Impromptus today is a typical mélange, comprising presidential politics, Puccini, the city of Cleveland, and more. It begins with a little item about Nixon. And Trump.

“Some have counseled that I take the easy way,” Nixon used to say. William Safire and his pals on the Nixon staff joked, “You know, one of us should say, ‘Mr. President, you should take the easy way,’ just so he can say it truthfully.”

Think of Donald J. Trump: “Everyone always said I have the best temperament.” “People are amazed at how much I know about the military.” “I’ve always heard people say, ‘Donald, you have the most beautiful hands.’”

So, in the spirit of Safire, Trump staffers might say, “Mr. Trump, you have the best temperament.” “Mr. Trump, I’m amazed at how much you know about the military.” “Mr. Trump, you have the most beautiful hands.”

Anyway, I write the above in my column. Here on the Corner, I’d like to say something about Before the Fall. That’s Safire’s memoir of the first Nixon administration.

(In the old days, we referred to each term as an “administration.” So, 1985-89 would be “the second Reagan administration.”)

I’m pretty sure I got the story about “the easy way” from Before the Fall. There was a time in my life when I read gobs and gobs of White House memoirs. This was when I was about 20, I think.

I even read Lady Bird’s diary, for heaven’s sake. That’s hard-core. (The interest, not the diary.)

Anyway, I have not really read White House memoirs since the ’80s. So I am out of date (as usual, for a conservative like me?). But Before the Fall was certainly one of the best I ever read: informative, readable, entertaining, unusual.

And RN was, always, a rich subject.