Rating: 
Summary: interesting but incopmlete
Review: Reeves's approach was the same he used in President Kennedy: Profile of Power, which worked well for JFK but not as seamlessly for RN. The author's approach in this book is to demonstrate Richard Nixon's isolation from fellow humanity and, we are to assume, the isolation's disastrous results. While portraying an insane Henry Kissinger (the book's most interesting element), the author illustrates the many physical and psychological barriers separating President Nixon from reality. Because this is a biography and not a book on Nixon's domestic policies, Nixon's personality and the events shaping his psychological orientation merit consideration. The author's myopic approach examines Nixon as President without insight into why Nixon's personality/psychology was composed/formed and its impact in Nixon as President. A biography of Richard Nixon cannot exclude his upbringing. Comprehending President Nixon requires at least a cursory sketch of Nixon growing up, Nixon at Duke, Nixon the Candidate, Nixon & communism, etc.. Although wonderfully articulated, Reeves's book ultimately fails to accomplish his objective of portraying Nixon alone. Until the book's conclusion, Reeve's approach was successful and captivating. However, this reader is mystified why Reeves chose to end the book before Watergate manifested itself completely. If Reeves really wanted to demonstrate Nixon alone in the White House, he needed to illustrate Nixon during the apex of the Watergate's investigation, the Supreme Court battle, after Erlickman and Haldeman were fired and during Nixon's Siberia/leper period following the decade after his resignation. Consider this book as one would Stephen Ambrose's wartime biography of Eisenhower, The Supreme Commander, without mentioning D-Day: it would still be interesting, but not complete.
Rating: 
Summary: Nixon vs Nixon
Review: Richard Reeve's biography President Nixon: Alone in the White House chronologically details the Richard Nixon presidency from the day he was inaugurated until the resignations of Haldeman and Ehrlichman. Reeve's depiction of the Nixon presidency will leave many shocked, appalled, and at times dumb founded. Those who read this book will find it an enlightening ride into the mind of Richard Nixon and his "close" associates. This book shows a man who was insanely paranoid, to the point where he would spend more time memorizing speeches then on the actual policy he was speaking of. A man who made racist and bigoted jokes routinely. Reeve's also shows a "softer" side of Nixon, one who believed he had to, and was, doing well for the world. Richard Nixon was a man out of touch with himself, staff, and family. This lack of comprehension for anyone around him and himself was evident through his staff and how unorganized they truly were. Often staff members would tap each others phones and hide behind one lie after another. One downfall to President Nixon was at times the book became tedious, thus making it hard to follow along and keep up with all the people. Those who grew up during the Nixon presidency or anyone curious about the man Richard Nixon, this book is for you. I highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks they know all about President Richard Nixon.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: Richard Reeves has done an outstanding job, again, in describing an administration from start to finish. His book "President Kennedy: Profile of Power" was superb. This book, which chronicles the Nixon Administration from his oath in 1969 to resignations of Haldeman and Ehrlichman in 1974, is also excellent. Although most know that Nixon was an awkward and insecure loner, most would not know how those traits dominated his work and his administration. This book gets into every nook and cranny of his time as President, providing fascinating details of his relationship with his aides, his constant concern with his image and his certainty that the "elite" of the Eastern Establishment were out to get him, and that they would get him. It is, in many ways, a sad tale of a bitter man, who in the end destroyed himself. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag
Review: Richard Reeves has wrote a book which contains both fascinating, vivid moments in the Nixon Presidency, as well as dull, generic points as well. Yes, Mr. Reeves, we get it - Nixon was a loner. Anybody interested enough to read 600 pages on the six years of the Nixon Presidency knows that. Aside from that, Reeves' writing is forgettable; only the fanatic Nixon scholar will be able to read all of "Alone in the White House" without making a conscious effort to remember, and digest, the paragraph just read. The book often feels like it is meandering, somehow lost, unable to develop a governing theme. But, even as Reeves bashes some points to death, he sometimes manages to find superb examples of what, exactly, Nixon the loner acted like. "Alone in the White House" shows the reader exactly how Nixon played with Kissinger's insecurities, exactly what Haldeman did that made him obsessively loyal, and exactly crude caricatures of sabotage, like Gordon Liddy, ended up being an operative of the President. If Reeves does one thing excellently in this novel, it is the personalities of the principle players in the Nixon White House. In describing the personalities of the principals, Reeves gives as good an insight as any other into the atmosphere that allowed Watergate to happen. You have an isolated President, cut off from all but three or four people, scribbling on legal pads future conversation lines to use in social gatherings. You have Kissinger, a Machiavellian National Security Advisor and one of the President's sole confidants, willing to do anything to win. You have a greek chorus of advisors telling Nixon that the press is out to get him, the liberal intellectuals are out to get him, the students are out to get him, that they'll all cut him up if given half a chance. Reeves takes far, far too long to get there, but he eventually has a cogent analysis of why Watergate happened. If that's your focus, and you don't mind wading through quite a bit of filler, pick up this book.
Rating:
Summary: Truly an enigmatic man and story...
Review: Richard Reeves takes a different tact (from his previous Presidential biography of JFK) in this comprehensive and, at the same time, haunting portrayal of Richard Nixon. Granted, there is more material available (compared to Kennedy's presidency) to make an in-depth judgement of the Nixon administration, but Reeves' appears to have also re-fit his writing style and reporting to this specific story and the results (in my opinion) are a major success. We see Nixon as an insecure and manipulative chief executive while at the same time scoring major Foreign policy coups (China and Moscow summit visits as examples...) and Reeves manages to weave these together in a very detailed but highly readable account that, I feel, paints Nixon fairly and accurately. Relying on many sources, and with the perspective of almost 30 years, Reeves presents surprisingly in-depth coverage of the inner-workings of the Nixon presidency...full of late 60's and early 70's domestic and foreign policy discussion that effectively sets the framework for the end of the Vietnam conflict as well as giving the reader a feeling of what it was like actually inside the White House. The little known fueding between Henry Kissinger and Secretary-of-State Bill Rogers is shown to be one of the major motivations behind Kissinger's somewhat duplicitous actions on the Foreign policy front along with the, at times, un-believably insecure actions and writings of Nixon himself...all the covert actions against perceived Presidential rivals, the Establishment and anyone else who got in his way (either real or imagined) is covered in explicit detail...making for fascinating reading. Watergate and it's slow dissolution of Nixon's Presidency is effectively covered as is the destruction of his staff and, ultimately, himself. The only critique I'd mention is that the book essentially ends with the "firings" of Haldeman and Erlichman and leaves the rest of his Presidential collapse in the Epilouge (with only a fraction of the detail found in previous chapters...makes me wonder if the "Haldeman Diaries" was the primary source). In the final analysis, the Nixon administration was famous for lying, cheating and inappropriate behaviour while at the same time being famous for opening major Foreign policy doors and Reeves' book presents both with equal treatment that should be added to essential reading of the Nixon administration.
Rating:
Summary: Nixon: Demons From Within
Review: Richard Reeves writes a thoughtful piece. He is a liberal and I expected a slight to heavy bias in the biography as many writers that hearken from that period become vitriolic in their assessment of Nixon but go light on Johnson and Kennedy. You have to weigh Nixon on the whole. Here is a personally flawed man filled with insecurities, jealousies, pettiness, and unwavering ambition while at the same time exhibiting some exceedingly thoughtful traits in international statesmanship and foreign policy initiatives that have served the country well. Having read much on Kennedy and Nixon, they both are very similar in many ways yet far different in their style and communication techniques. The book looks at the internal demons that Nixon wrestled with and gives us a picture of a man almost destroyed from within, a paranoid man perceiving enemies at every turn. Nixon's effectiveness came in his ability to see practical initiatives and sewing the seeds of discussion and dialogue with past enemies, turning many of those relationships around. Nixon is a compelling subject with far more value than historians are yet able to accord him. Reeves writes a good book that is well written. It is well worth the buy and a must for presidential biography readers. The book really does a great service to showing how isolated a president can feel and if those personalities flaws are brought to the job, how they can fester and destroy a presidency so quickly with actions that were never necessary. Will Reeves go after Johnson or Eisenhower next?
Rating: 
Summary: Just another hachet job.
Review: There are several good Nixon biographies out. Unfortunetly this tirade is not among them. Reeves comes across as your typical Kennedyphile straight out of the New York Times political desk. He complains that Nixon went to China as some form of undemocratic suprise on the country without any public debate. Could Reeves really be that out of touch. He talks of Nixon's desire to be seen as mysterious and of the Bobsey Twins first duty to keep everyone away from Nixon. As we can see from the most popular photo ordered from the National Achieve, Elvis didn't have much trouble getting in to see him. The staff memos leading up to that meeting belie Reeve's entire premise. Maybe they just didn't see the point of letting the Reeves ilk in. Yet, the bottom isn't reached until Reeves and some for hire Joyce Brothers undertake no less than a little post mordem clinical neurological analysis of Nixon's brain structure. Folks, I'm not making this up! Obviously, Reeves carries around a pathological hate for Nixon which he has parlayed into making a living.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Bland
Review: This is a very flat recitation of anecdotes of the Nixon presidency. In the first few pages we are reminded that Nixon was a brooding loner. The rest of the book provides supporting material.
Rating:
Summary: The who, what, when and where but sadly not the why
Review: To those of us old enough to remember the Nixon administration, it is not surprising that a chronicle of his presidency is a series of ancecdotes that leaves us shaking our head and completely baffled. This history deftly describes the "Nixon years" in a series of events painted for us as a series of tableaux. That it does quite admirably. We see him as a moody, paranoid, and impulsive man literally with his finger on the button. As public opinion of him, never very strong, wanes and his accomplishments pale under public approbation, we see him becoming more relentlessly isolated and desperate. One might then read this as the diary of a man descending into the very deepest despair. As a chronicle, then, this book succeeds. However, the most compelling aspect of the Nixon presidency is missing; its central question. How is is possible that this man who mistrusted so deeply the workings of a free society, who resented so many of its people, become its leader, and its spokesman to the world? We see here a Nixon that resents intellectuals, the media, racial groups, religious minorities, his predecessors, his successors, all Democrates, and on and on. This is a president who had his reelection wrapped up who still felt the need to bug his electoral opponents and undermine their campaign. Here is a man who can't run a shower and forever bans soup at state dinners because he mussed his shirt. Here is a man who regards any criticism whatsoever as forever condemning its author. We want to know how this all came to pass. The fascinating part is the understanding of what forces shaped him and led this adminstration to it ignominious end. Why did he want to be president at all? Why did we elect him? Why did he self-destruct? Certainly it is more than an acciddent of the times - filling the void left by the equally tragic Johnson's abdication. No, there must be a deeper story here that is not manifest in the day-to-day business. By depriving us of any image of Nixon's childhood, his dance with the Kennedy's and his ultimate election (admittedly not the focus of this book), and dropping us into his life on day one of the administration, we miss who Nixon was and get no perspective on the actions that are so meticulously described. Maybe it was all just an accident. Maybe it was an unresolved oedipal thing, as the movie Nixon suggests. I really think nthat neither are true. It is my belief that Nixon the man is a reflection of our society, that it is somehow born of the American independant spirit. We inherit our paranoia as a side-effect of our individualism. If Nixon is alone, we all are alone. There is something in what happened to Richard Nixon that calls to us all. His tragedy should pluck at some string in our soul. The inevitable, and relentless question, "Why?" is missing herein. President Nixon: Alone in the White House is a fascinating chronicle, but the Lear in this story, the workings of the tragedy that propelled him to an inevitable end, is sadly missing.
Rating:
Summary: FUNNIEST PRESIDENT IN WHITE HOUSE BOOK EVER
Review: We know President Richard M. Nixon did not know who he was. Now Richard Reeves gives us plenty of chapter and verse on a man who looked and sounded awkward no matter where-China or California, London or washington .Reeves makes it clear that Haldeman and Ehrichman ran the President...But he fails to tell us who ran Haldeman and Ehrlichman.Still, this is the funniest book on the presidency since Robert Caro's majestic view of Lyndon Baines Johnson, a true clown .
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