From acclaimed biographer Stephen E. Ambrose comes the life of one of the most elusive and intriguing American political figures: Richard M. Nixon.

From his difficult boyhood and earnest youth to his ruthless political campaigns for Congress and Senate to his defeats in '60 and '62, Richard Nixon emerges life-size in all his complexity. New York Times bestselling author Stephen Ambrose charts the peaks and valleys of Nixon's first fifty years—his critical support as a freshman congressman of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan; his involvement in the House Committee on Un-American Activities; his aggressive pursuit of Alger Hiss; his ambivalent relationship with Eisenhower; and more. It is the consummate biography and a stunning political odyssey.