Potus Geeks Book Review: Richard Nixon-The Life by John Farrell
It seems an impossible task to tell the story of the life of someone as complex and inscrutable as Richard Milhous Nixon, even in 558 pages. Although his presidency lasted for just five and a half years, and presidents with longer tenure have had their lives analyzed and dissected with less ink, Nixon is truly unique. In John Farrell's 2017 biography simply entitled Richard Nixon: The Life, it seems at time like the author barely scratches the surface of Nixon's multi-faceted and interesting life, one that could easily fill volumes.
This is not to suggest that Farrell's wonderful recounting of the life of the 37th President is anything but thorough. The author explores Nixon's life intricately, beginning with his subject's birth into a modest Quaker family in 1913. Farrell capably canvasses the many interesting chapters of Nixon's career, including his youth, his navy service in World War II, and (especially interesting) his early years in politics, culminating in a career as a congressman, senator, Vice-President of the United States, unsuccessful presidential and gubernatorial candidate, and culminating in a presidency with perhaps the greatest variance in its high and low points.
Farrell's accounting of Nixon's transition from an idealistic young candidate into an unprincipled Machiavellian capable of brilliant statesmanship, but also capable of justifying all kinds of moral and ethical lapses, is fascinating to read. It demonstrates the author's brilliance, both as a biographer, and as a keen student of human nature. This is a subtle transaction, but it is not without its defining moments. Farrell is alert to all of these. He manages to walk the historian's tightrope of intellectual honesty and ideological neutrality, while still having his own strong opinions, some of which are critical of Democrats, Republicans, and often of Nixon himself. He give his subject credit credit when it is due and excoriates him when it is deserving.
Farrell's consideration of Watergate and of Nixon's downfall is aided by mountains of recently released audio recordings and documents previously unavailable to many historians. It is also supplemented by an impressive array of oral histories and interviews from many of those present at the scene of the crime (literally so in many cases), the ultimate who's who of all thing's Nixon. The author has certainly done his homework.
This exceptional biography evokes neither hatred, admiration, nor pity for its subject. The feelings this book evokes for the fallen president are as complex and as mishmashed as the man himself. This is a significant accomplishment on the part of the author. He has not simply presented "just the facts". He has successfully conveyed an appreciation of the complexity of character that make the life of Richard Nixon so epically tragic.
This is not to suggest that Farrell's wonderful recounting of the life of the 37th President is anything but thorough. The author explores Nixon's life intricately, beginning with his subject's birth into a modest Quaker family in 1913. Farrell capably canvasses the many interesting chapters of Nixon's career, including his youth, his navy service in World War II, and (especially interesting) his early years in politics, culminating in a career as a congressman, senator, Vice-President of the United States, unsuccessful presidential and gubernatorial candidate, and culminating in a presidency with perhaps the greatest variance in its high and low points.
Farrell's accounting of Nixon's transition from an idealistic young candidate into an unprincipled Machiavellian capable of brilliant statesmanship, but also capable of justifying all kinds of moral and ethical lapses, is fascinating to read. It demonstrates the author's brilliance, both as a biographer, and as a keen student of human nature. This is a subtle transaction, but it is not without its defining moments. Farrell is alert to all of these. He manages to walk the historian's tightrope of intellectual honesty and ideological neutrality, while still having his own strong opinions, some of which are critical of Democrats, Republicans, and often of Nixon himself. He give his subject credit credit when it is due and excoriates him when it is deserving.
Farrell's consideration of Watergate and of Nixon's downfall is aided by mountains of recently released audio recordings and documents previously unavailable to many historians. It is also supplemented by an impressive array of oral histories and interviews from many of those present at the scene of the crime (literally so in many cases), the ultimate who's who of all thing's Nixon. The author has certainly done his homework.
This exceptional biography evokes neither hatred, admiration, nor pity for its subject. The feelings this book evokes for the fallen president are as complex and as mishmashed as the man himself. This is a significant accomplishment on the part of the author. He has not simply presented "just the facts". He has successfully conveyed an appreciation of the complexity of character that make the life of Richard Nixon so epically tragic.