Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962` [Hardcover]

"Nixon: The Education Of A Politician 1913-1962" is the first volume in Stephen Ambrose's comprehensive biography of Richard Nixon. This one takes Nixon from his birth to a farmer-gas station operator-grocer in Yorba Linda, California through his defeat for governor in 1962.

Ambrose writes of the Nixon's background, his Quaker mother who taught him Faith and pulled her whole family into the Republican Party and his father who always seemed to make the wrong choices in business. He tells of Nixon's education where he was a serious student amongst other children who "didn't smell good." He brings out facts that molded Nixon's character but are not widely known. Nixon declined scholarships to Harvard and Yale because he could not afford the living expenses, choosing Whittier College where he could live at home. When he got a scholarship to Duke University Law School it was a new institution, not the prestigious one it is today. It was there that he was introduced to the world outside of Southern California and learned to speak of "The War Between The States", a term he used for life. Ambrose writes of the turning points in Nixon's life, such as being turned down by New York law firms and the FBI, any of which could have kept him out of politics. We read of his courtship of and marriage to Pat, his naval service and entry into politics.

Nixon's political career began in 1946 with his election to the House of Representatives by defeating long time incumbent Jerry Voorhis in what Nixon's critics term his first "dirty" campaign. From his position on the House Un-American Activities Committee he got involved in the investigation of Alger Hiss whose conviction made Nixon a national figure and propelled him to the Senate and the Vice-Presidency. The 1960 race for president and the 1962 race for governor are covered, although in a more cursory fashion than other books that focus exclusively on those races.

Ambrose delves deeply into the complex relationship between Nixon and Eisenhower, an arrangement in which each used the other for his own ends. Ultimately it was a relationship in which Nixon needed Eisenhower, politically and emotionally, but Ike could have done without Nixon.

Even more crucial is the relationship between Dick, Pat and their daughters. Pat is depicted as a woman who did not want to be a politician's wife and who hoped he would retire in 1956 but who supported him and campaigned with him every time he made a decision to run. Dick's public slights of her seem to be more due to inattention than lack of affection. Tricia is shown as the daughter who always wants to fight with and for her father. The family is portrayed as affectionate and loyal with Dick's total dedication to politics as the main factor distinguishing this from a stereotypical American family of its era.

I had heard that Stephen Ambrose did not like Richard Nixon so I was pleasantly surprised at the objective assessments made of Nixon and his career. Many events in Nixon's career have elicited passionate enmity but Ambrose usually chose not to jump on the bandwagon, often concluding that Nixon was right. In his summaries, he concludes that Nixon divided people along party lines, but did not use race, class or religion as issues. He points out that Nixon was neither alone nor the first or last to use Communism as a political tool. He concluded that Nixon probably hurt Eisenhower in 1956, but ran well ahead of the party in 1960 despite his costly campaign mistakes. He described "Six Crises" as "a book written by a great man about small events" and "the most visible Vice-President of the twentieth century, and the most successful."

I have a strong interest in Richard Nixon, partly because his triumph occurred as I was becoming politically of age and have read extensively about him. This is clearly the best book I have written about Nixon and one of, if not the, best biography I have ever read. I am looking forward to the next volume.

This is the first volume of Ambrose's three volume work detailing the life of Richard Nixon. From childhood to law school to Congress to the Vice-Presidency, the author explores Nixon's character and personality as well as the influences and experiences that made Nixon the complicated and contradictory individual that he was. While the seeds of his destructive personality are clearly present, the reader is struck by the many positive qualities of Nixon.

Ambrose paints the portrait of a budding and able politician whose ultimate demise could be foreseen, but need not have happened. This lack of inevitability is explored further in the second volume.

This first volume can be found at a reasonable price. It should be noted, however, that the second and third volumes are quite rare and expensive.

I found this a compelling account of Richard Nixon's life from his early days to his defeat in the election for the Governorship of California in 1962. Ambrose charts Nixon's meteoric rise through Congress and the Senate to the Vice Presidency and narrow defeat at the hands of JFK in the Presidential election.

This is a very readable account and the author attempts to be fair to Nixon throughout, despite the fact that Nixon seemed to stimulate extreme reactions in people: either you loved him or hated him. I thought that the best parts of the book were those that dealt with Nixon's years as Eisenhower's Vice President - the difficulties of holding the office for such an ambitious politician, the problems in defining a role for himself and his often difficult relationship with the President are all examined skillfully.

I should have perhaps wanted a fuller account of Nixon's early political development - what was his political credo, and upon what was it based? What was the basis of his success as a Congressman, for example? I felt that after reading this volume, Nixon seemd driven primarily by his own massive ambition. But you could say that of a lot of politicians - for example Robert A Caro's analysis of Lyndon Johnson is based on the importance of ambition over principle.

But I felt that although ambition was obviously very important, there might have been more to Nixon than that, more even than his (self-perceived) role as a major anti-Communist crusader. If the author felt that those indeed were the main things that made Nixon tick, then fine, but I hoped that some such analysis would have been included.

In all, I thought this was a good read - interesting, honest, and shedding light upon one of the most controversial politicians of the last century.