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Being Nixon: A Man Divided
The New York Times bestselling author of Ike’s Bluff and Sea of Thunder brings new life to one of American history’s most infamous, paradoxical, and enigmatic politicians: Richard Nixon. Dispensing with myths to achieve an intimate and evenhanded look at the actual man, Evan Thomas delivers the best single-volume biography of Nixon to date, a radical, unique portrait of a complicated figure who was both determinedly optimistic and tragically flawed.
What drove a painfully shy outcast in elite Washington society—a man so self-conscious he refused to make eye contact during meetings—to pursue power and public office? How did a president so attuned to the American political id that he won reelection in a historic landslide lack the self-awareness to recognize the gaping character flaws that would drive him from office and forever taint his legacy?
In Being Nixon, Evan Thomas peels away the layers of the complex, confounding figure who became America’s thirty-seventh president. The son of devout Quakers, Richard Nixon (not unlike his rival John F. Kennedy) grew up in the shadow of an older, favored brother and thrived on conflict and opposition. Through high school and college, in the navy and in politics, he was constantly leading crusades and fighting off enemies real and imagined. As maudlin as he was Machiavellian, Nixon possessed the plainspoken eloquence to reduce American television audiences to tears with his career-saving “Checkers” speech; meanwhile, his darker half hatched schemes designed to take down his political foes, earning him the notorious nickname “Tricky Dick.”
Drawing on a wide range of historical accounts, Thomas reveals the contradictions of a leader whose vision and foresight led him to achieve détente with the Soviet Union and reestablish relations with communist China, but whose underhanded political tactics tainted his reputation long before the Watergate scandal. One of the principal architects of the modern Republican Party and its “silent majority” of disaffected whites and conservative ex-Dixiecrats, Nixon was also deemed a liberal in some quarters for his efforts to desegregate Southern schools, create the Environmental Protection Agency, and end the draft.
A deeply insightful character study as well as a brilliant political biography, Being Nixon offers a surprising look at a man capable of great bravery and extraordinary deviousness—a balanced portrait of a president too often reduced to caricature.
Advance praise for Being Nixon
“The great Evan Thomas has brought us a measured, concise, and important American biography. Now that the shouting and tumult have faded and Richard Nixon moves from our contemporary politics toward history, Thomas offers wise insights, based on many new sources, achieving what might have seemed impossible: He has rendered a new Nixon.”—Michael Beschloss, author of Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789–1989
“Richard Nixon is one of the most complex and fascinating characters in American history. In this poignant, revealing, and compellingly readable book, Evan Thomas makes him human.”—Jay Winik, author of April 1865 and The Great Upheaval
“What was it really like to be Richard Nixon? Evan Thomas tackles this fascinating question by peeling back the layers of a man driven by a poignant mix of optimism and fear.
What drove a painfully shy outcast in elite Washington society—a man so self-conscious he refused to make eye contact during meetings—to pursue power and public office? How did a president so attuned to the American political id that he won reelection in a historic landslide lack the self-awareness to recognize the gaping character flaws that would drive him from office and forever taint his legacy?
In Being Nixon, Evan Thomas peels away the layers of the complex, confounding figure who became America’s thirty-seventh president. The son of devout Quakers, Richard Nixon (not unlike his rival John F. Kennedy) grew up in the shadow of an older, favored brother and thrived on conflict and opposition. Through high school and college, in the navy and in politics, he was constantly leading crusades and fighting off enemies real and imagined. As maudlin as he was Machiavellian, Nixon possessed the plainspoken eloquence to reduce American television audiences to tears with his career-saving “Checkers” speech; meanwhile, his darker half hatched schemes designed to take down his political foes, earning him the notorious nickname “Tricky Dick.”
Drawing on a wide range of historical accounts, Thomas reveals the contradictions of a leader whose vision and foresight led him to achieve détente with the Soviet Union and reestablish relations with communist China, but whose underhanded political tactics tainted his reputation long before the Watergate scandal. One of the principal architects of the modern Republican Party and its “silent majority” of disaffected whites and conservative ex-Dixiecrats, Nixon was also deemed a liberal in some quarters for his efforts to desegregate Southern schools, create the Environmental Protection Agency, and end the draft.
A deeply insightful character study as well as a brilliant political biography, Being Nixon offers a surprising look at a man capable of great bravery and extraordinary deviousness—a balanced portrait of a president too often reduced to caricature.
Advance praise for Being Nixon
“The great Evan Thomas has brought us a measured, concise, and important American biography. Now that the shouting and tumult have faded and Richard Nixon moves from our contemporary politics toward history, Thomas offers wise insights, based on many new sources, achieving what might have seemed impossible: He has rendered a new Nixon.”—Michael Beschloss, author of Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789–1989
“Richard Nixon is one of the most complex and fascinating characters in American history. In this poignant, revealing, and compellingly readable book, Evan Thomas makes him human.”—Jay Winik, author of April 1865 and The Great Upheaval
“What was it really like to be Richard Nixon? Evan Thomas tackles this fascinating question by peeling back the layers of a man driven by a poignant mix of optimism and fear.
640 pages, ebook
First published June 15, 2015
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5170 people want to read
About the author
Evan Thomas
70 books379 followersEvan Thomas is the author of nine books: The Wise Men (with Walter Isaacson), The Man to See, The Very Best Men, Robert Kennedy, John Paul Jones, Sea of Thunder, The War Lovers, Ike’s Bluff, and Being Nixon. Thomas was a writer, correspondent, and editor for thirty-three years at Time and Newsweek, including ten years (1986–96) as Washington bureau chief at Newsweek, where, at the time of his retirement in 2010, he was editor at large. He wrote more than one hundred cover stories and in 1999 won a National Magazine Award. He wrote Newsweek’s fifty-thousand-word election specials in 1996, 2000, 2004 (winner of a National Magazine Award), and 2008. He has appeared on many TV and radio talk shows, including Meet the Press and The Colbert Report, and has been a guest on PBS’s Charlie Rose more than forty times. The author of dozens of book reviews for The New York Times and The Washington Post, Thomas has taught writing and journalism at Harvard and Princeton, where, from 2007 to 2014, he was Ferris Professor of Journalism.
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February 9, 2021
Reading various biographies of the same person gives one different sides to the person's life. Evan Thomas gives us his take on Nixon and I thought it was a decent synopsis of the man. Some have taken issue with the title, but authors are often not responsible for the titles given to their books, as most of you probably know. "Being Nixon" might have been bestowed by an editor who wanted to project this bio as a new slant on Nixon's life.
The White House has been populated by several inscrutable men--Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson (a hero of Nixon's) and Nixon himself. He was a hard man to get to know and kept much of his life hidden, except for thousands of hours of tapes which often depict him in a bad light.
Thomas's book does "humanize" Nixon and gives us the Nixon who loved his wife and daughters and who had a very tender side and loving supportive family life.
The podcaster Bruce Carlson of "My History Can Beat Up Your Politics" asserts that if not for Watergate, Nixon would be ranked as one of the top Presidents due to his reestablishing relations with China, his playing hardball with the Soviet Union and helping push through detente and a mutual arms reduction. Nixon was proud of his abilities as a statesman and did a lot of traveling during his tenure in office.
I admit that there are times I've felt very befuddled how Nixon ever got to be elected President. He was an introvert who felt uncomfortable around most people, yet at the same time he craved political office and adulation. After the election of our current President, I would not be surprised if the American people elected a gorilla to the Presidency! Thomas's book did help me to understand how Nixon finally won the Presidency. He was a skilled politician and a quick learner.
A salient point the author makes and one his sources confirm is the feeling that Nixon had suffered some grievous hurt in childhood, which explained his never letting his guard down, never showing affection to his wife in public and always putting on a game face. My speculation is that Nixon was never praised by his father. He considered his mother a saint, and in documentaries has called his father, "a good man;" but there is nothing in the book to indicate that Nixon's father showed him any special attention or gave him credit. And Nixon by all accounts was an exemplary kid and top scholar. He was first among all California high school students and was offered scholarships to Harvard and Yale, but had to turn them down because it was 1930 and the Great Depression left his family too impoverished for him to afford room and board. Nixon had an older brother who was the shining star of the family but contracted tuberculosis and died before fulfilling his promise. It is possible that Nixon's father favored him over his siblings. Another brother also died, and no doubt these deaths also served to scar Nixon and helped him see himself as a survivor. Usually survivors of great tragedies where people die suffer guilt that they, too, were not struck down.
A more well-known point is that Nixon often felt unappreciated by others and took rejections very hard. Nixon, despite his introversion, was a political natural, able to turn on the charm when needed and bright enough (he had an IQ of 143) to play to his audience. This fear of rejection, and total dejection when he felt rebuffed or disrespected also showed Nixon's sensitive side. Thomas does a service by showing us Nixon's softer side--a side one will not hear if listening to the White House tapes. Nixon had grown up poor and had to work very hard because his father was a failure at running businesses. He had empathy for the poor and also for Native Americans. His college football coach had been a Native American and Nixon did what he could to make life better for them.
Nixon also cared about being a good steward for America, and cared even about the Russians and proved to be an excellent envoy and statesman, with help from Henry Kissinger, who comes across in the book as a neurotic Machiavellian--probably a pretty accurate depiction. In other words, Nixon took his job very seriously. He wanted to do a good job, to be able to relate to his constituents and to keep America strong. Nixon would often write letters to politicians who had lost elections, both democrats and republicans, empathizing with them over their defeats and encouraging them to try again and not give up the fight.
But Nixon also had a dark side. His feelings of rejection caused him to create an enemies list. This is really nothing new. Our 6th President John Quincy Adams, while serving in congress after losing a second term bid for the Presidency to Andrew Jackson, kept a lengthy list of enemies he felt were out to thwart him. While trying to get US troops out of Vietnam, he and Kissinger also planned and executed secret bombing in Cambodia and Laos--countries that border on Viet Nam that had a trail used by the North Vietnamese Army to ship troops and provisions down to the the southern part of the country.
Reading a bio of Nixon is akin to reading the downfall of the House of Atreus. Things are going to end badly.
Evan Thomas attributes Nixon's downfall to publishing of the Pentagon Papers, released to the New York Times and other papers by RAND Corporation whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg. Nixon was infuriated that government secrets had been released and seems to have gone kind of crazy after that. The atmosphere of the White House and other government agencies, where politicos were spying on each other and tattling, while some played double-agent and spied for both sides, led to. Nixon's underlings recruiting E. Howard Hunt, an ex-CIA agent, and G. Gordon Liddy, a former prosecutor and FBI agent, and any cronies and hirelings they could muster, first breaking into Daniel Ellsberg's psychoanalyst's office in Los Angeles and then Hunt and a Cuban who had helped with the Los Angeles break in followed that unfruitful burglary up by burglarizing and bugging the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. This burglary was a bungled job, with Hunt leaving evidence behind identifying him and linking him to the White House. Hunt's incompetence was the beginning of Richard Nixon's downfall and eventual resignation from the Presidency on August 9, 1974.
Nixon had a habit of talking around a subject he was equivocal about, and only those that knew him well recognized that this was his way of weighing his options. After the Pentagon papers Nixon became increasingly paranoid and would advise Haldeman and John Erlichman to do whatever it takes to get information about the Democrats. Several times he mentions the need to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters and obtain whatever info they could glean to aid in his reelection in 1972. It is not certain whether this was Nixon giving his typical circumlocution or Nixon issuing an edict--but Haldeman and Erlichman and other White House staff took it as an edict and set in motion Nixon's demise.
One humorous event in the book was Elvis Presley coming to the White House wanting to obtain a badge as a federal drug agent, and bringing a gun as a present for Nixon. I have read different accounts of this strange meeting. Thomas's version is that Haldeman and Erlichmen, Nixon's two main aides cum henchmen, had advised Nixon against meeting Elvis, but that Nixon overrode them and held a meeting with "the king" because he knew this meeting would play well in the South, where Elvis was from, and also because Elvis had not balked at being drafted into the army and had served his country at the height of his fame.
Another version of the story, which seems just as credible, is that Elvis presented at the White House and Secret Service agents notified Haldeman and he informed Nixon that Elvis Presley was outside the White House gate and wanted to meet with him. In this version, Nixon had no idea who Elvis was and had to be updated about the fading superstar by his aides. He reluctantly agreed to see him after being apprised that he was a famous celebrity and meeting him might enhance his popularity with America's youth, many of whom were protesting the war and marching and being beaten or killed.
Thomas does try to portray Nixon in all his complexity and I think he does a good job of portraying a flawed man who was brought down by his paranoia and anger and feelings of invincible powers to commit criminal acts. An important point in relation to this is that Nixon apparently had very little powers of introspection and self-insight, a deficit that often hampered his personal relationships.
In fairness to Nixon, many pundits on the Washington scene have noted that break-ins and bugging was commonplace among both political parties and Nixon was just unlucky enough to have gotten caught.
In sum, Thomas's biography is well-written and short. Unfortunately, it gives short shrift to Nixon's early years and especially so in his post-President years. There is nothing about Nixon's alleged affair with the Chinese woman he would allegedly rendezvous with when he visited Hong Kong, very little about his friendship with "Bebe" Rebozo, a Miami real estate developer who seemed to be Nixon's only real friend. I enjoyed the book and thought it was informative but would have been a richer biography had it contained more about Nixon's childhood and rise to power and more about his life after his resignation, where he slowly worked his way back to being an elder statesman and advisor and regained some of the respect he had lost.
The White House has been populated by several inscrutable men--Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson (a hero of Nixon's) and Nixon himself. He was a hard man to get to know and kept much of his life hidden, except for thousands of hours of tapes which often depict him in a bad light.
Thomas's book does "humanize" Nixon and gives us the Nixon who loved his wife and daughters and who had a very tender side and loving supportive family life.
The podcaster Bruce Carlson of "My History Can Beat Up Your Politics" asserts that if not for Watergate, Nixon would be ranked as one of the top Presidents due to his reestablishing relations with China, his playing hardball with the Soviet Union and helping push through detente and a mutual arms reduction. Nixon was proud of his abilities as a statesman and did a lot of traveling during his tenure in office.
I admit that there are times I've felt very befuddled how Nixon ever got to be elected President. He was an introvert who felt uncomfortable around most people, yet at the same time he craved political office and adulation. After the election of our current President, I would not be surprised if the American people elected a gorilla to the Presidency! Thomas's book did help me to understand how Nixon finally won the Presidency. He was a skilled politician and a quick learner.
A salient point the author makes and one his sources confirm is the feeling that Nixon had suffered some grievous hurt in childhood, which explained his never letting his guard down, never showing affection to his wife in public and always putting on a game face. My speculation is that Nixon was never praised by his father. He considered his mother a saint, and in documentaries has called his father, "a good man;" but there is nothing in the book to indicate that Nixon's father showed him any special attention or gave him credit. And Nixon by all accounts was an exemplary kid and top scholar. He was first among all California high school students and was offered scholarships to Harvard and Yale, but had to turn them down because it was 1930 and the Great Depression left his family too impoverished for him to afford room and board. Nixon had an older brother who was the shining star of the family but contracted tuberculosis and died before fulfilling his promise. It is possible that Nixon's father favored him over his siblings. Another brother also died, and no doubt these deaths also served to scar Nixon and helped him see himself as a survivor. Usually survivors of great tragedies where people die suffer guilt that they, too, were not struck down.
A more well-known point is that Nixon often felt unappreciated by others and took rejections very hard. Nixon, despite his introversion, was a political natural, able to turn on the charm when needed and bright enough (he had an IQ of 143) to play to his audience. This fear of rejection, and total dejection when he felt rebuffed or disrespected also showed Nixon's sensitive side. Thomas does a service by showing us Nixon's softer side--a side one will not hear if listening to the White House tapes. Nixon had grown up poor and had to work very hard because his father was a failure at running businesses. He had empathy for the poor and also for Native Americans. His college football coach had been a Native American and Nixon did what he could to make life better for them.
Nixon also cared about being a good steward for America, and cared even about the Russians and proved to be an excellent envoy and statesman, with help from Henry Kissinger, who comes across in the book as a neurotic Machiavellian--probably a pretty accurate depiction. In other words, Nixon took his job very seriously. He wanted to do a good job, to be able to relate to his constituents and to keep America strong. Nixon would often write letters to politicians who had lost elections, both democrats and republicans, empathizing with them over their defeats and encouraging them to try again and not give up the fight.
But Nixon also had a dark side. His feelings of rejection caused him to create an enemies list. This is really nothing new. Our 6th President John Quincy Adams, while serving in congress after losing a second term bid for the Presidency to Andrew Jackson, kept a lengthy list of enemies he felt were out to thwart him. While trying to get US troops out of Vietnam, he and Kissinger also planned and executed secret bombing in Cambodia and Laos--countries that border on Viet Nam that had a trail used by the North Vietnamese Army to ship troops and provisions down to the the southern part of the country.
Reading a bio of Nixon is akin to reading the downfall of the House of Atreus. Things are going to end badly.
Evan Thomas attributes Nixon's downfall to publishing of the Pentagon Papers, released to the New York Times and other papers by RAND Corporation whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg. Nixon was infuriated that government secrets had been released and seems to have gone kind of crazy after that. The atmosphere of the White House and other government agencies, where politicos were spying on each other and tattling, while some played double-agent and spied for both sides, led to. Nixon's underlings recruiting E. Howard Hunt, an ex-CIA agent, and G. Gordon Liddy, a former prosecutor and FBI agent, and any cronies and hirelings they could muster, first breaking into Daniel Ellsberg's psychoanalyst's office in Los Angeles and then Hunt and a Cuban who had helped with the Los Angeles break in followed that unfruitful burglary up by burglarizing and bugging the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. This burglary was a bungled job, with Hunt leaving evidence behind identifying him and linking him to the White House. Hunt's incompetence was the beginning of Richard Nixon's downfall and eventual resignation from the Presidency on August 9, 1974.
Nixon had a habit of talking around a subject he was equivocal about, and only those that knew him well recognized that this was his way of weighing his options. After the Pentagon papers Nixon became increasingly paranoid and would advise Haldeman and John Erlichman to do whatever it takes to get information about the Democrats. Several times he mentions the need to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters and obtain whatever info they could glean to aid in his reelection in 1972. It is not certain whether this was Nixon giving his typical circumlocution or Nixon issuing an edict--but Haldeman and Erlichman and other White House staff took it as an edict and set in motion Nixon's demise.
One humorous event in the book was Elvis Presley coming to the White House wanting to obtain a badge as a federal drug agent, and bringing a gun as a present for Nixon. I have read different accounts of this strange meeting. Thomas's version is that Haldeman and Erlichmen, Nixon's two main aides cum henchmen, had advised Nixon against meeting Elvis, but that Nixon overrode them and held a meeting with "the king" because he knew this meeting would play well in the South, where Elvis was from, and also because Elvis had not balked at being drafted into the army and had served his country at the height of his fame.
Another version of the story, which seems just as credible, is that Elvis presented at the White House and Secret Service agents notified Haldeman and he informed Nixon that Elvis Presley was outside the White House gate and wanted to meet with him. In this version, Nixon had no idea who Elvis was and had to be updated about the fading superstar by his aides. He reluctantly agreed to see him after being apprised that he was a famous celebrity and meeting him might enhance his popularity with America's youth, many of whom were protesting the war and marching and being beaten or killed.
Thomas does try to portray Nixon in all his complexity and I think he does a good job of portraying a flawed man who was brought down by his paranoia and anger and feelings of invincible powers to commit criminal acts. An important point in relation to this is that Nixon apparently had very little powers of introspection and self-insight, a deficit that often hampered his personal relationships.
In fairness to Nixon, many pundits on the Washington scene have noted that break-ins and bugging was commonplace among both political parties and Nixon was just unlucky enough to have gotten caught.
In sum, Thomas's biography is well-written and short. Unfortunately, it gives short shrift to Nixon's early years and especially so in his post-President years. There is nothing about Nixon's alleged affair with the Chinese woman he would allegedly rendezvous with when he visited Hong Kong, very little about his friendship with "Bebe" Rebozo, a Miami real estate developer who seemed to be Nixon's only real friend. I enjoyed the book and thought it was informative but would have been a richer biography had it contained more about Nixon's childhood and rise to power and more about his life after his resignation, where he slowly worked his way back to being an elder statesman and advisor and regained some of the respect he had lost.
March 3, 2019
Having been raised in a liberal household full of Nixon-haters, I found it embarrassing at first to realize how much I empathized with Nixon at the start of his political career. I recognized Nixon's strengths as admirable and felt for him as he wrestled with shyness and social exclusion. An older friend had told me he had voted for Nixon over Kennedy in 1960. Thomas's book shows me for the first time how Nixon could make such a choice viable. Evan Thomas does a great job of showing how, after winning the presidency, Nixon's personal weaknesses created a vicious cycle of isolation and paranoia. The balance of detail and narrative and interpretation is just right. Readable and insightful, BEING NIXON has helped me better understand the political world I grew up in and whose legacy we are living with today, and the complex, emotionally unstable figure at the heart of so many of its most turbulent moments.
August 20, 2015
At times I've wished that I could be a college professor. I would teach a course entitled "The Psyche of Richard Nixon." "A serial collector of resentements," is how I've heard Nixon described by a biographer. I couldn't agree more. This is the first biography of this man that actually attempted to delve into his mind, as tortured as it was.
Of course, the section on the Presidency takes up the most space in this book (twenty chapters) but the author does go back to the origins of this complicated man. For as much as he does, I would have liked to have seen much more information/exposition on Nixon's formative years and early career in politics.
Without missing a beat the Watergate scandal is dissected at length. For as interesting as it was (I felt it was the best section of the book) it's my opinion that the author described the plottings and machinations of a man unraveling before his subordinates' eyes quite well. In all of the descriptions that I've read on the Watergate scandal, Thomas' version is possibly one of the best. He pulls no punches, describing it in a pure, simple nuts and bolts fashion.
Overall, I found this to be a very good read. Sure, parts of it could have written better, but this author is one of my favorites and I greatly admire his style of writing.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2015.
Of course, the section on the Presidency takes up the most space in this book (twenty chapters) but the author does go back to the origins of this complicated man. For as much as he does, I would have liked to have seen much more information/exposition on Nixon's formative years and early career in politics.
Without missing a beat the Watergate scandal is dissected at length. For as interesting as it was (I felt it was the best section of the book) it's my opinion that the author described the plottings and machinations of a man unraveling before his subordinates' eyes quite well. In all of the descriptions that I've read on the Watergate scandal, Thomas' version is possibly one of the best. He pulls no punches, describing it in a pure, simple nuts and bolts fashion.
Overall, I found this to be a very good read. Sure, parts of it could have written better, but this author is one of my favorites and I greatly admire his style of writing.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2015.
February 24, 2019
3.5 *
“You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.” – Richard Nixon, after losing the race for governor of California in 1962
“I made my mistakes. But in all of my years of public life, I have never profited - never profited from public service. I've earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice. And I think, too, that I can say, that in my years of public life, that I welcome this kind of examination because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.” – Richard Nixon, November 17, 1973
“Always remember. Others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.” – Richard Nixon, final address to his staff in 1974
In 1972, Richard Nixon was re-elected to the presidency in one of the greatest one-sided victories in the history of presidential politics. His approval rating immediately after the election was an unprecedented sixty-eight percent. Less than two years later it was seventeen percent and, facing imminent impeachment, he resigned in disgrace.
Nixon was a painfully shy and socially awkward loner; an introvert in an extrovert’s profession; a private person who lived a public life. This paradox placed him in a constant state of stress and despair and, at times, depression. He was an insomniac who combined sleeping pills with a small capacity for alcohol, which did not serve him well.
I could never be a politician because my skin isn’t thick enough. But I do understand the rules of the game. The fact that somebody disagrees with you makes them your opponent, not your enemy. You do not compile an “enemies” list and try to recruit the FBI or the IRS in an effort to punish the individuals on the list. The good politicians are resilient and do not engage in self-pity. They do not refer to the media as the enemy in diatribes against the New York Times, the Washington Post and Newsweek, and the three TV networks.
Of course, Nixon did possess enough restraint to restrict his attacks to private conversations with his staff. However, we came to know all about his attitude because those conversations were taped -- and it was those tapes that finally brought him down.
Richard Nixon never understood the rules, or if he did, he didn’t play by them. And in the end, his politics of grievance and polarization and anger and resentment toward those who opposed him, led to his disgrace. The same rage, paranoia, and amorality that propelled him into the White House also led to his disgrace of becoming the only U.S. president to ever resign the office.
According to Evan Thomas’ introduction, his Being Nixon was “an effort to understand what it was like to actually be Nixon.” Not that that hasn’t been tried before – and never with complete success.
Janet Maslin, in her review in the New York Times, points out the major weakness of Thomas’ book:
Furthermore, Thomas took on a herculean task of trying to compress the life of a man who was nominated five times for national office by a major political party into a “from the cradle to the grave” biography in one volume – even one with more than five hundred pages.
John Farrell’s more recent Richard Nixon: The Life is a one volume biography, but he spent very little time on his subject’s pre-political history and, in addition, devoted a couple of hundred more pages to his account than did Thomas. Farrell's is, in my opinion, the best of all the numerous Nixon biographies.
But I need to quickly add that I enjoyed reading Thomas’ book, for it is eminently readable. Thomas has an eye for the pithy quote and interesting anecdote. He can’t help it that Farrell’s book was published a couple of years after his and that I read it before reading his, which has greatly colored my opinion.
There will be other Nixon biographies, of course, and I will read them, because in the case of Richard M. Nixon history is never over.
“You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.” – Richard Nixon, after losing the race for governor of California in 1962
“I made my mistakes. But in all of my years of public life, I have never profited - never profited from public service. I've earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice. And I think, too, that I can say, that in my years of public life, that I welcome this kind of examination because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.” – Richard Nixon, November 17, 1973
“Always remember. Others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.” – Richard Nixon, final address to his staff in 1974
In 1972, Richard Nixon was re-elected to the presidency in one of the greatest one-sided victories in the history of presidential politics. His approval rating immediately after the election was an unprecedented sixty-eight percent. Less than two years later it was seventeen percent and, facing imminent impeachment, he resigned in disgrace.
Nixon was a painfully shy and socially awkward loner; an introvert in an extrovert’s profession; a private person who lived a public life. This paradox placed him in a constant state of stress and despair and, at times, depression. He was an insomniac who combined sleeping pills with a small capacity for alcohol, which did not serve him well.
I could never be a politician because my skin isn’t thick enough. But I do understand the rules of the game. The fact that somebody disagrees with you makes them your opponent, not your enemy. You do not compile an “enemies” list and try to recruit the FBI or the IRS in an effort to punish the individuals on the list. The good politicians are resilient and do not engage in self-pity. They do not refer to the media as the enemy in diatribes against the New York Times, the Washington Post and Newsweek, and the three TV networks.
Of course, Nixon did possess enough restraint to restrict his attacks to private conversations with his staff. However, we came to know all about his attitude because those conversations were taped -- and it was those tapes that finally brought him down.
Richard Nixon never understood the rules, or if he did, he didn’t play by them. And in the end, his politics of grievance and polarization and anger and resentment toward those who opposed him, led to his disgrace. The same rage, paranoia, and amorality that propelled him into the White House also led to his disgrace of becoming the only U.S. president to ever resign the office.
According to Evan Thomas’ introduction, his Being Nixon was “an effort to understand what it was like to actually be Nixon.” Not that that hasn’t been tried before – and never with complete success.
Janet Maslin, in her review in the New York Times, points out the major weakness of Thomas’ book:
“[T]here’s nothing simple about the idea of trying to ‘be’ Richard M. Nixon. And beyond explaining the concept of ‘being Nixon,’ Mr. Thomas winds up mimicking his subject in unintentional ways. He captures the air of a conflicted spirit when he balances staunch optimism with a darker view, grapples with seemingly irreconcilable character traits in the same person and works the ‘on the one hand/on the other hand’ formulation so hard it bleeds.”
Furthermore, Thomas took on a herculean task of trying to compress the life of a man who was nominated five times for national office by a major political party into a “from the cradle to the grave” biography in one volume – even one with more than five hundred pages.
John Farrell’s more recent Richard Nixon: The Life is a one volume biography, but he spent very little time on his subject’s pre-political history and, in addition, devoted a couple of hundred more pages to his account than did Thomas. Farrell's is, in my opinion, the best of all the numerous Nixon biographies.
But I need to quickly add that I enjoyed reading Thomas’ book, for it is eminently readable. Thomas has an eye for the pithy quote and interesting anecdote. He can’t help it that Farrell’s book was published a couple of years after his and that I read it before reading his, which has greatly colored my opinion.
There will be other Nixon biographies, of course, and I will read them, because in the case of Richard M. Nixon history is never over.
November 2, 2019
Recommended by Bill Gates, I picked up a copy of this book a few years ago in the bargain section at Barnes and Noble. Its length and most assuredly what would be dense content made me hesitant to start reading it. But Thomas does a great job of laying out the life and presidency of Richard Nixon in a way that is informative and engaging.
I wasn't born during the Nixon era, but I was too old for it to have been taught in school when I went, so my knowledge of Nixon was admittedly narrow. After reading this, I find myself fascinated by his character and time as president. I believe there is no apter a description than what Thomas uses: Nixon was indeed a man divided.
I wasn't born during the Nixon era, but I was too old for it to have been taught in school when I went, so my knowledge of Nixon was admittedly narrow. After reading this, I find myself fascinated by his character and time as president. I believe there is no apter a description than what Thomas uses: Nixon was indeed a man divided.
June 24, 2015
Evan Thomas has achieved the seemingly impossible by crafting this highly entertaining, informative, insightful, and balanced biography of our 37th president. Sympathetic without being apologetic, this book is the best single volume biography of Nixon that I have encountered in my many years of wandering through the vast forest of Nixon literature. You will fly through this book and come away with a fair portrait of a totally fascinating figure.
March 29, 2023
American voters, or Boobus Americanus as Mencken would call them, have a habit of electing intellectual mediocrities; from JFK and Reagan all the way through to Trump and Biden. Anyone brilliant or conspicuously intellectual tends to get knocked down by the mediocritizing influence of the democratic process. But not so with Nixon; who was very likely a standard deviation above the presidential average in intellect. Only Barack Obama imo comes close to Nixon in raw mental power, though he lacks the latter’s judgement and hard-headed realism. Carter’s nuclear engineering degree would indicate he too was bright in an IQ sense, but he never uttered an original thought or said anything worth remembering; his acumen commented on negatively by a number of individuals ranging from his aides to Admiral Rickover (“why not the best?”) and Helmudt Schmidt. (Lee Kuan Yew also commented on Carter’s lack of common sense; he was baffled when the president would pedantically focus on minute details and ignore more important concerns during their bilateral meetings.)
Nixon’s two critical strengths were first, his long-term strategic thinking, and second, his sense of pragmatism. He had the ability to distinguish the important from the unimportant; and view complex issues from a big-picture perspective. You can see in this interview his thought process and knowledge of geopolitics at work; where he predicts that Russian democracy would fail (this was in the 90s when hopes were high) and despotism would return. With regards to his pragmatism, some would criticize him as lacking in principles, but in my view principle in politics merely indicates a certain close-mindedness and proneness to ideology-induced errors of judgement. Being a pragmatist means having a good sense of the possible. A pragmatist is superior to an ideologue. All of the greatest leaders, from Richelieu to Lincoln to Bismarck and Nixon’s hero De Gaulle, tended to share this common trait. Pragmatism is closely associated with a willingness to adopt good ideas wherever they come from; so even though Nixon was a Republican he would hire a Democrat like Daniel P. Moynihan who was supremely well-read and intelligent and could be useful in advising him.
Conversely his greatest weakness was a lack of personal integrity, which should be separated from a lack of political principle. I don’t think Nixon was an evil character nor an irredeemable crook or bigot. He was a decent father who was loved by his children, faithful to his wife, and as Evans demonstrated, performed several acts of kindness to blacks and disabled individuals he knew personally in his college years (in other words; it wasn’t just for political points). He also seemed to hold universalist values despite being perhaps the only modern president to be aware of significant group differences in behavioral and psychometric averages (bring out the brown paper bags!). In this taped conversation with Moynihan you can hear him discussing how knowledge of IQ could be used to improve social policy and governance; and even stated that blacks shouldn’t be discouraged as they have other qualities and achievements to be proud of. On the other hand, he was also admirably realistic about the limitations of social policy in addressing inequality.
Nixon also possessed the crucial skill of judging men and making good cabinet selections. Choosing subordinates is one of the key functions of a manager/leader; a leader falls or succeeds on the choices he and his underlings make; and Nixon imo made some excellent choices in Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, John Connally, H.W. Bush, George Romney and Dan P. Moynihan (not so much perhaps the advisors who let him down on Watergate). Say what you will about them, these were not lightweights like the people who filled Trump’s or Obama’s cabinets.
But Nixon’s dishonesty ended up being the sword that felled him during the Watergate debacle. It’s not much known, but Nixon didn’t actually order the burglary itself; he merely covered and lied about it after he found out. Still, these sort of dirty tactics were used by both political parties at the time; Nixon merely had the misfortune of being caught. Foreign leaders at the time were shocked that such small potatoes could cause a US President to resign; though imo one positive American quality was this scrupulous punishing of even minor infractions from their politicians; though this commendable cultural value seems to have eroded in the Clinton-Trump era.
Nixon’s greatest error was not Watergate (which is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things), but his and Kissinger’s disregard for ethical principles in the realm of foreign policy, in the name of realpolitik. They carried out brutal bombing campaigns in Southeast Asia; tolerated mass murder and genocide by allied Pakistan against Bangladesh; and had deliberately sabotaged peace plans in Vietnam for the sake of political gain. Realism is unfortunately necessary in the real world (the clue is in the name) where wolves and jackals abound; but Machiavellian tactics should only be used as a) last resorts, and b) to further noble ends. Nixon was all too willing to employ them for selfish pursuits, and that is why both he and Kissinger deserve the ill reputation they have gained. If only their brilliance and effectiveness were coupled with morals and ethics.
Nixon’s two critical strengths were first, his long-term strategic thinking, and second, his sense of pragmatism. He had the ability to distinguish the important from the unimportant; and view complex issues from a big-picture perspective. You can see in this interview his thought process and knowledge of geopolitics at work; where he predicts that Russian democracy would fail (this was in the 90s when hopes were high) and despotism would return. With regards to his pragmatism, some would criticize him as lacking in principles, but in my view principle in politics merely indicates a certain close-mindedness and proneness to ideology-induced errors of judgement. Being a pragmatist means having a good sense of the possible. A pragmatist is superior to an ideologue. All of the greatest leaders, from Richelieu to Lincoln to Bismarck and Nixon’s hero De Gaulle, tended to share this common trait. Pragmatism is closely associated with a willingness to adopt good ideas wherever they come from; so even though Nixon was a Republican he would hire a Democrat like Daniel P. Moynihan who was supremely well-read and intelligent and could be useful in advising him.
Conversely his greatest weakness was a lack of personal integrity, which should be separated from a lack of political principle. I don’t think Nixon was an evil character nor an irredeemable crook or bigot. He was a decent father who was loved by his children, faithful to his wife, and as Evans demonstrated, performed several acts of kindness to blacks and disabled individuals he knew personally in his college years (in other words; it wasn’t just for political points). He also seemed to hold universalist values despite being perhaps the only modern president to be aware of significant group differences in behavioral and psychometric averages (bring out the brown paper bags!). In this taped conversation with Moynihan you can hear him discussing how knowledge of IQ could be used to improve social policy and governance; and even stated that blacks shouldn’t be discouraged as they have other qualities and achievements to be proud of. On the other hand, he was also admirably realistic about the limitations of social policy in addressing inequality.
Nixon also possessed the crucial skill of judging men and making good cabinet selections. Choosing subordinates is one of the key functions of a manager/leader; a leader falls or succeeds on the choices he and his underlings make; and Nixon imo made some excellent choices in Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, John Connally, H.W. Bush, George Romney and Dan P. Moynihan (not so much perhaps the advisors who let him down on Watergate). Say what you will about them, these were not lightweights like the people who filled Trump’s or Obama’s cabinets.
But Nixon’s dishonesty ended up being the sword that felled him during the Watergate debacle. It’s not much known, but Nixon didn’t actually order the burglary itself; he merely covered and lied about it after he found out. Still, these sort of dirty tactics were used by both political parties at the time; Nixon merely had the misfortune of being caught. Foreign leaders at the time were shocked that such small potatoes could cause a US President to resign; though imo one positive American quality was this scrupulous punishing of even minor infractions from their politicians; though this commendable cultural value seems to have eroded in the Clinton-Trump era.
Nixon’s greatest error was not Watergate (which is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things), but his and Kissinger’s disregard for ethical principles in the realm of foreign policy, in the name of realpolitik. They carried out brutal bombing campaigns in Southeast Asia; tolerated mass murder and genocide by allied Pakistan against Bangladesh; and had deliberately sabotaged peace plans in Vietnam for the sake of political gain. Realism is unfortunately necessary in the real world (the clue is in the name) where wolves and jackals abound; but Machiavellian tactics should only be used as a) last resorts, and b) to further noble ends. Nixon was all too willing to employ them for selfish pursuits, and that is why both he and Kissinger deserve the ill reputation they have gained. If only their brilliance and effectiveness were coupled with morals and ethics.
February 8, 2018
https://bestpresidentialbios.com/2018...
“Being Nixon: A Man Divided” by Evan Thomas was published in 2015. Thomas was a writer and editor for over three decades at Newsweek and Time Magazine and served as visiting professor at Harvard and Princeton. He is the author of nine books including “Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World” which I read and enjoyed.
This ostensibly comprehensive, full-length biography is the product of significant research and is consistently fluent, fluid and eminently readable. And it proves far more balanced than I expected given its reputation for being too sympathetic to Nixon.
One question which proves difficult to unravel is whether this book intends to serve as a biography or a character study. During its early pages it feels firmly like the latter – exploring Nixon’s thoughts and actions and analyzing his personality. As the narrative approaches his presidency, though, it seems to morph into a biography. But it never seems fully devoted to either cause.
As a result, while it is consistently interesting and thought-provoking, “Being Nixon” reads like a collection of engaging short-stories that hold together somewhat loosely – many with a “psychoanalytical” feel and others which convey serious history (fortunately from an approachable, rather than painfully pedantic, perspective).
Nixon’s pre-presidency receives about one-third of the book’s 531 pages. These fifty-six years fly by far too quickly and many moments are covered with little or no depth. Readers hoping to learn much about Nixon’s House, Senate or Vice Presidential years, for instance, will be disappointed, and his unsuccessful 1960 presidential campaign fails to receive the penetrating coverage it deserves.
Nixon’s five-and-a-half years in the White House are reviewed with more intensity although this portion of the book never feels like a particularly serious survey of his presidency. Instead, these twenty chapters provide a steady stream of fascinating anecdotes, quips, stories and revelations that capture the reader’s attention but never completely satisfy. And because Thomas tends to bounce quickly from topic to topic, discussions frequently feel unfinished or disappointingly perfunctory.
Readers familiar with the basics of Nixon’s life will find much of this book valuable. Several events such as Nixon’s early morning presidential pilgrimage to the Lincoln Memorial, his relationship with Henry Kissinger and his interaction with his family are particularly revealing.
And despite most historians’ disdain for psycho-biography, Thomas’s exploration of Nixon’s psyche and mental motivations is keenly perceptive, at best, and thought-provoking at the very least. In addition, this book’s fluent, extremely readable style makes it a far easier read than its length would suggest. Finally, while I generally find “Acknowledgements” sections an after-thought, Thomas’s proves uncommonly substantive.
Overall, Evan Thomas’s “Being Nixon: A Man Divided” is neither a traditional biography nor a dedicated character study. Instead, it is a well-written, well-researched review of Nixon’s life with an emphasis on his personality and motives. While not an ideal introduction to the 37th president, it provides broad (if not uniformly deep) historical coverage and is most rewarding as a supplementary book for anyone interested in seeing this tragic figure from a unique perspective.
Overall rating: 3 1/2 stars
“Being Nixon: A Man Divided” by Evan Thomas was published in 2015. Thomas was a writer and editor for over three decades at Newsweek and Time Magazine and served as visiting professor at Harvard and Princeton. He is the author of nine books including “Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World” which I read and enjoyed.
This ostensibly comprehensive, full-length biography is the product of significant research and is consistently fluent, fluid and eminently readable. And it proves far more balanced than I expected given its reputation for being too sympathetic to Nixon.
One question which proves difficult to unravel is whether this book intends to serve as a biography or a character study. During its early pages it feels firmly like the latter – exploring Nixon’s thoughts and actions and analyzing his personality. As the narrative approaches his presidency, though, it seems to morph into a biography. But it never seems fully devoted to either cause.
As a result, while it is consistently interesting and thought-provoking, “Being Nixon” reads like a collection of engaging short-stories that hold together somewhat loosely – many with a “psychoanalytical” feel and others which convey serious history (fortunately from an approachable, rather than painfully pedantic, perspective).
Nixon’s pre-presidency receives about one-third of the book’s 531 pages. These fifty-six years fly by far too quickly and many moments are covered with little or no depth. Readers hoping to learn much about Nixon’s House, Senate or Vice Presidential years, for instance, will be disappointed, and his unsuccessful 1960 presidential campaign fails to receive the penetrating coverage it deserves.
Nixon’s five-and-a-half years in the White House are reviewed with more intensity although this portion of the book never feels like a particularly serious survey of his presidency. Instead, these twenty chapters provide a steady stream of fascinating anecdotes, quips, stories and revelations that capture the reader’s attention but never completely satisfy. And because Thomas tends to bounce quickly from topic to topic, discussions frequently feel unfinished or disappointingly perfunctory.
Readers familiar with the basics of Nixon’s life will find much of this book valuable. Several events such as Nixon’s early morning presidential pilgrimage to the Lincoln Memorial, his relationship with Henry Kissinger and his interaction with his family are particularly revealing.
And despite most historians’ disdain for psycho-biography, Thomas’s exploration of Nixon’s psyche and mental motivations is keenly perceptive, at best, and thought-provoking at the very least. In addition, this book’s fluent, extremely readable style makes it a far easier read than its length would suggest. Finally, while I generally find “Acknowledgements” sections an after-thought, Thomas’s proves uncommonly substantive.
Overall, Evan Thomas’s “Being Nixon: A Man Divided” is neither a traditional biography nor a dedicated character study. Instead, it is a well-written, well-researched review of Nixon’s life with an emphasis on his personality and motives. While not an ideal introduction to the 37th president, it provides broad (if not uniformly deep) historical coverage and is most rewarding as a supplementary book for anyone interested in seeing this tragic figure from a unique perspective.
Overall rating: 3 1/2 stars
November 15, 2016
Evan Thomas is the master of the nuanced biography. As he did to perfection with his study of Bobby Kennedy, he links together anecdotes to form a most enthralling and insightful portrait of Richard Nixon. In adding to the vast literature on the 37th President, Thomas offers a balanced and compelling look into both Nixon’s personal and political lives. The book left me feeling a range of emotions: from uplifted and inspired, to disgusted and ashamed. Thomas shows how Nixon was a brilliant activist, courageous peacemaker, and savvy visionary. However, his extreme shyness, endless insecurities, and incessant need for approval left him struggling with conflicted instincts on how to handle his enemies, both real and perceived. In devising ways to undermine his opponents, he allowed a toxic environment to develop and run unchecked around him, which ultimately cost him the presidency. But, as a world leader, he possessed unparalleled optimism, spirited energy, and a belief in idealism. The indelible image Thomas leaves me with is that Nixon was a true fighter, always resilient in his ability to bounce back. Nonetheless, he made a number of foolish mistakes in how he chose to carry out his battles. It is always a pleasure to read Evan Thomas’s work. The grace and precision of his language is nothing short of poetical.
March 23, 2018
Fascinating but sparse on detail, this biography of the 37th president hits the high (and low) spots of Nixon's controversial career without dallying overlong on any of the nuts and bolts that underpinned that career. Thomas writes very well, and there are both fresh and familiar insights into Nixon and his personal life and demons. But in the end, there is not enough deep analysis or explication to give one a sense of what being Richard Nixon, or being with him, was really like. This is the 37th presidential biography I have read, and I admit I expected an overabundance of detail, so rich and intricate is the story of Nixon and so extraordinarily well-documented his life. Instead, I found myself far too often wondering how something played out, what went on in the days and minutes and not just the months and years. The Watergate scandal receives the best of the detail, and I understood it more clearly after reading the book. But of the 37 presidents I've read books on thus far, this is the first to make me think maybe I need to read a second book on one.
July 9, 2017
Well, wow. This was a surprisingly wonderful read!
I am not a politically-minded person but I will admit to having a certain fascination with the Watergate story-- probably because I am an ethically-minded person, and those events are a classic unraveling of comeuppance for wrongdoing. Naturally, Nixon to me has long been the national bogeyman.
But now, Evan Thomas' well-documented, gracefully written work has shown me what it was like to experience the Nixon era from Nixon's point of view. Without sparing well-deserved criticism, Thomas convincingly shows us a politician who had strengths and good intentions as well as mockable character flaws. A human being! with whom I could actually sympathize.
I learned a lot about Nixon and politics from this book, and I may even have learned something of general value about assessing the overt behavior of well-publicized individuals. They seem utterly knowable because their actions are wellpublicized, but the complete story may not be immediately evident.
(I'm still not sorry that I never voted for Nixon-- but now I know that he was less powerful and more pitiable than i ever would have supposed.)
I am not a politically-minded person but I will admit to having a certain fascination with the Watergate story-- probably because I am an ethically-minded person, and those events are a classic unraveling of comeuppance for wrongdoing. Naturally, Nixon to me has long been the national bogeyman.
But now, Evan Thomas' well-documented, gracefully written work has shown me what it was like to experience the Nixon era from Nixon's point of view. Without sparing well-deserved criticism, Thomas convincingly shows us a politician who had strengths and good intentions as well as mockable character flaws. A human being! with whom I could actually sympathize.
I learned a lot about Nixon and politics from this book, and I may even have learned something of general value about assessing the overt behavior of well-publicized individuals. They seem utterly knowable because their actions are wellpublicized, but the complete story may not be immediately evident.
(I'm still not sorry that I never voted for Nixon-- but now I know that he was less powerful and more pitiable than i ever would have supposed.)
May 2, 2017
Such a fascinating person. Thomas's work is to reexamine the popular 'tricky dick' image of Nixon, and offer counter examples from Nixon's personal life, his own writing, and anecdotes from people who knew him personally. This necessarily leads to the book feeling fairly subjective, and at times, overwhelmingly so. It is difficult to countermand the anti-Semitic views that Nixon himself expresses on the infamous tapes, for example. But in other places we see how the ex-president's hard-scrabble lower middle class background, a gut-punching lifetime of rejections, and a sometimes-deserved defensive cloak of paranoia led this man to act in ways that made sense to him. This book doesn't so much rehabilitate Nixon's image, as diagnose it. Definitely, a must-read for anyone interested in the president, or who, like myself, hails from his hometown of Whittier, California.
http://joshuarigsby.com
http://joshuarigsby.com
August 1, 2019
This was a page-turner! Contains some very humorous anecdotes about Nixon, an appropriate overview of Watergate, and presents an overall sympathetic narrative about this controversial politician. Simply a great bio.
December 31, 2016
Colson, Dean, Haldeman, Mitchell, Hunt - I've grown up hearing those names. I had a vague idea of what Watergate was. But until I read this book, I never really had the whole story. Evan Thomas does an excellent job showing you exactly how - and why - it all happened.
I wouldn't really call this a biography. It does go from his birth to his death, but there are a lot of parts that don't get a lot of coverage - Nixon and Khrushchev, Nixon vs. Kennedy, Nixon as VP, all of them are covered but not in depth. The White House years cover the majority of the book.
At first that bothered me, until I realized what Thomas was trying to do. Everybody hears the story of Watergate and says "How could this disaster have happened?" Thomas' goal is to walk you through his life, illuminating the events and relationships and eccentricities and paranoia that made Nixon who he was. That way, when you finally do get to Watergate, you think to yourself - "Of course a disaster happened!" Once you get inside Nixon's head and see everything through the lens of who he really was and why he was surrounded by the people he was, disaster seems like the only possible endgame.
The most interesting part of all is that Thomas does all that and you still end up liking Nixon! Or at least you feel for him. At least one of his paranoias was based in fact - the media had it out for him and was completely biased against him from the very beginning.
Very interesting and enlightening (at least for me) book.
I wouldn't really call this a biography. It does go from his birth to his death, but there are a lot of parts that don't get a lot of coverage - Nixon and Khrushchev, Nixon vs. Kennedy, Nixon as VP, all of them are covered but not in depth. The White House years cover the majority of the book.
At first that bothered me, until I realized what Thomas was trying to do. Everybody hears the story of Watergate and says "How could this disaster have happened?" Thomas' goal is to walk you through his life, illuminating the events and relationships and eccentricities and paranoia that made Nixon who he was. That way, when you finally do get to Watergate, you think to yourself - "Of course a disaster happened!" Once you get inside Nixon's head and see everything through the lens of who he really was and why he was surrounded by the people he was, disaster seems like the only possible endgame.
The most interesting part of all is that Thomas does all that and you still end up liking Nixon! Or at least you feel for him. At least one of his paranoias was based in fact - the media had it out for him and was completely biased against him from the very beginning.
Very interesting and enlightening (at least for me) book.
March 16, 2017
Allowing for my individual quirks as a history major whose subsequent training and career has been in counseling, the opportunity to watch the formation of an historical figure's thinking was enthralling. Thomas manages to be sympathetic without being sycophantic, to admit Nixon's flaws with candor but to likewise admire the resolve it must have taken for such a private man to go into such a public career.
His study of Nixon is a study of parts in motion, more intriguing because of the way in which the components of his personality and personal history bump up against each other and occasionally harmonize. Nixon's management of the conflict within gives new understanding to his successes and failures with the conflicts without.
His study of Nixon is a study of parts in motion, more intriguing because of the way in which the components of his personality and personal history bump up against each other and occasionally harmonize. Nixon's management of the conflict within gives new understanding to his successes and failures with the conflicts without.
December 29, 2020
Overall an excellent biography of a complex and deeply conflicted president. Thomas covers Nixon’s presidency and Watergate thoroughly and does a solid job discussing Nixon’s character, personality and family relationships. The book is much more sparse in its treatment of Nixon’s pre-presidency and post-presidency. Other than that, an great read.
September 25, 2015
“Sock 'em, rock 'em”
Evan Thomas tells us in his introduction that he is not attempting to “weigh the success and failure of Nixon as a policy maker” or to solve the “many mysteries” of Watergate. Instead, his aim is to understand Nixon as a person or, as he puts it, “to understand what it was like to actually be Nixon.” The book is very well written in a style that makes it accessible to the general reader. It's a linear biography that follows its subject from birth to death, and is well balanced in that the bulk of it concentrates on Nixon's political career, with just enough of the before and after to shed light on Nixon's character.
Thomas shows the child Nixon as a high achiever at school, despite being naturally shy. His background was one of hardship, though not poverty, which prevented him from attending one of the Ivy League colleges. This meant that after graduation he wasn't able to get into the top law firms, and Thomas suggests that this left him with a lifelong chip on his shoulder, always declaring he wouldn't have Ivy League graduates working for him, though in fact he put many of them into top jobs. This small example in itself shows a trait that is repeated again and again throughout his life – a disconnect between what he said and how he acted. Even at this young age, Nixon is shown as pompous and humourless, and something of a loner. Despite his Quaker background, when America entered WW2 he joined the Army, though he was never directly involved in the fighting.
His introduction to political campaigning came after the war when he was invited to stand for Congress in California. Dirty tricks were rife and accepted as pretty much the norm by all sides. Again this is something Thomas emphasises all the way through, that dirty campaigns were not unusual and that each side expected the other side to be as devious as they were.
In recounting Nixon's pre-Presidential political career, Thomas highlights most those features that he feels shed some light on Nixon's personality, character and political beliefs. Politically, even at this early stage Nixon's interests lay more in foreign than domestic affairs. He made his name by going after Alger Hiss on behalf of the House Un-American Activities Committee, refusing to give up until he achieved success. Thomas suggests this experience was important in forming Nixon's approach to politics in general – at times when he faced difficulties he often referred back to the Hiss affair as a way of insisting that his tactics were the way to get results. He also served on the committee that pushed through the Marshall Plan and was genuinely fearful of the communist threat to a destroyed and poverty-ridden Europe. Later, when serving as Vice-President, Eisenhower would use him as a kind of travelling diplomat, in which role he had some significant successes. At home, he was used as Ike's attack dog against his political opponents. Reviled by the Press and despised by the social and political elite because, Thomas suggests, of his comparatively humble background and lack of social savoir-faire, Nixon nonetheless had the common touch, and when Ike considered dropping him as running mate in '56, it was popular pressure that kept him on the ticket.
In the '60 election, Thomas suggests that the Kennedy camp ran a huge dirty tricks campaign, pretty much buying JFK's way in to the Presidency with blatant bribes and backhanders. I have no way of knowing how accurate that is, but given that underhand and devious methods seem to have been the norm on both sides, it doesn't sound unbelievable. However at this point for the first time Thomas gave me the impression that he was being too soft on Nixon, building excuses for his later behaviour. He suggests Nixon vowed after this never to be beaten in the matter of dirty tricks again.
Once the book reaches the stage of Nixon's Presidency, Thomas provides a believable picture of a rather isolated President, not personally close even to the people who worked most directly with him. The concentration on Nixon's personality leaves the book a little light on actual policy matters, I felt, assuming a familiarity with events that some non-American readers and even perhaps younger US readers might not have. But I thought Thomas gave a really good picture of the social unrest of the late '60s and of how Nixon reacted to the ongoing questions of race, social liberalisation and, of course, Vietnam.
Thomas delves into the background and events of Watergate in some detail, and I was left with the impression that it was a combination of paranoia and the belief that as President he was untouchable that led Nixon to become so heavily implicated. He also is shown to have had a kind of mistaken loyalty, or perhaps it was just weakness, that prevented him from getting rid of people as they fell under suspicion. Though he was clearly responsible for setting the tone that led to the prevalence of dirty tricks within his office, he probably wasn't aware of the actual Watergate affair in advance, so could probably have escaped the worst of the scandal had he been more decisive and brutal about sacking people at an earlier stage.
Thomas finishes with a look at Nixon's life after the Presidency, when he gradually became a kind of elder statesman, giving advice to a succession of Presidents.
If Thomas' portrayal is accurate, then it all seems like a rather sad waste of a man who clearly had great talent and intellect, but whose personality weaknesses took him along a path that led to his own downfall. If there was really as much corruption in politics as Thomas suggests, then one can't help feeling that Nixon was merely the one who got caught. Though it seemed that just occasionally Thomas went a little easy on him, I felt overall that this was a fairly balanced account and certainly provided a credible portrait of Nixon's complex character. An interesting biography.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Evan Thomas tells us in his introduction that he is not attempting to “weigh the success and failure of Nixon as a policy maker” or to solve the “many mysteries” of Watergate. Instead, his aim is to understand Nixon as a person or, as he puts it, “to understand what it was like to actually be Nixon.” The book is very well written in a style that makes it accessible to the general reader. It's a linear biography that follows its subject from birth to death, and is well balanced in that the bulk of it concentrates on Nixon's political career, with just enough of the before and after to shed light on Nixon's character.
Thomas shows the child Nixon as a high achiever at school, despite being naturally shy. His background was one of hardship, though not poverty, which prevented him from attending one of the Ivy League colleges. This meant that after graduation he wasn't able to get into the top law firms, and Thomas suggests that this left him with a lifelong chip on his shoulder, always declaring he wouldn't have Ivy League graduates working for him, though in fact he put many of them into top jobs. This small example in itself shows a trait that is repeated again and again throughout his life – a disconnect between what he said and how he acted. Even at this young age, Nixon is shown as pompous and humourless, and something of a loner. Despite his Quaker background, when America entered WW2 he joined the Army, though he was never directly involved in the fighting.
His introduction to political campaigning came after the war when he was invited to stand for Congress in California. Dirty tricks were rife and accepted as pretty much the norm by all sides. Again this is something Thomas emphasises all the way through, that dirty campaigns were not unusual and that each side expected the other side to be as devious as they were.
In recounting Nixon's pre-Presidential political career, Thomas highlights most those features that he feels shed some light on Nixon's personality, character and political beliefs. Politically, even at this early stage Nixon's interests lay more in foreign than domestic affairs. He made his name by going after Alger Hiss on behalf of the House Un-American Activities Committee, refusing to give up until he achieved success. Thomas suggests this experience was important in forming Nixon's approach to politics in general – at times when he faced difficulties he often referred back to the Hiss affair as a way of insisting that his tactics were the way to get results. He also served on the committee that pushed through the Marshall Plan and was genuinely fearful of the communist threat to a destroyed and poverty-ridden Europe. Later, when serving as Vice-President, Eisenhower would use him as a kind of travelling diplomat, in which role he had some significant successes. At home, he was used as Ike's attack dog against his political opponents. Reviled by the Press and despised by the social and political elite because, Thomas suggests, of his comparatively humble background and lack of social savoir-faire, Nixon nonetheless had the common touch, and when Ike considered dropping him as running mate in '56, it was popular pressure that kept him on the ticket.
In the '60 election, Thomas suggests that the Kennedy camp ran a huge dirty tricks campaign, pretty much buying JFK's way in to the Presidency with blatant bribes and backhanders. I have no way of knowing how accurate that is, but given that underhand and devious methods seem to have been the norm on both sides, it doesn't sound unbelievable. However at this point for the first time Thomas gave me the impression that he was being too soft on Nixon, building excuses for his later behaviour. He suggests Nixon vowed after this never to be beaten in the matter of dirty tricks again.
Once the book reaches the stage of Nixon's Presidency, Thomas provides a believable picture of a rather isolated President, not personally close even to the people who worked most directly with him. The concentration on Nixon's personality leaves the book a little light on actual policy matters, I felt, assuming a familiarity with events that some non-American readers and even perhaps younger US readers might not have. But I thought Thomas gave a really good picture of the social unrest of the late '60s and of how Nixon reacted to the ongoing questions of race, social liberalisation and, of course, Vietnam.
Thomas delves into the background and events of Watergate in some detail, and I was left with the impression that it was a combination of paranoia and the belief that as President he was untouchable that led Nixon to become so heavily implicated. He also is shown to have had a kind of mistaken loyalty, or perhaps it was just weakness, that prevented him from getting rid of people as they fell under suspicion. Though he was clearly responsible for setting the tone that led to the prevalence of dirty tricks within his office, he probably wasn't aware of the actual Watergate affair in advance, so could probably have escaped the worst of the scandal had he been more decisive and brutal about sacking people at an earlier stage.
Thomas finishes with a look at Nixon's life after the Presidency, when he gradually became a kind of elder statesman, giving advice to a succession of Presidents.
If Thomas' portrayal is accurate, then it all seems like a rather sad waste of a man who clearly had great talent and intellect, but whose personality weaknesses took him along a path that led to his own downfall. If there was really as much corruption in politics as Thomas suggests, then one can't help feeling that Nixon was merely the one who got caught. Though it seemed that just occasionally Thomas went a little easy on him, I felt overall that this was a fairly balanced account and certainly provided a credible portrait of Nixon's complex character. An interesting biography.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Random House.
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February 18, 2017
Reading about Nixon, it’s so hard not to think of Trump. I’ve come to the conclusion that … well … you know when two things are so much the opposite, they’re almost exactly the same?:
“‘Can you imagine,’ asked Henry Kissinger, ‘what this man would have been like if somebody had loved him?’” (Hugh Laurie was on US TV and suggested that “breast-feeding” would have improved Trump’s mental health. Funny.)
“Nixon was never going to reconcile the man he wished to be with the man he feared he was.”
“‘He was conditioned for rejection or failure, confused by success.’”
“Nixon’s aversion to unpleasant truths had a personal, visceral element, rooted in old wounds that never healed. … But the overwhelming impression left by listening to the tapes is of a man who is not clever, who is all too human – who rambles, gets lost, changes his mind, knows too much and too little all at once.”
“He was motivated by arrogance and pride, yes, but also by their close cousins, fear and denial.”
Haldeman: “The Boss is in great adversity, but he’s always had this problem handling success.”
John Dean on Nixon: “He would have bursts of lucidity and logical thinking but mostly he was rambling and forgetful, and as I grew used to talking to him I nursed the heretical thought that the President didn’t seem very smart.”
“Too much self-reflection was, he believed, a sign of weakness; he was unable to see that lack of self-awareness was his weakness.”
“if he had not pretended so much, tried so hard to be someone he was not – he could have watched for and compensated for his weaknesses”
Colson: “The Watergate issue has never been a public issue. It’s a Washington issue. It’s a way to get at us.” (For Trump, read 'Russia'?)
I love Nixon’s pretending!:
“He had to step into a vacant room to hide his tears.”
“Though a bookworm himself, Nixon protested that he preferred the company of non-intellectuals. ‘God I hate spending time with intellectuals. There’s something feminine about them. I’d rather talk to an athlete,’”
“Nixon liked to be surrounded by attractive, vigorous young men.”
“He invited Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman, up to his room and offered him a drink while declining one himself. Realizing that refusing a drink seemed a little prissy, he said to Cronkite, ‘I tell you what, I’ll have a sherry.’ But that didn’t quite sound like one of the boys either, so he blurted, ‘In fact, I’ll have a double sherry.’”
Nixon: “That’s an order. No discussion, unless of course you disagree.”
Nixon spills soup on his waistcoat at a state dinner: “The next morning he told Haldeman, ‘We’ve got to speed up these dinners. They take forever. So why don’t we leave out the soup course.’ Haldeman hemmed, ‘Well...’ Nixon cut him off: ‘Men don’t really like soup.’”
“On the way over, Nixon awkwardly suggested that the national security adviser tell the First Lady a little bit about the president’s accomplishments in foreign policy. Nixon absented himself to the bathroom. ‘Oh Henry,’ Pat sighed, wearily but sweetly. ‘You don’t have to.’”
“Nixon had delivered a strident get-tough speech that made even his allies wince. ‘He looked like he was running for sheriff,’ scoffed John Mitchell.”
Nixon dictated: “‘Mrs Nixon, of course, as most women do, takes harder the criticism of her husband than her husband himself does. The critics don’t bother me, even though I have the most unfriendly press in history, it has never bothered me, but it deeply bothers Pat and my daughters.”
“Nixon clenched the pipe stem in his teeth. ‘I don’t cry. You don’t cry.’ Both men became teary-eyed.”
Other bits:
“‘If he did wrestle with his conscience,’ William Costello wrote mockingly in The New Republic, ‘the match was fixed.’”
“The physical setting of the Residence ‘did not encourage togetherness’ … there was a series of rooms off a grand hallway, with no real living room … [The Nixons] often ate off trays in the hallway.’”
“Haldeman recalled that, at first, he welcomed Colson ‘because he absorbed a lot of time with Nixon that I would have to sit through – listening to him rant about somebody who’s got to be done in, or thrown out of an airplane – and did nothing about. Chuck sat and listened, and wrote it down, and went out and did it.’”
Watergate: “He wanted to stay out of it but couldn’t resist meddling, in ways that were often ambiguous, confusing, and ultimately incriminating.”
Tricia Nixon on Senator McGovern: “He’s a boring evangelist, and there’s nothing more boring than an evangelist who’s boring.”
“‘Can you imagine,’ asked Henry Kissinger, ‘what this man would have been like if somebody had loved him?’” (Hugh Laurie was on US TV and suggested that “breast-feeding” would have improved Trump’s mental health. Funny.)
“Nixon was never going to reconcile the man he wished to be with the man he feared he was.”
“‘He was conditioned for rejection or failure, confused by success.’”
“Nixon’s aversion to unpleasant truths had a personal, visceral element, rooted in old wounds that never healed. … But the overwhelming impression left by listening to the tapes is of a man who is not clever, who is all too human – who rambles, gets lost, changes his mind, knows too much and too little all at once.”
“He was motivated by arrogance and pride, yes, but also by their close cousins, fear and denial.”
Haldeman: “The Boss is in great adversity, but he’s always had this problem handling success.”
John Dean on Nixon: “He would have bursts of lucidity and logical thinking but mostly he was rambling and forgetful, and as I grew used to talking to him I nursed the heretical thought that the President didn’t seem very smart.”
“Too much self-reflection was, he believed, a sign of weakness; he was unable to see that lack of self-awareness was his weakness.”
“if he had not pretended so much, tried so hard to be someone he was not – he could have watched for and compensated for his weaknesses”
Colson: “The Watergate issue has never been a public issue. It’s a Washington issue. It’s a way to get at us.” (For Trump, read 'Russia'?)
I love Nixon’s pretending!:
“He had to step into a vacant room to hide his tears.”
“Though a bookworm himself, Nixon protested that he preferred the company of non-intellectuals. ‘God I hate spending time with intellectuals. There’s something feminine about them. I’d rather talk to an athlete,’”
“Nixon liked to be surrounded by attractive, vigorous young men.”
“He invited Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman, up to his room and offered him a drink while declining one himself. Realizing that refusing a drink seemed a little prissy, he said to Cronkite, ‘I tell you what, I’ll have a sherry.’ But that didn’t quite sound like one of the boys either, so he blurted, ‘In fact, I’ll have a double sherry.’”
Nixon: “That’s an order. No discussion, unless of course you disagree.”
Nixon spills soup on his waistcoat at a state dinner: “The next morning he told Haldeman, ‘We’ve got to speed up these dinners. They take forever. So why don’t we leave out the soup course.’ Haldeman hemmed, ‘Well...’ Nixon cut him off: ‘Men don’t really like soup.’”
“On the way over, Nixon awkwardly suggested that the national security adviser tell the First Lady a little bit about the president’s accomplishments in foreign policy. Nixon absented himself to the bathroom. ‘Oh Henry,’ Pat sighed, wearily but sweetly. ‘You don’t have to.’”
“Nixon had delivered a strident get-tough speech that made even his allies wince. ‘He looked like he was running for sheriff,’ scoffed John Mitchell.”
Nixon dictated: “‘Mrs Nixon, of course, as most women do, takes harder the criticism of her husband than her husband himself does. The critics don’t bother me, even though I have the most unfriendly press in history, it has never bothered me, but it deeply bothers Pat and my daughters.”
“Nixon clenched the pipe stem in his teeth. ‘I don’t cry. You don’t cry.’ Both men became teary-eyed.”
Other bits:
“‘If he did wrestle with his conscience,’ William Costello wrote mockingly in The New Republic, ‘the match was fixed.’”
“The physical setting of the Residence ‘did not encourage togetherness’ … there was a series of rooms off a grand hallway, with no real living room … [The Nixons] often ate off trays in the hallway.’”
“Haldeman recalled that, at first, he welcomed Colson ‘because he absorbed a lot of time with Nixon that I would have to sit through – listening to him rant about somebody who’s got to be done in, or thrown out of an airplane – and did nothing about. Chuck sat and listened, and wrote it down, and went out and did it.’”
Watergate: “He wanted to stay out of it but couldn’t resist meddling, in ways that were often ambiguous, confusing, and ultimately incriminating.”
Tricia Nixon on Senator McGovern: “He’s a boring evangelist, and there’s nothing more boring than an evangelist who’s boring.”
November 20, 2016
Biographer Evan Thomas noted that Richard Nixon’s accomplishments as the 37th President of the United States were legion. He opened the door to relations with Communist China, achieved détente and arms control with the Communist Soviet Union, ended the Vietnam War (however arduous and circuitous the route), ended the military draft, helped desegregate Southern schools, increased benefits for the elderly and disabled, and helped create the Environment Protection Agency. Nixon even proposed a comprehensive national health insurance decades before Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama introduced their health care initiatives. His conservatism resonated with an American “silent majority,” at least until his climatic downfall and resignation during the Watergate investigation. What went wrong? Thomas was fair and balanced in his approach (hence the 5 star rating). He traced Nixon’s weaknesses to his youth where he never seemed to be comfortable or well adjusted. These traits carried into his political career. From the beginning, the East Coast liberal establishment and news media hated Nixon. This began in earnest when, as a California senator, Nixon successfully revealed Alger Hiss to be a Soviet spy. This was an embarrassment to the “Harvard elite;” one which Nixon could never overcome. He was the brunt of bad press and political dirty tricks when he unsuccessfully ran against John F. Kennedy in 1960. Sadly, it was during this period when Nixon began to feel that he must retaliate in like manner. At the height of his popularity, he encouraged his staff to “play dirty” to win the 1972 election. This led to the infamous Watergate break-in, and to Nixon’s attempt to cover up (instead of owning up to the misdeed) the illegal activity in order to protect friends. As Thomas sagely noted, “It is hard to explain this failure of judgment, the most critical mistake Nixon ever made. Favoring hush money over full disclosure was a moral lapse, regardless of whether Nixon had committed a crime” (p.439). After his Presidential resignation (and President Ford’s controversial pardon), Nixon became a highly regarded statesman and political advisor to subsequent Presidents. Thomas eloquently ends his biography, “It is one of the mysteries – and glories – of human nature that sinners can become saints. But only in prayers of another world are saints truly cleansed of sin.”
July 21, 2015
So many books on Nixon, it was hard to settle on one to read. I purchased two, this one as well as the book by Tim Weiner.
I thought this was a very fair portrait of a very complicated man. This is a story of an intelligent man, hampered and overly enveloped by his insecurities. He let those insecurities define him. I'm a liberal, and it was sad for me to read about a "conservative" who pushed through some hallmark legislation, including the Clean Air Act and the creation of the EPA (ok, some of it was guided by politics.) it's amazing to me that a man so insecure could rise to the Presidency. It's sad that he allowed himself to be surrounded by individuals who took advantage of the man, and contributed to his downfall. I think what I ultimately learned is that we will never really know the man. He will remain one of histories most enigmatic figures. No book will be able to fully explain the complexities of the man, but this book achieved, I think, what was possible in extracting some understanding of the man.
I thought this was a very fair portrait of a very complicated man. This is a story of an intelligent man, hampered and overly enveloped by his insecurities. He let those insecurities define him. I'm a liberal, and it was sad for me to read about a "conservative" who pushed through some hallmark legislation, including the Clean Air Act and the creation of the EPA (ok, some of it was guided by politics.) it's amazing to me that a man so insecure could rise to the Presidency. It's sad that he allowed himself to be surrounded by individuals who took advantage of the man, and contributed to his downfall. I think what I ultimately learned is that we will never really know the man. He will remain one of histories most enigmatic figures. No book will be able to fully explain the complexities of the man, but this book achieved, I think, what was possible in extracting some understanding of the man.
September 9, 2017
When I was in 3rd grade, my class had to do a report on a president. We were put in small groups and told to pick from a list of names. Of course, my group had to pick last, so by then, all the Presidents we recognized were gone. We picked Richard Nixon on a whim.
We also quickly realized that we were really in over our heads trying to explain Watergate and impeachment. In fact, we never quite figured out what it was. Questioning adults about it didn't yield any better information.
My solution to this problem was that we just cram as many trivia facts into our project as possible and then conclude abruptly with "And then he quit" without much explanation. Nobody else had any better ideas, and even as an 8-year-old I had, ahem, a forceful personality when I thought the occasion called for it, so my classmates didn't argue with me. I have no idea what grade we made on that project, but I shudder to think of how incoherent it was.
The experience left me with an abiding horror of group projects and picking research topics last and a residual retention of inane trivia about Nixon. I can't tell you on most days what I had for dinner the day before, but I can still reel off Nixon's birthdate, birthplace, alma maters, religious affiliation, and all other manner of other facts about him instantly.
As I got old enough to understand the more complex aspects of Nixon's personality, I also started to find him personally fascinating. But I haven't read anything about him in a long time. Since Nixon has been getting mentioned a lot in the press lately in comparison to the current resident of the White House, I figured I'd rekindle my interest in "Tricky Dick." (For the record, I don't think comparing Nixon to Trump is a particularly apt parallel. Some of Trump's actions reflect Nixon's and may lead down the same road, but I think Trump and LBJ are a lot more similar in personality.)
Evan Thomas is more interested in delving into Nixon's personality and getting to know his human side than providing a comprehensive sketch of his life, and he manages to do so without devolving into psychobabble.
Thomas was more sympathetic to Nixon that I had assumed he'd be, but he's also remarkably even-handed in his depiction, shying away from neither Nixon's massive flaws nor his substantial strengths. I didn't necessarily agree with all of Thomas's conclusions, but they were rooted in research and well-reasoned.
Perhaps by necessity, a large part of the book focuses on Nixon's presidency, as well as his time as Vice President under Eisenhower, but I sometimes wanted more information on Nixon's early years, which were marred by family tragedy, and early political career as a California congressman. Other than his involvement in the Hiss case, that's dealt with fairly perfunctorily.
I might be biased as the daughter of two naval supply petty officers, but I also wanted more information on his service as a supply officer during WWII. (I told my dad that Nixon had spent over a year working as Navy supply officer, and he instantly asked, "Did he order his men to steal as much stuff as our officers did?" Well, the book is sadly uninformative on that point.)
Nonetheless, it's an interesting and thought-provoking read that I had a hard time putting down. I'd definitely read another Evan Thomas bio. (After I finish my Nixon research binge.)
We also quickly realized that we were really in over our heads trying to explain Watergate and impeachment. In fact, we never quite figured out what it was. Questioning adults about it didn't yield any better information.
My solution to this problem was that we just cram as many trivia facts into our project as possible and then conclude abruptly with "And then he quit" without much explanation. Nobody else had any better ideas, and even as an 8-year-old I had, ahem, a forceful personality when I thought the occasion called for it, so my classmates didn't argue with me. I have no idea what grade we made on that project, but I shudder to think of how incoherent it was.
The experience left me with an abiding horror of group projects and picking research topics last and a residual retention of inane trivia about Nixon. I can't tell you on most days what I had for dinner the day before, but I can still reel off Nixon's birthdate, birthplace, alma maters, religious affiliation, and all other manner of other facts about him instantly.
As I got old enough to understand the more complex aspects of Nixon's personality, I also started to find him personally fascinating. But I haven't read anything about him in a long time. Since Nixon has been getting mentioned a lot in the press lately in comparison to the current resident of the White House, I figured I'd rekindle my interest in "Tricky Dick." (For the record, I don't think comparing Nixon to Trump is a particularly apt parallel. Some of Trump's actions reflect Nixon's and may lead down the same road, but I think Trump and LBJ are a lot more similar in personality.)
Evan Thomas is more interested in delving into Nixon's personality and getting to know his human side than providing a comprehensive sketch of his life, and he manages to do so without devolving into psychobabble.
Thomas was more sympathetic to Nixon that I had assumed he'd be, but he's also remarkably even-handed in his depiction, shying away from neither Nixon's massive flaws nor his substantial strengths. I didn't necessarily agree with all of Thomas's conclusions, but they were rooted in research and well-reasoned.
Perhaps by necessity, a large part of the book focuses on Nixon's presidency, as well as his time as Vice President under Eisenhower, but I sometimes wanted more information on Nixon's early years, which were marred by family tragedy, and early political career as a California congressman. Other than his involvement in the Hiss case, that's dealt with fairly perfunctorily.
I might be biased as the daughter of two naval supply petty officers, but I also wanted more information on his service as a supply officer during WWII. (I told my dad that Nixon had spent over a year working as Navy supply officer, and he instantly asked, "Did he order his men to steal as much stuff as our officers did?" Well, the book is sadly uninformative on that point.)
Nonetheless, it's an interesting and thought-provoking read that I had a hard time putting down. I'd definitely read another Evan Thomas bio. (After I finish my Nixon research binge.)
September 7, 2015
I'm a late Baby Boomer. For me, Richard Nixon has always been a villain or a punchline. That's not completely undeserved. Much of the disdain for career politicians that is so prevalent among voters began with "Tricky Dick" and Watergate.
But Nixon was not ALL bad. And to borrow from Bill Clinton's eulogy, it's important to look at his life in its entirety. Evan Thomas presents us with just that.
Much of his corrosive drive came from envy. It began with Robert Logue, his classmate and competitor back at Whittier High -- athletic, good looking, perpetually tan, where Nixon's nickname was "Gloomy Gus." After Logue, JFK must have felt like a recurring nightmare. Nixon's Kennedy obsession is pathetic and ugly, continuing well past Dallas to Chappaquidick and beyond. So pointless, because, as Jackie wrote in response to Nixon's condolence message, Nixon got to enjoy what Kennedy could not, his life and his family. It went on to Kissinger and his close relationship with "The Georgetown Crowd." Even though he was President, the most powerful man in the free world, he insisted on viewing himself as a persecuted outsider. And, of course, there's the language we hear on the tapes -- racist, anti-Semitic, crass, and opportunistic. Reading those passages is about as tasty as drinking Drano.
And yet ... and yet ... there's so much more to him. The brilliant mind, the political prescience. The patriotism and (I can't believe I'm attributing this to Richard Nixon) idealism. His kindness and loyalty to Rose Mary Woods and John Mitchell. Most touching, his relationship with Pat and the girls. My favorite moment is the one Thomas quotes more than once. As guests would slip out of a White House screening because they'd given up on the movie, Nixon would stop them and encourage them to stay. "Wait! It'll get better!" That was his attitude after every setback (even and especially the tragic ones he engineered).
I loved the details Thomas shared that were new to me. The Nixon White House knew all along that Deep Throat was Mark Felt; Pat Nixon understood how bad Watergate was before her husband did; Nixon's best friend and closest companion was his legal pad, where he could make notes and consult them throughout the night. I hadn't been aware of Nixon's insomnia. Just as Bryce Harlow wondered what Nixon could have accomplished if he felt loved, I wonder if how history would have been different if Nixon could regularly get a good night's sleep.
Thomas tells Nixon's story with balance and compassion and many a graceful turn of phrase. A good read.
But Nixon was not ALL bad. And to borrow from Bill Clinton's eulogy, it's important to look at his life in its entirety. Evan Thomas presents us with just that.
Much of his corrosive drive came from envy. It began with Robert Logue, his classmate and competitor back at Whittier High -- athletic, good looking, perpetually tan, where Nixon's nickname was "Gloomy Gus." After Logue, JFK must have felt like a recurring nightmare. Nixon's Kennedy obsession is pathetic and ugly, continuing well past Dallas to Chappaquidick and beyond. So pointless, because, as Jackie wrote in response to Nixon's condolence message, Nixon got to enjoy what Kennedy could not, his life and his family. It went on to Kissinger and his close relationship with "The Georgetown Crowd." Even though he was President, the most powerful man in the free world, he insisted on viewing himself as a persecuted outsider. And, of course, there's the language we hear on the tapes -- racist, anti-Semitic, crass, and opportunistic. Reading those passages is about as tasty as drinking Drano.
And yet ... and yet ... there's so much more to him. The brilliant mind, the political prescience. The patriotism and (I can't believe I'm attributing this to Richard Nixon) idealism. His kindness and loyalty to Rose Mary Woods and John Mitchell. Most touching, his relationship with Pat and the girls. My favorite moment is the one Thomas quotes more than once. As guests would slip out of a White House screening because they'd given up on the movie, Nixon would stop them and encourage them to stay. "Wait! It'll get better!" That was his attitude after every setback (even and especially the tragic ones he engineered).
I loved the details Thomas shared that were new to me. The Nixon White House knew all along that Deep Throat was Mark Felt; Pat Nixon understood how bad Watergate was before her husband did; Nixon's best friend and closest companion was his legal pad, where he could make notes and consult them throughout the night. I hadn't been aware of Nixon's insomnia. Just as Bryce Harlow wondered what Nixon could have accomplished if he felt loved, I wonder if how history would have been different if Nixon could regularly get a good night's sleep.
Thomas tells Nixon's story with balance and compassion and many a graceful turn of phrase. A good read.
June 11, 2016
Although forever blemished by the Watergate scandal, Nixon also can be credited with engineering a host of progressive legislative accomplishments, many which would have long term environmental impact. His main arena of expertise of foreign policy saw breakthroughs in relations with China, ending the war in Vietnam (after he expanded it into other parts of Southeast Asia), and reducing Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union. As the author shows in a very balanced account, Nixon was a contradictory and indeed polarizing figure.
Despite his mastery of the nuances of political gamesmanship and the ability to compromise with foes on the Congressional front to attain notable achievements, he was perpetually haunted by his inner demons and given to duplicity and chronic paranoia. Accessing the substantial public record and via interviews, Thomas compiles a workable and readable biography on much previously covered ground.
Ultimately one of Nixon's greatest assets - his prodigious memory, would also prove to be his greatest curse. He could not overlook any slight and harbored grievances way out of proportion to their importance. Along with his Kennedy loathing fetish and being surrounded by a like-minded cabal of amoral political operatives, his inability to bury his grudges would lead to the trail of his undoing. Indeed, one of the first orders of business once re-elected was to compile the famous "Enemies List(s)" and use the presidency to settle scores. He would enlist the aid of multiple government agencies to mount his campaign of revenge and eventually creating a Constitutional crisis that led to his downfall.
Thomas on occasion almost makes Nixon a sympathetic figure while clearly not acting as an apologist for his misconduct. This ongoing tension between the person and the politician gives this account much of its appeal.
Despite his mastery of the nuances of political gamesmanship and the ability to compromise with foes on the Congressional front to attain notable achievements, he was perpetually haunted by his inner demons and given to duplicity and chronic paranoia. Accessing the substantial public record and via interviews, Thomas compiles a workable and readable biography on much previously covered ground.
Ultimately one of Nixon's greatest assets - his prodigious memory, would also prove to be his greatest curse. He could not overlook any slight and harbored grievances way out of proportion to their importance. Along with his Kennedy loathing fetish and being surrounded by a like-minded cabal of amoral political operatives, his inability to bury his grudges would lead to the trail of his undoing. Indeed, one of the first orders of business once re-elected was to compile the famous "Enemies List(s)" and use the presidency to settle scores. He would enlist the aid of multiple government agencies to mount his campaign of revenge and eventually creating a Constitutional crisis that led to his downfall.
Thomas on occasion almost makes Nixon a sympathetic figure while clearly not acting as an apologist for his misconduct. This ongoing tension between the person and the politician gives this account much of its appeal.
September 21, 2017
Nixon was such a strange, complicated man, a bundle of contradictions. He was a man who seemed to wear his own skin like a hair shirt.
Born into a family that struggled with money and had an abusive father, Nixon rose to the highest levels of government through hard work, intelligence, excellent political instincts, and some dirty politicking. He was a politician who was deeply shy and uncomfortable around people. Many aspects of his chosen profession were torture to him. He wasn't good at schmoozing or kissing babies, and he didn't enjoy doing it. But his ambition was an even more powerful driving force than his shyness, and it constantly pushed him forward.
When you look back on his record he has many impressive (and mostly liberal leaning) achievements: Detent and arms control agreements with the Russians, creating the EPA and OSHA, ending the draft, completing desegregation, lowering the voting age to 18, reopening relations with China, getting the US (eventually) out of Vietnam, a war that he inherited from his predecessors... he should have been loved. It's an impressive record.
Unfortunately, he was dirty and dishonest and all his accomplishments are tainted. He lied about everything from Vietnam to Watergate (he may have even subversively worked to extend the war at the end of Johnson's term for political reasons). He was probably not much more dirty or dishonest than Johnson and Kennedy (who wiretapped everyone and didn't mind buying votes), but he had an appalling personality as well, plus, he got caught.
Even Thomas seems to really understand Nixon, in all his complexity. He is fair and as sympathetic as the facts allow. This is a great biography (so good that I have already purchased and begun reading Thomas's book about RFK, which is maybe even better ).
Born into a family that struggled with money and had an abusive father, Nixon rose to the highest levels of government through hard work, intelligence, excellent political instincts, and some dirty politicking. He was a politician who was deeply shy and uncomfortable around people. Many aspects of his chosen profession were torture to him. He wasn't good at schmoozing or kissing babies, and he didn't enjoy doing it. But his ambition was an even more powerful driving force than his shyness, and it constantly pushed him forward.
When you look back on his record he has many impressive (and mostly liberal leaning) achievements: Detent and arms control agreements with the Russians, creating the EPA and OSHA, ending the draft, completing desegregation, lowering the voting age to 18, reopening relations with China, getting the US (eventually) out of Vietnam, a war that he inherited from his predecessors... he should have been loved. It's an impressive record.
Unfortunately, he was dirty and dishonest and all his accomplishments are tainted. He lied about everything from Vietnam to Watergate (he may have even subversively worked to extend the war at the end of Johnson's term for political reasons). He was probably not much more dirty or dishonest than Johnson and Kennedy (who wiretapped everyone and didn't mind buying votes), but he had an appalling personality as well, plus, he got caught.
Even Thomas seems to really understand Nixon, in all his complexity. He is fair and as sympathetic as the facts allow. This is a great biography (so good that I have already purchased and begun reading Thomas's book about RFK, which is maybe even better ).
September 18, 2019
almost made me feel sorry for nixon.
almost.
almost.
November 10, 2022
500+ pages later, I know more about Richard Nixon than any normal person ever should. That being said, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this one lol🤠
May 21, 2017
Heraclitus -.. A man's character is his fate.
Greek tragedy feels appropriate for the high highs of Nixon's leadership and ultiamte unspooling with the Watergate scandal. It's hard to imagine another leader who was so central to U.S. politics, at so many cultural points - vice president to Einsenhower, candidate for the RNC against Kennedy in 1960, elected president in 1968, 1972. Responsible for opening U.S. involvement to China, moving the U.S. toward nuclear dearmament along with Russia, and deeping involvement with the Vietnam war.
A fairly linear biography, the focus is squarely on Nixon the man. His fascinating personality is revealed from stories of loner episodes as a boy, flairs for the dramatic in theater, rigorous learning as a law student, and shrewd effectiveness political manuevering as an official.
My biggest issue with the book is how little context there is of the events unfolding around Nixon. Very little attention given to the Vietnam War, or how the cultural issues effected Nixon. There is a a moment of solidarity that Nixon has with the protestors after the Kent State Shooting, but the research feels limited.
Overall a fascinating biography
Greek tragedy feels appropriate for the high highs of Nixon's leadership and ultiamte unspooling with the Watergate scandal. It's hard to imagine another leader who was so central to U.S. politics, at so many cultural points - vice president to Einsenhower, candidate for the RNC against Kennedy in 1960, elected president in 1968, 1972. Responsible for opening U.S. involvement to China, moving the U.S. toward nuclear dearmament along with Russia, and deeping involvement with the Vietnam war.
A fairly linear biography, the focus is squarely on Nixon the man. His fascinating personality is revealed from stories of loner episodes as a boy, flairs for the dramatic in theater, rigorous learning as a law student, and shrewd effectiveness political manuevering as an official.
My biggest issue with the book is how little context there is of the events unfolding around Nixon. Very little attention given to the Vietnam War, or how the cultural issues effected Nixon. There is a a moment of solidarity that Nixon has with the protestors after the Kent State Shooting, but the research feels limited.
Overall a fascinating biography
September 5, 2024
best biography ever… nixon 2025 🇺🇸
Read
September 3, 2022Such an enjoyable book. The full life story & very thoughtful analysis of the personality & character of America's most interesting president (& those around him) in a very managable no. of pages. Found myself constantly moved, amazed, saddened, and most often, completely surprised by what Nixon said and did. The most introverted and awkward man in the most extraverted job
October 6, 2024
Tricky Dicky is definitely a polarizing figure in American history and it started well before his later political career. This is surely a man divided and the Incongruence of his personal and political lives speak volumes to that fact.
The author does well capturing the complexities and complications of Tricky Dicky with integrity and authenticity. I’ve learned so much more about this man that I didn’t know and I left wanting to know more. He was such a likeable guy, yet he had the characteristics, traits, and aura of a loser. Unfortunately this has followed him into perpetuity.
You can’t tell the story of Richard Nixon without Kennedy, Vietnam, and Watergate, for sure, but I also deeply believe the story of Richard Nixon would not be complete without the influence of his upbringing and understanding where he comes from.
The author does well capturing the complexities and complications of Tricky Dicky with integrity and authenticity. I’ve learned so much more about this man that I didn’t know and I left wanting to know more. He was such a likeable guy, yet he had the characteristics, traits, and aura of a loser. Unfortunately this has followed him into perpetuity.
You can’t tell the story of Richard Nixon without Kennedy, Vietnam, and Watergate, for sure, but I also deeply believe the story of Richard Nixon would not be complete without the influence of his upbringing and understanding where he comes from.
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