Richard Nixon

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Title Author Year Started Finished Opinion
Nixonland Richard Perlstein An excellent starting point for reading about Nixon. The primary focus of the book is Nixon, and while it isn't the most comprehensive portrait of Nixon's presidency (particularly Watergate and Nixon's resignation, as the book ends with the 1972 election), it provides a substantial amount of context for the parts of Nixon's presidency that are not covered.

It is a book filled with astounding insights into how the political landscape of the Nixon presidency was shaped, and it is obvious, upon reading, how much of that political landscape still exists today.

The book's most significant virtue is that it covers so many different topics, and provides a truly outstanding portrait of late 1960's/early 1970's America. This really made a difference in how the events of the Nixon presidency were understood by the reader.

All The President's Men Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein An important account of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Watergate reporting at the Washington Post.

Provides a good sense of how tangled the Watergate scandal was, how deep the scandal went, and how abusive of Presidential power Nixon was.

Also provides a good sense of how precarious the Watergate investigation was - how, without a few key individuals acting according to their conscience, rather than their best interests, the entire affair would have gone unknown.

The Secret Man Bob Woodward Not recommended. Primarily a rehash of All The President's Men, with little additional detail included (all related to the identity of Deep Throat). No significant new material.


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Title Author Year Notes
The Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon Stanley Kutler 1990 Idea for book came from browsing top-rated Nixon-related books on Amazon.

In Marriott Library:

  • Marriott Library LVL 2 (E860 .K87 1990 )

Review:

Stanley I Kutler's ambitious synthesis details the complexities of political sabotage and conspiracies to obstruct justice in evocative contexts including Vietnam and the growth of the imperial presidency. . . . Overall this study is, and will remain, the standard book on the 'underside' of the Nixon presidency for the foreseeable future.

776 pages

Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes Stanley Kutler 1997 Idea for book came from browsing top-rated Nixon-related books on Amazon.

In Marriott Library:

  • Marriott Library LVL 2 (E860 .A26 1997 )

From Library Journal:

Nixon: "I can't believe that they can tie [Watergate] to me. What's your feeling?" H.R. Haldeman: "It'll be messy." Right. Twenty-five years after the existence of Nixon's secret White House tape recordings became known, Kutler sued for and won their release. The excerpts provided in this excellent production are a fine example of oral history at its most dramatic (see also Michael Beschloss's Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, Audio Reviews LJ 2/1/98). Actor William Windom captures the vocal expressions listeners associate with Nixon. The voices of Haldeman, John Erlichman, Henry Kissinger, John Dean, Alexander Haig, and Rose Mary Woods are rendered realistically by an ensemble company. The effect is riveting and brings the listener into the Oval Office with Nixon and the White House staff as they try to distance themselves from the firestorm of allegation being leveled at them from outside. By the end, even Nixon is referring to himself in the third person to separate himself from the inevitability of the official investigation. All libraries will want at least one copy of this production, especially those with a focus on 20th-century political history.

704 pages.

The Final Days Boob Woodward, Carl Bernstein 1976 Follow-up to All The President's Men

In Marriott Library:

  • Marriott Library LVL 2 (E861 .W66 )

Review:

The Final Days is the classic, behind-the-scenes account of Richard Nixon's dramatic last months as president. Moment by moment, Bernstein and Woodward portray the taut, post-Watergate White House as Nixon, his family, his staff, and many members of Congress strained desperately to prevent his inevitable resignation. This brilliant book reveals the ordeal of Nixon's fall from office -- one of the gravest crises in presidential history.

480 pages.

Nixon's Economy: Booms, Busts, Dollars, and Votes Allen J. Matusow 1998 Discusses economic policies of the administration, links them to 1972 election cycle

In Marriott Library:

  • Marriott Library LVL 2 (HC106.6 .M383 1998 )

From Library Journal:

Matusow offers the first complete history of Nixonomics. Nixon generally ignored fiscal and monetary matters, preferring to devote himself to foreign policy. George Shultz, Treasury secretary, is lauded as Nixon's finest political appointment; but John Connally, the former Texas governor and a "shameless opportunist," became economic czar by subordinating his responsibilities to Nixon's political agenda. The president's attempt to create a new political majority was dashed almost as much by his failed policies and ineffective responses to the great recession and inflation of 1973-75 as by Watergate. Matusow provides lucid accounts of such complicated issues as wage-and-price controls, dollar devaluation, demise of the gold standard, and the emergence of the global economy.

Wall Street Journal:

The most interesting thing about Nixon's Economy is the insight it offers into what people were thinking at the time.... Mr. Matusow tells a great story, of hubris and ignorance, of fecklessness and lost opportunities. It might have been enriched had he consulted some of the many living participants in these events rather than relying solely on published and documentary sources. Nevertheless, it is a very readable and insightful study of a critical period in American economic history.

323 pages.

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