Tangled Web: The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency

by William P. Bundy

The first authoritative account of the Nixon-Kissinger record in its entirety, this book explores the details of their work in every aspect and their short-term gains and losses, in a clear assessment of the consequences of Nixon and Kissinger's operational modes. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: History

647 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Bundy's A Tangled Web is a workmanlike analysis of Richard Nixon's foreign policy. Bundy, a foreign policy expert, occasional government adviser and brother of LBJ confidante McGeorge Bundy, wrote this book in the late '90s when the revisionist view of Nixon as a flawed genius was still prevalent. Tangled Web at least does much to push back against that, arguing that Nixon, far from a genius with a sweeping view of foreign affairs, had no set strategy for his goals that weren't impacted by pragmatic political considerations. Bundy dutifully details the SALT negotiations and China opening, which have been better-handled in other books; nor does his recounting of the Vietnam debacle break too many boundaries. He offers an unusually detailed discussion of Nixon and Kissinger's botched efforts at mediating the Middle East, but his pro-Israel bias and Beltway clichés about the region (calling Saudi Arabia a "moderate regime" never fails to set my teeth on edge) detract from its strengths. The book is perhaps most interesting in its peripheral chapters, such as Bundy's detailed discussion of Nixon's response to Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik (he did not appreciate NATO members seeking to become independent of the United States, a debate that feels prescient in 2023), the international affect of Nixon's economic policies (particularly unilaterally closing the gold window), a brutal assessment of the "tilt" towards Pakistan during their 1971 war with India, and a detailed discussion of the Yom Kippur War. Bundy's unusual assessment of Henry Kissinger as not so central to policy making as authors like Seymour Hersh and Walter Isaacson treat him, is interesting and contains more than a grain of truth (surely, the hyperfocus of some pundits on Kissinger detracts from Nixon's responsibility, and blame for his own crimes and blunders). Worth reading for students of foreign policy and the Nixon Administration, and more convincing than, say, Robert Dallek's anodyne Nixon and Kissinger, but not a standout in its field either.

[Grindy Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once one grasps the central theme of the author - that Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger weren’t the foreign policy grandmasters that their memoirs make them out to be - this book is a little easier to digest. The author does make his point convincingly but it’s not a lively read.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some decent information, but comes across as a rather biased account of the affairs covered. The sections on the oil shock and the Sino-American rapprochement were pretty strong.