“Silliman is to be commended for writing an engaging overview of Nixon's life that effectively explores the intersection of personal faith, organized Christianity, and civic religion in a figure many readers will approach with skepticism. Another achievement of Silliman's book, however, is the understated way in which he has approached his subject, allowing readers to ultimately come to their own conclusions.”
—Reading Religion
“Silliman has written an engrossing and eminently readable book. . . . There’s a remarkable balance between the speed at which the narrative moves, the accessibility of the prose, and the level of detail provided about Nixon’s life. Silliman’s tone is punch and agile . . . Silliman delivers on his promise of a spiritual biography: if you want to understand Richard Nixon, you should read this book.”
—Religious Studies Review
“Silliman writes with the flair of a journalist, the eye of an investigative reporter, and the instincts of a highly trained historian. (Off-stage, he actually is all of those things: journalist, reporter, and historian.) Whatever one’s view of Nixon’s policies, Silliman makes a powerful case that he was a man obsessed with his work, tortured by self-doubt, and perennially searching for the God he never could quite find. Silliman’s portrait of Nixon’s religion is a moving and sterling addition to the LRB’s distinguished shelf list.”
—Grant Wacker, author of One Soul at a Time: The Story of Billy Graham
“This beautifully written book not only brims with historical insights; it is deeply moving. Silliman helpfully chronicles Nixon’s exploits with various religious movements and leaders throughout his life and career. But more importantly, Silliman’s unique contribution is his breathtaking and affecting depth of analysis of the spiritual struggles of a man who labored for grace and longed for acceptance.”
—Aaron L. Griffith, author of God’s Law and Order: The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America
“It’s impossible to understand our crazy current moment at the intersection of politics and religion without understanding how the twentieth century led us here. And it’s impossible to understand the twentieth century without understanding Richard Nixon. With riveting storytelling, Daniel Silliman submerges the reader both in the tricky psychology of this brilliant, tragic man and in the social forces that transformed his world and ours. This book broke into my mind like a door at the Watergate Hotel.”
—Russell Moore, editor in chief, Christianity Today
