Six Crises
Six Crises is the first book written by Richard Nixon, who later became the 37th president of the United States. It was published in 1962, and it recounts his role in six major political situations. Nixon wrote the book in response to John F. Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize–winning Profiles in Courage, which had greatly improved Kennedy's public image.[1][2][3]
Author
Richard M. Nixon
Charles Lichenstein and others (ghostwriters)
United States
English
Memoir
1962
RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon
Background and writing[edit]
Six Crises was Nixon's response to the John F. Kennedy book, Profiles in Courage (1955), which described the courage of eight US Senators.[2][3] Kennedy sent Nixon a copy of his book, for which Nixon thanked him the next day.[1] In 1961, following his 1960 presidential defeat to Kennedy, Nixon was encouraged by Mamie Eisenhower to write a book about his experiences. On April 20, he visited Kennedy in the White House where Kennedy urged him to write a book; he said that doing so would raise the public image of any public man. Nixon met with a Doubleday book editor the same month.[4]
Like Kennedy, Nixon used a ghostwriter for much of his book. The primary such writer was reportedly Charles Lichenstein.[5] Years later, Nixon's editor at Doubleday, Kenneth McCormick, recounted: "I enjoyed working with him on 'Six Crises.' He had the concept for the book. He had the whole thing in his head, but he said, 'I'm not much of a writer,' and I said, 'I know.' So Nixon talked the book into a tape recorder and another writer came in to help. Then Nixon said, 'Why don't I try the chapter on defeat? In the course of doing this I think I've learned to write.' Well, he wrote that chapter himself, and it was fine. He really was an example of someone who could learn."[6]
Commercial performance[edit]
Six Crises was a best seller at the time.[8] Sales were of over 300,000 copies and it was excerpted at length in LIFE magazine.[9][10]