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Books by and about 2020 presidential candidates |
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Crippled America,
by Donald J. Trump (2015) |
United,
by Cory Booker (2016) |
The Truths We Hold,
by Kamala Harris (2019) |
Smart on Crime,
by Kamala Harris (2010) |
Guide to Political Revolution,
by Bernie Sanders (2017) |
Where We Go From Here,
by Bernie Sanders (2018) |
Promise Me, Dad ,
by Joe Biden (2017) |
Conscience of a Conservative,
by Jeff Flake (2017) |
Two Paths,
by Gov. John Kasich (2017) |
Every Other Monday,
by Rep. John Kasich (2010) |
Courage is Contagious,
by John Kasich (1998) |
Shortest Way Home,
by Pete Buttigieg (2019) |
The Book of Joe ,
by Jeff Wilser (2019; biography of Joe Biden) |
Becoming,
by Michelle Obama (2018) |
Our Revolution,
by Bernie Sanders (2016) |
This Fight Is Our Fight,
by Elizabeth Warren (2017) |
Higher Loyalty,
by James Comey (2018) |
The Making of Donald Trump,
by David Cay Johnston (2017) |
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Books by and about the 2016 presidential election |
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What Happened ,
by Hillary Clinton (2017) |
Higher Loyalty ,
by James Comey (2018) |
Trump vs. Hillary On The Issues ,
by Jesse Gordon (2016) |
Hard Choices,
by Hillary Clinton (2014) |
Becoming ,
by Michelle Obama (2018) |
Outsider in the White House,
by Bernie Sanders (2015) |
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Book Reviews |
(from Amazon.com) |
(click a book cover for a review or other books by or about the presidency from Amazon.com)
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In The Arena
A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal, by Richard Nixon
(Click for Amazon book review)
Click here for 58 full quotes from Richard Nixon in the book In The Arena.
OR click on an issue category below for a subset. |
BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:
Nixon's title comes from Teddy Roosevelt, referring to men of action rather than men of thought.
Nixon popularized the term, with this book, to specifically mean "in the political arena," i.e. running for office.
Its current meaning, 40 years after Nixon and 100 years after Roosevelt, has come to mean Nixon's usage.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly;
who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt, at the Sorbonne in Paris, April 23, 1910
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OnTheIssues lives by Nixon's meaning -- we greatly value those who enter the arena and run for office.
Most of the pundits we cover are those who EARNED their title by seeking public office -- including the stumbles and the sweat and the victory and the defeat.
We cover these pundits, all of whom have been "in the arena":
We DO cover some other pundits who were never "in the arena," but we prefer those who were.
When we hear John Kasich, the former Congressman and Ohio Governor who is now a CNN commentator,
debate Chris Cuomo on "Cuomo Prime Time," we ignore Cuomo as "fluff" and listen intently to Kasich as "substance."
That's because Kasich was "in the arena" and Cuomo never was.
Richard Nixon would agree. And so would Teddy Roosevelt.
-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, April 2019
| OnTheIssues.org excerpts: (click on issues for details)
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Abortion
No litmus test on abortion or on any pet issue.
Constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion is non-starter.
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Corporations
Greed is not good, but wealth is, if used for good purpose.
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Drugs
Don't let elite casual drug users off the hook.
Ensure that no one who wants treatment is excluded.
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Education
School prayer is ok, but not as an Amendment.
Religious instruction in schools ok, like Marxism.
Before the 60s, schools helped students become productive.
Educational standards over political correctness.
Replace union politics with parental choice.
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Families & Children
Don't make life too easy for children.
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Foreign Policy
New world order of 5 major power centers.
Security interest in China overrides ideology.
Shanghai Communique established "One China" policy.
Work with Japan to shape international order in the Pacific.
US is not a declining power.
I did not "sell" ambassadorships; but I did appoint donors.
Expect coordinated European foreign policy after 1992.
Tiananmen repression did not wipe away progressive reforms.
Tiananmen massacre inexcusable, but continue China relations.
Western aid premature until Soviets overhaul economy.
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Free Trade
Competition with Japan but no economic warfare.
1985: Reduce Japan's non-tariff barriers.
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Government Reform
Term-limiting president, to 6 years or 8, is a bad idea.
Great statesmen should retire when just past their prime.
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Health Care
Federal assistance for catastrophic healthcare.
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Homeland Security
Kennedy wiretapped more people than my administration.
Gorbachev believed SDI arms race would bankrupt the USSR.
Congress' War Powers Act is clearly unconstitutional.
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Principles & Values
Understand your weaknesses to be strong during adversity.
Those that hate you don't win unless you hate them.
Only from deepest valley can you know the highest mountain.
Resignation from NY Bar not accepted, so they could disbar.
I was wrong: accepted Ford's pardon on Watergate.
Focus on goals outside of yourself.
Watergate was wrong; I should have set moral tone.
The myths of Watergate brought me down, not the facts.
I did not deliberately lie at Watergate press conferences.
No one in the Nixon administration profited from Watergate.
Watergate was a crime as well as a political blunder.
Intensely religious, but also intensely private about faith.
Ministers should change people, not change government.
United States is not just one nation among equals.
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Tax Reform
I did not order illegal IRS audits; but I did order audits.
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Technology
I did not illegally wiretap; but I did order wiretaps.
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War & Peace
Cambodia: Only regret was not invading sooner.
Sent Israel 550-plane airlift during 1973 war.
1975 loss in Vietnam led to Communism in Laos & Cambodia.
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Welfare & Poverty
Margaret Thatcher repealed British Socialism.
Welfare too high is dependency trap; too low is hardship.
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The above quotations are from In The Arena
A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal, by Richard Nixon.
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