Giovanni Monachello's Reviews > The White House Years

Today, one can easily find a great deal about the 'darker' side of the Nixon Administration. However, in order to read this book and to allow the reader to judge its tale impartially, there is one rule that the reader must adhere to; that rule is to remove the most controversial part of Richard Nixon's Administration's tenure, from their minds. The reader MUST forget Watergate and remember that this account pre dates that incident. Once the reader has accomplished this, not so easy, feat then they may begin. This book recounts an unusual side, it portrays a different angle; it gives a defence, a complete mirror image of what many of us have read, watched and listened to about this fascinating part of late 20th Century American politics. In other words, it portrays the case for the defence.

Will, desire and time are without doubt what are also required to read this book. The 'will' and 'desire' is not understated, this is a gargantuan piece of work. For anyone that is interested, very interested, in late 20th Century American foreign policy, and has the 'time' to immerse themselves into a profound and contemporaneous source, then they must read this book. It's underlying theme of the justification of actions that posterity has much criticised and condemned, is the central thesis of Kissinger's first volume; yes there is a second volume! The challenge that the author has placed on himself is immense by virtue of the fact of the many varied situations that had to be dealt with at the time. As the reader begins to feel that he or she is perpetually turning pages of this book, they are reminded of how far the world has moved on. Viet Cong, Khymer Rouge and the 'Soviet Union' have no relevance in today's world. On the other hand, one is able to read between the lines many of the origins of the geopolitical problems of today.

One that has a powerful link to today is the analysis of China. Kissinger recounts in some detail Nixon's eagerness to allow the Totalitarian state back into the global fold. Although, Kissinger's argument can, once again, be seen from the point of view that the choices that his administration had in extracting themselves from the horrendous experience of Indo China, gave them very little choice as regards the rapprochement with China. In particular, using China in order to counter balance the geopolitics of the time with the shadow of the Soviet Union still very much a threat.
Nevertheless, and without any great surprise, the one central thread that travels through the entire book is Vietnam. It is a subject that virtually dominates every decision, every move, every idea, in the attempt to achieve the goal of how to rid the American nation of the nightmare of Vietnam. Any other subject is engulfed by this philosophy. Even a detente with the Soviet Union all hinged on Vietnam. Added to the challenge, handed to this particular Administration, according to Kissinger, was the aggressively anti-government press, a war weary hostile public and a confrontational Congress. There lies the constant theme. Hanoi's duplicity coupled with American negativity and distrust of Nixon's efforts are repeated throughout the book and very much links the whole text together.

Any negatives about the book? Well, not many. Of course, the pre mentioned length of the book is I would say, for some, a drawback. Although the chapters are long they are, mercifully, broken down into sub chapters which is able to give at times a well earned rest for the reader. Nevertheless, by the time one reaches the one thousandth page you do get the feeling that this has been a challenge of Man v. Food proportions. On the other hand, one must always keep in mind that this is the work describes events that played a central role in the global history of our planet and at the time must have felt as if all depended on their outcome. It is also important to remember that these incidents, in a reasonably close, period of time, have in some cases moulded the political climate of today. Here, again, I very much refer to China.
So if that invaluable will and desire can be found in any potential reader who also has a profound inclination to find out why we are in the world of today and importantly how we reached this point, they will find this book a fascinating read. Inevitably, one can not ignore the fact that there is a second volume, which apparently will contain an account of something called Watergate.