RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon

A good autobiography is one in which the author shares himself with the reader, his dreams and aspirations, his joys and sorrows and if you are lucky, his inner thoughts and emotions. President Richard Nixon does this in his memoirs and when you finish this massive book, you feel for the guy, understand him better and realise that the public at large do not understand or appreciate one of the greatest presidents of all time. That may sound like a big statment, but when you look at what Nixon accomplished both domestically and foreign policy wise, you realise that this man did more than most presidents to shape the world into a better place. He opened China in 1972 and used the leverage of his visit to conclude the ABM and SALT I treaties with the USSR. He strengthened NATO and always accorded foreign leaders with great respect. He brought the US back from the brink of civil war by ending the Vietnam war, abolishing the draft and cracking down on extremists like the Weatherman. He created the Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA)and reformed healthcare and the welfare system. Great acheivements obscured by Watergate: this book helps explain Nixon's mistakes in handling the situation, and he doesn't hide his criminal behavoir. But you understand that he played by the rules of his predessors who also bugged people and covered up, but that he got caught for it. A Greek Tragedy was Nixon's life, but what I take home from his book is the man's intellegence, his vision and his belief in never giving up until you have reached the mountain's summit.

I first read this memoir 20 years ago. I was in my early twenties but even then it caught my interest and held it throughout the whole book. I have recently looked through it again. It's a lengthy tome, but well-written, with good characterization, and details that enlivens events for the reader. It was the first of its genre to turn me onto other presidential memoirs but none I read afterwards ever matched the depth of his.The book not only describes his personal and family life but key players and world events at the time, a good study in political history now. There was plenty going on during his presidential years, a war abroad and civil unrest at home. He did not end the war as soon as he should have - the memoirs could not dodge this, as well they should not. That fact alone, and the loss of life entailed by it, mattered more to me than Watergate ever did.But I liked and respected Nixon, even during the Watergate years. And in his memoirs, he was candid about his actions of those days and accepting of the consequences. Whatever else history may say about him, Richard Nixon had been a major political figure for many years of his life, served his country and cared deeply about it.

"Even Richard Nixon has got soul", wrote Neil Young in his song 'Campaigner'. This book chronicles Richard Nixon's rise and fall with candid honesty and demonstarates a warmth and human falibilty that does indeed afirm Young's lyric.I was surprised at Mr. Nixon's book in that I was unsympathetic at the time with his handling of Vietnam and felt he was out of touch with the vast anti-war movement in the USA. I feel now that he was harshly judged and that he should be saluted for his untiring efforts to maintain freedom and democracy in Asia.The best parts of the book are when he describes meetings with other world leaders and provide a fascinating insight into the process of diplomacy at the highest level of goverment.The Watergate sections are complicated and one is left with the impression that he got into a hole and could'nt stop digging.I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the machinations of high politics and anyone who wishes an insight into a turbulent period in American history.

Having read this book, I can finally say that I am historically informed as to the time in question. I myself was born long after the events told here. A major portion of the book's interest is based upon hearing an exhaustive detailed report on the day to day functions of the Presidency. The fact that Nixon actually wrote his book, unlike Kennedy, whose Pulitzer Prize winner was ghost-written, makes it all the more enjoyable. Nixon's side of the story is finally told in a skillful manner that cannot be interrupted by the harrangue of some foolishly inept liberal intent on forcing their own opinion of a complicated era. Finally, Nixon's mistakes do not qualify him as the greatest criminal of the twentieth century, as one reviewer so eloquently wrote. If Nixon did in fact have knowledge of the Watergate break-in, (and it is hard to believe he did not) then he is still no worse than Truman, LBJ, or even the greatly beloved John F. Kennedy. It is a singular characteristic of liberal thinking to declare that a "third rate burglary," is worthy above mass murder etc, for the title of worst crime and the person by whom the burglary was ostensibly commited the worst criminal. Nixon's greatest asset to the common man was that he did not shrink from the political arena that was from the beginning tilted against him. The elitist minority of this country remains, sadly, under the delusion that the disappearance of Nixon from the national scene put to death the existence of the great silent majority. America still more closely resembles the rough edges and imperfection of Nixon that it does to the unrealistic and contrived memory of Kennedy as a lust and corruption tainted savior.

Nixon's book is excellent reading and a must for all those who appreciate history. He's a good writer, and easy to pick up for the average reader. Scholars will also enjoy it. There's a good chunk of the American Century covered in this tome: he becomes a Congressman in the late 1940s, and you get to learn about HUAC and the Alger Hiss case which made him famous. Then he is quickly a Senator until he's tapped by Ike to be Vice-President. Next his failed presidential bid and governor bid of the '60s. Then the comeback that no one thought was possible. Nixon is really insightful in this book. He spends the most time on his presidency and it's really interesting. It ends after his presidency in the '70s, so you have over 25 years of political history plus his personal life before that. It's a very long book (1000+ pages) but well worth it.