Introduction by Rick Perlstein
PART I: Youth
CHAPTER 1. From RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (1978)
CHAPTER 2. Two letters (1923 and 1924)
CHAPTER 3. "Our Privileges under the Constitution" (1929)
CHAPTER 4. From the Frank Gannon interviews (1983)
PART II: Congress
CHAPTER 5. "The Hiss Case--A Lesson for the American People" (Washington, D.C., January 26, 1950)
CHAPTER 6. The "Pink Sheet" (California, 1950)
CHAPTER 7. The "Checkers Speech" (September 23, 1952)
PART III: Vice President
CHAPTER 8. "When you go out to shoot rats" (March 13, 1954)
CHAPTER 9. The "Kitchen Debate" (Moscow, July 24, 1959)
CHAPTER 10. The Great Debate: Kennedy v. Nixon (Chicago, September 26, 1960)
PART IV: Comeback
CHAPTER 11. "Gentlemen, this is my last press conference" (Los Angeles, November 6, 1962)
CHAPTER 12. "The irresponsible tactics of some of the extreme civil rights leaders" (Cincinnati, February 12, 1964)
CHAPTER 13. "Appraisal from Manila" (November 4, 1966)
CHAPTER 14. "What Has Happened to America?" (Reader's Digest, October 1967)
CHAPTER 15. "Asia after Viet Nam" (Foreign Affairs, fall 1967)
CHAPTER 16. "The first civil right of every American is to be free from domestic violence" (Republican National Convention, Miami Beach, August 8, 1968)
PART V: President
CHAPTER 17. "To lower our voices would be a simple thing" (inaugural address, January 20, 1969)
CHAPTER 18. "The present welfare system has to be judged a colossal failure" (August 8, 1969)
CHAPTER 19. "The great silent majority of my fellow Americans" (November 3, 1969)
CHAPTER 20. "The postwar period in international relations has ended" ("State of the World" message, February 18, 1970)
CHAPTER 21. Four Vietnam Statements (1970)
CHAPTER 22. Two political statements from 1970
CHAPTER 23. "Our best days lay ahead" (August 15, 1971)
CHAPTER 24. "One China" (Shanghai, February 24, 1972)
CHAPTER 25. "He can undisappear if we want him to" (Oval Office, June 23, 1972)
CHAPTER 26. "Her name was Tanya" (Miami Beach Convention Center, August 23, 1972)
CHAPTER 27. "There can be no whitewash at the White House" (April 30, 1973)
CHAPTER 28. "I am not a crook" (November 17, 1973)
CHAPTER 29. "I made clear there was to be no coverup" (April 29, 1974)
CHAPTER 30. "My mother was a saint" (August 9, 1974)
Index
[CREDITS]

The first book to present America's most controversial president in his own words across his entire career, this unique collection of Richard Nixon's most important writings dramatically demonstrates why he has had such a profound impact on American life. This volume gathers everything from schoolboy letters to geostrategic manifestos and Oval Office transcripts to create a fascinating portrait of Nixon, one that is enriched by an extensive introduction in which Rick Perlstein puts forward a major reinterpretation of the thirty-seventh president's rise and fall.
This anthology includes some of the most famous addresses in American history, from Nixon's "Checkers" speech (1952) and "Last Press Conference" (1962), to the "Silent Majority" speech (1969) and White House farewell. These texts are joined by campaign documents--including the infamous "Pink Sheet" from the 1950 Senate race--that give stark evidence of Nixon's slashing political style. Made easily available here for the first time, these writings give new depth to our understanding of Nixon.

Rick Perlstein is the author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (Scribner) and Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (Hill & Wang), which won the Los Angeles Times book prize. He has written for many publications, including the New York Times and the Washington Post.