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One of the most controversial chief executives in American history, Richard M. Nixon remains an enigma even thirty years after his resignation. He is loved by some and hated by others, and his life is synonymous with a spectacular fall from power. Of the many portraits of this complex man by friends and foes alike, none have been more intimate or revealing than this memoir from his personal physician, friend, and confidante of more than forty years, John C. Lungren, M.D. Dr. Lungren, with his son and co-author John C. Lungren Jr., portrays Nixon as a paradoxical man--intense, compassionate, guarded, intelligent, resilient, deeply religious, enormously successful but ultimately tragic. Lungren describes his battle to restore the President's health after his resignation and reveals previously unknown details about Nixon's two intensive hospitalizations, his near fatal vascular collapse, and his depression. Lungren experienced firsthand Nixon's thoughts and feelings during the public scrutiny of federal prosecution for his role in the Watergate break-in. Accused o

Lungren was Richard Nixon's personal physician for more than 40 years, beginning with Nixon's vice-presidential campaign in 1952 and ending with Nixon's death in 1994. Lungren Jr. (Hesburgh of Notre Dame) wrote this memoir in his father's voice following the death of Dr. Lungren in 2000. The most interesting parts of the book describe Dr. Lungren's treatment of Nixon for depression and phlebitis, which nearly resulted in a blood clot that required immediate surgery by Lungren. The doctor suffered his own troubles for serving as Nixon's physician-hate mail, obscene phone calls, the burglarizing of his office, and a medical review panel sent by Judge John Sirica to verify that Nixon was too weak to testify at the Watergate hearings. Dr. Lungren admires Nixon but recognized some of his faults, most notably his hiring the bullying H.R. Haldeman as Nixon's chief of staff, with whom Lungren had more than one run-in. The book is valuable for its conversation about Nixon's medical ordeals after the presidency, but it tends to ramble when it discusses Nixon's politics; apparently, Lungren did not share as close a relationship with Nixon as did confidant Monica Crowley (Nixon Off the Record). Recommended for most public libraries.-Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.