Leaders

by Richard M. Nixon

The former president shares his impressions of Churchill, de Gaulle, MacArthur, Adenauer, Khrushchev, and Zhou Enlai

Genres: History, Biography, Politics, Leadership, Nonfiction, Business, Political Science

371 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1983

About the author

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974. During the Second World War, he served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific, before being elected to the Congress, and then serving as the 36th Vice President of the United States in the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. After an unsuccessful presidential run in 1960, Nixon was elected in 1968, and re-elected to a second term in 1972. Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Nixon successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending the longest war in American history. Domestically, his administration faced resistance to the Vietnam War. In the face of likely impeachment by the United States House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate for the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a controversial pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. Nixon is the only person to be elected twice to the office of the presidency and the vice presidency, and is the only president to have resigned the office.

Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81. ' to 'Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974. During the Second World War, he served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific, before being elected to the Congress, and then serving as the 36th Vice President of the United States in the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961.

After an unsuccessful presidential run in 1960, Nixon was elected in 1968, and re-elected to a second term in 1972. Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Nixon successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending the longest war in American history.

Domestically, his administration faced resistance to the Vietnam War. In the face of likely impeachment by the United States House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate for the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a controversial pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. Nixon is the only person to be elected twice to the office of the presidency and the vice presidency, and is the only president to have resigned the office. Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81.

Reviews

[Aaron Million · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a treatise in political leadership written by one of the few people who actually knew what it was like to be in a supreme position of power. Richard Nixon writes about the qualities and characteristics that go into what makes someone a great leader. Obviously, that is a subjective term, and Nixon's choices to serve as examples of this bear that out.

Nixon limits his focus to great leaders that he knew personally. Thus, while much of the book consists of mini-biographies of the individuals he has picked, along with a final chapter that nicely summarizes Nixon's thoughts on what makes a leader great and what challenges lie ahead for leaders of the future, a large portion of the book is his invaluable personal reminiscences of meetings that he had with these heavyweights. One theme that runs constantly throughout the book is that most of the people he chosen to write about went through a difficult, sometimes demoralizing period where they were out of office, and thus forcibly removed from power. Nixon can speak to this as almost no one else can as he experienced the same thing throughout most of the 1960s, and then following his resignation in 1974. But, it does make me wonder if Nixon - by choosing the people that he did - was also sending us a message that he viewed himself as a great leader too.

Nixon begins with a chapter on Winston Churchill. This is one of his best chapters as he makes many astute observations about Churchill's remarkable career. He is particularly good at describing the enormous deflation that Churchill experienced when he was unexpectedly and suddenly thrown out of power during the Potsdam Conference in 1945 just as WWII concluded. Churchill had experienced many dark years between the wars, and would again be forced to the sidelines before incredibly becoming Prime Minister again in 1951.

Next, Nixon tackles Charles de Gaulle, the enigmatic, nationalistic leader of France. I especially enjoyed reading about Nixon's discussions with de Gaulle, and how - while he disagreed with de Gaulle on some important policy questions (most notably NATO), his respect for his leadership was undiminished and genuine. This mirrors closely his chapter on German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Both men seemed similar despite different personal leadership styles. Adenauer did not carry an intellectual or military stigma around with him, but he was devoted to his country, much as de Gaulle was to him.

The chapter on Douglas MacArthur is, in my opinion, Nixon's weakest part of the book. He papers over MacArthur's prickly, self-righteous personality and his insubordination to three successive presidents, as well as his obviously lack of respect for Dwight Eisenhower. MacArthur was a great general, and he did a solid job - along with Shigeru Yoshida - of putting post-war Japan back together. That is the main point of this chapter, yet I found it disappointing that Nixon more or less excused MacArthur's short-comings, and mainly because they were both Republicans. He also takes time to venerate Herbert Hoover by saying that he had become a great elder statesman. I question the accuracy of that judgment. In addition, he takes a few potshots at Democratic Presidents FDR, Truman, and - later in the book - Jimmy Carter. Example: he criticizes FDR for not inviting Hoover's counsel while in office. While, on the surface, this could be a fair criticism, he does not write of the other side of the coin where Hoover openly disdained FDR and went out of his way to be highly critical of him. It worked both ways, but Nixon only pointed out one way.

The chapters concerning his meetings with Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Mao, and Enlai make for highly interesting reading. Anyone interested in Nixon would do well to read those two chapters as they really show Nixon at his best diplomatically, while acknowledging the immense difficulties and prejudices he faced going into those meetings (example: trying to overcome John Foster Dulles' snub of Zhou Enlai at the Geneva Summit in 1954 by refusing to shake hands).

Towards the end, Nixon put together a chapter composed of several leaders from different countries. These leaders he obviously considered worthy enough to write about, but apparently not in the top echelon with the earlier leaders discussed. Notably absent from the book: NO leaders from any Latin American countries at all. Also, I found some irony in the concluding chapter when Nixon writes of how Lyndon Johnson was obsessed with the media's coverage of his administration (quite true), yet Nixon himself was just as bad if not slightly worse in this area than Johnson was. One final comment: Nixon almost seems to go out of his way to avoid writing about Eisenhower. Oh, he appears periodically throughout the book, but more to prove a point with the leader that he was discussing at the time. It's like Nixon purposefully wished to avoid writing about a man who continually held him at arm's-length throughout their relationship. All in all, a book worth reading because very few men could write with any authority on this subject. Nixon was one of those who could.

[Barack Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

265-Leaders-Richard Nixon-Biography-1983
Barack
2020/08/20

"Leaders", first published in the United States in 1983. Autobiographical books. It records the major foreign leaders Nixon has met and shares Nixon's insights and opinions on them.

Richard Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California, the USA in 1913 and died in 1994. He served as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. He served as the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974. Representative works: "Six Crises", "RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon", "Leaders", etc.

Part of the catalog
1. THEY MADE A DIFFERENCE Leaders
Who Changed the World
2. WINSTON CHURCHILL
The Largest Human Being of Our Time
3. CHARLES de GAULLE
The Leadership Mystique
4. DOUGLAS MacARTHUR AND SHIGERU YOSHIDA
East Meets West
5. KONRAD ADENAUER
The West’s Iron Curtain
6. NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV
The Brutal Will To Power
7. ZHOU ENLAI
The Mandarin Revolutionary
8. A NEW WORLD
New Leaders in a Time of Change
9. IN THE ARENA
Reflections on Leadership

During his 33-year political career, Nixon has visited about 80 countries. Apart from Stalin, he almost knew the major politicians in the world immediately after World War II. An author, if he has rich life experience, the readers are no longer paying attention to his writing, but wanting to experience the magnificent history and legends that he has no chance to feel through his eyes and description.

"What makes the role of these leaders so compellingly interesting is not just its drama, but its importance—its impact."

Most politicians have a limited political career. How do people evaluate a political mission? The key is what kind of influence he sees in his country and the world when he is in power? Is it positive or negative?

The specific environment and challenges faced by each politician are different. They can't adopt the same approach. Naturally, there are considerable random factors. But if we stretch the timeline to a relatively long span, look at the career of a politician in a span of 10, 20, or even 50 years. Then we should still be able to make a relatively objective evaluation of his performance.

“Having known both the peaks and the valleys of public life, I have learned that you cannot appreciate the heights unless you have also experienced the depths. Nor can you fully understand what drives a leader if you have only sat on the sidelines, watching."

If we have not experienced the frustration of the trough, we will not be able to fully appreciate the luck of the climax. If we always just sit outside and watch, we will never be able to experience the fun of participating in person.

"The surefire formula for placing a leader among the greats has three elements: a great man, a great country, and a great issue."

A politician has no way to decide which country he was born in, nor can he decide what specific things he will encounter. All he can grasp is to make himself a great man. Becoming a great man is only one of the necessary conditions remembered by history, not a sufficient condition.

"The small man leading a great nation in a great crisis fails the test of greatness. The large man in a small country may demonstrate all the qualities of greatness but never win the recognition. Others, though big men in big countries live in the shadow of giants: Zhou Enlai, for example, who discreetly let the limelight shine on Mao."

"There has long been a widespread belief in the United States that what the country needs is a top-flight businessman to run the government, someone who has proven that he can manage a large-scale enterprise efficiently and effectively. This misses the mark Management is one thing. Leadership is another. As Warren G. Bennis of the University of Southern California's business school puts it, “Managers have as their goal to do things right. Leaders have as their goal to do the right thing.”

What is the difference between management ability and leadership ability? What are the evaluation criteria of a good manager? What are the evaluation criteria for a good leader? Is a good leader a good manager? Is a good manager necessarily a good leader?

"Leadership is more than technique, though techniques are necessary. In a sense, management is prose; leadership is poetry. The leader necessarily deals with a large extent in symbols, in images, and in the sort of galvanizing idea that becomes a force of history. People are persuaded by reason, but moved by emotion; he must both persuade them and move them. The manager thinks of today and tomorrow. The leader must think of the day after tomorrow. A manager represents a process. The leader represents the direction of history. Thus, a manager with nothing to manage becomes nothing, but even out of power a leader still commands followers."

I think management is a subset of leadership. The role of management is to maximize existing resources as much as possible. The role that the leader is trying to play is to use the existing resources beyond the normal circumstances, the results it can play.

The management process does not involve too many human emotions, but the leadership process must be closely related to human emotions. We may need to have positions assigned to us to manage others, but even if our position is equal to or even lower than others, it is still possible to lead others to a certain extent.

"THE STORY OF China during the past half-century is, to an extraordinary degree, the story of three men: Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Chiang Kai-shek."

"Zhou was also, quite simply, one of the most extraordinarily gifted people I have ever known, with an incandescent grasp of the realities of power. All three are dead, but Zhou’s is the legacy that is increasingly ascendant in modern China."

"The interplay of all these qualities allowed Zhou to lead a career in the highest reaches of Communist leadership that lasted longer than that of Lenin, Stalin, or Mao."

Nixon's evaluation of Zhou can be said to be quite high. In his eyes, Zhou's greatness may even surpass Mao. Of course, this may be because Mao was a more distinctive and tougher personality than Zhou. Because of the differences in interests between China and the United States, Nixon's evaluation of Mao is likely to be biased.

But even so, we can see how Zhou has won the respect and trust of leaders of other countries on the international stage. Perhaps Zhou is a more willing object to negotiate with other leaders.

Nixon briefly introduced Zhou's life experience. This is similar to the biography about Zhou I once read. It can be seen that Nixon still has a relatively comprehensive understanding of Zhou.

Nixon talked about Zhou's misunderstanding of some foreign affairs. Similarly, Nixon must have some misunderstandings about certain things in China. Many times, even if we have personally visited a country, or even lived in this country for some time, we still have some prejudices due to cultural differences. So how can we expect that we can have a correct understanding of a country without ever visiting a country in person?

Though Nixon's description, we can see that Zhou is a person who has a good grasp of details. This is not easy to do. It is even more difficult if you want to be able to not be confused by the details and at the same time have a long-term perspective.

"An incident at the Geneva Conference on Vietnam in 1954 illustrated Zhou's sensitivity to slights of Chinese national honor. Zhou was representing China and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles the United States. Dulles had told a reporter that there was one condition under which the two would meet: “Only if our automobiles collide!” By chance, they encountered each other when both arrived early for a one-morning session. Zhou reached out to shake hands. Dulles shook his head and walked out of the room, thoroughly humiliating the Chinese Foreign Minister. Six years later Zhou still winced when he recounted the incident to his friend Edgar Snow."

[Phillip · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book took me awhile to finish, both because of President Nixon's writing style and my graduate school studies have me reading 80 pages of textbooks a week. This was not that great of a book, honestly. I have enjoyed the president's other books, but this one just did not capture my interest, despite being the history and his recollections of the international political leaders of the 20th C. For someone who is interested in the post-WWII leaders and history, maybe this book would catch your interest more. And it certainly is a good book for research purposes. But all in all, this is going in my "sell" pile to the used bookstore. I almost didn't finish it, but b/c it was Dick Nixon, I kept at it.

There was one quote in his last chapter that did speak to me, so I'll end with it:

"In politics and statecraft, power means life or death, prosperity or poverty, happiness or tragedy, for thousands or even millions of people. No one who holds power can ever forget that, even though he must sometimes put it deliberately out of his mind while making a decision. Power is the opportunity to build, to create, to nudge history in a different direction. There are few satisfactions to match it for those who care about such things. But it is not happiness. Those who seek happiness will not acquire power and would not use it well if they did acquire it."

[Himanshu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nixon - the first image this name evokes in mind of a casual reader of history is of a US President impeached due to Watergate scandal. This book throws an entirely new light on the reader - that too a good writer and student of human nature more so around leadership traits. Nixon , by virtue of his political stature had access to the great leaders of his era. This book is his recollections of the leaders he considers the most important of 20th century. Make no mistake , the book is not full of facts and figures which anyways can be gleaned from Google. This book is more about his experiences with these leaders, what made those leaders click, their traits and lastly what any aspiring leader can learn from them. The book starts with one of the most polarising leaders of the last century - Churchill. While on one hand, he guided England through WW2 with courage, he was also staunchly anti-independence of colonies. His views about what will happen if power is given to "natives" , though painful are unfortunately turning out to be true. The book then goes on to touch other greats like De Gaulle , Zhou enlai..

I found the book very entertaining and insightful. You may ask then where did the one star go.. Well that goes for the personal bias of Nixon which neglected leaders from India - Indira Gandhi with whom he ( and Kissinger) had a very volatile relationship. Had he covered her the book would have become more interesting and would have shown on the magnanimity of the author.

[Mustafa Bilal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far from what I expected, reading this book became a rewarding experience. Richard Nixon explores in his book, "Leaders", the much-discussed subject of Leadership. Here specifically Political Leadership. The form he uses is a collection of mini biographies of major post-war leaders in which he uses the leaders' history, his own observations and evaluation of them, the people's thoughts about them and how they helped in shaping their nations and the world at large in it's current state. Through these reminiscences he explores leadership; How a leader is made and what are those necessities and major characteristics that goes in making a successful leader. He starts with Giants like Churchill and ends with the likes of Menzies, which he calls equally capable but less fortunate. His insights on the international scene and the threats (which I still find relevant and is one of the many reasons that makes the book worth-reading) are remarkable. This is a book written by someone who had first-hand dealings with people we regard as great and who understood the turmoil of the political stage. It planted a seed in my heart for political interest (which was none before). I look forward to reading more books like this one.

[Brent Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Nixon writes about the leaders he had known, and those who he had personal encounters with. Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Douglas MacArthur, Konrad Adenauer, Nikita Khrushchev and Zhou Enlai are some of these....Of most interest is how Nixon see’s these people and the opinions he offers about them: ones he strongly held from which we learn as much about him about the leaders he discusses. For example, he said: ''In their personal diplomacy Khrushchev and Brezhnev were like Lyndon Johnson. They felt compelled to reinforce their words with some sort of physical contact. Khrushchev's tactile diplomacy was almost always menacing.

When Brezhnev reached out to touch or grab my arm, he sought to implore, not to bully. But should these gentler means fail to persuade me, Brezhnev could also apply sheer muscle. What struck me most about Brezhnev was his emotional versatility. At one moment he would speak with what seemed to be perfect sincerity about his deep desire to leave a legacy of peace for his grandchildren. In the next he would assert with unequivocal determination his right to control the destinies of other nations all around the world.''

So much is being said in today’s political climate about Nixon, and his response to Watergate, that it is interesting to reread this book and she how differently he saw the rest of the world from the one that was here in the United States at that time.

Nixon’s said early in the book that managers work with their goal being ‘'to do things right'', compared to leaders whose goal is ''to do the right thing''. He doesn’t tell us how to identify the “right thing” and we are left wondering if this is just a rational way to say the end justifies the mean?

Nixon’s said also that great leaders are those who ''so effectively wielded power on such a grand scale that they significantly changed the course of history for their nations and for the world.'' He seems to admire the results of power but does not have a lot to say about the negative consequences that happened in a grand scale over history.

First published in 1982 this is one of Nixon’s many books worth rereading. For more on this book see www.connectedeventsmatter.com

[Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب يتحدث عن علاقات نيكسون بمجموعة من قادة العالم بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية، من بينهم ديغول، تشرتشل، ديفيد بن غوريون، جمال عبد الناصر، نهرو... الخ، و يحاول نيكسون ان يستعرض اهم صفات هؤلاء القادة التي جعلت منهم شخصيات متميزة سلبا او ايجابا، و يحاول الرئيس الامريكي الاسبق ان يتوصل الى نظرية في نهاية المطاف تتعلق بفن القيادة و مميزات القائد الناجح مقارنة بغيره من السياسيين.
ما شدني في الكتاب، و مازلت اذكره باعجاب حتى هذه اللحظة هو الفصل الذي افرده نيكسون لكونراد اديناور المستشار الالماني الذي قاد الشطر الغربي بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية ثم نهض ببلاده الى مصاف الدول المتقدمة خلال ما يقارب عقدا من الزمن.
فمن المعلوم ان المانيا بعد الحرب كانت بلدا محطما، مهشما، مفلسا، و الشعب الالماني كان يعيش ظروفا مرعبة تتراوح بين اليأس و الفقر المدقع و قد بلغت المعنويات الحضيض. لقد قادني الفضول الى هذه النقطة بالذات : اي رجل هذا الذي يستطيع ان ينهض بشعب محبط و اقتصاد منهار ليبلغ اعلى مراحل التقدم في غضون سنوات؟
هنالك حوادث معينة تتعلق باديناور علقت بذهني و هي لا تنسى، منها انه كان يضع قدميه في الثلج حتى صباح اليوم التالي و هو يذاكر للامتحان، حماسه الديني، نضاله ضد النازيين، شخصيته الطاغية و اختياره الواعي لمساعديه. التفاصيل كثيرة و لكن الجوهر واحد و هو ان الرجل كان يتمتع بارادة فولاذية و صلابة هائلة لبناء وطن حطمته الحرب. كان مستعدا لمفاوضة الحلفاء لساعات بلا كلل لنيل ابسط مطالب الشعب الالماني. كان اديناور متدينا و محافظا رفض مصافحة الحاكم النازي في مدينته كولون و ظل مطاردا طيلة الحقبة النازية بالرغم من ان هتلر لم يخف اعجابه بالرجل.
امن اديناور بالحرية الفردية كحق مقدس و عبر عن مقته للانظمة الفاشية و الشيوعية التي لا تحترم هذا الحق، و اعتبرا كلا النظامين اعتداء على قدسية الذات البشرية كقيمة مطلقة.
هذه السيرة بكل مساراتها و ما واجهته من صعوبات كانت تواجهني دائما عندما انظر الى قادة العرب، بكروشهم المنتفخة و اجسادهم المترهلة، فكرهم الطائفي و القومي المتزمت، اضافة الى احقادهم المزمنة ضد بعضهم الاخر. انظر الى هؤلاء و افتش فيهم عن رجل يمتلك هذه القوة الفولاذية لقيادة الوطن فلا اجد. كل ما تجده هناك مجرد رجال لا يميزهم عن غيرهم سوى هالة السلطة و الحرس و اضواء الكاميرات و الاعلام، و عندما تجردهم من هذه الاكسسوارات لن تجد اكثر من اقزام تذوب في فوضى الصراع الدموي على السلطة لذاتها لا من اجل شيء اخر

[Unnikrishnan Sreedharan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book deals with the careers of world leaders whom Mr. Nixon met during his long political career as Vice president in the Eisenhower administration and later as President. The leaders potrayed here falls under two categories. Friends of America and foes of America. Leaders like Churchill, Robert Menzies, Konrad Adenauer falls under the former category, Leaders like Nikitha Krushchev and Zhou En Lai falls under the later category. Nixon gives a wide canvass depicting the rise, fall, successes and failures of these leaders. Another important opinion put forward by Mr. Nixon is that certain leaders like Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore failed to make the mark as leaders of world calibre despite there abilities, simply due to the reason that they ruled small countries which didnt took a major role in international affairs viz a viz cold war. He also points out leaders like Shah of Iran and Chiang Kai Sheik of Taiwan lost power not due to there inefficiency but due to their inability to garner sufficient public support which there opponents were able to garner. Nixon is praising the land reforms implemented by Chiang Kai Sheik in Taiwan. And he opines that if Chiang implemented the same reforms in China, he should never had lost power. Mr. Nixon also is of the opinion that time and historical circumstances also creates leaders. In his own words, 'Different cultures bring different kinds of leaders, and so different ages. It will be difficult to imagine Disreli winning an election in the united states of 1980, or for that matter a Konrad Adenauer or a George Washington.' The book is dedicated to the future leaders of the world. Still in my personal opinion the book is not free from prejudices. His antagonism towards Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India and his support to Pakistan is also evident in the book.Still he profuses great respect for Jawaharlal Nehru. Altogether a good book, a major one among his books which saved his reputation as a political strategist after his ingnominious exit from Presidency.

[Jeffrey Margolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

When people think of Richard Nixon, few think of him as an author, but the former President penned nine books, eight of which were best sellers. Published in 1982,Leaders examines six world leaders through his own lens, including the lives of Charles De Gaulle, Douglass MacArthur and Nikita Kruschchev. Motivated by the success of John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, Nixon wrote about how these leaders shaped the world. One of his quotes in the beginning of the book strikes a chord today. "There has long been a widespread belief in The United States that what the country needs is a top-flight businessman to run the government, someone who has proven that he can mange a large scale enterprise efficiently and effectively. This misses the mark. Management is one thing. Leadership is another."(page 4). This is a fine read for history buffs and an insight into the views of Richard Nixon.

[Hassaan Bukhari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by one of the most influential people after the war goes from analysing some famous leaders of his time and then defining and criticising the leadership. It is interesting to see the choice of leaders he included in his book were the people who are not the ones that are most influential but the ones that are most statesmen. He didn't include any of the American presidents. But he did a good job in defining what a true leader should be like and how he thinks and how he should act.

[Brian Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Nixon is a very interesting writer. Since he knew the people he was writing about he had personal stories to tell about them. It was interesting how he frequently had compliments for his political rivals like LBJ, and Kennedy. He also said a lot of good things about leaders who were considered tyrants such as Nasser of Egypt. He was able to personally be friends with them even while he and our country had serious disagreements with them.

[Zidane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads like The Prince by Machiavelli. Raw, unpretentious and un-politically correct. What does it take to lead? To wield power? What is leadership as it is lived and what is it not? Through the lense of great leaders, Richard Nixon met and knew, he shows us what it really means to take command.

[Haiyun Xu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great biography on the leaders of the post WWII world from the perspective of a leader.

[Waleed Riaz]

one of my favorite book on leadership study. A personal and immersive view.

[Davide Badini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring!!!

[János Keresztes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique

A unique book, from a very special author. Final chapter is a master piece. Insightful historical review on some of the greatest leaders of the 20th century.

[A C · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this book

[Wahhaj Zaheer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on leaders and leadership during 20th century... A must read for politically interested readers....

[Jochem · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book on leaders of the 20th century. Hard to put down. Nixon is a captivating writer.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brilliant although occasionally fawning work. Nixon knew personally those individuals about whom he wrote, and profiles them both frankly and eloquently. There are the occasional occurrences of hero worship - particularly when it comes to de Gaulle and MacArthur - but otherwise this is a crucial book for understanding the men who shaped the world in the post-war era. The chapter on Khrushchev is especially colorful and interesting.

Nixon was no doubt a brilliant man; a genius at foreign policy with a firm understanding of geopolitics. Several key passages:

On Zhou Enlai:
“Without Mao the Chinese Revolution would never have caught fire. Without Zhou it would have burned out and only the ashes would remain. Whether it will survive and in the end do more good than harm depends on whether the present Communist Chinese leaders decide, as Zhou did, that they are going to be more Chinese than Communist. If they do, China in the twenty-first century will not need to be concerned about the Soviets to the north, the Indians to the south, the Japanese to the northeast, or even the Americans to the east. China—with one billion of the world’s ablest people and with enormous natural resources—can become not only the most populous, but also the most powerful, nation in the world.”

This was written in 1982 and isn't very far off the mark.

On David Ben-Gurion:
“Other Israeli leaders, then and since, have coveted more land. Not Ben-Gurion. He called himself a 'crazy Negevist' and argued that Israel’s mission was to reclaim the desert. Unimproved, he said, the desert was 'a reproach to mankind' and 'a criminal waste in a world that cannot feed its population.' Improved, he insisted, it would provide all the space the Israelis needed. He spoke bitterly about the terrorists and other expansionists who wanted forcefully to enlarge Israel’s territory; he argued that Israel had no reason to exist unless it was (a) a Jewish state and (b) a democratic state. The 'extremists,' he said, who advocated absorbing Arab lands, would deprive Israel of its mission: 'If they succeed, Israel will be neither Jewish nor democratic. The Arabs will outnumber us, and undemocratic, repressive measures will be needed to keep them under control.'”

This observation by Ben-Gurion with which Nixon agreed, almost perfectly describes what is happening in Israel now.

In addition, the book is well written with colorful flourishes peppering its descriptions:

“Few places on earth match the Middle East as a focus of story and legend or as a strategic crossroads. Its history stretches back thousands of years. Not only dynasties but civilizations have risen and fallen there. Winds still carve the ageless desert as they did millennia ago, and bones still whiten in the sun.”

One thing missing - though unsurprisingly - was any sort of reflection on where Nixon felt he fit in as a leader; how he measured up compared to his contemporaries and heroes. He makes many pointed observations about leadership and the necessary qualities of a good leader, but it is impossible to forget that he is the man behind and brought down by Watergate. Throughout my reading, I kept looking for answers as to how he justified his own downfall with the lofty qualities he lauded. I came away with the impression that, were it not for Watergate, Nixon's legacy could have been vastly different and much more positive. Think of the man what you will, but there is no ignoring the value in this book.

[David Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flaws aside Richard Nixon was one of our most literate presidents, and post-presidency published several books. "Leaders" reveals his assessment of most of the key leaders in the post-war world of the 1950s through 70s, all of whom he interacted with personally. Nixon's interactions with the Soviet and Chinese leaders form the most interesting parts of the book, as these interactions were of great historical importance to the US and the world. His interactions with leaders such as Churchill, MacArthur, De Gaulle, and others are less important historically, occurring when he was Vice President in the 50s or before his presidency in the 60s, but are always interesting as they offer eyewitness insights into the personalities of these figures. Nixon sees strengths and virtues even in leaders who were his adversaries, such as Khrushchev and Brezhnev, Mao and Zhou En Lai. This ability to respect the strengths of his enemies may be a reason he was able to go to China, or participate in summit meetings with the Russians that helped thaw the Cold War. He also offers insights that are prophetic, such as his feeling that the Middle East is not yet ready for democracy and his prediction that overthrowing strong leaders in that region would lead to unintended consequences.

Of course Nixon by implication underlines his own historical importance, perhaps overestimating it at times, though not excessively. Yet it is hard to avoid the undercurrent in the book that perhaps he, too, Richard M Nixon, belongs somewhere amongst the panoply of great leaders. This is not overt at all, if anything Nixon speaks of himself modestly, giving credit to others, in particular his wife whom he clearly adored. Reading what he considered to be the strengths and weaknesses of these various leaders lends some insight into Nixon himself. One can also sense a bit of wistfulness in the book, that he was not able to achieve the same heights as some of his heroes.

[Cliff · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some books that you come back to again and again. It isn't necessarily to say they are the best books (although they might be), but they have certain anecdotes, certain observations, and certain lessons you want to continually draw on that make you come back to them again and again and remember. This is one of those books. I'm certain I'll come back to it again and again.

Nixon is a prolific writer, and I've read several of his books. He's a fairly good one as a politician goes, if a bit cerebral for a wide audience. This is undoubtedly the best I've read by far. The concept is very basic. Nixon discusses various world leaders he's met in his life, discusses their backgrounds, actions and leadership styles, and gives his assessment of their abilities, strengths and flaws. He spends more time on "big" leaders, like Charles DeGaulle, Nikita Khrushchev and Douglas MacArthur, but also discusses "small" leaders like Ramon Magsaysay of the Philippines and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. From each, he makes keen observations. From all, he draws important lessons. So you learn a lot about a lot of things, leadership, politics, foreign policy, you name it. It's very probing and all encompassing.

I often read a little bit about a character in history in one format, and then want to go more in depth. This book got me interested in learning more about a lot of leaders, and also gave me a firm footing to evaluate subsequent information. You don't have to be a big fan of Nixon to recognize his amazing raw intelligence. And his observations are astute and insightful. For anyone interested in any of these leaders or the issues they are involved in, or just anyone who wants to understand how the last century was shaped, this is a great read.

[Sakhawat Hussan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aoa
Richard M. Nixon with his "Leaders" not only master the understanding of leadership, but also writing in general. The book treats several leaders of the 20th century, Winston Churchill, Konrad Adenaur, Shigeru Yoshida, Charles de Gaulle, Nikita Khruschev and many more with granduer. What one should particularly pay attention in this book is that the author himself, has personally known every single leader in the book, which adds a great deal of invaluable personal reminiscences which at the same time analyse each person. The book is a must read for those interested in history, politics, biography, and of course leadership in general. The numerous personal advices which the author present as indispensable to great leader, pinpoints the weaknesses and qualities a leader has. At the same time, Richard Nixon, with his outstanding political career which spans over much of a lifetime, tells the reader what to do and what not to do as a leader, how and why leaders have failed in history and how and why they've reached the top. A magnificent piece of work, which will live in my memory for a long time.

[E.H. Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of President Nixon’s ten memoirs is Leaders, and it is as just as revealing and fascinating as its nine brothers. In this volume, Nixon discusses his interactions with foreign leaders. He doesn’t abuse his power as a memoirist; this is not a dirt-dishing book. Yes, he recounts private interactions he shared with other leaders, but he also gives his opinions on their lives and careers as a whole, and shares advice given and received. Leaders isn’t a popularity contest, and he doesn’t hold back from complimenting those who weren’t always complimentary of him.

Even if you’re not a Nixon fan, there’s a good chance you’ll really like this book. Nixon’s presidency impacted world relations with Russia and China, so if you’re interested in that part of US history, you’ll find tons of great inside information in this book. If you’re at all interested in foreign policy or international relations, this is a fascinating book written by a president who left an international mark on the world.

http://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/leader...

[Anthony Mayor · Rating 5 out of 5]

No apologies for this read. This was while I was a Reagan Republican while I was a hard core anti communist and also had yet to get my graduate degree in Psychology and also started work in the fields of vocational rehabilitation counseling and ergonomics. I always admired Nixon's foreign affairs knowledge and the many world leaders he had come to know his 8 years as VP under Eisenhower then almost two terms as President. His insights on Winston Churchill, Charles De Gaulle, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao, Stalin, Kruschev, and so on and so forth. His insights into these leaders were very interesting. Good read still. But no longer a Republican.

[Vianney Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un gran libro experiencial de Nixon sobre los tratos que tuvo con grandes personalidades como Winston Churchill, Charles DeGaulle, Conrad Adenauer, Golda Meir, entre otros, que reflejan en su calidad más humana su forma de liderazgo. Resalta las cualidades que hicieron posibles sus destacadas participaciones en la historia de cada país en que ejercieron su labor política y aunque el texto es largo, la calidez del autor hace de este libro uno muy entretenido que sin dudarlo volveré a leer por puro amor al arte.
Al final pone en perspectiva lo que un gran liderazgo político implica y lo que al líder político corresponde cuando se trata de liderar una nación más allá de lo visible.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this old book from my father-in-law. I didn't read it because I admire Nixon, but because of the world's leaders he writes about between the end of WWII and the beginning of the cold war. Like, for instance, what was going on in German politics just after the death of Hitler. Couldn't put it down.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant well written book filled with insightful concise biographies. I came away with a better understanding of the world as well as its leaders in a specific time in history..Well worth the read.

[Wbm]

leaders and their style ... Nixon wrote wt great wit on this but amazing how easy it is to see the peck in other people's eyes ...

[Nawrast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book especially that chapter about Charles de Gaull