Nixon: The Education of a Politician, 1913-1962

I was 400 pages into this book when I realized there was no way that Ambrose was going to get through the Nixon Presidency and Watergate in the next 200 pages. Why is that relevant? Because the book was so interesting that I never even stopped to realize that it wasn't a single-volume biography. I picked it up used at a local book store and just assumed it was a one-volume bio... shame on me. But, the book was so well written that it just flowed and kept my attention. I didn't even notice I was running out of room. When I did realize I was running out of space and needed volumes II and III, I went online and ordered the second quickly so my journey into the Nixon presidency would go on without a beat. Volumes II and III are pretty pricy by the way. I bought the second and checked out the third. I'd suggest your local library for all 3. Of the three, I would say I liked the first the most because it talks about a Nixon that was a good guy. He handled himself with dignity under the worst of circumstances... for instance his VP trip to South America. You like Nixon in the first book. Ambrose paints a portrait of a nerdy guy that just happens to be an extremely gifted politician and is willing to play the cards necessary to make it in Washington. I liked all 3 volumes, but by far the first of the three in the series is the best. If you want to read all 3 though... brace yourself it adds up to more than 1900 pages on what I would consider one of the most interesting people in American history. Great job Ambrose... or at least great job to what had to have been a small army of researchers.

Like other controversial American politicians such as Bill Clinton and Franklin D. Roosevelt, there was little middle ground concerning how the public felt about Richard M. Nixon. To some Americans, Nixon was the most sleazy and two-faced man in American politics, and they despised him. As Adlai Stevenson, the two-time Democratic presidential candidate said in the fifties, Nixon was the kind of man who "would cut down a redwood tree, then climb on the stump and make a speech for tree conservation". But to other Americans, Nixon was a gutsy fighter from a poor family who had, through sheer hard work and intelligence, climbed up the ladder of success, only to be reviled by the wealthy "limousine liberals" whose success had come because of their family connections, not because they deserved to succeed, as Nixon had done. Not surprisingly, perhaps, books written about Nixon also tend to fall into one of these two categories - the "hatchet jobs" written by historians who obviously dislike Nixon and print every negative thing they can find about him; and the mostly admiring books written by his former aides and supporters who defend his actions and attack his enemies as "hypocrites" who did the same things as Nixon, but just never got caught (partly because they were protected by a liberal news media). Stephen Ambrose, one of America's most prominent historians and a former Nixon critic, nonetheless provides what is probably still the most balanced and fair-minded account of Nixon's dramatic life and career with this book. Published in 1987, "Nixon: The Education of a Politician" follows Nixon from his bleak and rather sad childhood to his two bitter defeats for political office - first to John Kennedy in the 1960 presidential race (a campaign which was so close that Nixon believed until the day he died that Kennedy had "stolen" the election from him) and his devastating loss to Democrat Pat Brown in the 1962 California governor's race - a defeat which led many experts to write off Nixon as a political "dead duck" and has-been. Unlike many of Nixon's previous biographers, Ambrose manages to keep his feelings about Nixon to himself and instead he concentrates on telling a well-written, well-researched account of Nixon's life. As Ambrose writes, Nixon had good reason to be somewhat bitter about his life - his father was one of life's "losers" who seemed to fail at almost everything he did, despite years of backbreaking work. The Nixons were a hard-luck family - oil was discovered on land the Nixons had once owned but sold just before drilling began; two of Nixon's beloved brothers died from tuberculosis while young, causing his mother to put enormous pressure on Richard to be successful in life and make up for the family's loss. By the time Nixon entered college he was a very bright and energetic, but also cold and aloof, young man who had a hard time making friends and having fun - he was always so "serious" and grim-looking, his mother remembered. At D

Its easy to hate Richard Nixon, and not only because of Watergate. Democrats despised him because of the Vietnam War and the confrontational stance he took towards anti-War protestors. Many Republicans, when asked to give their honest opinion, denounce those many aspects of his 6 years in office that were far from either conservative principles or mainstream Republican ideas, whether its the disaster of wage-and-price controls or what some saw as capitulation to a murderous regime in China. Its harder to understand Richard Nixon, both his spectacular successes and his similarly spectacular, and in the end irrational, failures. Stephen Ambrose, by no means a Nixon partisan, goes along way toward some kind of understanding in this first of a three volume biography.Contrary to some reviews, I don't find Ambrose to be overly sympathetic in his portrayal of Nixon during these early years (or, as some might call it, Nixon: Act One). If anything, by focusing on the sometimes pitiful aspects of Nixon's early life, Ambrose seems to provide some clues into the development of the man whose character flaws would ultimately destroy him. When combined with the story that Ambrose unfolds in Volumes Two and Three of this series, one begins to the understand the reasons that Nixon was Nixon, and one wonders if he could have turned out any different.Together with Volumes Two and Three of this series, this book qualifies as one of the best Presidential biographies in American history. As Ambrose demonstrates, whether you love Richard Nixon or hate him, his importance in the history of America during the last half of the 20th Century cannot be denied.

Although I remember the Watergate scandal and Nixon's impeachment, I was too young to appreciate what was happening. In subsequent years I just assumed that Nixon was a dirty underhanded SOB who clawed his way to power by whatever means necessary. Stephen Ambrose, in a Booknotes session on CSpan, indicated that he was reluctant to embark on a biography of Nixon because of his visceral dislike of the man. After doing his homework and uncovering the facts about Nixon, a much different picture emerged than that which most of us associate with him. He was out in front in the 1950s, as Vice President, lobbying for Civil Rights when it was seen as a guaranteed political loser. Stephen Ambrose concluded Nixon was extraordinarily complex, and I can see why. He's capable of such principled integrity, yet cursed with a competetive nature that drives him to the depths of the gutter in pursuit of political victory. On the whole I came away from this book with a lot of admiration for Nixon. I doubt he would have been much fun to drink with, a feeling Eisenhower seemed to share. Eisenhower's ambivalent feelings about Nixon the man seemed to make him reluctant to give his whole-hearted support to Nixon's presidential campaign. Given the slim margin by which he lost to JFK, one can understand that Nixon might be embittered as a result. As usual, Mr. Ambrose has written a hugely informative and entertaining book.

I admit it. I went into this book with a biased view against the late Richard M. Nixon. I was born after the Watergate Scandal broke and everything I had learned about the guy through media accounts, magazine articles, and immediate family members was generally negative. I discovered that Nixon was a liar (i.e. "Tricky Dick"), a thief, and a general blowhard. Surprisingly, I came out of this book with an entirely different impression of the man. I liked him! Stephen E. Ambrose has produced a three-part biography that provides us with two entirely opposite sides of Nixon -- the early spiritual Quaker Nixon and the later untrusting political Nixon. Beautifally written, this book accomplishes an amazing feat. It humanizes Nixon and shows why he made the decisions he made. From boyhood to resignation, it covers major events in his life cover-to-cover. Anyone accustomed to the Ambrose style knows this simple fact, Steve does his research and presents the unbiased facts in an enjoyable fashion. In no way does Ambrose (or myself for that matter) excuse Richard M. Nixon for his actions that led to his fall, but Ambrose also provides us with the answer to why Nixon ended up doing the things that he did. Tremendous work... Great read