***On Garry Wills’ Nixon Agonistes- The Fate Of One Richard Milhous Nixon  

 

The English poet and Cromwellian revolutionary John Milton had his Samson struggling against forces that he did not understand and that in the end he was unable to overcome. Professor Wills in his seminal contemporaneous study of the career through his successful run in 1968, up close and personal, of one Richard Milhous Nixon, former President of the United, common criminal and currently resident of one of Dante’s Circles of Hell tries to place the same spin on the vices and virtues of this modern “Everyman”. He takes us through the hard scrabble childhood, the formative Quaker background in sunny California, the post World War II start of Nixon’s rapidly advancing political career, his defeats for president in 1960 and for California governor in 1962 and his resurrection in 1968. And through his discourse, as is his habit, Professor Wills runs through every possible interpretation of his rise and what Nixon symbolized on the American political landscape. If one has a criticism of Wills it is exactly this overkill to make a point but make your own judgment on this one as you read through this tract.      

However, as well written and well researched as this exposition is it will just not wash. Nixon knew what the score was at all times and in all places so that unlike old Samson there was no question of his not understanding. As Wills points out Nixon had an exceptional grasp of the ‘dark side’ of the American spirit in the middle third of the 20^th century and he pumped that knowledge for all it was worth. Moreover, rather than cry over his self-imposed fate one should understand that he liked it that way. There is no victim of overwhelming and arbitrary circumstances clouding his fate.  Enough said.

It is perhaps hard for those who were not around then, or older folks who have forgotten, just what Nixon meant as a villainous political target to those of us of the Generation of ‘ 68  for all that was wrong with American political life (although one Lyndon Johnson gave him a run for his money as demon-in-chief). Robert Kennedy had it, as he did on many occasions, very eloquently right when he said that Richard Nixon represented the ‘dark side of the American spirit’. For those who believe that all political evil started with the current President George W. Bush, think again. Nixon was the ‘godfather’ of the current ilk. Some have argued that in retrospect compared to today’s ravenous beasts that Nixon’s reign was benign. Believe that at your peril. Just to be on the safe side let’s put another stake through his heart. And read this book to get an idea of what a representative of a previous generation of political evil looked like.