Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973-1990

E. Ambrose, Stephen

ISBN 10: 0671691880 / ISBN 13: 9780671691882

Published by Simon & Schuster, 1991

We're sorry; this specific copy is no longer available. AbeBooks has millions of books. We've listed similar copies below.

Description:

Grey bds. w/navy spine, silver gilt title to spine, 667 pp, d/j is not price clipped. Bookseller Inventory #

About this title:

Book ratings provided by Goodreads:

4.13 avg rating •

(207 ratings)

Synopsis: Watergate is a story of high drama and low skulduggery, of lies and bribes, of greed and lust for power. With access to the central characters, the public papers, and the trials transcripts, Ambrose explains how Nixon destroyed himself through a combination of arrogance and indecision, allowing a "third-rate burglary" to escalate into a scandal that overwhelmed his presidency. Within a decade and a half however, Nixon had become one of America's elder statesmen, respected internationally and at home even by those who had earlier clamoured loudest for his head. This is the story of Nixon's final fall from grace and astonishing recovery.

From Kirkus Reviews: Foreign policy master, political brawler, family man, loner, tragic hero, criminal, elder statesman, eternal conniver--Richard Nixon plays all of these roles in the final installment of Ambrose's fascinating three-volume biography (1987, 1989) of the ex-President. Ambrose (History/Univ. of New Orleans) meticulously traces how Nixon--flush with triumph from his landslide reelection victory over George McGovern--spoiled, through his mishandling of Watergate, his best-laid plans for reorganizing the executive branch of the government and for achieving a durable peace in Vietnam and with the Soviet Union. There aren't many surprises here about this extensively documented portion of Nixon's life, but Ambrose compensates with an excellent assessment of his subject's character and record. The author underscores what America lost, as a result of Nixon's Icarus-like fall, in such areas as arms control, energy policy, the Mideast, and national health insurance (though, dubiously, he bemoans the Reagan Revolution without acknowledging how much it owed to Nixon's polarizing campaigns). Admiring Nixon's perseverance, Ambrose draws a sympathetic portrait of the beleaguered politician's attempts to handle a vain Henry Kissinger, military top brass contemptuous of d‚tente, even politicians and lawyers unnerved by Nixon's blatant disregard for the Constitution. In the end, despite appreciating Nixon's intelligence and ability, Ambrose scores the President for a lack of domestic achievements and an even more demonstrable lack of virtue. An adroit retelling of how Nixon plunged into his political black hole--and why, like Lady Macbeth's ``damned spot,'' and despite his carefully orchestrated comeback, his role in the Watergate cover-up can never be obliterated. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973-1990
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 1991
Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Near Fine - Fine
Edition: First Edition.