As i continue to be drawn to books about the Administration of Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States I thought he might be a good subject for a blog post independent of the books. The sheer volume of the writing is staggering and brings to us the fact that Nixon was much more than the great political villain some easy history paints him as today. Some of the books that I have read, with some reviewed, are:
- Master of the Game (Kissinger’s Middle East Diplomacy.)
- Three Days at Camp David (Nixon’s move to take the dollar off the gold standard)
- The Nixon Defense (John Dean on Watergate)
- Nixon and Mao: The Week that Changed the World (The Nixon opening to China)
- The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan (Part of Rick Perlstein’s great multi-book series on the rise of the right)
- White House Years (The first of the three volumes of Kissinger’s Memoirs)
- The Making of the President 1960 (Teddy White’s first run at a campaign book. It set the standard for much that followed.)
- Nixonland The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America. (Another from Perlstein)
- American Maelstrom The 1968 Election and the Politics of Division (Superb effort by Michael Cohen)
- All The Presidents Men (Woodward Bernstein)
- The Last Days (Woodward Bernstein)
- Nixon The Education of a Politician 1913-1962 (Part 1 of 3 from Steve Ambrose)
Nixon’s presidential administration has, without question, left plenty to write about., as has his full career. Much of that legacy is tarnished, and not only by Watergate. A fair look at the totality of the record shows us that whatever your view of Nixon he ranks as one of the largest American figures of the 20th century. LBJ has had a similar volume of material written, and stands with Nixon as one of the most impactful Americans of the 20th century. (We eagerly await the final volume on LBJ from Robert Caro, but I digress.)
An amazing Nixon fact is that he was on every national Republican ticket, except for 1964, for 20 years. (1952, 1956, 1960, 1968, and 1972) In 1964, despite not being on the ticket, he was still a major player in the process. A dominant player in the GOP, and nationally. Hard to see anyone ever replicating that.
Nixon was also a U.S. Congressman and Senator, and from those perches managed to have an outsized impact on U.S. foreign policy. This influence was both partisan and influential, as Democratic Administrations (Truman, Kennedy, LBJ) always had to be mindful of Nixon’s attacks from the right. He managed to get these folks looking over their shoulders, concerned about the potential criticism. (Who lost China?) In my view it is one of the most important aspects of Nixon’s career. Even out of office he had some measure of influence and an ability to get Democratic Presidents unnerved.
Nixon, of course, is very much linked to Watergate. As time marches on and memories fade he likely will be known more for that than anything. His actions with regard to Watergate were an abomination, for the country, and for Nixon personally. Despite that legacy he managed to partially rehabilitate himself in the years after his resignation, There have been some recent news stories about newly released correspondence from President Nixon to then President Bill Clinton. A link to the WSJ story is below. Nixon, at 81, provided to Clinton some sage advice, and though the story was just getting started, some incredibly prescient observations/advice on Russia, and Ukraine.
Nixon also said that Moscow’s relationship with Kyiv would worsen. Though the dynamic had improved during Yeltsin’s tenure, the situation in Ukraine was “highly explosive.” “If it is allowed to get out of control,” Nixon warned, “it will make Bosnia look like a PTA garden party.”
“The Ukraine War Would Not Have Surprised Richard Nixon” Luke A. Nichter Wall Street Journal July 21, 2023
Bill Clinton, in giving the eulogy at the Nixon funeral, said that Nixon needed to be judged for the totality of his career, and not just on one part of it. While the totality, besides Watergate, was not always positive there were indeed some remarkable moments and achievements.
The books by Perlstein referenced above, and the American Maelstrom book by Cohen, are not kind to Nixon. They do show what a major impact his career had on American politics, and how that influence is still felt today.
Nixon was never considered to be a man with a great sense of humor, but even he got into the Rowan & Martin Laugh In craze that swept the country during his second campaign for the Presidency in 1968. His brief but memorable appearance on Laugh In was a big success for him. I think he delivered the line perfectly. His letter to President Clinton, referenced above, is below. The Clinton eulogy for Nixon is below. More on Nixon to come.
The Wall Street Journal Article is linked here.
Bill Manzi.com 