Product Overview
The landmark New York Times bestselling biography of Richard M. Nixon, a political savant whose gaping character flaws would drive him from the presidency and forever taint his legacy.
A biography of eloquence and breadth . . . No single volume about Nixons long and interesting life could be so comprehensive.Chicago Tribune
One of Times Top 10 Nonfiction Books of the Year
In this revelatory biography, Evan Thomas delivers a radical, unique portrait of Americas thirty-seventh president, Richard Nixon, a contradictory figure who was both determinedly optimistic and tragically flawed. One of the principal architects of the modern Republican Party and its silent majority of disaffected whites and conservative ex-Dixiecrats, Nixon was also deemed a liberal in some quarters for his efforts to desegregate Southern schools, create the Environmental Protection Agency, and end the draft.
The son of devout Quakers, Richard Nixon (not unlike his rival John F. Kennedy) grew up in the shadow of an older, favored brother and thrived on conflict and opposition. Through high school and college, in the navy and in politics, Nixon was constantly leading crusades and fighting off enemies real and imagined. He possessed the plainspoken eloquence to reduce American television audiences to tears with his career-saving Checkers speech; meanwhile, Nixons darker half hatched schemes designed to take down his political foes, earning him the notorious nickname Tricky Dick. Drawing on a wide range of historical accounts, Thomass biography reveals the contradictions of a leader whose vision and foresight led him to achieve dtente with the Soviet Union and reestablish relations with communist China, but whose underhanded political tactics tainted his reputation long before the Watergate scandal.
A deeply insightful character study as well as a brilliant political biography, Being Nixon offers a surprising look at a man capable of great bravery and extraordinary deviousnessa balanced portrait of a president too often reduced to caricature.
Praise for Being Nixon
A biography of eloquence and breadth . . . No single volume about Nixons long and interesting life could be so comprehensive.Chicago Tribune
Terrifically engaging . . . a fair, insightful and highly entertaining portrait.The Wall Street Journal
Thomas has a fine eye for the telling quote and the funny vignette, and his style is eminently readable.The New York Times Book Review
Thomas proves an amiable and fair-minded tour guide.The Boston Globe
A measured, concise, and important American biography.Michael Beschloss, author of Presidential Courage
