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Beyond Peace
The former president sheds new light on critical foreign and domestic issues confronting the United States in the post-Cold War era, presenting a new agenda for America that calls for a renewal of our national purpose. 100,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo. Tour.
262 pages, Hardcover
First published May 10, 1994
23 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
About the author
Richard M. Nixon
99 books101 followersRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974. During the Second World War, he served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific, before being elected to the Congress, and then serving as the 36th Vice President of the United States in the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. After an unsuccessful presidential run in 1960, Nixon was elected in 1968, and re-elected to a second term in 1972. Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Nixon successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending the longest war in American history. Domestically, his administration faced resistance to the Vietnam War. In the face of likely impeachment by the United States House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate for the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a controversial pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. Nixon is the only person to be elected twice to the office of the presidency and the vice presidency, and is the only president to have resigned the office.
Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81. ' to 'Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974. During the Second World War, he served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific, before being elected to the Congress, and then serving as the 36th Vice President of the United States in the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961.
After an unsuccessful presidential run in 1960, Nixon was elected in 1968, and re-elected to a second term in 1972. Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Nixon successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending the longest war in American history.
Domestically, his administration faced resistance to the Vietnam War. In the face of likely impeachment by the United States House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate for the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a controversial pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. Nixon is the only person to be elected twice to the office of the presidency and the vice presidency, and is the only president to have resigned the office. Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81.
Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81. ' to 'Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974. During the Second World War, he served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific, before being elected to the Congress, and then serving as the 36th Vice President of the United States in the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961.
After an unsuccessful presidential run in 1960, Nixon was elected in 1968, and re-elected to a second term in 1972. Under President Nixon, the United States followed a foreign policy marked by détente with the Soviet Union and by the opening of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Nixon successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending the longest war in American history.
Domestically, his administration faced resistance to the Vietnam War. In the face of likely impeachment by the United States House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate for the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned. His successor, Gerald Ford, issued a controversial pardon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. Nixon is the only person to be elected twice to the office of the presidency and the vice presidency, and is the only president to have resigned the office. Nixon suffered a stroke on April 18, 1994 and died four days later at the age of 81.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 1, 2021
Nearly thirty years after it was written, and longer since he’s served as leader of the greatest nation on Earth, President Nixon still sends a powerful message to those willing to listen.
Responsibility is key, be it personal, community driven, or international in scale. There are duties that we owe to ourselves, as well as our friends and our enemies, that, if properly acknowledged, can lead to a more successful world full of independent communities that make up the varying nations on Earth. It starts in the humble everyday life of the home, builds its way up through community, up through the the very institutions for which the United States are composed, and is spread throughout the globe as America takes its rightful spot on top.
It is well known that with great power comes great responsibility, but, as illustrated here by the President, the power has been switched to the goal and main object of desire, and the American people, as well as the rest of the planet, have been paying for that switch in mindset since the age of social reform in the 1960’s.
Responsibility is key, be it personal, community driven, or international in scale. There are duties that we owe to ourselves, as well as our friends and our enemies, that, if properly acknowledged, can lead to a more successful world full of independent communities that make up the varying nations on Earth. It starts in the humble everyday life of the home, builds its way up through community, up through the the very institutions for which the United States are composed, and is spread throughout the globe as America takes its rightful spot on top.
It is well known that with great power comes great responsibility, but, as illustrated here by the President, the power has been switched to the goal and main object of desire, and the American people, as well as the rest of the planet, have been paying for that switch in mindset since the age of social reform in the 1960’s.
November 16, 2008
Written 14 yeras ago and looking back, remarkable in its foresight.
July 8, 2016
Much of the information is dated, but it offers a very interesting perspective. Nixon was undoubtedly a corrupt politician, but he was also brilliant, particularly with regards to foreign policy. Several of the predictions he makes in the book, ultimately turn out to be correct.
January 2, 2017
Richard Nixon's final book, written just a month before his death in April 1994. Given the time that it was written, and also Nixon's preference for discussing foreign affairs, and his penchant for focusing on Russia, he devotes much of his time here to discuss the post Cold War world and the U.S. has a unique position to lead the world in peace. Nixon clearly thought that, now that the USSR had imploded, the US was left as the one dominant country in the world and could assert its leadership in many different ways.
The word "terrorism" never appears here - showing just how long ago this was written. Because of that, the book feels dated, and in this respect it definitely is. Nixon apparently had no inkling that the priorities and concerns of the U.S. (and much of the world) would change drastically in just seven years.
Of course, Nixon always looked at the world through the prism of Russia and communism, and how the U.S. needed to resist it and fight it at every spot in the world. He justifies the Vietnam War on this basis, conveniently leaving out the thousands of soldiers who died in a conflict that ultimately ended in North Vietnam overrunning South Vietnam in 1975 after the U.S. pulled out. What he doesn't mention is that, largely because of the Watergate scandal that he was responsible for, the Congress cut funding to South Vietnam and helped seal its fate.
Interestingly, he warns of a resurgence in Russian nationalism and that the U.S. will have to make a concerted effort to protect the Eastern European nations from Russian expansionism. Furthermore, he presciently pinpoints Ukraine as one of the potential areas where Russia will want to regain control. Nixon really was an expert on Russian fears, motivations, and history. I do think that he tended to overstate Russia's influence in the world at large (Nixon viewed Russia as having influence on any nation that was not democratic in nature, regardless of global location).
The last roughly 40% of the book is focused mainly on domestic policy, is pretty much boiler plate Republican dogma: welfare encourages people not to work, universal health care would be disastrous, PBS should not be funded, and other such examples. Amazingly, he writes of healthcare (page 208): "Most people of the older generation in America grew up without health insurance....If patients could not pay for care, doctors provided it for free. But one way or another, patients got care and doctors got by." That seems like a generalization to the extreme. I wonder just how many people did NOT get care.
Ultimately, this book is full of "shoulds". One can just see Nixon wagging his finger as he warns of dangers (real and imagined). The tone is lecturing and also persistently conservative in domestic areas yet expansive in foreign policy.
Grade: D
The word "terrorism" never appears here - showing just how long ago this was written. Because of that, the book feels dated, and in this respect it definitely is. Nixon apparently had no inkling that the priorities and concerns of the U.S. (and much of the world) would change drastically in just seven years.
Of course, Nixon always looked at the world through the prism of Russia and communism, and how the U.S. needed to resist it and fight it at every spot in the world. He justifies the Vietnam War on this basis, conveniently leaving out the thousands of soldiers who died in a conflict that ultimately ended in North Vietnam overrunning South Vietnam in 1975 after the U.S. pulled out. What he doesn't mention is that, largely because of the Watergate scandal that he was responsible for, the Congress cut funding to South Vietnam and helped seal its fate.
Interestingly, he warns of a resurgence in Russian nationalism and that the U.S. will have to make a concerted effort to protect the Eastern European nations from Russian expansionism. Furthermore, he presciently pinpoints Ukraine as one of the potential areas where Russia will want to regain control. Nixon really was an expert on Russian fears, motivations, and history. I do think that he tended to overstate Russia's influence in the world at large (Nixon viewed Russia as having influence on any nation that was not democratic in nature, regardless of global location).
The last roughly 40% of the book is focused mainly on domestic policy, is pretty much boiler plate Republican dogma: welfare encourages people not to work, universal health care would be disastrous, PBS should not be funded, and other such examples. Amazingly, he writes of healthcare (page 208): "Most people of the older generation in America grew up without health insurance....If patients could not pay for care, doctors provided it for free. But one way or another, patients got care and doctors got by." That seems like a generalization to the extreme. I wonder just how many people did NOT get care.
Ultimately, this book is full of "shoulds". One can just see Nixon wagging his finger as he warns of dangers (real and imagined). The tone is lecturing and also persistently conservative in domestic areas yet expansive in foreign policy.
Grade: D
August 30, 2013
Nixon was a master of strategic thinking from a foreign policy perspective, and even domestically as he seemed to thrive on nuance and complexity, rather than reductionist binary reactions. This book is pretty heavy weight in the foreign policy domain, and it gives many clues as to his understanding. The actions he took in the domestic side were exceedingly strategic as well... but he covers them over with soundbites in the text. It almost reads as he was holding on to a national security issue as concerns his domestic mode of strategic thinking.
I ordered the book for its focus on foreign policy and strategy. I find the lens it provides as a means of observing strategic planning in all forms of government incredibly useful.
What I find fascinating in today's world is how it appears Rahm Emanuel, both in the White House as well as mayor of Chicago is channeling Nixon... replicating the strategies, but likely not fully understanding them, and then failing. Its a fascinating read for this aspect alone.
I ordered the book for its focus on foreign policy and strategy. I find the lens it provides as a means of observing strategic planning in all forms of government incredibly useful.
What I find fascinating in today's world is how it appears Rahm Emanuel, both in the White House as well as mayor of Chicago is channeling Nixon... replicating the strategies, but likely not fully understanding them, and then failing. Its a fascinating read for this aspect alone.
July 6, 2018
This was Nixon’s final shot at warning America of what was ahead for us. He foresaw the rise of a “Russian Strongman” if the West would not open its economic doors. He spoke of threats from rogue states, angry religious zealots and the internal decline of the American spirit.
To disqualify his abilities as a Great Statesman due to Watergate is missing the mark. Nixon was a living Greek tragedy. But he knew the leaders of the world for 40 years and they trusted him.
He wanted America to not go to sleep, “kick the can down the road”, because the Cold War was won. Understandably critical of the Clinton Doctrine of limited engagement with the world’s threats ( “We are not the world’s policeman”), he urged America to reengage. If we don’t, someone else would. Hello Iran, Iraq, Putin, Ben Laden, etc.
They say hindsight is easy. Nixon saw it coming and offered solutions that went unheard, he price of his transgressions. A warning to us all of the value of one’s reputation and how difficult it is to reclaim it
To disqualify his abilities as a Great Statesman due to Watergate is missing the mark. Nixon was a living Greek tragedy. But he knew the leaders of the world for 40 years and they trusted him.
He wanted America to not go to sleep, “kick the can down the road”, because the Cold War was won. Understandably critical of the Clinton Doctrine of limited engagement with the world’s threats ( “We are not the world’s policeman”), he urged America to reengage. If we don’t, someone else would. Hello Iran, Iraq, Putin, Ben Laden, etc.
They say hindsight is easy. Nixon saw it coming and offered solutions that went unheard, he price of his transgressions. A warning to us all of the value of one’s reputation and how difficult it is to reclaim it
June 14, 2023
Insightful on political post presidential perspective on the world order (1994). Smart man who got a bad rap. He was much more intelligent and worldly in views than the dung we currently have running the country. Chapters tend to reiterate the message on how to approach foreign adversaries as well as friends. Still the read was insightful. Of course given this is 2023 this has turned out quite different in many arenas than had existed during 2023. Many parts of the world have slid backwards unfortunately.
February 10, 2017
This book is stunning in all that it predicted could happen, did happen. I read one review that says the book does not mention terrorism at all. It does not, but it predicts the current clash between Islamic extremism and the west perfectly as well as the rise of populism in Russia and the possibility of a Vladimir Putin like leader rising up. In all it reads like a fortune teller that does in fact know the future. It is dated but it is well worth the read from this very brilliant President.
September 3, 2019
Seems Nixon was a good writer, his foreign policy was pretty good. He passed away shortly after this writing, lots of what he wrote about problems have only magnified.
October 14, 2020
Very dated view on foreign policy but is full of the timeless diplomatic advice that made Nixon an exceptional diplomat.
November 21, 2021
Useful perspective on the Russians and the Soviet Union.
June 1, 2022
Written in the early 1990s I was amazed at how optimistic RN was but little of his optimism has come to fruition. Maybe the next 80 years will fulfill his hopes.
April 5, 2024
95/100
5 stars - 90/100
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5 stars - 90/100
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2 stars - 60/100
1 star - 50/100
May 30, 2017
I purchased this book while on a visit to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda California approximately one year after his death; I lived not far from there at the time. I am not a critical person of the Nixon Presidency as most seem to be. He provided more good than bad to both his early military career in the Second World War and his political career that followed. President Nixon started more social programs than did LBJ and he isn't remembered today for his start of the EPA; to some hard lined Democrats in Washington DC he is considered the last true Liberal President the United States had. To some that last sentence will never be understood nor accepted by today's standards of the phrase.
This book is an excellent road map for the way forward following the conclusion of the Cold War. This book is also a part memoir of his experiences and encompasses history to solid portion. I recommend this book to any person interested in the intelligence of the Former President and my view is counter to the culture of today - I am not ashamed nor intimidated by this fact.
This book is an excellent road map for the way forward following the conclusion of the Cold War. This book is also a part memoir of his experiences and encompasses history to solid portion. I recommend this book to any person interested in the intelligence of the Former President and my view is counter to the culture of today - I am not ashamed nor intimidated by this fact.
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March 27, 2008327.73
August 14, 2009
The bushes should have read this book.
March 26, 2012
Good book about Nixon's viewpoint on America's role in international affairs!
May 18, 2012
It's been many years since I've read this, but I don't plan on reading it again.
February 17, 2013
Interesting book. Tough read if you are not into politics.
May 11, 2013
Not a good man but he has had a great vision for world politics.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews