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Nixon Agonistes, Garry Wills
The English poet and
Cromwellian revolutionary John Milton had his Samson struggling against forces
that he did not understand and that in the end he was unable to overcome.
Professor Wills in his seminal contemporaneous study of the career through his
successful run in 1968, up close and personal, of one Richard Milhous Nixon,
former President of the United, common criminal and currently resident of one
of Dante’s Circles of Hell tries to place the same spin on the vices and
virtues of this modern “Everyman”. He takes us through the hard scrabble
childhood, the formative Quaker background in sunny California, the post World
War II start of Nixon’s rapidly advancing political career, his defeats for
president in 1960 and for California governor in 1962 and his resurrection in
1968. And through his discourse, as is his habit, Professor Wills runs through
every possible interpretation of his rise and what Nixon symbolized on the
American political landscape. If one has a criticism of Wills it is exactly
this overkill to make a point but make your own judgment on this one as you
read through this tract.
However, as well written and
well researched as this exposition is it will just not wash. Nixon knew what
the score was at all times and in all places so that unlike old Samson there
was no question of his not understanding. As Wills points out Nixon had an
exceptional grasp of the ‘dark side’ of the American spirit in the middle third
of the 20th century and he pumped that knowledge for all it was
worth. Moreover, rather than cry over his self-imposed fate one should
understand that he liked it that way. There is no victim of overwhelming and
arbitrary circumstances clouding his fate.
Enough said.
It is perhaps hard for those
who were not around then, or older folks who have forgotten, just what Nixon
meant as a villainous political target to those of us of the Generation of ‘
68 for all that was wrong with American
political life (although one Lyndon Johnson gave him a run for his money as
demon-in-chief). Robert Kennedy had it, as he did on many occasions, very
eloquently right when he said that Richard Nixon represented the ‘dark side of
the American spirit’. For those who believe that all political evil started
with the current President George W. Bush, think again. Nixon was the
‘godfather’ of the current ilk. Some have argued that in retrospect compared to
today’s ravenous beasts that Nixon’s reign was benign. Believe that at your
peril. Just to be on the safe side let’s put another stake through his heart.
And read this book to get an idea of what a representative of a previous
generation of political evil looked like.
Nixon Agonistes:
The Crisis of the Self-Made Man
From one of America's most distinguished historians comes this classic analysis of Richard Nixon. By considering some of the president's opinions, Wills comes to the controversial conclusion that Nixon was actually a liberal. Both entertaining and essential, Nixon Agonistes captures a troubled leader and a struggling nation mired in a foolish Asian war, forfeiting the loyalty of its youth, puzzled by its own power, and looking to its cautious president for confidence. In the end, Nixon Agonistes reaches far beyond its assessment of the thirty-seventh president to become an incisive and provocative analysis of the American political machine.
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