The publication of this book at this particular time is appropriate for baby-boomers such as myself and my friends, who have become senior citizens, and occasionally taken a "second look" at Nixon the man and Nixon's accomplishments as president over the past few decades.At the time of his presidency, I loathed Richard Nixon, his associates, and his tactics. I felt he promoted animosity and hatred and in essence declared war on the young people in my generation who spoke up and protested against the Vietnam war, taking advantage of an atmosphere that was already ugly but transitioned to class warfare starting in the Fall of 1969 when he delivered his "silent majority" speech. I loathed Spiro Agnew even more as Nixon's "hatchet man", as he traveled the country making acid-tongued speeches openly promoting intolerance to protests and dissent, basically more assaults on the viewpoints of the "younger generation" as a whole, which was mostly anti-war. They created a new enemy for the nation to distrust, hate the anti-war protestors and younger generation, which was successful and helped result in Nixon's landslide 1972 election victory. I was surprised when Agnew was caught for past criminal behavior/accepting bribes and forced to resign as vice president in 1973, and amazed as revelation after revelation about Nixon's post-Watergate break-in cover up directives developed. I personally don't believe even the White House tapes reveal the whole story of what Nixon did as far as illegal conduct, as the tapes aren't his only communications with staff and subordinates.The American people by 1974 were stunned by what had been revealed and realized Nixon had abused power as president. He was forced to resign and then despised and actually hated for many years by the majority of the public after his resignation. It was a remarkable reversal from the public's landslide support of his presidency in 1972. President Nixon could have gone to jail, except for a pardon from potential prosecution issued by President Ford. All of the "co-conspirators" in his administration who were involved in the multiple illegal activities were sentenced to prison.However, Nixon is not the only corrupt president we've ever had, in fact I'm betting there is some corruption in every administration. Starting about the time of the 2001 attacks on America, many of those in my circle of friends have gradually reconsidered Nixon as president, as well as LBJ. At the worst, it has been disclosed that LBJ and Nixon both were fully aware the Vietnam war was not winnable in combat, yet our young soldiers continued to be sent there to die by the thousands, and our prisoners of war in North Vietnam continued to be tortured because neither LBJ and Nixon wanted to be the first president to lose a war. However at their best, both LBJ and Nixon were very strong leaders who worked with both parties in Congress and got results to advance sound domestic programs. Nixon excelled in foreign policy and opened doors to closed worlds. Many of Nixon's proposals were progressive and before their time, and would not be considered conservative enough for present-day tea partiers who'd like to eliminate them. Nixon actually did a lot of great things, and despite several years of failure to completely discontinue our involvement in the Vietnam war, by the end of his first term he actually did withdraw troops from Vietnam, reach an agreement to end the war, and end the draft. The voting age was also lowered to 18 during his first term. Those of us who felt like he was "against us" during his presidency didn't think that was fast enough then. Being older now with a different perspective of time and how change can often take decades to develop, he got a lot done in his first term.Evan Thomas has written an excellent book which explores, balances and even explains Nixon's motivations for his actions, behaviors and policies. The book is an excellent read, and quite engrossing. Some information is familiar and other is not. Thomas has pulled information together here that points out Nixon's mistakes and his missed opportunities. It is not an "I love Nixon" book by any means, but I've learned more about Nixon than in other books I've read, and it provides those of us who lived through his presidential years with an opportunity to further explore and understand what went on behind the scenes both before and during his presidential years. Thomas's writing style is fresh and understandable. The book also follows Nixon through his post-presidential years, and some of that information is also revealing about his associations with other presidents, notably Clinton, with whom he had a good rapport and listened to Nixon's advice on foreign policy.There have been many presidents since Nixon was in office - seven up until now. Many times over the past 30 years when there was a prolonged national or international crisis, I have caught myself thinking, "if Nixon was president, this would be taken care of". He may have been paranoid and neurotic in dealing with his opposition and didn't do well with casual talk at social events or feel he fit in, but he was an intelligent man and made calculated and reasoned actions to get things done. We can still appreciate Nixon's strengths and the good things he did even though he thought he was above the law during his presidency. Unfortunately, I think most presidents have had a tendency to think they are above the law.Excellent book for all of us who lived through the Nixon presidency and want a better understanding of what motivated Nixon to act as he did. Highly recommended.