Nixon's Ten Commandments of Leadership and Negotiation: His Guiding Principles of Statecraft

by James C. Humes

From Simon & Schuster, Nixon's Ten Commandments of Leadership and Negotiation is James C. Humes' exploration of Nixon's guiding principles of statecraft.

Interweaving vignettes that capture Nixon's skills as a strategist and negotiator of foreign policy, a former White House speech writer illuminates the essential rules that brought Nixon success and shows how they can be applied by leaders in every field.

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 1998

About the author

James C. Humes was Ronald Reagan's speechwriter. He also wrote speeches for George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon and Dwight Eisenhower. He has served as a communications advisor to major U.S. corporations, including IBM and DuPont. He is the author of twenty-three other books.

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These 10 commandments are a quick, easy-to-digest read on how Nixon and other select world personalities approached delicate tasks of getting others to say "yes". Nixon comes across as a highly-intelligent, highly-capable leader. Humes' insight into the man, and skill as a professional writer, makes Nixon's skills and intellect accessible to the reading audience in neatly packaged soundbites.

The trouble I had with this book is that Humes had an axe to grind when it came to Nixon. Several anecdotes in the Ten Commandments came across as "build up Nixon by tearing down others"--most surprisingly Henry Kissinger, most vigorously Jimmy Carter. This tear-down detracted from the stories of Nixon's accomplishments, and made the read less enjoyable. Had Humes focused on the positive, his underlying message would have been better received.

Finally, this is categorized as a business book, and Humes makes a woeful attempt at tying the principles back to the business world. While the commandments certainly apply, Humes application of these principles to the business world is disjointed from the rest of the book making for awkward reading. He would have been better served to have included the business world tie-back to the epilogue, where he could have investigated their application more fully.

Read this book for Nixon anecdotes... draw your own conclusions on application to the business world.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that has some intersting historical bits to it.

Probably one of the most useful books I've read in my life.

[Maxo Marc]

That dude may not have been the persom but he knew diplomacy.