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Richard Nixon the Man Behind the Mask
Observations and discoveries about the Nixon White House
433 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1971
93 people want to read
About the author
Gary Allen
220 books61 followersThere is more than one author with this name
American conservative journalist, he contributed to magazines such as Conservative Digest and American Opinion.
His most known book is "None dare call it conspiracy" The book is considered to be a bestseller.
Critics called Allen an populist and conspiracy theoretician.
Allen was a member of the John Birch Society.
American conservative journalist, he contributed to magazines such as Conservative Digest and American Opinion.
His most known book is "None dare call it conspiracy" The book is considered to be a bestseller.
Critics called Allen an populist and conspiracy theoretician.
Allen was a member of the John Birch Society.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 8, 2017
In reading Gary Allen’s “Richard Nixon: The Man Behind the Mask,” we get a peek at the right-wing nastiness that’s now in the fore.
Let me say I don’t believe the right-wing has a corner on nastiness, as there’s plenty of that to go around in the extreme fringes of any political party. It is telling, however, to see the paranoia, the disdain for the media, and the veiled and unveiled racism inherent in right-wing Republicans of the 1960s and ‘70s, which we recognize today in the right-wing we’re seeing in power.
In reading about this author, I see an irony. He mocks Nixon as an opportunistic politician, willing to bow to whatever winds blew to get him elected. Yet Allen was a speechwriter for George Wallace, a politician who started out as a Democrat on a crusade for race reconciliation in the South and who ended as a right-wing Republican who sang the graces of segregation because he saw in it supporters enough political power to get him into office. We all have our blinders, I suppose, but for most of us, we don’t get the chance to have them displayed so prominently.
Allen and his supporters lament a party that slipped slowly to the left. Not that the party ever would become eponymous with the Democrats. What one perceives as a shift to the left can really be a shift to the center, where more and more voters find themselves due to the ugliness of the party purists on either end of the American political spectrum. Ronald Reagan would also probably be labeled as a squishy liberal by Allen et al’s standards, and might find it hard to fit into the Republican Party of today, which is slipping now to the right.
Allen is somewhat schizophrenic – lionizing conservative firebrand Barry Goldwater for his unsuccessful run for the presidency in 1964 and then, in the same chapter, lambasting him for being a tool of the grassroots wave that took him through the nomination and to the election, but without the fire to do anything more than put his shoulder to the wheel after it was all over:
[Goldwater] was propelled into candidacy by the zeal of the grass-roots to capitalize on the great depth and exuberance and loyalty felt by his hard-core supporters all over the country. Instead of continuing the crusade Goldwater went back to his ham radio. The ’64 election was water over the dam – Goldwater over the dam.
No wonder Allen then fled to the firebrand race-baiter Wallace – here was a man who would follow through! Blinders fully on, of course. The desire to win – no matter the moral quality of the bedfellows – is what the right-wing seems to want, then and now. The ilk of Trump and Moore may have questionable morals and standards, but by golly they whistle the right tune!
Allen is consistent in his schizophrenia. In the chapter entitled “The Pachyderms Return,” he laments that Nixon avoided patronage of many who helped get him elected, and then concludes by castigating Nixon for appointing several long-time friends and aides to his cabinet. Patronage only works for Allen, it seems, if those getting the plum jobs are conservative Republicans.
And see, you get this on the left too. Nobody’s immune.
Let me say I don’t believe the right-wing has a corner on nastiness, as there’s plenty of that to go around in the extreme fringes of any political party. It is telling, however, to see the paranoia, the disdain for the media, and the veiled and unveiled racism inherent in right-wing Republicans of the 1960s and ‘70s, which we recognize today in the right-wing we’re seeing in power.
In reading about this author, I see an irony. He mocks Nixon as an opportunistic politician, willing to bow to whatever winds blew to get him elected. Yet Allen was a speechwriter for George Wallace, a politician who started out as a Democrat on a crusade for race reconciliation in the South and who ended as a right-wing Republican who sang the graces of segregation because he saw in it supporters enough political power to get him into office. We all have our blinders, I suppose, but for most of us, we don’t get the chance to have them displayed so prominently.
Allen and his supporters lament a party that slipped slowly to the left. Not that the party ever would become eponymous with the Democrats. What one perceives as a shift to the left can really be a shift to the center, where more and more voters find themselves due to the ugliness of the party purists on either end of the American political spectrum. Ronald Reagan would also probably be labeled as a squishy liberal by Allen et al’s standards, and might find it hard to fit into the Republican Party of today, which is slipping now to the right.
Allen is somewhat schizophrenic – lionizing conservative firebrand Barry Goldwater for his unsuccessful run for the presidency in 1964 and then, in the same chapter, lambasting him for being a tool of the grassroots wave that took him through the nomination and to the election, but without the fire to do anything more than put his shoulder to the wheel after it was all over:
[Goldwater] was propelled into candidacy by the zeal of the grass-roots to capitalize on the great depth and exuberance and loyalty felt by his hard-core supporters all over the country. Instead of continuing the crusade Goldwater went back to his ham radio. The ’64 election was water over the dam – Goldwater over the dam.
No wonder Allen then fled to the firebrand race-baiter Wallace – here was a man who would follow through! Blinders fully on, of course. The desire to win – no matter the moral quality of the bedfellows – is what the right-wing seems to want, then and now. The ilk of Trump and Moore may have questionable morals and standards, but by golly they whistle the right tune!
Allen is consistent in his schizophrenia. In the chapter entitled “The Pachyderms Return,” he laments that Nixon avoided patronage of many who helped get him elected, and then concludes by castigating Nixon for appointing several long-time friends and aides to his cabinet. Patronage only works for Allen, it seems, if those getting the plum jobs are conservative Republicans.
And see, you get this on the left too. Nobody’s immune.
February 9, 2026
Eye-opening though dated, thoroughly researched unauthorized political biography of Richard Nixon and his role in the Establishment Conspiracy; not the book you think it is just as Nixon was not the man people thought he was
This is a great book. It is a complete deconstruction of former US President Richard Nixon, circa 1971 (before Watergate). But it is largely a product of its time. The reader should have a good understanding of 20th century politics, conspiracy theory history, and American establishment studies to really appreciate this material. And if the reader has swallowed the post-Watergate, politically-correct conventional wisdom about Richard Nixon, they may have a knee-jerk, emotionally driven, negative reaction to the book's premise and conclusions that Nixon was nothing more than a Machiavellian politician who cynically played the role of conservative to advance the globalist, socialist-communist agenda on behalf of his liberal-establishment sponsors.
This book is really very good. It explains why things in Americans politics have never been quite right since the Council of Foreign Relations began, in 1921, to guide our political, economic, academic, and foreign policy direction.
Nixon is depicted as a shrewd, clever master politician and the perfect Establishment agent. The ultimate pragmatist, Nixon was willing to do anything to get elected. He became infamous among leftists as the prosecutor of the State Department darling and Soviet spy, Alger Hiss. The Left would never forget. But this crusade convinced the Republican Right that Nixon was an anti-communist zealot--which cemented their support for him for the next 20 years. But it was all show. After being exposed to the likes of Nelson Rockefeller (Nixon's sponsor, NYC neighbor, and, despite public appearances otherwise, his political advisor), Nixon craved nothing less than wealth and acceptance by the Establishment. The elites took advantage of Nixon's desperation and used him to undermine the Taft conservative wing of the Republican Party in the 1950s. Meanwhile, the unlikeable Nixon became the popular Eisenhower's Vice President. It was a stepping stone position that gave Nixon visibility. While there was a hiccup in his loss to Kennedy and then defeat in his run for California Governor, Nixon was rescued by Nelson Rockefeller who gave him a cushy Wall Street job that brought him tantalizingly close to the Establishment power and wealth he craved. Nixon was groomed for the top job and eventually achieved his dream in 1968.
Gary Allen wrote Richard Nixon: The Man Behind the Mask to warn politically naive Republican voters that their 1972 candidate for re-election was not the conservative, anti-communist, pro-constitution candidate they thought he was. And that Nixon was (and had been since 1950) nothing more than an establishment Trojan Horse supported by New York City elites to infiltrate the Republican party and move it politically leftward while touting his anti-communist bona fides.
Alas, Allen's warnings (and this book) were largely ignored as both Conservative Democrats and Republicans of all types banded together to give Nixon the greatest Presidential landslide victory in history over the hapless uber-liberal, George McGovern. Most of those few conservative Republicans who did read Allen's book felt compelled to vote for Nixon as the lesser of two evils. And this explains why today's Republicans and conservatives are little more than go-along-get-along moderates (Being the lesser-of-two-evils has been the Republican presidential candidate path to lukewarm victory for decades).
If you are a student of establishment studies, conspiracy theory, and mid-20th century political history, you really should find and read this thoroughly researched book. Otherwise, this is a difficult read for those who don't understand the context of the material.
Nonetheless, I must HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. Enjoy!
This is a great book. It is a complete deconstruction of former US President Richard Nixon, circa 1971 (before Watergate). But it is largely a product of its time. The reader should have a good understanding of 20th century politics, conspiracy theory history, and American establishment studies to really appreciate this material. And if the reader has swallowed the post-Watergate, politically-correct conventional wisdom about Richard Nixon, they may have a knee-jerk, emotionally driven, negative reaction to the book's premise and conclusions that Nixon was nothing more than a Machiavellian politician who cynically played the role of conservative to advance the globalist, socialist-communist agenda on behalf of his liberal-establishment sponsors.
This book is really very good. It explains why things in Americans politics have never been quite right since the Council of Foreign Relations began, in 1921, to guide our political, economic, academic, and foreign policy direction.
Nixon is depicted as a shrewd, clever master politician and the perfect Establishment agent. The ultimate pragmatist, Nixon was willing to do anything to get elected. He became infamous among leftists as the prosecutor of the State Department darling and Soviet spy, Alger Hiss. The Left would never forget. But this crusade convinced the Republican Right that Nixon was an anti-communist zealot--which cemented their support for him for the next 20 years. But it was all show. After being exposed to the likes of Nelson Rockefeller (Nixon's sponsor, NYC neighbor, and, despite public appearances otherwise, his political advisor), Nixon craved nothing less than wealth and acceptance by the Establishment. The elites took advantage of Nixon's desperation and used him to undermine the Taft conservative wing of the Republican Party in the 1950s. Meanwhile, the unlikeable Nixon became the popular Eisenhower's Vice President. It was a stepping stone position that gave Nixon visibility. While there was a hiccup in his loss to Kennedy and then defeat in his run for California Governor, Nixon was rescued by Nelson Rockefeller who gave him a cushy Wall Street job that brought him tantalizingly close to the Establishment power and wealth he craved. Nixon was groomed for the top job and eventually achieved his dream in 1968.
Gary Allen wrote Richard Nixon: The Man Behind the Mask to warn politically naive Republican voters that their 1972 candidate for re-election was not the conservative, anti-communist, pro-constitution candidate they thought he was. And that Nixon was (and had been since 1950) nothing more than an establishment Trojan Horse supported by New York City elites to infiltrate the Republican party and move it politically leftward while touting his anti-communist bona fides.
Alas, Allen's warnings (and this book) were largely ignored as both Conservative Democrats and Republicans of all types banded together to give Nixon the greatest Presidential landslide victory in history over the hapless uber-liberal, George McGovern. Most of those few conservative Republicans who did read Allen's book felt compelled to vote for Nixon as the lesser of two evils. And this explains why today's Republicans and conservatives are little more than go-along-get-along moderates (Being the lesser-of-two-evils has been the Republican presidential candidate path to lukewarm victory for decades).
If you are a student of establishment studies, conspiracy theory, and mid-20th century political history, you really should find and read this thoroughly researched book. Otherwise, this is a difficult read for those who don't understand the context of the material.
Nonetheless, I must HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. Enjoy!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews