RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read from a Great but Flawed President
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book for anyone.
Review: Although most people probably understand that Nixon's biggest contribution to this world was NOT having his middle name as a namesake for a supporting character from "The Simpsons," we could all probably use a little reminding every now and again. This book serves this task remarkably. In his memoirs, Nixon basically pours out most of his life, and greatly improves his image with objective readers, in my opinion. For those who are not aware of anything else involving Nixon other than Watergate, they will be intrigued at his relationship with his family, his political "Gusto," his "Checkers speech," his extremely Historic trip to China, and much, much more. This book is one that I heartily recommend to all who might read this review.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book for anyone.
Review: Although most people probably understand that Nixon's biggest contribution to this world was NOT having his middle name as a namesake for a supporting character from "The Simpsons," we could all probably use a little reminding every now and again. This book serves this task remarkably. In his memoirs, Nixon basically pours out most of his life, and greatly improves his image with objective readers, in my opinion. For those who are not aware of anything else involving Nixon other than Watergate, they will be intrigued at his relationship with his family, his political "Gusto," his "Checkers speech," his extremely Historic trip to China, and much, much more. This book is one that I heartily recommend to all who might read this review.

Rating:
Summary: the memoirs of richard nixon
Review: Crybaby liberals will hate him more, but real Americans will appreciate the greatest president ever. This isn't a phoney fairy tale out of camelot.

Rating:
Summary: Other than Nixon, no man knows his history...
Review: Despite all the garbage that is proliferated about Nixon today, anyone who reads RN's work will see the true Richard Nixon. Although you may detest his politics, you will understand his perspective and why he was motivated to living in the "fishbowl," was an ardent anti-communist, why he bombed Cambodia, and why he disliked the media. Although the reader may disagree with RN, he or she will understand his idealist goals of ending and inaugurating a new era of peace. Unfortunately, watergate happened and the U.S. would not recover until the Reagan administration. A must read for any person interested in Nixon and the work is far more resourceful than any of RN's biographers.

Rating:
Summary: Other than Nixon, no man knows his history...
Review: Despite all the garbage that is proliferated about Nixon today, anyone who reads RN's work will see the true Richard Nixon. Although you may detest his politics, you will understand his perspective and why he was motivated to living in the "fishbowl," was an ardent anti-communist, why he bombed Cambodia, and why he disliked the media. Although the reader may disagree with RN, he or she will understand his idealist goals of ending and inaugurating a new era of peace. Unfortunately, watergate happened and the U.S. would not recover until the Reagan administration. A must read for any person interested in Nixon and the work is far more resourceful than any of RN's biographers.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining read
Review: Dry in places (and bursting with denial) but fun to read nonetheless. I learned a few new tricks that may well work for me (providing, of course, that nobody else has read this book).

Rating:
Summary: In his own words
Review: For anyone fascinated by the only president in history to resign from office, Richard Nixon in his own words provides the first-hand account of the reasons for the events that triggered a national civil and presidential history crisis. "I saw Watergate as politics pure and simple," Nixon writes, adding he'd "play it tough" because his "enemies" would. But Nixon's downfall is put a part of this extensively written memoir, focusing also on the ex-president's incredible achievements as a peacemaker and his rise to national recognition as a fervent anti-Communist and his about-face in reaching out to the world's two most powerful communist countries (China and the former Soviet Union) once in office. Much of Nixon's own memories have been written in other publications, but this one adds (to a very limited degree) some reasons for the abstracts that were Richard Nixon. He tells us the night of his first presidential race loss to John F. Kennedy was the longest of his life, hinting that the election embittered him the rest of his public life. Yet, 12 years later, in 1972, when he was overwhelmingly endorsed by the American public in one of history's most lopsided presidential races, Nixon admittedly was unable to savor the mandate of the nation's choice, instead caught in some inexplicable dark mood caused by, Nixon profers, the looming storm of Watergate, his party's failure to wrest the House and Senate from the Democrats, or whatever else was at the core of the very man himself. Nixon, in his own words, is a mandatory addition to any Nixon library, and its historical value is apparent even if the reader disagrees with the man's explanation for some of the petty characteristics that brought down what may well have been one of the most productive presidential administrations in history.

Rating:
Summary: The Private Life Of A Public Man
Review: From his childhood in Whittier, CA, to his fall from grace with the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon relays his thoughts and ideas to the reader with excellent fluency and non-pretentious language and style. Nixon does not over-glorify himself, but he manages to show us both his good intentions and inevitable flaws. Recommended for anyone with the slightest interest in Nixon or US politics...it's far more readable and far more personal than any other book on Nixon.

Rating:
Summary: The master politician
Review: Great reading when taken in context. The master politician in his most ruthless form. This is how the REAL Washington works.