<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: In the beginning....
Review: For the record, this is an excellent book, and I too have read almost countless books on Nixon the last 25 years. The research is excellent, and perhaps for one of the first times we get to see Richard Nixon in the early years, without the baggage he is saddled with by people looking back. Still, there are problems with that: while Gellman can claim the early campaigns were nothing compared to later years, for their time they were shocking. It was a departure from the standards, and he was forever recognized as a campaigner that would go as far as necessary to win. The personal notes Gellman quotes from in the early years are insightful. Unfortunately, personal insights are missing by the end of the book: one wonders if Mr. Nixon stopped writing notes, or just stopped writing such personal ones. There are a surprising number of grammatical errors in the book (at least 5, perhaps more) but the surprise is due to Mr. Gellman's diligence in his research. Do not let these small errors prevent you from reading one of the few books on Nixon that attempts to provide a fresh look without apology, and without anger.
Rating: 
Summary: A Real Contender
Review: I disagree with the gentleman above. I have read over 40 books on Nixon and found 'the Contender' a cracking read. It covers in depth the period between 1946-52, from his legal and military days right up to his days as a Senator. Most other books gloss over this period but this author has delved deep into many archives to reveal the story as it was. Again other books tend to distort the facts of Nixon's early political years her you will fins the msot accurate read I have found!
Rating:
Summary: A Welcome Change
Review: I have never been very knowledgable about Richard Nixon. When I picked up this book, I was pleasantly surprised by what I learned. This book is an honest and factual portrayal of a man who served his country, and not the poobah of Watergate scandals.It is so refreshing to learn about the man and not just read criticism after criticism. Nixon's great character and accomplishments are in this book, and I recommend it to any student of political science or just fans of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable Assessment of Nixon's Other Side
Review: Richard Nixon, to most, is America's most controversial president of the last century. An intelligent and competent person (Nixon was awarded a scholarship to Harvard University), and an adept politician, he was also the first American president to resign (announced on 8 August, 1974), the result of his 'Watergate' connection. Nixon was not a public's darling. His Watergate involvement, his resignation, the "Tricky Dick" image is what most Americans (and the world) remember about the former president. This unfortunate reality is due to the fact that many authors only dare to write about the negative side of the person. But not Irwin Gellman. THE CONTENDER is a passionate, remarkably intelligent and unmatched account of Richard Nixon's other side- the "other Nixon" every student of politics, whether of the Left, Centre or Right, should understand and appreciate. Gellman's book is intelligent, impressively researched, and written in a readable manner. The portrayal of the subject is stimulating, balanced and sensible, a portrayal that will surely provoke many readers.
Rating: 
Summary: Labels galore
Review: The book is well-written, it is effective in presenting details of Nixon's early career, and it bends over backward to be fair toward him. It does not bend over backward to be fair to everyone else: Gellman finds it too easy to lump New Deal liberals with Socialists and Communists - making it seem the only difference that he sees between them is shades of pink. That makes it hard to accept his arguments about red-baiting - arguments that are important to Gellman's treatment of Nixon as an honorable, ethical lawmaker ... Still, this is a stimulating work and one that taught me a lot about one of America's most fascinating political characters.
Rating:
Summary: Epitome of historical research
Review: The Contender is by far the most objective, well-researched, and best historical work on Richard Nixon. Instead of focusing on the slurs and character assasinations that make up most of the present works on Nixon, Dr. Irwin Gellman has restored some integrity to the discipline of history by producing history based on facts (what a concept, hey?). Instead of writing a politically motivated book, Dr. Gellman's goal was to produce a history of Nixon's early campaigns. The chapters on Jerry Voorhis and Helen Gahagan Douglas are extremely sensible and its surprising that it has taken academia this long to figure out the truth about the two campaigns. Instead of the "sinister" Tricky Dick using smoke and mirrors to win seats in Congress and the senate, we have a hardworking, sometimes naive, idealistic, and dedicated young man who wants to make a diference by entering politics. After reading The Contender, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Voorhis and Douglas lost because they were out of touch with their constituents, their own party abandoned them, and Nixon was a part of a new political movement that wanted to discontinue the excesses of the new deal but keep its practical programs. The left-wing myths created to discredit and smear Nixon will never hold weight again.
Rating:
Summary: Epitome of historical research
Review: The Contender is by far the most objective, well-researched, and best historical work on Richard Nixon. Instead of focusing on the slurs and character assasinations that make up most of the present works on Nixon, Dr. Irwin Gellman has restored some integrity to the discipline of history by producing history based on facts (what a concept, hey?). Instead of writing a politically motivated book, Dr. Gellman's goal was to produce a history of Nixon's early campaigns. The chapters on Jerry Voorhis and Helen Gahagan Douglas are extremely sensible and its surprising that it has taken academia this long to figure out the truth about the two campaigns. Instead of the "sinister" Tricky Dick using smoke and mirrors to win seats in Congress and the senate, we have a hardworking, sometimes naive, idealistic, and dedicated young man who wants to make a diference by entering politics. After reading The Contender, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Voorhis and Douglas lost because they were out of touch with their constituents, their own party abandoned them, and Nixon was a part of a new political movement that wanted to discontinue the excesses of the new deal but keep its practical programs. The left-wing myths created to discredit and smear Nixon will never hold weight again.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as expected---Disappointing
Review: This account of Richard Nixon's early political years was more of a factual recitation of events during this period than any new revelations about Nixon, the man. In addition, the book included numerous syntax and spelling errors. Not a book to read if you have read other Nixon biographies (Ambrose, Wicker, etc.)
Rating:
Summary: Penetrating look at the young Nixon
Review: Though there were shades of the later Nixon in the young man, he was not nearly as visceral, vulgar or mean-spirited as he was to become as President. There were tinges of guilt in his make-up when he stepped over the line of decency, and such signs were utterly absent in President Nixon. Gellman is a fluid writer who is painstaking in being fair to Nixon and presenting him as a fairly likeable, though monstrously aggressive Congressman. He maintains that the young Nixon was a good father and attentive husband, thought he evidence for this is grossly lacking. He was the quintessential absentee father who spent almost no time with his daughters. Gellman conveniently ignores this. More troubling is that Gellman almost seeks to exonerate Nixon from two of the most mudslinging and tawdry campaigns of all time: his 1946 run for Congress against the hapless, though decent Jerry Voorhis, and his inhumane hatchet job against Helen Gahagan Douglas in 1950. Nixon's brutal character assassination of Douglas in conveniently skirted, or excuses are made for RN. Because Gellman frequently falls into the habit of glossing over Nixon's destructive impulses, the book never reaches any grandiose literary heights. Nixon has been the subject of much nonsense, particularly of the psycho-babble genre. Gellman thankfully doesn't attempt any of this and the book is a better product for it. Ultimately, this is a readable, balanced (overly balanced!) portrait of a young man driven by demons and a lust for power. For anyone wishing to understand Nixon in his 30's, this is an essential study.
Rating:
Summary: The Contender: Richard Nixon, the Congress Years, 1946-52.
Review: Very informative and particullarly interesting to Californians. The disinformation about the Nixon campaigns is unbelievable. A good read that goes along way towards informing all of us about what RN was really like.
<< 1 >>
| 
