NIXON, RICHARD M. (1913-1994). Thirty seventh president of the United States. An inscribed first edition of his The Real War, Warner Books, 1980, “To Nancy & George O’Sullivan, With best wishes, Richard Nixon.” 4to. 341pp. In the book’s first chapter, Nixon, primarily concerned with Soviet political and military power, writes, “This book is a cri de coeur, addressed not only to our political leaders but to leaders in all walks of life – to take hold before it is too late, and to marshal America’s strengths so as to ensure its survival.”
After serving his first term from 1969-1972, Nixon won re-election by one of the largest landslides in U.S. electoral history, helped in part by Kissinger’s “October surprise” announcement on October 26, 1972, that peace was at hand in Vietnam. For the agreement to withdraw U.S. forces from Southeast Asia, Kissinger shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize with North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho. However, only a few months into his second term, Nixon was embroiled in the Watergate Scandal, probably the most famous political scandal in American history, after Washington Post reporters uncovered the connection between a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and Nixon’s re-election campaign. Conversations Nixon had secretly taped proved his and his staff’s involvement in a cover-up. The trial of the “Watergate burglars” began in January 1973 and by the end of the month, several of Nixon’s aides had been convicted of conspiracy. Nixon continued to exert his ignorance of the affair and refused to cooperate. Finally, rather than face impeachment, he resigned from the nation’s highest office on August 9, 1974. Interestingly, Nixon is the only person ever to be elected twice to both the office of vice president and president and the only president ever to resign his post.
Internally, the book is in extremely fine condition; the dustjacket show some wear.
