Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962 - Hardcover

Ambrose, Stephen E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067152836X ISBN 13: 9780671528362

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1987

Synopsis

From acclaimed biographer Stephen E. Ambrose comes the life of one of the most elusive and intriguing American political figures, Richard M. Nixon. From his difficult boyhood and earnest youth to bis ruthless political campaigns for Congress and Senate to his defeats in '60 and '62, Nixon emerges life-size in all his complexity. Ambrose charts the peaks and valleys of Nixon's first fifty years -- his critical support as a freshman congressman of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan; his involvement in the House Committee on Un-American Activities; his aggressive pursuit of Alger Hiss; his ambivalent relationship with Eisenhower; and more. It is the consummate biography; it is a stunning political odyssey.

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Reviews

This auspicious opener in a projected two-volume life of Richard Nixon carries the California grocer's son from his school days to the vice-presidency and his subsequent failure to win the governorship of his home state. Ambrose, a professor of history at the University of New Orleans and biographer (Eisenhower, etc.) has written a readable, balanced biography of an unusually complex figure. From early on, he shows, the man who became "the most successful vice-president" of this century was an ambitious go-getter, also a cynical and nearly humorless loner whose inability to trust others (and heed their advice) cost him the 1960 presidential election. With emphasis, Ambrose attributes Nixon's unusual private reserve and public confidence to his Quaker heritage. The author is especially interesting whenhe charts how, as a young lawyer, Nixon created a national political base out of the Hiss case and the Korean War, then became for nearly three decades the most distrusted, even hated, politician in the U.S. because he "seemed utterly insincere." Photos not seen by PW. BOMC and QPBC alternates.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ambrose, noted for his books on Eisenhower, reconsiders Nixon's career objectively in light of the passage of time and puts him into a useful historical context. Primarily, Ambrose examines Nixon's performance as a politician. No prior work has been based upon the amount of primary documentation cited here, and with the exception of Nixon's own writing ( Six Crises and The Memoirs of Richard Nixon ), there is no more thorough treatment of his pre-presidential years. There is altogether new material on Nixon's vice presidency and his relationship with Eisenhower. Until all relevant documents are available, this and a projected second volume should stand as the definitive political biography. BOMC and Quality Paperback Book Club alternates.. Susan E. Parker, Harvard Law Sch. Lib.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 067152836X
• ISBN 13: 9780671528362
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 720