Product Description

Twenty-five years after Richard Nixon resigned from office, his legacy remains shrouded in controversy. His was a complex, inconsistent, and even contradictory presidency, clouded by the man's personality and political practices and played out during one of America's most turbulent eras. Melvin Small now draws on the latest archival releases to take a fresh look at Nixon and place his administration in proper historical perspective.

Nixon once predicted that by the year 2000 scholars would begin to evaluate his presidency more favorably. Small, however, steers a steady course between Nixon's detractors and apologists to offer the most balanced and thorough coverage yet available of the man's character and accomplishments. He notes many of the solid achievements of Nixon's domestic programs while criticizing some of his more celebrated foreign policies, especially concerning the Third World, and illuminates Nixon's broader influence on American political institutions and culture.

Small's topical approach permits readers to observe the development of an entire domestic program or international relationship over an extended period, making it easier to understand such drawn-out issues as reforming welfare or ending the Vietnam War. Regarding Vietnam, Small integrates military and diplomatic policy with Nixon's efforts to neutralize the antiwar movement. His coverage of White House operations and Nixon's war with the media precedes a particularly insightful chapter on Watergate and the threat of impeachment. A closing chapter on Nixon's post-presidential years reveals facts about his health and his "blackmailing" of both Presidents Bush and Clinton, and a bibliographic essay provides an extensive survey of the Nixon literature.

He was the first president to travel to China and Russia and to call for welfare reform, and although he left Washington under a cloud, many of Nixon's ideas and policies have been embraced by Americans--a legacy few presidents can claim. Small's book is a lively and anecdotal account that looks at the many sides of Richard Nixon and comes to grips with both the man and his presidency.

This book is part of the American Presidency Series.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #235447 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.30 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 387 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this installment of the University Press of Kansas's American Presidency series, Small joins the ranks of the many scholars who have attempted to know and understand Richard Nixon. He gently inverts the conventional wisdom that the Nixon presidency was more notable for its foreign policy than for its domestic achievements. As he tackles his subject with a topical rather than chronological approach, beginning with the Vietnam War, Small takes pains to present all of the domestic and global issues demanding the attention and affecting the decisions of Nixon and his staff at the time. While acknowledging the success of Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in China and the Soviet Union, Small damns the administration for its less-publicized forays in foreign policy, including American involvement in Pakistan, Chile and the Middle East. On the domestic front, however, Small argues that Nixon was the author of unheralded successes. Nixon was the first president to call for welfare reform, and his administration was responsible for enforcing much of the progressive social legislation of the 1960s. Thus, Small credits Nixon with the desegregation of Southern schools, achievements in women's rights and following through on environmental initiatives. Devoted more to the intricacies of policy than to either the dramas of electoral politics or Nixon's tragic character, Small's book is engaging enough to serve as a good introduction for readers who are as interested in the Nixon presidency as they are in Nixon's personality. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Small (History/Wayne State Univ.) renders a carefully balanced assessment of a complex but accomplished and important president. From the 1948 Alger Hiss investigation, when Congressman Richard Nixon first emerged into the national consciousness, until his departure from the White House in disgrace in 1974 and his death 20 years later, the presence of Nixon, even in defeat and failure, defined American politics, so much that Small argues that the Cold War era can be considered largely ``an age of Nixon.'' In contrast to recent interest in Nixon's political beginnings (e.g., Irwin F. Gellman, The Contender, p. 936), Small focuses here on the substantial accomplishments and misdeeds of Nixon's turbulent presidency, as well as his enigmatic character and his lasting influence on America and its political institutions. Small finds little to dispute the post-Watergate perception of Nixon as a nasty, ruthless, and deceitful politician who attempted to subvert the American political system. The author charges that ``no president before or after ordered or participated in so many serious illegal and extralegal acts that violated constitutional principles'' and that Nixon bequeathed a toxic legacy of cynicism and mistrust of government that haunts us still. However, taking up such issues as dtente toward the Soviet Union and China, his often adroit stewardship of domestic programs and the economy, Small gives Nixon credit for significant achievements, the influence of which may be equally lasting. Without developing an elaborate argument in support of his point, Small suggests that Nixon's foreign policy achievements, while substantial, have been oversold (marred by his intransigent handling of the war in Southeast Asia), and his solid domestic accomplishments unfairly overlooked. Small argues that Nixon's environmental initiatives make him the most environmentally conscious president since Theodore Roosevelt, and that he dramatically expanded funds for medical research and the arts and humanities. A valuably fair assessment, which avoids the extremes of rehabilitating Nixon and vilifying him. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From the Back Cover
"Small's book has the qualities we have come to expect from the American Presidency Series: comprehensive without being overwhelming, reflecting current scholarship, balanced in its judgments (no mean feat when dealing with Nixon), and a pleasure to read. Recommended without reservation."--Stephen E. Ambrose, author of Nixon and Undaunted Courage

"In one masterful volume, Melvin Small surveys every important facet of the Nixon presidency. His great achievement is to transcend the controversy still surrounding this president to write a history remarkable for its balance. It's certain to set the standard on this subject for years."--Allen J. Matusow, author of Nixon's Economy

"Skillfully balances Nixon's impressive achievements against his poisonous cynicism and deceitfulness."--Hugh Davis Graham, coeditor of The Carter Presidency