Nixon

A Life

By: Jonathan Aitken

Narrated by: Alan Rachins

Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Nixon - loathed or admired, the name recalls one of the most extraordinary political survivors in American history. Author Jonathan Aitken interviewed the legendary politician and was granted unprecedented access to his private documents to root out answers to many questions. Why didn't he burn the Watergate tapes? What were his relationships with John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, and Henry Kissinger? How did he recover after resigning the presidency in 1974? A major work of political biography, Nixon: A Life chronicles the incredible journey of a man from failed candidate to holder of the most powerful office in the world to disgraced president to rehabilitated elder statesman - a life that was nothing short of remarkable.

©1993 by Jonathan Aitken (P)1994 by Dove Audio, Inc.

Nixon Reconsidered

Interesting biography of a controversial political figure. As a liberal, I found it more appealing than I had anticipated.

Great if you like your stories whitewashed

Perhaps others have been unfairly negative to Nixon. This book goes the other way -- it glosses over his imperfections, and, as a result, makes him a much less interesting person. I certainly was no fan of Nixon's in the 70's but very much enjoyed his autobiography and found that he made a very good ex-president.

For example, this author actually blames long hair and rock and roll for Watergate! He excuses Nixon's negative campaigning by saying, in effect, the other side started it. Aitken blames Watergate on Nixon's aides who supposedly limited access to Nixon -- but why did Nixon allow this? Aitken never tells us.

The narration is good; there are some accents to differentiate speakers -- such as Kennedy and LBJ; and since I have not read a lot of biographies of Nixon, I cannot say whether a whole book on what a great guy Nixon was is really warranted. Certainly, he was flawed; but Aitken seems to think the main flaw was that he trusted too much; where most people think he trusted too little. Just as certainly, Nixon was able to accomplish quite a bit, at least with regard to foreign policy; and the book points out some successes with domestic policy as well.

In sum, the book paints a flattering caraciture of Nixon, but fails to show his complexities.

Nixon is my inspiration.

Without Nixon, I won't be here in the US. He opened the door to China, and paved the way for so many Chinese like me to find a life here free of persecution. Thank you, President Nixon!

Junk Don't bother

What disappointed you about Nixon?

The narrator stunk he could not even pronounce Vietnamese. A lot is disjointed and inaccurate. Most of it is just plagiarized from the pbs and history channel documentaries. I just bought it because I am a Watergate buff. I have read over 100 books about Nixon and Watergate and this is the worst. This work is very unprofessional, I don’t know how it even got published

What could Jonathan Aitken have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I don’t know were to start. I really don’t think he should be an author.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator just has a bad voice. Mispronounces things over and over. His voice is nasal and annoying.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No

Any additional comments?

I really thing this book is way below audible standards and should be removed from the site.