Review: Nixon

Nixon: Ruin and Recovery, 1973-1990 by Stephen Ambrose. Simon & Schuster. 1991.

I bought this book a couple years ago at a used book fair. The book deals with one of my favourite historical time periods and was written by one of the pre-eminent American historians. I tried to start reading it soon after I purchased it, but I had just finished a Lyndon Johnson biography and needed a break.

Last month, however, I went to see Frost/Nixon. It was a tremendous movie. Frank Langella was great as Nixon (so much better than the casting travesty that was Sir Anthony Hopkins as Tricky Dick in Oliver Stone's Nixon - I'm sorry Mr. Stone, I do like the movie, but srsly, Hopkins? Every time I hear him in the movie it sounds like Chaucer meets Wolfman Jack).

Anyway, after seeing Frost/Nixon, I was inspired to find out more about one of the most controversial and fascinating figures of the Twentieth Century.

I really enjoyed Ambrose's book, but it is tough slogging through it. There are a lot of names of which to keep track and because it is part three of a three-part biography, there are a number of events that are mentioned but not explained, as they were explained in one of the previous biographies. What I also found crazy about this book is that the twenty-month period between Nixon's re-election in November 1972 and his resignation in August 1974 took up 444 pages of this book. And it didn't even end there.

As stated in the title, Ambrose sees the 1973 to 1990 period for Nixon as one of ruin and recovery. Beginning in 1973, the walls began to close around Nixon in regards to the Watergate investigation and Nixon's involvement in the cover-up afterwards. Nixon and his aides discussed for hours how to handle the investigation in order to deflect attention from the White House, but nothing was ever decided. As the investigation got closer to the White House, Nixon threw his aides off the sinking ship in order to save himself. Even after he would continue to admit to no wrongdoing and disregard subpoenas for documents and the infamous tapes that Nixon had used to record all kinds of meetings and phone conversations. By 1974, Watergate was the only thing on the public's mind. No matter what Nixon did or legislation he proposed, the focus was on Watergate. The climax came in the summer of 1974 when Nixon learned that he would not have enough votes in Congress to block an impeachment. On August 9, 1974, Nixon became the first U.S. President to resign from office.

But Nixon was only down, not out. As evidenced throughout his political career, Nixon had an extraordinary ability to resurrect himself. What's even more surprising is that he was able to do it without admitting any wrongdoing or apologizing for his role in the Watergate cover-up. After 1974, Nixon became a successful author in the field of foreign affairs, and a private advisor to various presidents. Before Nixon resigned, the only item the media covered about Nixon was Watergate. By Nixon's "recovery", the media covered his travels around the world, interviewed him about his post-Presidential life, and published excerpts from his various books. The pinnacle of his recovery period was the grand opening of the Richard M. Nixon Library and Museum. Nixon's is the only library that is not an official "Presidential Library" that is run by the National Archives (oh yeah, I'm not just going to get historical on your asses, I'm going libraricologically scientific, son). Nixon's library is run by a private foundation, allowing Nixon (when he was alive) and the foundation to decide which documents could be made available to researchers and the public.

If you are interested in learning more about Nixon, I would highly suggest picking up this book and others in the series.