Ayer Reviews Book on President Richard Nixon

Professor Emeritus Jack Ayer reviews Conrad Black's book Richard M. Nixon; A Life in Full in the Philadelphia Inquirer. An excerpt is below:

One quality Richard Nixon shares with his biographer, Conrad Black: Neither has suffered anywhere near as much punishment as his adversaries would have wished. Nixon, for his part, had the pardon power in his corner. Black, though a (former) press baron, hasn't been quite so well protected: In July a jury found him guilty of four charges relating to criminal fraud.

The courtroom tumult hasn't prevented Black from producing a 1,059-page biography entitled Richard Nixon: A Life in Full - composed, as he acknowledges, "in very distracting circumstances." As a subject for Black, Nixon is clearly a felicitous choice, and the resonance goes far deeper than mere criminality. Indeed, Black seems finely attuned to all the things that make so many people uncomfortable with Nixon the person: his insecurity, his bitterness, his sense of isolation, his near-manic drive to be treated as a man of gravitas.

Philadelphia Inquirer/November 27.2007