Richard Nixon

The Life

By: John A. Farrell

Narrated by: Dan Woren

Brilliantly researched, authoritatively crafted by a prize-winning biographer, this is the Nixon we've been waiting for.

Richard Nixon opens with young navy lieutenant "Nick" Nixon returning from the Pacific and setting his cap at Congress, an idealistic dreamer seeking to build a better world. Yet amid the turns of that now legendary 1946 campaign, Nixon's finer attributes quickly gave way to unapologetic ruthlessness. It is a stunning overture to John A. Farrell's magisterial portrait of a man who embodied postwar American cynicism.

Within four years of that first win, Nixon would be a US senator, in six the vice president of the United States of America. "Few came so far, so fast, and so alone," Farrell writes. Finally president, Nixon's staff was full of bright young men who devised forward-thinking reforms addressing health care, poverty, civil rights, and protection of the environment. It was a fine legacy, but Nixon cared little for it. He aspired to make his mark on the world stage instead, and his 1972 opening to China was the first great crack in the Cold War.

Nixon had another legacy, too: an America divided and polarized. It was Nixon who launched the McCarthy era, who set South against North, and who spurred the silent majority to despise and distrust the country's elites. He persuaded Americans to gnaw, as he did, on grievances - and to look at one another as enemies. Finally, in August 1974, after two years of the mesmerizing intrigue and scandal known as Watergate, Nixon became the only president to resign in disgrace.

Richard Nixon is an enthralling tour de force biography of our darkest president, one that reviewers will hail as a defining portrait, and the full life of Nixon listeners have awaited.

©2017 John A. Farrell (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Farrell's blockbuster portrait of Nixon is revelatory - filled with fresh reporting shedding new light on the roots of our own dark political moment. He shows that dirty tricks, October Surprises, and anti-elitist resentment were among the gifts Nixon bequeathed to our own presidential politics." (Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right)

"John A. Farrell has once again delivered a rich, precisely written portrait of the past to help us understand the present. He traces the origins and turning points of one of the most complex, complicated and fascinating presidents of the modern age with flair and narrative skill. Each page is a joy to read, on the way to a very satisfying whole." (John Dickerson, moderator of CBS' Face the Nation and author of Whistlestop: My Favorite Stories from Presidential Campaign History)

"Richard Nixon's political career has all the nooks and crannies of an English muffin: the red-baiting of the early campaigns; Checkers; the Great Debates of 1960; the comeback in '68; the inheritance and horror of Vietnam; the historic opening to China; the shame of Watergate. In Richard Nixon, John A. Farrell is tough and unyielding, yet gives his subject a fair hearing through each gripping episode. 'I'm not a quitter,' Nixon once protested, and this grand, indispensable book proves him right, right to the end." (Chris Matthews, author of Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry That Shaped Post-war America)

A Decent Summary but No Great Insights

This book is a perfectly fine summary of the life and career of Richard Nixon. It is pretty even-handed in its treatment, noting and highlighting both his accomplishments and his terrible flaws. But if you are looking into deeper insights into what made the man, one of the most strange and fascinating characters in 20th century American politics, tick, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Maybe I've just been spoiled by Robert Caro's incredible multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson, in which you truly get to know the man and all the many people who surrounded him, what he wanted, why he behaved the way he did, what motivated him, etc. Yes this is just one volume and Caro's, possibly one of the best biographies of all time, is 4 volumes with a 5th on the way, but I was really hoping for more.

And if we are going to compare the two biographies, the different treatment of the 1957 civil rights bill is, to say the least, interesting. To hear Farrell tell it, Nixon was a driving force behind the bill and Johnson did everything in his power to stop it. To hear Caro (who is often extremely critical of Johnson) tell it, Nixon and Eisenhower cared very little about the bill and Johnson's many compromises, manipulations, and cloakroom deals are the only reason the bill passed the Senate. Needless to say, Caro's telling is far more convincing.

Anyway, if you are looking for a decent telling of the facts of Nixon's life, this book will serve.

SO DIFFERENT, SO ALIKE

“So different and so alike” is what comes to mind in listening to John Farrell’s biography of Richard Nixon. President Nixon is characterized as thin skinned, vindictive, and dissembling; a description echoed by today’s President.

Nixon and Trump appear both misogynistic, and anti-intellectual.  Both viscerally react to perceived slights.  Both have morally corrupt views of society.  Both make comments reflecting ethnic racism with reprehensible private comments.  Both attack news publishers; particularly the Washington Post and New York Times.

However, Farrell shows Nixon to be clearly unlike Trump.  Nixon understands political and public reality while Trump clings to a skewed business and personal reality. Nixon avoids unfavorable publicity while Trump manufactures it.  Nixon exemplifies international, geo-political, and professional foreign policy while Trump follows an amateurish parochial isolationist foreign policy. Nixon is surreptitiously thuggish, while Trump is outwardly thuggish.  Nixon operates from a perspective of power-hungry self-interest, while Trump operates from "monied" self-interest.

Ending Vietnam at the expense of South Vietnamese is a mixed blessing but Nixon stopped the carnage.  Opening China to the world is a great American accomplishment which history fairly attributes to Nixon and Kissinger.  Only time will tell if Trump is more than what he seems.

Well Balanced and informative about the person of Nixon

This is a very nice presentation. The narrator is superb and the flow of the book smooth and interesting. No dull history here. This will be a good listen several times over. In fact, I am writing this review and getting ready to start my third time listening in the course of a couple of years. I pick up something more with each reading. Not too heavy, judgmental, or political.

interesting insights into Nixon the man.

sad to think somebody in charge can be so twisted. this book does a great job of telling a story. without being leaning too far in any One Direction. for those interested in that time oh, this is a must.

Benk

The book itself is great. The narrator, however, is not so great, in my opinion. While he has a nice enough voice, his cadence is very bouncy (best way I can describe it), and frequently unsuited to the material he is reading. Because of this choppy and inconsistent delivery, the story ends up with a very poor flow. There is virtually no recognition of the moment or gravity of particular sentences. Every sentence (or, really, each isolated fragment of sentences) is read in the same manner. As other reviewers have noted, this often includes the mispronunciation of words (and not particularly complex words, either). Ultimately, I found his delivery to be far too distracting. You might not.

I should also note that I listened to this book immediately after the Robert Caro LBJ series. The narrator of those books, Grover Gardner, is the best in the business as far as I am concerned. This might be making the Nixon narrator seem worse than he actually is.

Amazing

this is a true fact book about a terrific man. I thoroughly enjoyed reading or listening to it. I suggested to everyone, he was a terrific president.

GREAT STORY OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND

A solid and, mostly, fair telling of our 37rh President of the United States. Nixon's enemies and previous Administration were let off lightly, however. Still, worth the effort - Well done!

The narrator made this biography unforgettable.

The biography is excellent. Often a great book can be boring when read. Dan Widen

Terrific

Very good biography of Nixon, balanced and oddly moving. You get a real sense of the human being as well at the politician and president. Narration was just perfect, too. Highly recommended.

bookgirl

Insightful look at a complex man and time. extremely well narrated. A look at the strength and loneliness of Pat Nixon.