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Biography & Autobiography. History. Politics. Nonfiction. HTML:From a prize-winning biographer comes the defining portrait of a man who led America in a time of turmoil and left us a darker age. We live today, John A. Farrell shows, in a world Richard Nixon made. At the end of WWII, navy lieutenant â??Nickâ?ť Nixon returned from the Pacific and set his cap at Congress, an idealistic dreamer seeking to build a better world. Yet amid the turns of that now-legendary 1946 campaign, Nixonâ??s finer attributes gave way to unapologetic ruthlessness. The story of that transformation is the stunning overture to John A. Farrellâ??s magisterial biography of the president who came to embody postwar American resentment and division. Within four years of his first victory, Nixon was a U.S. senator; in six, the vice president of the United States of America. â??Few came so far, so fast, and so alone,â?ť Farrell writes. Nixonâ??s sins as a candidate were legion; and in one unlawful secret plot, as Farrell reveals here, Nixon acted to prolong the Vietnam War for his own political purposes. Finally elected president in 1969, Nixon packed his staff with bright young men who devised forward-thinking reforms addressing health care, welfare, civil rights, and protection of the environment. It was a fine legacy, but Nixon cared little for it. He aspired to make his mark on the world stage instead, and his 1972 opening to China was the first great crack in the Cold War. Nixon had another legacy, too: an America divided and polarized. He was elected to end the war in Vietnam, but his bombing of Cambodia and Laos enraged the antiwar movement. It was Nixon who launched the McCarthy era, who played white against black with a â??southern strategy,â?ť and spurred the Silent Majority to despise and distrust the countryâ??s elites. Ever insecure and increasingly paranoid, he persuaded Americans to gnaw, as he did, on grievancesâ??and to look at one another as enemies. Finally, in August 1974, after two years of the mesmerizing intrigue and scandal of Watergate, Nixon became the only president to resign in disgrace. Richard Nixon is a gripping and unsparing portrayal of our darkest president. Meticulously researched, brilliantly crafted, and offering fresh revelations, it… (more)
User reviews
Farrell’s life of Richard Nixon revolves around the political life of the United States from the end of World War II to the end of the Vietnam War, in which he was a significant player. The biography begins with how Nixon entered politics before going into his childhood, courtship of Pat, and experience in World War II. While Farrell doesn’t ignore Nixon’s family life after 1946, this is essentially a political biography because that’s how Nixon lived his life. His red-baiting tactics in 1946 and 1950 heralding the McCarthy era are examined in full, the Alger Hiss case is examined in full, Nixon’s role in Eisenhower’s nomination is revealed, his friendship then antagonism with the Kennedys is full revealed, and his hate-hate relationship with the press and the Establishment is a constant theme. Once in the Oval Office however Farrell’s focus of the biography revolves around Vietnam and the events that lead up to the momentous events both foreign and domestic of 1972 that would define his legacy. With just under 560 pages of text, Farrell had a lot of history and politics that he needed choose what to focus on and what to breeze by. I did not agree with some of Farrell’s decisions when it came to Nixon’s time in the White House as it felt he was short shifting some things, not Vietnam, so he could get to Watergate; however, Farrell’s time spent on the Bangladesh Liberation War/Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 revealed new information to me and was a great addition.
Richard Nixon: The Life is a well written and informative biography of the 37th President of the United States that John A. Farrell did an impressive job in researching and authoring. While I had minor grips with Farrell’s decisions during Nixon’s years in the White House, it doesn’t undermine the overall quality of the book.
parents, the Quaker mother, Hannah, and the rogue father, Frank. It is mostlly as a result of these two that he is so screwed up/. Farrell praises him when he deserves it, mostly his friendship with many blacks in the 50s
and rips him when he screws up. especially on the 68 election. where Dick told the South Vietnamese not to join the Peace talks in Paris when we had only lost 30,000 soldiers. Very matter of fact. The author has done his homework, reading all of the Haldeman notes which corroborated the 68 story.
Amongst my earliest memories during the early/mid 1970s was the ubiquity of the word Watergate. Somehow I imagined it was related to the games of dominos that my grandparents played with their friends. The
Perhaps it is hubris, whatever the motivation--it is daunting to attempt to encapsulate a man's life in 540 pages, especially as one as involved Richard M. Nixon. Beginning in WWII and then retracing back to Nixon's birth and ancestors, a conflicted portrait emerges, fuelled by the dueling temperaments of his parents. Nixon--ever insecure--always felt his success while girded by hard work was purely coincidental. Dumb luck.
“Nixon “didn’t give a damn” about the finer points of domestic policy, said aide Tom Huston. “All he wanted to do was to keep the sharks away.” And so many progressive measures, crafted with the help of his administration, made their way to Nixon’s desk, where he acquiesced, signed his name, and took his just share of the credit.
The foreign policy aspects of the book were riveting, domestic less so. It is important to recognize that during the 1950s Nixon was a much more vocal supporter of civil rights than Eisenhower, Johnson or Kennedy. Nixon felt betrayed then when African-Americans voted for Kennedy in the 1960 election.
Nixon's entreaties with the Soviets and the Chinese are simply breathtaking. His approach to strife in the subcontinent is abominable. As was the stewardship of Vietnam -- though who amongst his storied predecessors handled it better?
A very human biography of a most human president.
I often found myself
And do, I will cop out and rate it 3.5 stars. But definitely worth the read.
For a single volume bio I would highly recommend.