Books in Brief: Being Nixon

Being Nixon: A Man Divided
by Evan Thomas (Random House, 2015)
available at Amazon

Before reading this book, I knew very little about Richard Nixon, other than the outline of his political history (vice-president for Eisenhower, 1960 loss to Kennedy, 1968 and 1972 victories, Watergate, resignation).  Being Nixon is not a standard political biography.  The main events are covered, but it is not a detailed chronology about the political developments in his life.  It is primarily a psychological portrait, an attempt to figure out how his personality affected, and was affected by, the issues.  Previously having only a very a basic impression of the man, I was surprised to read about Nixon's personality, mainly his aversion to social contact and his fear of confrontation.  I was also surprised to learn how detached Nixon seemed to be from the events of Watergate.  In today's world, I expect politicians to resemble corporate leaders -- effective leadership comes not just from decisions, but from effective management of the team in the PMO or White House.  Nixon, however, seemed cut off from Congress, his own Cabinet, in fact anyone other than a few advisors such as Haldeman, Kissinger and Ehlichman.  He seemed not to know anything about the Watergate break-in or the other dirty tricks.

Overall, a good, entertaining and non-partisan introduction to Nixon.  There are more specialized books for those who want to look deeper at Watergate, Vietnam, domestic and economic policy, China, the USSR, the student protests, and the rest.