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Nixon: Ruin And Recovery, 1973-1990

Stephen E. Ambrose
Reviewed by By Gaddis Smith
Spring 1992
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Stephen E. Ambrose
Simon & Schuster
1991
667 pp.
$27.50

The third volume of an impressive biography begins with President Nixon's reelection in November 1972 and devotes 445 pages to the events leading to resignation in August 1974. The remaining third of the book traces Nixon's subsequent career as author and commentator on international affairs. While in no way condoning Nixon's egregious behavior during Watergate, the author praises his plans for economic reform at home. "Because Nixon resigned, what the country got was not the Nixon Revolution but the Reagan Revolution. It got massive, unbelievable deficits. It got Iran-contra. It got the savings and loans scandals. It got millions of homeless, and gross favoritism for the rich.... When Nixon resigned, we lost more than we gained."

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