Being Nixon
The definitive New York Times bestselling biography of Richard M. Nixon, a political genius whose glaring personal faults would force him from office and forever poison his reputation.
Evan Thomas paints a bold and distinctive portrayal of America's 37th president, Richard Nixon, in this revelatory biography. Nixon was a paradoxical man who was both determinedly hopeful and tragically damaged. Nixon was regarded as a liberal in some quarters for his efforts to desegregate Southern schools, create the Environmental Protection Agency, and end the draught. He was one of the primary architects of the modern Republican Party and its "silent majority" of disaffected whites and conservative ex-Dixiecrats.
Richard Nixon, the son of devout Quakers, grew up in the shadow of an older, favored brother and thrived on conflict and resistance, much like his competitor John F. Kennedy. Nixon was continually waging crusades and battling against real and imagined adversaries throughout high school, college, the navy, and politics. Nixon's darker half devised schemes to bring down his political foes, earning him the infamous nickname "Tricky Dick." He had the plainspoken eloquence to move American television audiences to tears with his career-saving "Checkers" speech; meanwhile, Nixon's darker half devised schemes to bring down his political foes, earning him the notorious nickname "Tricky Dick." Thomas' biography, which draws on a variety of historical accounts, reveals the contradictions of a leader whose vision and foresight led to détente with the Soviet Union and the restoration of relations with communist China, but whose underhanded political tactics tainted his reputation long before the Watergate scandal.
Being Nixon is a fascinating look at a man capable of enormous courage and amazing deception—a balanced depiction of a president too frequently reduced to caricature—a highly incisive character analysis as well as a superb political history.
