Nixon's Ten Commandments of Statecraft : His Guiding Principles of Leadership and Negotiation

Humes, James C.; Richard M. Nixon

ISBN 10: 0684837951 / ISBN 13: 9780684837956

Published by Scribner, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1997

About this Item

FIRST PRINTING of the First Edition. A revelation of the ill-fated President Richard Nixon's mastery of negotiation techniques - highly successful in his diplomatic 'real politik' dealings with China, the Soviet Union, and othe major world powers - and how such methods play out on the world stage as well as within corporate settings. Hardcover with dust jacket, indexed, 192pp., remainders mark. A very nice copy, the jacket neatly encased in an acid-free archival plastic protector. Rare. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Seller Inventory # 00011762

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Nixon's Ten Commandments of Statecraft : His Guiding Principles of Leadership and Negotiation
• Publisher: Scribner, New York, NY, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684837951
• ISBN 13: 9780684837956
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Former Owner Inscription & Signature
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • General
  • US History

About this title

Synopsis

Presents the ten rules that the former president believed were essential guidelines for leadership and negotiation

Reviews

The insights available here are not limited to those intended by the author. Readers should be forewarned that Humes (Churchill: Speaker of the Century, 1980, etc.) was a Nixon speechwriter and friend, and that in these pages Nixon never makes a mistake. Despite unfriendly political pressure and unwise counsel from foreign-policy advisers, Nixon always sees the big picture, makes brilliant decisions, and succeeds in achieving his goals. At times this adulation borders on the ludicrous, most strikingly in discussing peace negotiations with the North Vietnamese. Humes describes how Nixon's stepped-up bombing campaign forced his adversaries to the conference table. He does so, however, without mentioning that it was the North Vietnamese who obtained what they wanted in Vietnam, not the US, and that Saigon fell to the Communists before Nixon's second term would have ended--if he had remained in office. That said, this little volume is intriguing. The ``commandments'' are fairly standard maxims in international diplomacy--e.g., negotiate agreements in private, never give up a bargaining chip without receiving something in return, leave adversaries a way to save face--but they are also widely ignored by those conducting foreign policy. Humes's approach is to first depict Nixon putting a commandment into effect, then illustrating further by relating the success or failure of historical figures ranging from Pericles to Churchill to MacArthur. By weaving together incidents from Nixon's career and the wider past, Humes suggests a general theory of diplomacy and presents an entertaining collection of stories. Nixon admirers will find evidence of their hero's diplomatic virtuosity; the less enthralled will see the rigid East-West geopolitical mindset that was Nixon's foreign-policy weakness. Most interesting as an example of the movement to rehabilitate Nixon's reputation, but also worth reading as a treatise on diplomacy. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Found after Nixon's death on a notecard tacked in his desk drawer and given by Tricia Nixon Cox to presidential speechwriter Humes, these commandments of statecraft have been fleshed out with examples from Nixon's career.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.