I started Irwin Gellman's The Contender: Richard Nixon, The Congress Years, 1946-1952. As I said in my last post for my Year (or More) of Nixon, Gellman
essentially argues that the image of Nixon as a corrupt and shady
Red-baiter during his early political career is inaccurate and unfair.
In my posts about Gellman's book, I won't always go into what many
readers would consider to be the juicy parts, namely, Gellman's attempts
to refute what he considers to be myths about Nixon. Maybe
I'll get into that when I blog through other books about Nixon, by
referring back to how Gellman covered a particular event in Nixon's life
and comparing and contrasting that with other authors' treatment. But
overall, in my posts that are specifically about Gellman's book, I'll
simply be mentioning what stood out to me, or resonated with me.
What
stood out to me in my latest reading was Gellman's statement that
Nixon's father, Frank, taught a Sunday School class that drew a lot of
people. Gellman says on page 11 that "His room was always filled and
had to be expanded to accommodate others who wished to listen." Frank
was energetic and dogmatic, and author Jessamyn West
(who attended his class at age 16) said that his "absolute conviction
appealed to her" (Gellman's words). Gellman relates that Frank was
"truculent" yet congenial, and West said that Frank "was the first
person to make me understand that there was a great lack of practicing
Christianity in civic affairs" (West's words).
(UPDATE: Frank Nixon himself was a Republican, but the documented wikipedia article on Jessamyn West states that West "later wrote that Frank Nixon's version of the social gospel inclined her politically toward socialism.")
One
thing that I admire about Richard Nixon is his reported ability to
understand and lucidly articulate various ways of seeing an issue. I
guess that's the academic side in me! And yet, absolute conviction
draws a number of people. Does it draw me? Yes and no. On
the one hand, I feel slightly uncomfortable or un-nourished when I'm
sitting in a class and a professor presents so much ambiguity that I
doubt whether or not there is any firm ground to stand on, let alone to
build on. I feel like I'm in a desert rushing towards a stream or a
hamburger, and it vanishes into thin air because it turns out to be a
mirage! On the other hand, I get turned off when people (especially
those who believe differently from me) get on their dogmatic high horse,
rather than considering the possibility that there are other ways to
see an issue. But perhaps I would have enjoyed Frank Nixon's ardent
(yet congenial) jeremiads against immorality in the civic arena!
My
blog tends to be the sort that looks at various positions and considers
their strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, I arrive at a conclusion
about what I believe. Sometimes, I fail to do so. Some of you may like
the way that I discuss issues; some of you may prefer a more dogmatic
approach----for me to preach what you believe, or for me to take a firm
stand, period. But, for me, my blogging is part of my search, as I seek
to discover what I should believe, and why.