First published 2010
Rick Perlstein opens with America's thirty-seventh president, presenting Nixon through his own voice across decades of public life. This collection spans from early schoolboy correspondence to strategic foreign policy documents and White House recordings. Perlstein argues for a new understanding of Nixon's political ascent and downfall, letting the president's words reveal his character and methods. The volume includes Nixon's most significant speeches, from the 1952 "Checkers" address defending his political fund to his 1962 bitter farewell to journalism after losing the California governor's race. Later entries feature his 1969 "Silent Majority" speech defending Vietnam policy and his final White House departure. Campaign materials expose Nixon's aggressive political tactics, including the notorious "Pink Sheet" from his 1950 Senate victory. Perlstein provides context through detailed introductions that reframe Nixon's legacy. The book offers readers direct access to documents previously scattered across archives, creating an intimate portrait of American politics' most polarizing figure through his own pen and voice.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, political-science, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: United States
Period: 20th Century
364 pages · ebook · Princeton University Press