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Rating: 
Summary: Propaganda--not history
Review: "No President since Abraham Lincoln has recieved such negative press as Richard Nixon," was the comment of one writer. Without a doubt, while Lincoln was president in 1860, he was ridiculed by his own cabinet, called a tyrant, demonized in the press, dealt pragmatically with a divided nation, and was perhaps one of the most hated individuals in the United States.
Furthermore, he suffered from great depression, and according to some of his closest associates was even suicidal. It was not until nearly 50 years after his death that the nation and the world began to appreciate the sacrifes he made for the U.S. Likewise, like the hostile press towards Lincoln, Anthony Summers is comparable to a Southern fire-eater trying to destroy a courageous and competent President who was forced to make decisive decisions in the most turbulent decade since the Civil War.
To begin with, Summers methodology of research is very troubling. Rather than sift through primary sources and interpret history for himself and others, he has largely taken "claims" of secondary sources and sensationalized them. Furthermore, many of the individuals he interviewed, particularily those close to Nixon, claim that Summers was dishonest with them and that he distorted their answers. Many of Summers' claimed interviews were with people that are now dead. So, this forces one to ponder, based on Summers' dubious interviews that are documented, if he also fabricated the interviews of those who are now unable to speak.
As for the content, Summers really offers nothing new on Nixon. Summers basically takes claims by Nixon's opponents and acts as if its some new groundbreaking discovery. Take for instance Nixon beating his wife Pat black and blue. There is no substantial evidence to back this up. As for Nixon sabotaging LBJ's peace iniative, Dr. Robert Dallek had already explored the possibility of Nixon contacting Thieu in 1968. As Dallek, the definitive expert on LBJ has written, it is only a possibility with no evidence to back it up. It is not a "new revelation" as Summers claims.
Moreover, Summers fails to address that Dean Rusk admitted that LBJ and Humphreys and the North Vietnamese engineered the bombing halt so Nixon would not get elected. There was never a Johnson peace iniative, the North Vietnamese wanted Humphreys to get elected because they knew they could manipulate him as easily as they had Johnson. Furthermore, LBJ believed that Vietnam was a just cause and he supported Nixon's stand on Vietnam. Once again, Summers fails to provide the whole picture of the 1968 election.
In conclusion, it is evident that none of Summers claims are nothing but sensationalistic journalism being used by a babyboomer tabloid reporter who does not have an objective opinion of Mr. Nixon. The facts are this, Nixon was a dedicated father, a brilliant man, and a master of foreign policy.
In the end, history will record that Nixon was right about Vietnam all along. Ho Chi Minh was not an Agrarian Reformer and he did not have overwhelming support of the people. While the war-protesters were blowing up buildings, assasinating innocent americans, and rooting for 'Uncle Ho,' Nixon always proclaimed that if the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam, the North would invade and massacre the South. After the Democratic Congress cut off all aid to South Vietnam, Nixon was forced to sign an imperfect agreement. And what happened was exactly what he predicted: the North Vietnamese invaded the South and slaughtered thousands and thousands more died trying to flee the oppression of the North. Thousands more were sent to re-education camps or executed. So much for the "national war of liberation" that the opponents of the war proclaimed.
It is obvious that Summers is a tabloid journalist and not a historian. Rather than write history he is trying to create it. There are no substance to any of his charges, his evidence is without basis, and his methods are dubious.
Rating:
Summary: The Nixon Century
Review: After reading Anthony Summers book and reading a number of the customer reviews, I would have to conclude that "The Arrogance of Power" was indeed propaganda rather than fact. I have read many books on Watergate and Nixon, and many of them were very unfair to Nixon, but Summers takes the cake. The book is based on mainly secondary sources and the opinions of others. Infact, on the very first page there is an inaccuracy: Summers states that John Ehrlichman knew Nixon better than most, but, if Summers had read Ehrlichman's book "Witness to Power", he would have known that Ehrlichman only had a professional relationship with Nixon that went as "sour as a relationship could." Even Ehrlichman admited he hardly knew Nixon, so why can't Summers discern the facts. Books like Summers are very frustrating because the purpose is not to seriously study a subject but to distort the truth. And, that is what Summers does, as you read the book and notice errors and the weak footnotes, you realize that the author's purpose is to decieve the reader. And, unfortunately, according to the number of positive reviews customers gave this book, Summers has decieved many.
Rating: 
Summary: An Obituary
Review: Anthony Summers setting of his decision to spend five plus years working the details of the life of Nixon is important. Along with Norman Mailer, he was pissed off at the obits cranked out in 1994 on Nixon's death, Obits written in the spirit of the cover-up. Perhaps the best way to frame this book is an obit crafted by an enemy list wanna-be. As yet another citizen still distressed at being left off that famous list -- I think Summers got Richard M. Nixon right on. "Arrogance" is a full biography crafted around a collection of psychological insights into the subject -- it is a tale of one soul's journey through 20th century American Politics -- a tale of predictable disasters. It is so much more than Watergate, though readers knowledgable of Watergate detail will find much here that is new, and demands integration into one's Watergate fact file. But since Nixon materials are scheduled to be opened by various archives well into the second quarter of the 21st century, we probably will need more Summers-like books, books that synthesize new materials either as additions or corrections into the detailed analysis of Nixon. But in year 2000 Summers adds it up as follows: Nixon as a kid learned telling the truth frequently led to a whipping, telling lies avoided that possibility. He learned to stuff his emotions so deep, they never really matured. He came to doubt his parents evangelical Quaker piety -- but he never explored so as to replace it with a mature value and belief system. He was ripe to be caught by that place where the American Mafia and American Business intersect, and need presentable political actors. In 1946 they needed a vet, good education, someone with a velvet fist to bust the labor movement, someone who would serve interests so long as he was well paid, (under the table mind you). Nixon got and took the offer -- and Summers details the whole long list of transactions that salt Nixon's rise...all the way to the post resignation annual visits to his secret Swiss Bank Accounts. Much has been made in the press of the possible physical abuse of Pat Nixon at her husband's hand -- the sources are interesting, but not convicting. Nonetheless, the narrative is filled with instances of psychological abuse, a profound story of attachment disorder. One wonders why no one speculated about this during the long Nixon public career? Summers provides the basis for raising the question needing debate -- how was it that a political party selected this flawed person for leadership? Just reading through the sources one understands Nixon's intimates knew something of the truth -- but they nominated him twice for Vice President, and three times for President -- we need to comprehend why. His own psychologist seemed to know in 1951 that he could not handle stress, but professional ethics of course kept him from speaking out. His profound problems with truth and trust were apparent to his political allies -- but they turned away from the responsibility to act. Summers does not ask these questions, but readers ought to consider them.
Rating:
Summary: Tricky Dick Was One Ambitious Crook
Review: Summers is one superb writer who had weaved together Nixon's heretofore largely unknown background. Because his work was published 26 years after Nixon's fall from office, Summers had benefitted from newly declassified documents, newly released White House tapes and the latest published memoirs and articles of Nixon's players. Additionaly, he and his staff had interviewed 1000 people, including some in prison. The author is a diligent researcher who had corroborated his 5 year effort with 120 smaller print pages of source notes.
Irrespective of Nixon's political achievements, the unbiased reader will become convinced that Richard Nixon was one overly desperate man: One insecure politician obsessed with challengers; he had bluffed his way to power by fraud, trickery and cunning media showbiz. Most citizens are aware only of the Daniel Ellsberg and Watergate break-ins, not of the 100 other smaller scale office and apartment break-ins of Nixon's adversaries. Whether the reader wants to believe if Nixon was a crook or not: The bottom line is that Richard Nixon became the first president of the United States ever to resign from office in disgrace.
Rating:
Summary: Eye-Opening And Curtain-Shredding.
Review: Those who thought Oliver Stone's film "Nixon" was mostly fiction and the Nixon loyalists who dismissed it as grotesque invention will have to eat their words after reading Anthony Summer's "The Arrogance Of Power." It is finally the Nixon bio we have been waiting for. Incredibly well-detailed and researched, this book is a shattering document not just of the Nixon era, but of the American political landscape as a whole. Like Summer's previous book, "Officual And Confidential," which exposed the dark secrets of FBI director J.Edgar Hoover, "The Arrogance Of Power" strips Richard Nixon away of mythic shields and dwelves into the truths behind the man's personality. Summers has done a great work of scholarship, silencing Nixonites like Stephen Ambrose who dare never to stare into the realities of government and power. This book is a fascinating exploration into the way the world really works and the way politics really works. The political world is a jungle and Nixon was one of the best players in it. The book explores Nixon's deep mental disturbances and his hate towards the Kennedys. It reveals Nixon could turn into a violent man and would even beat his wife Pat at times. Witnesses and testimonies are presented and it is clear Nixon could never escape history as he wished he could. "The Arrogance Of Power" takes us into the real world of government and it's dark corners, showing us a collage of characters like senators, presidents, gangsters, CIA spies and dictators. What we get is a portrait of a man who was a brilliant politician but disturbed and driven by the taste of power and his knowledge of what goes on behind the closed doors of the halls of government. Here is one of the great recent American biographies.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and well-researched
Review: Whoever claims that this book is badly researched hasn't read it! Summers has collected enough persuasive evidence in his Nixon biography to prove that this was a man that should never have become president of the United States. This book leads its readers to a more important question for today's world: is there something wrong in the way America's leader (and thus the most powerful politician in the world) is (s)elected? Events in autumn 2000 have shown that with the support of big business weak political figures can still achieve the highest office of the land. This is not to say that George Bush Jr. and Richard Nixon share the same character flaws. But if there's a message in Summers' book it is this: political funding by the big business interests must be properly regulated and restricted if a repeat of the Nixon desaster is to be avoided. Over to you, Senator Mc Cain!
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