SIX CRISES (Richard Nixon Library Editions)

Rating:
Summary: Its OK
Review: Nixons only honest book. Much better than his post presidency books that are the same thing over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever written by a former President...
Review: Published in 1962, "Six Crises" by Richard Nixon is easily one of the best-written and most interesting books done by a US President. This book was a bestseller and even today it is regarded as a worthwhile read, largely because of its' insights into Nixon's mind and character. Fittingly, the book isn't an autobiography or a political memoir; instead it focuses upon what Nixon considered to be the six greatest moments of his political career up to 1961. The first crisis is the infamous "Hiss Case" in 1948, which elevated Nixon - then an unknown junior Congressman - into national prominence for the first time. The case started when Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist-turned-AntiCommunist magazine editor, accused Alger Hiss, a high-ranking member of the State Department, of being a Communist spy for Russia. The case made national headlines, and Nixon - a member of a congressional committee investigating Communism in the US - used the case as a springboard to the US Senate. The second crisis occurred during Nixon's first Vice-Presidential campaign in 1952, when he was accused by the press of being a crook who took bribes. Eisenhower considered forcing Nixon to resign as his running mate, but Nixon saved his career with the famous "Checkers" speech on national television (Nixon prefers to call it the "Fund" speech). The third crisis happened in 1955 when President Eisenhower had a serious heart attack, and until he recovered Vice-President Nixon had to be the "acting President" for a few weeks - a delicate task, but one Nixon performed quite well. In 1958 Vice-President Nixon and his wife Pat made a "goodwill" tour to South America, but were attacked and nearly killed by pro-Communist mobs in Venezuela - thus the fourth crisis. The fifth crisis came a year later when Nixon went to Moscow, where he engaged in a famous debate with Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev in a mock American "kitchen" that had been set up to show Russians how the ordinary American family lived. Although the debate was heated, most observers felt that Nixon had gotten the better of Krushchev. The most interesting part of the book for me was the last crisis - the legendary 1960 presidential campaign between Vice-President Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy. Nixon offers a well-written account of his view of the campaign. What really makes this book fascinating is what it reveals about Nixon the man - his emphasis on handling "crises", his obsession with maintaining his self-control during these crises, and the way in which he seems to place "events" above people - when talking about the mobs who attacked his limousine in Venezuela, he barely mentions his wife, who was also in grave danger - instead he focuses upon his own reaction to the attack and analyzes his own reaction to the mobs. In this book Nixon tries to present himself as a calm, cool, and rational man who always makes the best decisions - yet as his Presidency (and especially Watergate) would show, the "real" Nixon was often very different from the unemotional and logical figure presented in this work. Even so, this book is still a worthwhile read - it is very well-written and it examines several of the greatest events of a major politician's career from his personal perspective. Recommended!

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: Tells the story of 6 crises which happened at a very unstable time. Worth reading, even if you don't like Nixon.