Richard Nixon cover art

Richard Nixon

The Life

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Richard Nixon

By: John A. Farrell
Narrated by: Dan Woren
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

About this listen

 PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • From a prize-winning biographer comes the defining portrait of a man who led America in a time of turmoil and left us a darker age. We live today, John A. Farrell shows, in a world Richard Nixon made.

At the end of WWII, navy lieutenant “Nick” Nixon returned from the Pacific and set his cap at Congress, an idealistic dreamer seeking to build a better world. Yet amid the turns of that now-legendary 1946 campaign, Nixon’s finer attributes gave way to unapologetic ruthlessness. The story of that transformation is the stunning overture to John A. Farrell’s magisterial biography of the president who came to embody postwar American resentment and division.
Within four years of his first victory, Nixon was a U.S. senator; in six, the vice president of the United States of America. “Few came so far, so fast, and so alone,” Farrell writes. Nixon’s sins as a candidate were legion; and in one unlawful secret plot, as Farrell reveals here, Nixon acted to prolong the Vietnam War for his own political purposes. Finally elected president in 1969, Nixon packed his staff with bright young men who devised forward-thinking reforms addressing health care, welfare, civil rights, and protection of the environment. It was a fine legacy, but Nixon cared little for it. He aspired to make his mark on the world stage instead, and his 1972 opening to China was the first great crack in the Cold War.
Nixon had another legacy, too: an America divided and polarized. He was elected to end the war in Vietnam, but his bombing of Cambodia and Laos enraged the antiwar movement. It was Nixon who launched the McCarthy era, who played white against black with a “southern strategy,” and spurred the Silent Majority to despise and distrust the country’s elites. Ever insecure and increasingly paranoid, he persuaded Americans to gnaw, as he did, on grievances—and to look at one another as enemies. Finally, in August 1974, after two years of the mesmerizing intrigue and scandal of Watergate, Nixon became the only president to resign in disgrace.
Richard Nixon is a gripping and unsparing portrayal of our darkest president. Meticulously researched, brilliantly crafted, and offering fresh revelations, it will be hailed as a master work. Americas Politicians Politics & Activism Presidents & Heads of State United States Richard Nixon Vietnam War Military Liberalism China Biography War Franklin D Roosevelt Imperialism Dwight Eisenhower Russia Soviet Union Imperial Japan Civil rights Socialism Cold War Social justice First Lady

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Truman cover art
The Age of Eisenhower cover art
The Path to Power cover art
The Definitive FDR cover art
Watergate cover art
A Certain Idea of France cover art
Reagan cover art
Nixon's White House Wars cover art
The Greatest Comeback cover art
The Revolution of Robert Kennedy cover art
The Best and the Brightest cover art
The Invisible Bridge cover art
Kissinger cover art
The Last Founding Father cover art
1920 cover art
Goldwater cover art
All stars
Most relevant
Too many biographies of men of consequence turn into histories of those events and times , not here. This is a portrait of the man from humble beginnings to the end.

I have listened to about 15 books on the Nixon presidency and it was fresh to me to hear about the early days, first campaigns etc. We are treated to an exciting narrative of the Hiss scandal.

This book was balanced and fair so unfortunately lacking in the justifiable hate for the man. Many people looking to satisfy a prejudice against him or for him will find plenty of material here to satisfy a preexisting bias but actually this is fine professional history. I noticed gaps such as Nixon's junkets in the wilderness years, his dark dealings with foreign powers especially Iran (see Oil Kings by Cooper on Audible) and the midnight prayer with Kissinger (see Nixon and Kissinger by Dalek on Audible). And was sad when we skip quickly through the Yom Kippur war. I wanted to see that but if it was that detailed it would be 100 hours long.

Overall.. 5/5 for enjoyable sweep over a complex man. This is better for not being a history of the Nixon years, it is good to see it sticking to the man not the times.

Outstanding biography of the man

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good biography. Lots of focus on the less well-known aspects of Nixon's life (his childhood, stint in the war, early congressional career and Vice Presidency) but still an interesting enough focus on the more well-known aspects (Watergate). It doesn't hide from the ugly aspects of Nixon, but every now and then it does a good job of humanising him - there are lots of little commentaries on his psychology, his insecurities and his being 'Frank's son'. Narrators voice was soothing without being monotonous. It's not as academic as the other biographies or history books, but that's why its more entertaining and a good read. I would really recommend it to someone who is interested in Nixon and wants a solid, comprehensive overview of his life, his character and his driving forces.

Pretty Good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Interesting story. Nixon grew up poor and had many things working against him. A little less paranoia and he wouldn't have paved the way to Watergate, ending his presidency like that.

Great listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Nixon, like most interesting people, was a contradictory mix of good and bad. I think we sometimes forget that people we simply classify as "evil" or "dishonest" etc. are in fact often unable to control their behaviours and impulses and are all too aware of their own shortcomings and strange idiosyncrasies and how this prevents them from ever operating normally in society, which in itself is punishment enough for these lost, lonely souls. Until listening to this audio book I considered Richard Nixon as merely a selfish and one dimensional crook. He was of course much more than that and I came away from this listen with a new found empathy for him and indeed I actually felt sorry for the man; a highly intelligent yet socially awkward person who yearned for people to like him but yet inadvertently drove them away. I think the fact that he realised fully his effect on people makes it all the more poignant. A well-balanced biography; neither vilifies him nor tries to protect him, just presents him as a human - a man with numerous positive and negative attributes.

Incredibly interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really interesting to learn about 'Mr Evil' and understand his motivations and accomplishments. I really recommend this book.

Really interesting profile

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews