Nixon's White House Wars: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever

by Patrick J. Buchanan

     From Vietnam to the Southern Strategy, from the opening of China to the scandal of Watergate, Pat Buchanan—speechwriter and senior adviser to President Nixon—tells the untold story of Nixon’s embattled White House, from its historic wins to it devastating defeats. 
     In his inaugural address, Nixon held out a hand in friendship to Republicans and Democrats alike.  But by the fall of 1969, massive demonstrations in Washington and around the country had been mounted to break his presidency.
     In a brilliant appeal to what he called the “Great Silent Majority,” Nixon sent his enemies reeling.  Vice President Agnew followed by attacking the blatant bias of the media in a fiery speech authored and advocated by Buchanan.   And by 1970, Nixon’s approval rating soared to 68 percent, and he was labeled “The Most Admired Man in America”. 
     Them one by one, the crises came, from the invasion of Cambodia, to the protests that killed four students at Kent State, to race riots and court ordered school busing.
          Buchanan chronicles Nixon’s historic trip to China, and describes the White House strategy that brought about Nixon’s 49-state landslide victory over George McGovern in 1972.
     When the Watergate scandal broke, Buchanan urged the president to destroy the Nixon tapes before they were subpoenaed, and fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, as Nixon ultimately did in the “Saturday Night Massacre.”  After testifying before the Watergate Committee himself, Buchanan describes the grim scene at Camp David in August 1974, when Nixon’s staff concluded he could not survive     In a riveting memoir from behind the scenes of the most controversial presidency of the last century, Nixon’s White House Wars reveals both the failings and achievements of the 37th President, recorded by one of those closest to Nixon from before his political comeback, through to his final days in office.

Genres: History, Politics, Biography, American History, Nonfiction, Presidents, Political Science

465 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2017

About the author

One of America's best known paleoconservatives, Buchanan served as a senior advisor to Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. He ran for president in 1992, 1996 and 2000. Buchanan is an isolationist on the subject of American foreign policy and believes in a restrictive immigration policy.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/patric...

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book intrigued me. I came across this quote by historian and biographer Sam Tenenhaus: “Buchanan begot Trumpism as his former ally William F. Buckley, Jr. begat Reaganism.” Between the two I just had to read the book. Personally, I am a moderate middle of the roader politically. In my humble attempt to understand the issues, I read books from both sides of the isle.

This is the fifth White House remembrance by a Nixon speechwriter. The first one was “Before the Fall” written in 1975 by William Safire. The book is now considered a classic. I discovered that it was Buchanan who created the phrase “The Great Silent Majority”.

The book is supposed to be about Nixon but in my opinion, it is a memoir of Buchanan’s time in the Nixon White House. Buchanan’s ultra-right-wing philosophy is presented throughout the book. He discusses the causes of division that Nixon inherited such as the Vietnam war, school busing, civil rights, ethnic communities and what Buchanan calls liberal judiciary. He also stated that all media is liberal. Buchanan states he tried to swing Nixon to protectionism to help save American jobs. I noted that Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency in spite of Buchanan’s advice.

The book is well written. I was amazed that Buchanan wrote in such detail. He must have kept a detailed diary. I noted he also did the usually type of research of material such as reviewing the materials at the Nixon Library. The book does provide an in-depth behind the scenes view of the Nixon presidency. The author writes that Nixon was a Wilsonian idealist and a utopian Quaker pacifist. I found it difficult to understand Buchanan’s absolute belief that his opinion is correct and the only path for the country to follow.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is almost eighteen hours long. Arthur Morey does an excellent job narrating the book. At times, I thought it was Richard Nixon speaking. Morey did an excellent job portraying Nixon. Morey is an actor, voice over artist and award-winning audiobook narrator.

[The American Conservative]

Had Richard Nixon confined himself to a single term and stepped down in January 1973, Patrick J. Buchanan writes of the man he served for eight years as senior adviser, speechwriter, confidant, and friend, he now would rank “as one of the great or the near-great presidents.” Writing in his 13th book (and his third on the Nixon presidency), the feisty commentator and former presidential candidate adds that, while he opposed some of his mentor’s domestic policies and foreign initiatives, he believes that “Nixon’s first term was undeniably one of extraordinary accomplishment.”

He’s right, and this book makes the case with the author’s characteristically muscular and vivid prose. When Nixon assumed office in 1969, he took command of a nation wracked by race riots, burning cities, assassinations, campus turmoil, and trembling university administrators living in fear of various New Leftists who, when they weren’t tearing down the campuses, made them centers of their disruptive operations. The unrest was fueled in great part by the Vietnam war and its increasingly mindless escalation, a gift to the new administration from two preceding Democratic presidents and their think-tank advisers—the so-called Best and Brightest.

http://www.theamericanconservative.co...

[Randal White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad! A view of the Nixon presidency, through the eyes of it's arch conservative member, Patrick Buchanan. The detail is amazing. The author must either have an incredible memory, or kept notes on everything he has done. Throughout the book, the central theme is that Buchanan's ultra conservative beliefs are the only path to success for the United States. Everyone who has a differing opinion is just wrong, and is the enemy. (Sounds eerily familiar to the current administration). It must be something to be so sure of oneself, and to have never an inkling of doubt of one's beliefs, or that you may sometimes be wrong. However, I think it would be a sad and lonely existence. It makes me feel bad for Mr. Buchanan.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Woo-boy! Ok, so a couple of disclaimers up front. I am definitely a left leaning person politically (if not a bit more than leaning) and was honestly mostly interested in this book to learn more about Watergate. That being said, I also just have a fascination with history and have been trying to learn more about all the presidents since I discovered the Washington Post’s Presidential podcast a few months back. I also have heard people compare the current White House to being most similar to Nixon’s so I was curious about that as well. All of this is leading to say I hated this book so much.

I genuinely wanted to learn from this book. I wanted to know more about Nixon than just the scandals. I wanted to hear a well thought out justification for some conservative policies that I generally find abhorrent. Unfortunately, it seems the primary purpose of this book is for Buchanan to simultaneously take a victory lap for being the genius that got Nixon elected and was behind every move that could be conceived of as good by him and at the same time bemoan how unfairly Nixon and therefore he was treated throughout the presidency. Again this is ok. I get it he is telling his part of the story and naturally most people make themselves more of the protagonist in their own stories, but it gets very tiresome after a while to hear that if Nixon just followed his advice he would be seen as the greatest post-war president.

However, even this is not what drives me to dislike this book. For that, I have to credit Buchanan’s abilities to take political potshots at current politicians and situations in a book about the Nixon years. At one point he brings up Bill Ayers and the Weathermen and cannot resist the urge to bring back the attack on President Obama from 2008 that he was friends with him. He also does not ever explain why his conservative views (which he is very proud of being the rightest of right wingers in the administration) were correct, but instead just insists that the idea of the silent majority proves that these views are politically worthwhile. Again, he brings up current events by saying that the only people who are still allowed to be discriminated against are white males (I almost threw my kindle) and then proceeded to say that the rise of Donald Trump shows this is true. To be fair to him, his goal was probably not to explain his views in the book and it reads a lot more like political strategy than actual political theory, however, I think it makes it very hard to engage anybody who does not share his views since the book is so aggressive and sanctimonious about how correct all his political ideas are without offering much justification.

It was somewhat fascinating to read someone actually try to defend Nixon when it came to Watergate. Again he casts himself as a hero, saying that if he was listened to Nixon would not have been forced to resign. He also makes the point that the whole investigation was started over leaks which are also illegal which sounds eerily similar to arguments being made now about investigations into the current administration. Again, to give the book some credit it was fascinating to read someone have these views and also to see the inner workings of a White House that hated the press, especially since Buchanan was tasked to deal with this in a lot of ways. My advice to you would be if you can overlook his hack-y, conservative-cable-news style that this book is kind of an interesting read. If not, stay away.

Also posted on Purple People Readers.

[Tom Stamper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hoping this book would answer the question of what Buchanan saw in Nixon considering his lifelong loyalty to the man. Buchanan’s run against Bush 41 back in 1992 was an ideological battle, and yet Nixon was less conservative than the elder Bush. As I was searching for that answer, I learned how the Nixon White House operated in a way that other biographers skipped or missed.

That Nixon was the scourge of the eastern establishment going to back to Alger Hiss covered up the fact that Nixon wasn’t an ideological person. Hiss was an opportunity. China was an opportunity. He would just take the facts on the ground and make the best political decision he could. To do this he filled his cabinet and staff with ideological opposites. He wanted them to debate the issues to better understand where the best political calculation laid. But Nixon wasn’t a pure Machiavellian either. His downfall was due to his inability to be a Prince when his political life depended on it. Instead, he chose loyalty to Haldeman and Ehrlichman and Mitchell by covering up during the early days of Watergate.

Buchanan was obviously not deep throat as many speculated at the time, but he was offered the opportunity to run the White House plumbers and was smart enough to turn it down. Buchanan quotes from many of his own White House memos during the time. His political understanding was acute. He had a genius of dispassionately arguing the downside of decisions that looked imminent and often changed Nixon’s mind. Buchanan was also a chief writer for Spiro Agnew’s attacks on the leftwing culture that was unusual for a VP at the time and mostly forgotten by anyone not alive during the era.

The book never directly answered my question about why Buchanan loved Nixon. The accumulative of the book led me to believe that Nixon took a chance on him and mentored him and Pat returned that kindness with lifelong loyalty. That's probably the best reason.

[Xenophon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is Pat Buchanan's Nixon Whitehouse memoir and a chronicle of the embattled administration's moves at every pivotal moment from 1969 to 1974. It stands out in a genre that is ordinarily dominated by grift, navel-gazing, or lame attempts at a tell-all. Those storms never settled for Buchanan and his fellow Nixon Alum, so he will not get credit for this brilliant exercise in primary source history today. I expect future historians will be the main admirers of the book.

Nixon's White House Wars is an appropriate title, and I'm 95% confident it's Buchanan's and not the work of a publisher or editor. Several wars are described:

1. America's Culture War that erupted between middle Americans, radical Leftists, and the managerial elite in the 1960's.
2. Nixon's personal wars downstream from the first category.
3. Pat Buchanan's wars parallel with the second category. Wars with the establishment, the far Left, and other Nixon admin officials.

It forms a revealing composite of the era and the men who made it. I had to personally sop up every detail lest I miss something and came away with rich rewards as a result. This book is simply a treasure trove.

If you want to know how great, principled political minds think, this is the book to read.

A final word: read the first volume in this memoir series beforehand- The Greatest Comeback. While Nixon's Whitehouse Wars can easily be read on its own, The Greatest Comeback really sets the stage for everything. I don't think I would enjoy this book nearly as much as I did without it.

The Brigade dies but does not surrender.

[Al Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not the book I thought it was going to be at all, I was expecting a biography on the Nixon White House Years, but it a Memoir of Buchanan during the Nixon White House Years.

While the focus is on his time during the Nixon White House Years, Pat will often to diverge to other Parts of his life, IE: go from visiting Ceausescu with Nixon to being interrupted on Christmas to go onto CNN to discuss Ceausescu after his being shot. Or His pressuring Nixon to appoint an ethnic Catholic to the Supreme Court, and then digressing to when Reagan did that with Italian American Antonin Scalia

The book delved very deeply into Nixon’s Supreme Court appointment fights, much more so than other books I’ve read on Nixon have.

Buchanan is of course very far right, explaining how he threatened to and very nearly did resign over Nixon opening up relations with China, which is generally considered Nixon’s greatest achievement, Buchanan opposed then and argues still now why he believes it was a bad idea, though acknowledging that had he actually resigned it would have been a huge mistake.

I enjoyed this insider’s memoir into his time in the Nixon White House, his comments on watergate are unique and illuminating, like all memoirs one must understand it is self-serving.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pat Buchanan is a great writer (which is one of the reasons he got his job with Nixon) and this book takes a look at the White House years, and the inside goings-on between various staffers and the media at the time. It is a very interesting behind the scenes tale about the Nixon White House and his staff. A great read and probably the last book to come out from a former Nixon staffer.
Highly recommended.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been reading books about the late 1960s, Watergate, and President Nixon ever since I listened to political commentators compare 2016 to 1968 last November. Since I was born in 1965, I didn't live through these events in the same way that some of my older friends did but I have scattered memories of some of the events. I find reading about the same events described from different points of view is interesting.

That said, I find this book a bit difficult to rate. It is well written and extremely detailed. At the same time, it is very one-sided. Buchanan is convinced that he is right and that his extremely conservative positions are the only correct ones. He uses this book to argue that Nixon's biggest mistake was not the illegal activities and cover up of Watergate but his failure to take conservative enough positions on many issues. Buchanan does not limit his criticism of Nixon to his positions on domestic issues, he also criticizes his foreign policy. The book is more of an account of Buchanan's time working for Nixon than a history of the Nixon White House or an examination of the forces that ended up destroying his presidency.

I listened to this book instead of reading it. I had a difficult time personally with some of Buchanan's more extremely conservative policy positions and his unrepentant racism. I found the repetition of information distracting and actually checked a couple of times to see if I had put in the correct CD because I found myself listening to a repeated reading of a paragraph I had already read. Some tighter editing would have helped the book.

[Daniel Silliman · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are parts of this book where Buchanan is just saying "if everyone had only listened to me," but you also get, again and again, Buchanan's analysis of the politics of the Nixon years. It's bracing how Machiavellian he is. He never exerts any effort deciding what's right; he always focuses on how the politics will play out to give him and Nixon power. Buchanan does it all: wedge issues, identity politics, spin, changing the story, choosing your enemy, and more. Here, he recounts how he did it, bluntly and with historical memos.

Buchanan can be shocking. He defends racial segregation without the typical whine about it really being about the limitation of government power. No, for him, it's about white people not having to live with black people. He also argues--apparently seriously--that the economic plight of white men in the rust belt and coal belt is due to affirmative action. He says that newspapers publishing leaked government information (like the Pentagon papers) is as bad or worse than the Watergate burglaries. He says, apparently without hesitation and certainly without irony, that Nixon should have burned the White House tapes. It's insane. He's racist. The man's moral compass is scary.

There's a lot to learn here, about history and about politics. Buchanan really is Donald Trump's John the Baptist. I would recommend this book, but with the warning, you're going to have to spend time in Pat Buchanan's brain.

[Mitchell Kaufman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good insight into the Nixon White House, the ups and the downs, but rather self-serving. Another book that indicates that Watergate was the result of staffers who didn't understand that Nixon would rant and then calm down and give reasonable instructions taking his first statements seriously. Another book contradicting John Dean, but make no mistake, Buchanan wants you to know what he did and how things would have been much better if people had just listened to him.

[Christopher Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

NIXON’S WHITE HOUSE WARS documents, in great detail, the battles among top White House staff—especially the struggles for conservative causes. The author, Patrick J. Buchanan, kept detailed records and his correspondence with the president and other top officials. Richard Nixon “asked for and welcomed my missives. It became our primary means of conversation. Over the Nixon White House years, I would send him a thousand.”

This book is designed specifically for political junkies who really like all the nitty-gritty details about the Nixon presidency. If you are fascinated by reading detailed memoranda arguing for or against certain political causes, you will likely enjoy this book. I generally skipped over the memos.

It’s easy to see how the author came to such a high position at such a young age (barely 30!). Buchanan writes well, and argues fervently for his conservative beliefs. Coming into the White House, the author had high hopes that Nixon would advance true conservative causes. He soon discovered, however, that Nixon was not nearly as dedicated as Buchanan. The author laments Nixon seemingly embracing “Great Society” extensions in the tradition of LBJ. Right after Nixon took office, “My fears that this was not going to be the conservative administration I had envisioned during my three years with Nixon were confirmed. “

If you read nothing else, don’t miss the chapter on Nixon’s historic visit to China. I thought this chapter was the most interesting part of the book; it also shows the author’s dismay with the administration’s lukewarm embrace of conservative principles.

After the visit to China, for example, the author is disgusted at what he saw as a complete sell-out of our Taiwan friends. On the flight back, Buchanan stands up to Henry Kissinger, who negotiated the “Shanghai Communique.” Kissinger asked Pat what was wrong with the document, and tried to defend it. Buchanan would have none of it: “Though sitting in a window seat , I stood up, leaned over, put my face about eighteen inches from his, and shouted, “Bulls**t!”

The latter part of the book covers the whole Watergate mess—all the way from the first reports of a break-in, to Nixon’s resignation. I did not know that Buchanan had actually testified about his peripheral role in Watergate. Similarly, I had no idea that the author’s brother had been falsely accused of money laundering during that same time period. (Cronkite’s network had to issue an apology.)

The author includes the transcript of a light-hearted testimony before Senator Sam Ervin. The author also includes voluminous copies of memoranda sent to the president. Perhaps the most interesting was the one recommending that Nixon burn the tapes.

This book is quite serious, as is the author. There are a few lighthearted moments, however. In China, Buchanan describes the drinking bouts: “One problem we all had that night was the drinking. The mao-tai the Chinese served for toasts— I still have four bottles—tasted as one imagines gasoline might taste. It was awful. The only thing that made it tolerable was that the more we consumed the more we began to ignore the taste.”

Another funny moment describes the author and Henry Kissinger poolside: “Henry, wearing his bathing suit and working on a tan, repaired to his chaise, beside which lay papers and files. As we talked, he bemoaned the fact that though he was national security adviser to the most powerful man on earth and had secret papers lying all about him, no beautiful women had tried to seduce him.”

So all in all, I found NIXON’S WHITE HOUSE WARS to be an interesting book, documenting one of the most turbulent political periods in recent times. I liked seeing the author’s perspective on the Nixon years—especially the visit to China. Prior to reading this book, I did not realize how controversial this trip was, and how it angered the conservatives in the White House. The whole time I was reading this book, I kept thinking, “Buchanan was barely 30?”

Advance Review Copy courtesy of the publisher.

See also Bassocantor.com

[David Allen Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Nixon is the most fascinating figure of 20th century politics, and I have read many, many books on him, and to put it bluntly, this one is among the best. Conservative activist Pat Buchanan who worked with Nixon for nearly a decade, has penned a fascinating insider's account of Nixon's hot and cold presidency that in many ways still affects us today. What most struck me about this book was the unexpected--having read Pat's The Greatest Comeback, a largely laudatory account of Nixon's successful 1968 campaign, I expected this book to be as laudatory. Instead, I found a book that was quite critical of Nixon, because in Pat's views, in many ways, Nixon failed to deliver a conservative program. As Pat says in the book, he wanted Nixon to be the president Reagan actually became.

More than just an account of Nixon's presidency from the deep inside, this book also provides a wonderful political history of the late 1960s and early 1970s as only someone in the game could have written. No historian, no matter how studied, could ever provide the anecdotes and actual thoughts of someone who was there like Pat can, and Pat, whether you agree with him or not, is a wonderful writer. Pat also quotes from and speaks about many recent books on Nixon, which just adds to the value of this read.

Some parts of this book just further reinforced much of what is known about Nixon-- his extreme isolation from his own staff; his henchmen Haldeman and Erlichman who he thought were his chief administrators, but who in reality, enhanced his isolation, harmed his relations with other staff, and who ultimately did him in with Watergate; and Nixon's bizarre habits of spending hours writing and reading long memos, well explained in the excellent book President Nixon Alone in the White House by Richard Reeves, but which worked to Pat's advantage because he was a writer, and for many years Nixon devoured Pat's memos.

While Pat obviously over-exaggerates some of his roles, it is fascinating to read of the pivotal moments in history he personally observed. Another thing I learned was his close collaboration with Vice President Spiro Agnew, the only man in American political history to rise higher and fall further than Nixon. As Pat acridly notes, had Agnew left the corrupt bribery practices of Annapolis in Annapolis, he would have gone on to be the conservative president Reagan later became. Instead, Agnew barely avoided jail and when he died, his small sad funeral was attended by less than 100 people, with Pat the biggest name there.

Until you realize it was documented in the Watergate hearings, it seems like Pat's account that he was first offered the job of overseeing the "plumbers" who later ruined Nixon's presidency might be an exaggeration, but he turned down the job. That decision literally changed history, because it is impossible to believe Pat would have ever allowed that debacle to happen. Despite his admiration for Nixon, Pat's account of Watergate is direct and blunt. He explains how he himself easily handled the Watergate hearings, but says he has no clue why Nixon lied about the smoking gun tape that ended his presidency. He also makes it clear he told Nixon to destroy the tapes before they were called as evidence.

This book is an important political and presidential history that is exceptionally well written, engaging, and informative. Whether you like Nixon, or detest Nixon, whether you are liberal or conservative, you will benefit from reading this book, even if you smile at some of Pat's exaggerations and frustrations. Combined with Pat's earlier book, The Greatest Comeback, this might the best insider's account of the Nixon administration with the possible exception of Nixon's own memoirs. Highly recommended.

[Alan Braswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got the audio portion of this book, not because of the author whom I blame for the defeat of President George H. W. Bush in 1992 presidential election more than the presence of the liberal Ross Perot with whom made jokes about the crazy aunt in the basement. For it was Patrick Buchanan who received close to three million votes in the primaries and tried to do a McCarthy style defeat of a sitting president in the white house.
Buchanan ran again in 1996 against the same person who Buchanan helped to defeat President George H. W Bush.

I liked Nixon. That is the only reason I listed to the CD. The CD offered zero new insights in the timed when Nixon was president. I found it strange that when Buchanan went to the White House on that first day, following the inauguration, that he saw a man who he had never seen before. Strange because if someone, like Buchanan worked for Nixon before Nixon became president, surely he would have either saw the name or person of the chief of staff Bob Haldeman and Ron Erlickman who had worked with Nixon back in 1950's.
There is rarely any mentioned of the other speech writers, except that liberal Ray Price.
Buchanan seemed several times to wonder about the conservative movement. He never mentions the fact that Nixon had said that when you run for president one runs not as a conservative but as a moderate.
If only they listened to me. That whinny voice says constantly on the CD. This would not have happened. I would've slapped him and told your not the boss. Your here to make suggestions and following in line.
On the domestic he couldn't understand how the conservative movement not going anywhere. This from a man who doesn't understand how things work. It is Congress, not the president who makes the rules.
He keeps alluding to President Reagan who increased federal spending and added to the national debt more than did Nixon.

When Nixon's future son-in law asked what was this secret plan to end the war in Vietnam, back during the presidential campaign of 1968, in which then candidate Nixon had repeatedly said to the press. He told his future son in law that first he was going to Moscow than to China.
Buchanan completely missed this quote. All Buchanan did was whined about giving in to the commies and those countries were the ones that were helping the North Vietnamese. They didn't after Nixon went to those countries.
I said the same word that Buchanan told to Kissinger on the plane going back from China when Buchanan said that Reagan won the cold war. No Buchanan. The Soviet people had grown tired of living under communism and the soviet empire was already on the verge of collapse.
At a celebration dinner for the life of President Nixon, Buchanan made a speech praising Nixon's domestic and foreign policy. He was followed by Kissinger, who is the other inside the Nixon white house I've read, Kissinger said this is the first time I've ever heard Buchanan say anything nice about President Nixon's foreign policy.

To those those who have never read any of the plethora of material about the Nixon White House I would suggest you read some of the other accounts.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fascinating. An intriguing review caught my interest, which is good, because I likely would never have picked up this book on my own. Sure, the author comes out smelling like a rose, but he was in fact for the most part right on with his advice and strategies during the 5.5 years that Nixon was in the White House. Buchanan was Nixon's advisor well before his 1968 run, and remained Nixon's confidant up until the 38th president's death.

Buchanan tells a gripping tale of how Nixon went from a president elected with 43% of the popular vote to one who one 61% and carried 49 states. And rightfully so, since Buchanan was behind much of Nixon's strategy to reach out to the "silent majority" that was sick and tired of east coast elites, anti-war radicals, domestic terrorists, forced integration, and so much more (sound familiar? PJB definitely wrote this book with 2016 in mind, and it's uncanny how much of this stuff has come full circle, placing a man many would view as Buchanan's ideological heir in the White House).

The book bogs down in the last 100 pages for the obvious reason of Watergate, but thankfully Buchanan doesn't take us through every twist and turn (I personally find Watergate-mania to be incredibly boring). Buchanan relies heavily on the memoranda that he wrote regularly for the president, and they provide great insight into Nixon's efforts to appease conservatives (which he never truly was, and thus left a lot of reform on the table, and a lot of idiocy on the Supreme Court--except for Rehnquist).

In bringing this meandering review to the end, I will admit that this book is not an unbiased look at the Nixon years, but it is consistently captivating, and will give new light on a man who it is hard for me not to respect, even if many of his decisions drove me nuts.

[NET7 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nixon was an underdog. Thus was a man who's political career was considered dead. He had lost to Kennedy for President, and then lost to Pat Brown for the Governor of California election afterwards. He gave it one more shot, biding his time, regaining strength, until running at a time when the country needed him most. 1968 was a tumultuous time. On one side were radical leftist forces, Communists & Far-Left forces, threatening to destroy the nation from within. On one side White Supremacist and White Seperatist forces under were doing everything they could to keep the status quo. If there was ever a time that the nation risked being torn apart by civil war, it was then. Nixon became the candidate that united America, the President who represented the 'Silent Majority', the working class of Patriotic Americans across the country who wanted 'Law and Order', who saw the chaos all around them and sought a leader who could pull them through this tumultuous time. America pulled through. Nixon helped it pull through. He was reviled, hated, disparaged, but he was without a doubt one of America's finest President's. Watergate was not his fault but the Left won what they could not win in the 1972 election. I walk away from this book admiring the miracle political comeback Nixon made and his perseverance despite all the attacks he faced from the Hard and Far Left. He wasn't a Conservative, he was a Republican leaning Centrist and a realist who wanted to heal a torn nation and restore American honor, locally and internationally. Him leaving office was a tragedy for the country nd the world.

This was a long read, 400 pages of small type. It would have been better to separate this book into 4 smaller books to make it an easier read. There is a lot of information. The most exciting parts of the books are Buchanan discussing the 1968 and 1972 elections.

[JerryDeanHalleck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excellent history of Nixon's years in the white house by his friend and closest aide, Pat Buchanan. Quite detailed, and Buchanan seems to have been involved in everything, along with being very close to Agnew.

As Buchanan chronciles, it took Nixon quite a while to understand his olive branches to the "Liberal Establishment" and MSM were useless, and that his desire to govern from the middle and attract liberal voters was a hopeless endenvour.

People forget how liberal Nixon was, and how attracted he was to things like affirmative action, busing, a guranteed income, the EPA, and civil rights. Two of his three major speech writers were Liberal/Moderate, and it was Agnew who given the task of attacking the MSM for bias. It should be noted that despite attacking the Warren Court, Nixon appointed a leftist (blackmun) a moderate (Powell) a conservative (Renquist) and a moderate conservative (Burger). It was the Nixon justices that gave us Roe v. Wade and later the Bakke decision.

Nixon's pragmatism and inability to make hard decisions was his undoing. Men like Pat Grey, the CIA Director Colby, Elliot Richardson, Lee Garment and John Dean were hired and kept on because they were "good at the job" - and so when the fat hit the fire these men protected themselves, and not Nixon. Further, Nixon sweated over every tough decision, and his default mode was to be cautious and rely on the Washington Establishment to "do the right thing".

Buchanan writes (correctly) that Nixon could have saved his Presidency by burning all the tapes not supeoned (sic) by the Sentate Committee in May 1973, but that was too radical for Nixon. He also refused to go the American Public & be honest about what happened and attack his opposition. Instead, he tried to do "damage control" and rely on the courts to protect Executive privilage.

End result: Goodbye Nixon.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the balanced approach Buchanan uses to lay out history and his views. It's easy and very interesting to read. I do find this book not as well thought out as others. but the whole is greater than the few issues I have.

In this volume Buchanan lays out his time with Nixon in the White House. Much syncs with other histories, but there are lots brought up that gives new and counter views of the Nixon years in the White House. Especially involving Watergate.

My biggest quibble would be how Buchanan puts himself in the center of so much going on. i know he was the center of some of it, but, due to his position, he couldn't be that much a center point as he describes. Certainly true that writers all who have written of this period - or most any autobiographical examination of a time period - put themselves mostly involved, thought they may not have been. I was just surprised of Buchanan doing that as he, otherwise, has demonstrated his ability, many times over, to separate himself from subjects. Quite unlike most non-fiction authors today.

As usual, I most like how Buchanan presents his books. The layout is logical and very well thought out. His supporting quotes, very many this time, support his story and history. Mostly all linear, with sufficient marking of years or dates, so often left out in too many histories. It's very easy to know where and when you are. I just wish Buchanan would write more histories.

Something else I really like about Buchanan's writings are his dropping in a surprising tidbit that enhances the his point or history. Something else, too, is how Buchanan leaves out the emotional goo so prevalent today and just straight history. In this book, he again quotes a lot of Theodore H. White, who also did an incredible job of presenting history.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 8 out of ten points.

[Innocent · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "Part 2" of Pat Buchanan's previous Nixon-centered history, "The Greatest Comeback", this book continues Pat Buchanan's personal history of Richard Nixon during his service as Nixon's speechwriter and most trusted advisor during his 1968 election campaign and subsequent 6-year presidency. Beginning immediately after Nixon's 1968 presidential election victory, "White House Wars" suffers from an initial plateauing of the narrative after everyone involved settles in to their own positions in the bureaucracy of the new Nixon administration. However, issues such as racial segregation, the Vietnam war, and the upcoming 1972 presidential election are quick to put the Nixon White House under siege. Afterwards, just when Nixon seems like he has handily secured a second term as America's most popular president in modern history, a untimely and secretive break-in at the Watergate Hotel slowly starts to destroy both Nixon and Buchanan's world bit by bit. This book is an amazing second part of Pat Buchanan's Nixon history and is well worth the read to understand the shakespearean rise and fall of Richard Nixon and the scandal that would define the American politics of the 1970's.

[Tim Conder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, with plenty of inside baseball. However, it does carry the sense of Buchanan trying to right the record to ensure that his positions are understood as being the correct ones in every case.

Consistent with that, a repeated confusion with the authors voice is it does not make clear whether the author adopted views because they were “right” or because they would win power. One is left with the feeling that Buchanan has not decided whether he is a man of principal or pragmatism, but instead frames every choice as representing both ideals.

The elephant in the room throughout is obviously Watergate, which is presented almost as though it came as a surprise. On one level Buchanan acquits himself of any responsibility by showing his ignorance of what was happening, but at the same time, in fitting with the theme that this was a presidency undermined by the media, one is left with the feeling that the administration was completely detached from the reality of the situation.

It was a good read, but with a hopelessly biased narrator. However, the anecdotes alone justify the read.

[Alec Piergiorgi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal. Buchanan is a legitimately fantastic writer and I was completely swept up by the stories and general atmosphere he's able to conjure up from the past. I also found this to be surprisingly funny, those moments of off-brand comedy translate great from the page.

I found it to be an intimate portrait of the Nixon presidency and to have this all retold from someone as involved as Buchanan is a treat. Having that inside scoop inside how the White House (at least Nixon's) operated and the different perspectives on campaign strategies were both pretty interesting. Caught me off guard how many of the struggles Nixon faced were the same as what Trump had (a lot being self-inflicted); as well so many of the issues present 50 years ago are the same as today.

If you love Nixon or Buchanan, either of their politics, or just the political era in the US that this all takes place in, then I cannot recommend this book enough.

[Paul Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insider’s view at the Nixon presidency from the brilliant, biting, provocateur - conservative speechwriter, Pat Buchanan. Genuinely fascinating look at the staff process - heavy citation from his memos of the period. Unique look at at Nixon himself - a domestic liberal w/Moynihan as urban advisor, affirmative action, EPA, liberal Supreme Court appointees, while a global conservative - pro Israel, detente, and the visit to China. Deep look at Watergate and the political process - per Buchanan, an easily remedied problem had Nixon addressed decisively early. I was floored w/the number of historical events during the period - Kent State, Agnew, Vietnam, McGovern and Muskie, etc…

If you enjoy American history and politics, a truly engrossing read because of the time period and the heavy use of original material.

[Ronald J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

History by a man who was there, from 1966, with Richard Nixon, from his first term to his second. He wrote a lot of memos on strategies, and speeches (for Nixon and vice president Agnew), created controversy and was the voice of conservatism in a rather centrist White House. It's a long book, revolving around the memos, but the commentary is excellent, the writing breezy, and some of the stories fascinating and/or funny. He covers Vietnam, domestic policy (busing, quotas, etc.), as well as the historic visit to China (he was against the visit), to the final days of Watergate, and even on the post-presidency and his move to the Reagan White House. Well worth the read if you have an interest in presidential history.

[Flowergarden24 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting insight into the Nixon Buchanan relationship but I do not think it is an objective assessment of how great Nixon was. There is no mention of the Chennault affair which shows Nixon to be more interested in himself than peace in Vietnam and the lives of thousands of US soldiers. I wonder if Buchanan didn't know, doesn't know now, or refuses to acknowledge the very dark sides of that presidency which would not put Nixon on such a pedestal. I am glad I read this anyway because there are many viewpoints which should be heard. Many books reveal the motives behind many of Nixon's decisions and the tapes and records are available to all. Buchanan has an interesting life for sure.

[Teddy Dodger · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Had Nixon followed my advice and burned the [non-subpoenad] tapes, he would have saved his presidency and served out his term, and his reputation and place in history would not be what they are today' page 329

Not too sure about that chief. And generally there is a lot of 'Nixon followed my advice and it worked out great/Nixon didn't follow my advice and it worked out terribly' which is typical for an administration tell all.

But a very enjoyable read nontheless. If this story, of Pat as the Davey Crocket for Nixon's Alamo, is the tragedy, than the farce of 2020, which is looking like Trump's 1974 not his 1972, seems the best time to reread it.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the end, Buchanan calls this among the last to be written by a confidant who served in that White House from it first to its final days. The book is wonderfully written and includes numerous references and quotes from other Nixon era books, as well as White House memos and tapes. The book is must reading for anyone who is interested in knowing more about the hard scrabble world of politics at the very highest level. Great history and great politics. Thank you Pat Buchanan for sharing this with us. If you read only one book about Richard Nixon, this is the one. Jim

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

We didn't make it past WW I in high school history but if we did I don't think I would have learned anything like I did in this book. I could have used a a Watergate primer as this often fills in details assuming the reader knows the outline. Still, it's great insight (from a decidedly conservative position). A lot of political strategy in the background. As this was written recently, in the beginning it calls out the similarities in the press' treatment of Nixon and Trump, which related with me throughout the book. Highly recommended.

[Ricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patrick Buchanan painstakingly recalls inner White House discussions before and after, but mostly during, the Nixon administration. While referencing his memos, Buchanan provides an in-depth, behind the curtains, and honest - but not modest - look at President Nixon and "All the Presidents Men." While the story begins before Nixon's presidency and continues after Nixon left office, the most enthralling discussions involve the time from Pentagon Papers to Nixon's resignation.

[Michael Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very grateful to Pat Buchanan for this work. Anyone who truly wants to understand Nixon and the inner workings of the White House needs to read H.R. Haldemann's diaries and Pat Buchanan's works on Nixon. I was especially impressed with Buchanan's political strategies as they came through in his recommendations to the presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan. His understanding of the political landscape is amazing.

[Sk888888 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to give this one more than two stars; for me, just 1 and a half would suffice. When everything the author did or said was the right thing to do, and everything someone else in the administration said or did was the wrong thing to do, to make Nixon's Presidency the most amazing in US history - well, that gets old real fast. Added to my TBR list as an additional book for my Presidents challenge. Guess I'm glad I read it, but sad I will never get those reading hours back.