I'm two-thirds of the way into my second biography of Nixon (Conrad Black's), which is much more friendly to its subject than the first one I read (forgot the author, but conventionally hostile). I, too, am fascinated by how today's cultural landscape was inherited from Nixon's days (and some of the events have obvious parallels as well).
It's not easy to know what to make of the man, given how difficult it is to find anything unbiased written about him. Since the immense majority of the intelligentsia has had a lefty bend for a long time, most of what's written up is hostile, never giving him credit for any innovative or progressive policies - as you do, probably after Perlstein, in the example of the EPA's creation. And then there's the Watergate episode, which tends to overshadow every nuance. But at such a remove, he deserves a more balanced assessment. These were *very* tough times in the US, with the Vietnam war being badly fought, the Russians causing mischief, racial- and campus violence galore, all situations that he inherited.
Definitely would love you to weigh in once I get into some of the nitty gritty more and how that compares to what you've read about in your biographies! The next post gets more into the "tough times," the last one more into the parallels (and big differences) with today.
Excellent writing, thanks for sharing
I'm two-thirds of the way into my second biography of Nixon (Conrad Black's), which is much more friendly to its subject than the first one I read (forgot the author, but conventionally hostile). I, too, am fascinated by how today's cultural landscape was inherited from Nixon's days (and some of the events have obvious parallels as well).
It's not easy to know what to make of the man, given how difficult it is to find anything unbiased written about him. Since the immense majority of the intelligentsia has had a lefty bend for a long time, most of what's written up is hostile, never giving him credit for any innovative or progressive policies - as you do, probably after Perlstein, in the example of the EPA's creation. And then there's the Watergate episode, which tends to overshadow every nuance. But at such a remove, he deserves a more balanced assessment. These were *very* tough times in the US, with the Vietnam war being badly fought, the Russians causing mischief, racial- and campus violence galore, all situations that he inherited.
I look forward to the next two posts, though!
Definitely would love you to weigh in once I get into some of the nitty gritty more and how that compares to what you've read about in your biographies! The next post gets more into the "tough times," the last one more into the parallels (and big differences) with today.