Books, Arts & Manners

In the Arena, by Richard M. Nixon (Simon & Schuster, 352 pp., $22.45)

RICHARD NIXON began his career “in the arena,” entering public life when conservatives needed credible heroes. The determined young man from Whittier, California, promptly became a bête noire of New Dealers by taking on Jerry Voorhis, Alger Hiss, and Helen Gahagan Douglas. The anti-Communist of the Forties and Fifties pounded the Achesons, Trumans, and Stevensons and went on to become the liberal-killer of the Sixties. He mobilized the Silent Majority, toyed with welfare reform, introduced Vietnamization, won re-election by decimating vital elements of FDR’s old coalition, and, finally, outraged conservatives with price controls and a journey to the lair of Mao Tse-tung. Then came Watergate and endless headlines, sending him to the showers prematurely.

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About the Author

Herbert S. Parmet

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In the Arena, by Richard M. Nixon (Simon & Schuster, 352 pp., $22.45)

RICHARD NIXON began his career “in the arena,” entering public life when conservatives needed credible heroes. The determined young man from Whittier, California, promptly became a bête noire of New Dealers by taking on Jerry Voorhis, Alger Hiss, and Helen Gahagan Douglas. The anti-Communist of the Forties and Fifties pounded the Achesons, Trumans, and Stevensons and went on to become the liberal-killer of the Sixties. He mobilized the Silent Majority, toyed with welfare reform, introduced Vietnamization, won re-election by decimating vital elements of FDR’s old coalition, and, finally, outraged conservatives with price controls and a journey to the lair of Mao Tse-tung. Then came Watergate and endless headlines, sending him to the showers prematurely.