Being Nixon
A Man Divided
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Narrated by:
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Bob Walter
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By:
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Evan Thomas
About this listen
The landmark New York Times best-selling biography of Richard M. Nixon, a political savant whose gaping character flaws would drive him from the presidency and forever taint his legacy.
“A biography of eloquence and breadth... No single volume about Nixon’s long and interesting life could be so comprehensive.” (Chicago Tribune)
One of Time’s Top 10 Nonfiction Books of the Year
In this revelatory biography, Evan Thomas delivers a radical, unique portrait of America’s 37th president, Richard Nixon, a contradictory figure who was both determinedly optimistic and tragically flawed. One of the principal architects of the modern Republican Party and its “silent majority” of disaffected whites and conservative ex-Dixiecrats, Nixon was also deemed a liberal in some quarters for his efforts to desegregate Southern schools, create the Environmental Protection Agency, and end the draft.
The son of devout Quakers, Richard Nixon (not unlike his rival John F. Kennedy) grew up in the shadow of an older, favored brother and thrived on conflict and opposition. Through high school and college, in the navy and in politics, Nixon was constantly leading crusades and fighting off enemies real and imagined. He possessed the plainspoken eloquence to reduce American television audiences to tears with his career-saving “Checkers” speech; meanwhile, Nixon’s darker half hatched schemes designed to take down his political foes, earning him the notorious nickname “Tricky Dick.” Drawing on a wide range of historical accounts, Thomas’ biography reveals the contradictions of a leader whose vision and foresight led him to achieve détente with the Soviet Union and reestablish relations with communist China, but whose underhanded political tactics tainted his reputation long before the Watergate scandal.
A deeply insightful character study as well as a brilliant political biography, Being Nixon offers a surprising look at a man capable of great bravery and extraordinary deviousness - a balanced portrait of a president too often reduced to caricature.
Praise for Being Nixon
“Terrifically engaging...a fair, insightful and highly entertaining portrait.” (The Wall Street Journal)
“Thomas has a fine eye for the telling quote and the funny vignette, and his style is eminently readable.” (The New York Times Book Review)
©2015 Evan Thomas (P)2015 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“A biography of eloquence and breadth... No single volume about Nixon’s long and interesting life could be so comprehensive.” (Chicago Tribune)
“How self-aware are the great men of history? That’s the fascinating question at the heart of Evan Thomas’s new book on Richard Nixon.... Here in one sharp and briskly written volume is what you really want to know about the great and horrible thirty-seventh President: How could someone so wise about the world be so utterly clueless about himself?... [Nixon] is revealed in Thomas’s hands as awkward, striving, victimized and alone - strange habits for a man who opted for such a public life, and traits that carried the seeds of his destruction.” (Time)
“Ambitious... Thomas’s book is filled with anecdotes that humanize Nixon. There are pages suggesting real insight and, especially, how the president was seen by those around him.... There are well-crafted word-pictures of Nixon throughout the narrative, from his legendary awkwardness to his catastrophic frustration and vindictive rage.” (Carl Bernstein, The Washington Post)
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In Chris Matthews’ extraordinary biography, we see this most beloved president in the company of friends. We see and feel him close-up, having fun and giving off that restlessness of his. We watch him navigate his life from privileged, rebellious youth to gutsy American president. We witness his bravery in war and selfless rescue of his PT boat crew. We watch JFK as a young politician learning to play hardball and watch him grow into the leader who averts a nuclear war.
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What Might Have Been?
- By Mel on 12-06-11
By: Chris Matthews
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Camelot's End
- Kennedy vs. Carter and the Fight That Broke the Democratic Party
- By: Jon Ward
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Carter presidency was on life support. The Democrats, desperate to keep power and yearning to resurrect former glory, turned to Ted Kennedy. Camelot's End details the incredible drama of Kennedy's challenge - what led to it, how it unfolded, and its lasting effects - with cinematic sweep. It is a story about what happened to the Democratic Party when the country's long string of successes, luck, and global dominance following World War II ran its course, and how, on a quest to recapture the magic of JFK, Democrats plunged themselves into an intra-party civil war.
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Does character count in political office?
- By marwalk on 07-29-19
By: Jon Ward
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The Gatekeepers
- How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency
- By: Chris Whipple
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The chiefs of staff, often referred to as "the gatekeepers", wield tremendous power in Washington and beyond; they decide who is allowed to see the president, negotiate with Congress to push POTUS's agenda, and - most crucially - enjoy unparalleled access to the leader of the free world. Through extensive, intimate interviews with 18 living chiefs (including Reince Priebus) and two former presidents, award-winning journalist and producer Chris Whipple pulls back the curtain on this unique fraternity. In doing so, he revises our understanding of presidential history.
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Interesting, but lacking in political objectivity
- By Stephen Watson on 09-04-17
By: Chris Whipple
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Days of Fire
- Bush and Cheney in the White House
- By: Peter Baker
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 29 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Theirs was the most captivating American political partnership since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger: a bold and untested president and his seasoned, relentless vice president. Confronted by one crisis after another, they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way. In Days of Fire, Peter Baker chronicles the history of the most consequential presidency in modern times through the prism of its two most compelling characters, capturing the elusive and shifting alliance of George Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney as no historian has done before.
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A balanced account of the W and Cheney White House
- By Scott on 11-15-13
By: Peter Baker
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Write It When I'm Gone
- Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford
- By: Thomas M. DeFrank
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In an extraordinary series of private interviews, conducted over 16 years with the stipulation that they not be released until after Gerald Ford's death, the 38th president of the United States reveals a profoundly different side of himself: funny, reflective, gossipy, strikingly candid, and the stuff of headlines.
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An easy historical listen...
- By Darrell Rupe on 05-26-08
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The Greatest Comeback
- How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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After suffering stinging defeats in the 1960 presidential election against John F. Kennedy, and in the 1962 California gubernatorial election, Nixon's career was declared dead by Washington press and politicians alike. Yet on January 20, 1969, just six years after he had said his political life was over, Nixon would stand taking the oath of office as 37th President of the United States. How did Richard Nixon resurrect a ruined career and reunite a shattered and fractured Republican Party to capture the White House?
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The comeback kid
- By Jean on 07-23-14
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Three Days in Moscow
- Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Empire
- By: Bret Baier, Catherine Whitney
- Narrated by: Bret Baier
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In Three Days in Moscow, Baier explores the dramatic endgame of America’s long struggle with the Soviet Union and President Ronald Reagan’s central role in shaping the world we live in today. On May 31, 1988, Reagan stood on Russian soil and addressed a packed audience at Moscow State University, delivering a remarkable - yet now largely forgotten - speech that capped his first visit to the Soviet capital.
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Amazing!
- By Brian W. Barton on 05-20-18
By: Bret Baier, and others
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Truman
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 54 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed by critics as an American masterpiece, David McCullough's sweeping biography of Harry S. Truman captured the heart of the nation. The life and times of the 33rd president of the United States, Truman provides a deeply moving look at an extraordinary, singular American.
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That Mousy Little Man From Missouri Revisited
- By Sara on 07-23-15
By: David McCullough
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Nixon's Secrets
- By: Roger Stone, Mike Colapietro
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 20 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Learn the inside scoop on Watergate, the Ford Pardon, and the 18-minute Gap. Roger Stone, The New York Times best-selling author of The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ, gives the inside scoop on Nixon’s rise and fall in Watergate in his new book Nixon’s Secrets. Stone charts Nixon’s rise from election to Congress in 1946 to the White House in 1968 after his razor-thin loss to John Kennedy in 1960, his disastrous campaign for Governor of California in 1962, and the greatest comeback in American Presidential history.
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Great book but....
- By Alan on 11-20-14
By: Roger Stone, and others
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Unlikeable
- The Problem with Hillary
- By: Edward Klein
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2012, he skewered "amateur" Barack Obama. In 2014, he revealed vicious infighting between the Obamas and the Clintons. Now, New York Times bestselling author and investigative reporter Edward Klein turns his attention to Hillary Clinton and asks: why exactly is Hillary so unlikeable?
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Occasionally time dampers our memory - this reminds us
- By Linda S. on 10-19-15
By: Edward Klein
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Grace and Power
- The Private World of the Kennedy White House
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Lee Adams
- Length: 20 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In Grace and Power, New York Times best-selling author Sally Bedell Smith takes us inside the Kennedy White House with unparalleled access and insight. Having interviewed scores of Kennedy intimates, including many who have never spoken before, and drawing on letters and personal papers made available for the first time, Smith paints a richly detailed picture of the personal relationships behind the high purpose and poiltical drama of the 20th century's most storied presidency.
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More detail than I wanted
- By R. Jones on 12-24-05
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The Defining Moment
- FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope
- By: Jonathan Alter
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In this dramatic and fascinating account, Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter shows how Franklin Delano Roosevelt used his first 100 days in office to lift the country from the despair and paralysis of the Great Depression and transform the American presidency.
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Very infomative, and also refreshingly honest
- By Andy on 02-19-09
By: Jonathan Alter
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The Year That Broke America
- An Immigration Crisis, a Terrorist Conspiracy, the Summer of Survivor, a Ridiculous Fake Billionaire, a Fight for Florida, and the 537 Votes That Changed Everything
- By: Andrew Rice
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Before there was Coronavirus, before there was the contentious 2020 election or the entire Trump presidency, there was a turning-point year that proved momentous and transformative for American politics and the fate of the nation.
By: Andrew Rice
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What listeners say about Being Nixon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- E S Bridgewater
- 10-01-15
Excellent and Well Balanced
Maybe the best biography of its type that I have read. As with most persons who achieve great power, Nixon was a very complex personality. The author manages to present a fair analysis without taking political sides.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jane
- 10-12-15
Gave me a deeper perspective on Nixon & Watergate
I was in high school during Watergate and watched most of the Senate hearings. This book helped me to see Nixon as a person and to revisit that era through the eyes of an adult. At the time, I saw all of people in the Nixon administration as one monolithic block, but now I see that they were competing individuals with various motives, rivalries, and animosities. And I learned that Nixon foes such as Katharine Graham and Ben Bradlee had personal animosities toward Nixon, whereas before I had seen them purely as altruistic heroes.
I was able to empathize with the early Nixon, in that I am also clumsy and sometimes feel uncertain in social situations. So having come to empathize with him, I was disappointed to learn how vindictive he became and how much he lost his moral compass as president. Yet I had always thought of him as villain, so I shouldn't have been surprised.
The book also helped me to appreciative Nixon's accomplishments as president, especially in foreign policy.
Bob Walter did an excellent job of capturing Nixon's cadence.
There were some funny parts that had me laughing out loud.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous
- 06-26-15
Very interesting perspective
I was very surprised as to how much I enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in politics and political figures.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Russ
- 08-14-17
Very baritone voice over
After listening to Ray Porter talk, Bob walter was difficult to listen to. 10/10 though.
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- Judith J. Wurtman
- 09-10-15
A mind changing book
This is an honest well researched account of Nixon that wipes away the character depicted in the press and shows the agony and bafflement of a man who really did not understand himself.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Nancy & Greg
- 09-29-17
Well written-worth listening to
Like all new books on a subject covered many times before, this book relies on those previous works. However, there is enough new stories, tidbits and insights to make it worth listening too. Overall, it casts Nixon in a rather sympathetic light, which is nice considering many similar works don't.
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- Vaughan
- 07-01-16
Intimate and revealing.
Richard Nixon's Watergate presidency was a remote news event on radio and television in New Zealand when I was seven years old, but for reasons not properly understood until years later, my interest in United States politics was sparked. What was all the fuss about secret tapes8 Why was he (Nixon) pardoned,and why did the name of Richard Nixon generate heated discussion? Along with other books I have read, this work kept me fascinated throughout the narration. `Thomas writes as someone who researches his subject, strives to depict a human who has strengths and weaknesses. Nixon could at times be brilliant, and then awful. He could be aggressive and gentle, sad and happy. He failed, only to succeed through dogged determination. I learnt enough from this book to appreciate the many positive components of a robust constitutional form of Government - the republic is far greater than the questionable actions of Norman. Nixon is analysed respectfully and empathetic lay, and this book USA must read for anyoneinterestedin the man who was Richard Nixonand the times in which he lived.
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- Hunter J.
- 08-18-24
That Narrator though!
the narrator was simply amazing. he reminded me of Robert Stack from Unsolved Mysteries and it made the book impossible to stop listening to. The author also did a fantastic job of writing something that, in my opinion, was less biased than other works that I've read about Nixon. It was refreshing to have a more factual perspective about his achievements and shortfalls as a person and politician
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-10-17
Loved this book!
Perhaps are most underrated president. For all his faults, I still can't help but think of him as a great man.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-27-18
Sweeping and masterful
Absolutely loved this book, very insightful about the complicated life and legacy of Richard Nixon. It shows a tender side to the usually grim and opportunistic side of Nixon. It is a fair book pointing out the bad but also the important good that Nixon did on the world stage. Mr Thomas seems to have a nice grasp on the public and private Nixon. The book has a nice flow and I enjoyed immensely.
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