was or his term in office. There has to be a better book on this subject. I hope.

Scattered Attentions
Mr. Parmet's version of the Nixon biography was very much scattered in many different directions. I did find the story of Richard Nixon quite interesting - when he bothered to talk about it. The course of the book was slow going to start with. Add in the fact there was 2/3 of too much in-depth information not necessary to the bi-line, to only 1/3 about the man himself. I found myself often losing focus throughout the book. My opinion is there has got to be a better Nixon biography out there to read, and my advice would be to find it. Don't bother with this one. ... Read more

Book Description

One of the most controversial chief executives in American history, Richard M. Nixon remains an enigma even thirty years after his resignation. Loved by some and hated by others, Nixon’s life is synonymous with a spectacular fall from power. Of the many portraits of this complex man by friends and foes alike, none have been more intimate or revealing than this memoir from his personal physician, friend, and confidante of more than forty years, John C. Lungren, M.D.

Dr. Lungren, with his son and co-author John C. Lungren Jr., portrays Nixon as a paradoxical man—intense, compassionate, guarded, intelligent, resilient, deeply religious, enormously successful but ultimately tragic. Lungren describes his battle to restore the president’s health after his resignation and reveals previously unknown details about Nixon’s two intensive hospitalizations, his near fatal vascular collapse, and his depression. Lungren experienced firsthand Nixon’s thoughts and feelings during the public scrutiny of federal prosecution for his role in the Watergate break-in. Accused of shielding his friend, Lungren himself came under fire; his private office was even burgled in an apparent attempt to copy Nixon’s private medical records.

Using previously unpublished sources, original correspondence, and private photographs, Healing Richard Nixon places Nixon in an entirely new light. It provides invaluable insight into Nixon’s psyche, and no future research or conclusions about Nixon—the man or the president—will be complete without consulting this fascinating memoir. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

My thoughts
This is a wonderfully well-written book that gives the reader an insightful look into the post-resignation life of RMN. The unique perspective that only Nixon's personal doctor could provide is refreshing and makes for a very interesting read.

Nixon's true medical history
It is truly remarkable to be able to find a credible source that examines Richard Nixon's true medical history. With so much garbage being proliferated by sensationalistic journalists, such as Anthony Summers, it is nice to hear from Nixon's own personal physician. Obviously, since Nixon has been dead since 1994, the author had nothing to hide and introduces historians and scholars to Nixon's health. A must read, first hand account that is a valuable asset to historians.

My Thoughts on "A Doctor's Memoir"
I recently read "Healing Richard Nixon", I found it to be factually flawed and written in a dull and redundant manner. The book implied on several occasions that Richard Nixon was unable to make decisions as a result of his overbearing and controlling Cheif-of-Staff,H.R.Haldeman. It should be perfectly clear to anyone who has ever researched Richard Nixon that he (Nixon) was always capeable of making his own decisions. Haldeman was not the driving force of Nixons insecurities, but was only an asset to the preexisting problem. If you are looking for an accurate portrayal of Nixon, you should look elsewhere. But if you are looking for a poorly written fictional novel, this is the book for you. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A final, purifying apologia by Richard Nixon, as told to Monica Crowley, his young, just-out-of-college assistant, shortly before his death in 1994. Crowley divulges Nixon's disappointment with the Bush re-election campaign, his later efforts to ingratiate himself with the Clinton administration, and his desperate schemes to once again become a key political player. Once the most compelling and infuriating political figure in the last half of the 20th century, Nixon Off The Record reveals that his 20-year exile from the political arena was more painful and humiliating than anyone ever imagined. ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Enjoyable reading. Useful.
Monica Crowley's book is very good in describing her daily work with one of the best american politician, it is a true portrait of a man with a great understanding of politics, foreing policy in particular. The outstanding fact is Nixon share with Ms.Crowley of his most personal political convictions and projects, so in the end the impression you have is that of a sincere, true, skillful man, that only one of the worst name-calling political and media campaign could render as false and paranoid ; that is why I say that this book is useful.
Strangely, the last months of Nixon's life are covered very quickly, compared with the other ones, maybe because you'll find them examined in Ms.Crowley other book " Nixon In Winter ", that I'm curious to read. so, Monica Crowley has done a very good job.

Self-absorption at its worst
This is not an examination of Richard Nixon, it's a book about the author, Monica Crowley. I can't imagine anyone putting any credence in something which consists exclusively of lengthy quotes from Nixon, when Crowley admits she never used a tape recorder and relied on "after the fact notes." Give me a break! No one has such a prodigious memory as to remain monologues that lasted over an hour and then claim to reproduce Nixon's thoughts verbatim. Yet Crowley miraculously pulls this off.

Richard Nixon was notoriously uncomfortable around women. He wasn't around women, he was distant to his own wife and no extra-marital affair has ever been documented. Yet we are supposed to believe that the aging Nixon would place extraordinary trust in a young woman, tell her his innermost secrets and spend vast amounts of time with her talking geo-politics? It's a wonder that fewer people have questioned the credibility of this account. Though the quotes all sound Nixonian in the extreme, a cynic would cry foul with this anemic effort.

Should Have Been On The Couch
If you ever wondered what an ex President might talk about with his friends then you need to buy this book, a real fly on the wall type book. I have to admit up front that I really liked this book. It was not that I have a deep interest in Nixon or that Nixon spelled 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. I was most surprised at how petty he 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.

I guess it was not such a surprise about Nixon disliking the press, but what did surprise me is that it seamed that he disliked any President 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 poor reelection campaign, which was fair enough, 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.

I was again surprised by his roller coaster ride with President Clinton, during the campaign he down right hated the man. Once Clinton became the President and started calling Nixon, he is thought of by Nixon as FDR reincarnated. Well it was very predictable that when Clinton started to distance himself from Nixon that the ugly side of tricky Dick came back into the picture. Overall Nixon came off as a man with a very bruised ego and a bit bitter. 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.

Perhaps the most accurate view of Nixon as a personality
Monica Crowley focuses on the three qualities Nixon has said each political personality absolutely requires for survival and thriving: head; heart; and guts. Crowley's readable work exemplifies the political mind that Nixon used to gain election as a U.S. Senator, the political savvy that kept him on the Republican ticket in 1952, and the mastery that saw his elections change for the better from 1960 to 1968. Crowley doesn't shape anything that Nixon says, other than to put it into proper context, because she knows Nixon's words and ideas speak for themselves. He doesn't need a mouthpiece and not every thing he says is controversial or outlandish and deserving of reprisal from political foes, as any careful reader of Nixon's own books will come to understand. This work further exonerates Nixon from the political graveyard much more so that his own books following his resignation. Crowley's articulate, readable format is sure to rekindle reader's interest in Nixon as a person and as a personality.

Very interesting, learn a lot about Nixon
This is a very interesting, fun-to-read book. You will learn a lot about the way Nixon thinks, and his longing to be known as one of the greatest presidents of the 20th century.

Although you feel somewhat uncomfortable reading the text, knowing that Crowley betrayed Nixon's trust in her by writing this book, the quotes are too delicious to ignore.
The book is divided into three sections; "Head, Heart, and Guts," which explores Nixon's views on politics and the various presidents, "The 1992 Presidential Election," and "Nixon's Third Term," which pretty much deals with Nixon's interactions with the new President Clinton until Nixon's death.

Even though I am a Democrat, I found that several of Nixon's views were parallel to mine. He is very thoughtful about every political issue, and not afraid to stray from his party (privately, at least.) His thoughts about the former presidents, and all the different ways in which they angered him, will delight every reader. ... Read more

Book Description

From acclaimed biographer Stephen E. Ambrose comes the life of one of the most elusive and intriguing American political figures, Richard M. Nixon. From his difficult boyhood and earnest youth to bis ruthless political campaigns for Congress and Senate to his defeats in '60 and '62, Nixon emerges life-size in all his complexity. Ambrose charts the peaks and valleys of Nixon's first fifty years -- his critical support as a freshman congressman of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan; his involvement in the House Committee on Un-American Activities; his aggressive pursuit of Alger Hiss; his ambivalent relationship with Eisenhower; and more. It is the consummate biography; it is a stunning political odyssey. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A Balanced Assessment of a Complex Man
In the dedication page of this book, Ambrose lets the reader know that his two brothers ensured that there was always a two-to-one Nixon vote among the Ambrose boys. A clever way of letting the reader know that he favored Kennedy over Nixon. However, Ambrose is scrupulously objective in this biography of the oft-maligned Richard Nixon. In fact Ambrose's objectivity in this biography apporaches sublime detachment, in striking contrast to the author's later work on Meriwether Lewis,Undaunted Courage. Nixon's legendary persistence is revealed in every stage of his life- Whittier College, law school at Duke University,a young congressman, then Senator, and Vice-President. Ambrose neither demonizes nor sanctifies Nixon. He merely recounts each stage of his life thoroughly, methodically. Ambrose does not insult the reader with new age psycho babble when he probes the possible impact on Nixon of the death of his two brother's from youthful, tragic illnesses. As for Nixon's aloof personality, perhaps Nixon's own mother characterized his personality best when she remarked that he always seemed to be a child whom you would call Richard. Some interesting things about Nixon are revealed, or better said, are reminded to us by Ambrose. Ambrose dismisses the popular notion that Nixon was evil politics incarnate when he made Helen Douglas out to be weak on communism during Nixon's successful run for the Senate in 1950. Ambrose concludes that Nixon was simply playing to win and that Helen Douglas was hardly the paragon of virtue hailed by the press. Ambrose reveals the delicious irony that one Senator Jack Kennedy held Helen Douglas in very low regard and gave Nixon $1,000 from old man Joseph Kennedy for his campaign against her. Nixon was a staunch, but unheralded supporter of civil rights. Ambrose points out that Martin Luther King voted Republican in the 1956 presidential campaign and was circumspect of Kennedy's commitment to civil rights legislation. Politically astute and ambitious he certainly was, but Nixon did not play racial politics in order to gain votes in the South during the 1960 presidential campaign. And looking back on the closest presidential election in this century, one can argue persuasively that Nixon's unwillingness to exploit the racial issue in the South easily denied him this heavily protestant region that was very uneasy with the catholic Kennedy. Allowing that election fraud was highly probable in both Texas and Illinois, Ambrose does not dodge the matter of the 1960 election being stolen from Nixon and praises Nixon for his wisdom in not contesting the results. The reader is never tempted to love Richard Nixon, but one develops an earnest respect for this very complex character who refuses to give in. I gave this book four stars because Ambrose seems unable to strike a resonant chord with his subject. That probably is not be fair because it just might be that Nixon the man makes it impossible for even an historian as gifted as Ambrose, or anyone else for that matter, to crack open his soul for inspection.

Great start to the three volume biography
This is the first volume of Ambrose's three volume work detailing the life of Richard Nixon. From childhood to law school to Congress to the Vice-Presidency, the author explores Nixon's character and personality as well as the influences and experiences that made Nixon the complicated and contradictory individual that he was. While the seeds of his destructive personality are clearly present, the reader is struck by the many positive qualities of Nixon.

Ambrose paints the portrait of a budding and able politician whose ultimate demise could be foreseen, but need not have happened. This lack of inevitability is explored further in the second volume.

This first volume can be found at a reasonable price. It should be noted, however, that the second and third volumes are quite rare and expensive.

The real Nixon!
It is always interesting to understand what really
motivates people. Normally it takes a good deal of
psychoanalyzing, historical background, family history etc.
But some people seem to elude even this.
Nixon is obviously one of those people, who is really
difficult to figure out. But when all is said and done he
is also a very interesting character. And after reading
Stephen Ambroses book I think we are a little closer to
the real Nixon: Saint, villain, crook, statesman etc.

His brothers Arthur and Harold died when Nixon was young.
Which made he determined to have success for three sons.
In his book "six crisis" he describes leadership as it was
part of the quaker religious experience: "In a crisis tension
builds. Breathing gets quicker and the stomach turns,
but it is through these hardships of the soul that
true leaders are found." Quake and hear the voice of God?

But besides all of this psychoanalyzing there is of course
the fascinating story of Richard M. Nixons rise and fall.
Starting with his campaign against Jerry Voorhis.
Followed by his "pink" smear campaign against Helen Douglas.
His Checkers TV-speech. The lost campaign against JFK.
His lost campaign against Pat Brown for governor
of California in 1962, which he ended by saying
"that reporters wouldn't have Nixon to kick around anymore".
His "biggest return since Lazarus" to become president
in 1968.
And then finally - Watergate.

Perhaps it was all there in his psyche when he entered
politics in the first campaign against Voorhis, just waiting
for the world to see.

A brilliant book.

-Simon

Interesting account
I found this a compelling account of Richard Nixon's life from his early days to his defeat in the election for the Governorship of California in 1962. Ambrose charts Nixon's meteoric rise through Congress and the Senate to the Vice Presidency and narrow defeat at the hands of JFK in the Presidential election.

This is a very readable account and the author attempts to be fair to Nixon throughout, despite the fact that Nixon seemed to stimulate extreme reactions in people: either you loved him or hated him. I thought that the best parts of the book were those that dealt with Nixon's years as Eisenhower's Vice President - the difficulties of holding the office for such an ambitious politician, the problems in defining a role for himself and his often difficult relationship with the President are all examined skillfully.

I should have perhaps wanted a fuller account of Nixon's early political development - what was his political credo, and upon what was it based? What was the basis of his success as a Congressman, for example? I felt that after reading this volume, Nixon seemd driven primarily by his own massive ambition. But you could say that of a lot of politicians - for example Robert A Caro's analysis of Lyndon Johnson is based on the importance of ambition over principle.

But I felt that although ambition was obviously very important, there might have been more to Nixon than that, more even than his (self-perceived) role as a major anti-Communist crusader. If the author felt that those indeed were the main things that made Nixon tick, then fine, but I hoped that some such analysis would have been included.

In all, I thought this was a good read - interesting, honest, and shedding light upon one of the most controversial politicians of the last century.

Nixon Finally Gets A Fair Hearing from History...
Like other controversial American politicians such as Bill Clinton and Franklin D. Roosevelt, there was little middle ground concerning how the public felt about Richard M. Nixon. To some Americans, Nixon was the most sleazy and two-faced man in American politics, and they despised him. As Adlai Stevenson, the two-time Democratic presidential candidate said in the fifties, Nixon was the kind of man who "would cut down a redwood tree, then climb on the stump and make a speech for tree conservation". But to other Americans, Nixon was a gutsy fighter from a poor family who had, through sheer hard work and intelligence, climbed up the ladder of success, only to be reviled by the wealthy "limousine liberals" whose success had come because of their family connections, not because they deserved to succeed, as Nixon had done. Not surprisingly, perhaps, books written about Nixon also tend to fall into one of these two categories - the "hatchet jobs" written by historians who obviously dislike Nixon and print every negative thing they can find about him; and the mostly admiring books written by his former aides and supporters who defend his actions and attack his enemies as "hypocrites" who did the same things as Nixon, but just never got caught (partly because they were protected by a liberal news media). Stephen Ambrose, one of America's most prominent historians and a former Nixon critic, nonetheless provides what is probably still the most balanced and fair-minded account of Nixon's dramatic life and career with this book. Published in 1987, "Nixon: The Education of a Politician" follows Nixon from his bleak and rather sad childhood to his two bitter defeats for political office - first to John Kennedy in the 1960 presidential race (a campaign which was so close that Nixon believed until the day he died that Kennedy had "stolen" the election from him) and his devastating loss to Democrat Pat Brown in the 1962 California governor's race - a defeat which led many experts to write off Nixon as a political "dead duck" and has-been. Unlike many of Nixon's previous biographers, Ambrose manages to keep his feelings about Nixon to himself and instead he concentrates on telling a well-written, well-researched account of Nixon's life. As Ambrose writes, Nixon had good reason to be somewhat bitter about his life - his father was one of life's "losers" who seemed to fail at almost everything he did, despite years of backbreaking work. The Nixons were a hard-luck family - oil was discovered on land the Nixons had once owned but sold just before drilling began; two of Nixon's beloved brothers died from tuberculosis while young, causing his mother to put enormous pressure on Richard to be successful in life and make up for the family's loss. By the time Nixon entered college he was a very bright and energetic, but also cold and aloof, young man who had a hard time making friends and having fun - he was always so "serious" and grim-looking, his mother remembered. At Duke University Law School he graduated third in his class, but made almost no friends and was called "gloomy gus" by his classmates for his overly serious and stuffy manner. Nixon would repeat this pattern into his political career - working longer and harder than everyone else, maintaining an intense, serious, and rather cold personality, but also lashing out at his political opponents, even when he didn't have to, thus making many powerful enemies in the press and Democratic Party. After this excellent biography, Ambrose went on to write two more volumes to conclude his study of Nixon's career. However, in my opinion neither of the two succeeding volumes can match this one for writing style, interest, and drama. If you want to read an engrossing account of one of this century's major political leaders, then "Nixon: The Education of a Politician" is still your best choice nearly fifteen years after it was published. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Interesting history that could be written in 2005
It's amazing that Joe McGinnis was allowed access so close to Richard Nixon's inner circle. One of the drawbacks to this kind of journalism is that people learn from it and shut off these opportunities later.
For an audience in 2005 this book will shed light on some of the same media handling that goes on now. Nixon's campaign guys treated him as a product, not a politician, and staged a number of televised "meet the public" type get togethers with regular people before the election. But they hyper controled his message even to the point where they get pretty scared if one of the members of the public go off topic and Nixon starts to look like he can't handle a question on civil rights or some hot topic of the 1960s.
Same thing is going on today with Social Security forums. President George W. Bush goesup on a platform and meets with people to talk about his plan to save Social Security. It's pretty staged.
Many of the names today are the same also, and the key ad guy that worked for Nixon -- Harry Treleaven -- helped get the first President George HW Bush elected to Congress in 1964.
It's a slim book, only about 170 pages of text and another 30 or so of Nixon campaign memos. I read it in about two afternoons.
Anybody interested in politics today or the Nixon era would love this book, but it's a fascinating look at how modern advertising and political campaigns merged. You can see how politics came to be what it is today through this book.

He Makes it Perfectly Clear
Joe McGinniss joined the Nixon campaign as an observer, and wrote this book of connected stories. Nixon's team had a number of advertising and TV professionals. The book lacks and index and a table of contents. The cover shows Nixon's face on a pack of cigarettes - an apt metaphor. They are heavily advertised, and bad for you in the short and long run. People know this, but they buy them anyway!

Chapter 1 shows Nixon taping commercials for varied markets. "I pledge an all-out war against organized crime in this country." But investigations into organized crime was later halted. Chapter 2 tells us that politics, like advertising, is a con game! Both promise more than they deliver. McGinniss says Nixon lost in 1960 because the camera portrayed him clearly (p.32). I think the TV audience judge he was lying, the radio audience took him at his word. By 1968 Nixon learned how to act sincere. He would appear mellow, not intense; respected, if not loved (p.34). Page 36 explains how this works: saturated TV advertising showing the candidate and giving the desired impression, followed by public appearances where he doesn't say anything. TV would be controlled to transmit the best images (p.38). Chapter 3 tells about Harry Treleaven, who worked on the 1966 campaign for George Bush; he was elected because he was likeable, and none knew his stand on the issues. More people vote for emotional than logical reasons (p.45). Chapter 4 explains the power of TV. "The press doesn't matter anymore: (p.59). Painting Nixon as mellow was their way to overcome the old Nixon. Chapter 5 tells how the TV shows were staged for each region. Page 64 explains the politics for a panel of questioners. The selected audience applauded every answer. Chapter 6 says that if Nixon could not act warmer they would produce commercials that made him so!

Chapter 7 tells how a commercial would "create a Nixon image that was entirely independent of the words" (p.85). "The secret is in the juxtaposition" (p.88). (Was this parodied in that scene in "The Parallax View"?) Once complaint was of a picture of a soldier who had scrawled "LOVE" on his helmet; a new picture was found with a plain helmet. Later they received a letter from that soldier's mother - Mrs William Love (p.92)! Page 99 tells why you never saw a farmer on this show. Or a psychiatrist (p.100)! Chapter 9 gives an insider's view to the commercial images and what they meant. Chapter 10 tells of seeking Wallace voters with a ballad. Another trick was to be seen as a friend of Billy Graham. Chapter 11 tells of Nixon's shrinking lead. How could a slick production lose to a rough-edged show? Chapter 12 rates a Humphrey commercial as "contrived and tasteless" (p.138), but also "most effective" since it showed HHH as a real person in open air, not being kept in a TV studio. Chapter 13 explains how a TV show worked. People would call in with questions; these would be passed to the staff. They would be scrapped, and prepared questions and their answers used (p.149).

The Appendix contains various memos from the campaign; relevant extracts from "Understanding Media" and its analysis. Page 187 notes the good appeal of "reagan". Reagan's personal charisma is noted on plage 189. Pages 218-220 explain the benefits of print advertising over TV. Page 233 mentions the strategy of a challenger: the candidate stands for change (you assume what that means). These memos concern Nixon's run, but are applicable to other candidates today. How much has changed since 1968? ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Very Good Book
This was truly a wonderful book. The writer really gives you personal account of the "comeback" of Nixon. There were a lot of details that I am sure most Americans do not know as Nixon basically fell off the radar screen until his death. This book gave you some much personal information that I put it down and have a new appreciation for what he went through. I would suggest reading this book right after 'The Final Days", the two books work very well together. There is also an interesting section in "Shadow" about Clinton and his speak at Nixon's funeral. This is a very interesting book and if you are interested in his life of just American politics I am sure you will also find the book interesting.

A very engaging, deep look at the man behind the president
An excellent book for those at least slightly familiar with all the ins and outs of the Nixon story. Many stories and anecdotes that are rare and memorable involving Nixon and everyone around him. I highly reccomend this book. ... Read more

Book Description

The President's Private Eye is a passage into history, a unique episodic memoir that tells about the desire of a Polish kid from New York's Lower East Side who wanted to become a cop and where that career took him--to the position of being the only private detective ever hired to work for a President of the United States. And now, along with never-before-seen documents, including key memos from the Nixon White House, Tony Ulasewicz tells his story. ... Read more