This paper is a chapter-by-chapter critical review of Richard Nixon's 1992 book Seize the Moment: America's Challenge in a One-Superpower World, written eighteen years after Nixon's resignation from the presidency. The review examines Nixon's assessments of the post-Soviet transition, U.S. policy in Europe, relations with Japan and China, the Muslim world, developing nations, and domestic social policy. It evaluates both the strengths and weaknesses of Nixon's arguments, noting his consistent anti-communist perspective, his skepticism toward Gorbachev, and his tendency to rely on unnamed sources and politically charged rhetoric. The paper situates the book within the context of Nixon's broader political legacy.
The paper demonstrates evaluative critical reading: the writer does not simply summarize the source but interrogates Nixon's rhetorical methods, such as his reliance on anonymous quotes from "reformers" during his 1991 Moscow visit and his sweeping attacks on unnamed "Marxist universities." This technique — identifying the logical and evidentiary gaps in an author's argument — is central to effective book review writing at the undergraduate level.
The paper opens with a biographical introduction situating Nixon's life and political career, then proceeds chapter by chapter through Seize the Moment, and closes with a brief evaluative conclusion. Each body section summarizes Nixon's claims, quotes key passages, and offers the reviewer's critical commentary. The conclusion steps back to assess the book's overall value in light of Nixon's controversial legacy.
Richard Nixon's book Seize the Moment was published eighteen years after Nixon had resigned the presidency of the United States. The former president had been caught up in a cover-up of the Watergate scandal in 1973. Even though he had asked for the resignation of his two top aides, the investigation into the botched burglary at the Watergate complex made it clear that Nixon was part of the cover-up, and he was forced to resign — the first president in the history of the United States to do so.
Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California. According to the Encyclopedia of World Biography, his father mistreated Nixon physically and his mother was "manipulative." The biography points out that this upbringing resulted in Nixon's "drive to succeed," which included his willingness to "pretend to be 'good' while using any tactics necessary to achieve his goals." Nixon attended Whittier College and later earned his law degree at Duke University. He served in the Navy, and after World War II he won a seat in Congress in 1946. He served on the now-disgraced House Un-American Activities Committee and became known as a strong anticommunist politician.
Eventually Nixon became Dwight Eisenhower's vice president, and in 1960 he ran for the presidency but was narrowly defeated by John F. Kennedy — in part because Kennedy won the televised debates between the two candidates. In those famous debates, Nixon "looked pale and unwell," while Kennedy appeared younger, healthier, and came across as the more capable candidate. Nixon eventually won the presidency in 1968 and promised to end the war in Vietnam, a promise he failed to keep. In fact, Nixon expanded the U.S. bombing campaign into Cambodia, and his presidency was rocked by massive antiwar protests.
A few years after his resignation, Nixon "emerged in a role of elder statesman." He wrote his memoirs and other books — Six Crises (1962); RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (1980); The Real War (1982); Real Peace: A Strategy for the West (1983); No More Vietnams (1985); 1999: Victory Without War (1988); and In The Arena (1990) — and he visited countries around the world in addition to consulting for the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations (Encyclopedia of World Biography).
On pages 16 and 17 of Chapter 1 ("The Real World"), Nixon wrote arguably the longest sentence in the book. He lists the dozens of moves by the Soviet Union that amounted to "communist aggression" in the world following World War II. This was the period of the Cold War, and it was perfectly appropriate for a legendary anticommunist politician to catalogue those aggressive acts. However, Nixon writes that in 1989, thanks to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev — who initiated democratic elections, made it possible for the press to freely express opinions, and essentially changed the political ideology of the Soviet Union — the landscape began to shift.
In his first chapter, Nixon warns against assuming that because the Soviet Union had moved from a strict communist structure to a more democratic and open government, the world was now free and safe. He asserts that even after the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, "peace remained illusive" across a long list of countries and regions. True to his reputation, Nixon criticized "isolationists" who want the United States to stop interfering in the affairs of other states, and he complained about "idealistic internationalists" who believed the United Nations could help build "not just a better world, but a perfect world" (Nixon, 33). Time and again Nixon attacked what he characterized as liberal thinking: he called the idea that the UN can help create peace "woolly-headed idealism"; insisted that realism in terms of the world order must be built "not on the soft sand of unrealistic idealism but on the hard rock of enduring geopolitical realities"; and argued that those who would "turn our backs" to the world's problems with "smug insistence" are wrong (34–37).
In Chapter 2, Nixon uses seventy pages to lay out his view of "The Former Evil Empire" — the Soviet Union, now known as Russia. A good portion of his narrative on the Soviet transition to a more democratic system is laced with skepticism. He warns readers that even though the Soviet Union was going through changes, the United States and other Western nations should not give billions in aid to help democracy grow; giving money to Moscow "without political reform" would have been a "grand con job" (50).
Nixon produces some of his best writing when he compares Yeltsin — who became president after Gorbachev — to Gorbachev himself. He writes that Yeltsin appeals to "main street" while Gorbachev appeals to "Wall Street"; Yeltsin appeals to "the heart" while Gorbachev appeals to "the head"; and Yeltsin is a combination of John Wayne and Lyndon Johnson while Gorbachev is a "Soviet version of Adlai Stevenson" (52).
Clearly Nixon did not trust Gorbachev and seemed to side with Yeltsin. It should be noted, however, that this book was published in 1992 and the entire transition in the Soviet Union had not yet fully developed, so the legacies of these political leaders were not yet sealed. Nixon wanted to support the leader who "has the most power" and "shares our values," and on "both counts, the answer has to be Boris Yeltsin," he insists on page 77. Page after page of this chapter subtly or bluntly attacks Gorbachev — saying, for example, that Gorbachev's economic strategy was "tilting at windmills" (an apparent allusion to Don Quixote).
Nixon also employs a questionable tactic to attack Gorbachev by quoting unnamed sources he encountered during a "meeting with the reformers" when he visited Moscow in 1991. These individuals reportedly said that Gorbachev was "indecisive," "ruthless," "an opportunistic party-man," "a brutal wimp," and "a weak man" (105). Of course, a writer can find quotes from people on the street to say almost anything, and can label those people "reformers" or "protesters" as the context demands. By relying on such pithy quotes from unnamed sources, Nixon diminishes both his book and his own reputation. He was still "Tricky Dick" to many in the West, and this book reflects some of the same questionable tactics that made him a controversial figure. To summarize the chapter: Yeltsin represents the future of Russia, while Gorbachev — though an intelligent man — is, in Nixon's view, still a communist and an atheist undeserving of the accolades that liberals have bestowed upon him.
It is actually remarkable that a man who resigned the presidency in shame, and was clearly guilty of politically abhorrent behavior while in office, should go on to write books advising America on how to change its ways and respond to a changing post-Cold War world. Nixon did indeed — to some degree — transcend his own dark legacy. As he traveled the world and earned money from the sale of his books, millions of people likely forgot that he would have been impeached had he not resigned. They may also have forgotten that he erased some of the most damning portions of White House tape recordings to protect himself, and that he authorized break-ins and the ransacking of a psychiatrist's office in pursuit of information about those on his "enemies list."
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