Being Nixon: A Man Divided

This book has been on 2 different TBR “piles” for 2-1/2 years and I finally got to it. I listened to an audio edition, narrated by Bob Walter, and skimmed chapters in an e-book edition after I had listened to them. For me, it was a very effective way of reading this biography. It is interesting to look back at history that I lived through and about which I have many memories, feelings, beliefs and opinions. I learned much; I recalled much. All in all, reading this book was well worth my time. My only negative observation is that I thought the author’s psychological interpretations and analysis of Nixon were a little over the top at times; on the other hand, it is difficult to look at his life and political career and not wonder show more how he came to be how he was - so intelligent and competent while also so bumbling, blind, and inept. show less

This is an amazing psychological profile of Richard Nixon that looks at his childhood influences, his growth into an adult and his career in politics. The author shows the reader how Watergate was not just a fluke in his career, but the culmination of his weaknesses and the choices he made that led him to take steps that destroyed his presidency. It is a frightening look at a man who should never have been elected president, and was twice, with the largest majority in history for his second term, but who was so driven by his insecurities and fears that he engaged in conduct that was both immoral and illegal on a consistent basis. This is a wonderful and insightful look at history.

Fascinating but sparse on detail, this biography of the 37th president hits the high (and low) spots of Nixon's controversial career without dallying overlong on any of the nuts and bolts that underpinned that career. Thomas writes very well, and there are both fresh and familiar insights into Nixon and his personal life and demons. But in the end, there is not enough deep analysis or explication to give one a sense of what being Richard Nixon, or being with him, was really like. This is the 37th presidential biography I have read, and I admit I expected an overabundance of detail, so rich and intricate is the story of Nixon and so extraordinarily well-documented his life. Instead, I found myself far too often wondering how something show more played out, what went on in the days and minutes and not just the months and years. The Watergate scandal receives the best of the detail, and I understood it more clearly after reading the book. But of the 37 presidents I've read books on thus far, this is the first to make me think maybe I need to read a second book on one. show less

Even-handed, entertaining, informative even after 40 years of books and movies about Watergate, tragic. An impressive effort by Evan Thomas at humanizing our least human President. Thomas is a journalistic insider who admits that Nixon was paranoid but correct: the press really was out to get Tricky Dick.

Evan Thomas tries his best to keep this biography of Nixon and his life in politics as unbiased as possible, and his reliance on journals and other primary source material helps. I enjoyed this somewhat sympathetic look at our 37th President, and anyone looking for a well-researched and supported look at Nixon's life should give it a try.

The author blames liberals/free press and absolves conservatives throughout but this is a well-written, sympathetic bio of The Tricky One.

Being Nixon was best up to 1968, delivering on its promise of “a radical, unique portrait of a complicated figure who was both determinedly optimistic and tragically flawed.” Although the years of his administration were familiar territory, Nixon changed once he became President, a point acknowledged but not explained by Thomas. And so, “A Man Divided” peaked my curiosity, but left me somewhat unsatisfied.