“After decades of pretentious psychobiographies of Richard Nixon’s ‘darkest side,’ Paul Carter has produced a tour de force that is the definitive portrait of Nixon’s life from his childhood until the end of his career.”—Irwin Gellman, author of Campaign of the Century: Kennedy, Nixon, and the Election of 1960
“Paul Carter is the first person to comprehensively review the records of Richard Nixon’s formative years. The result is a book that shines. It is a feat that will never be repeated.”—Luke A. Nichter, author of The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968
“Richard Nixon: California’s Native Son is remarkably well done and is the best biography of my brother that I have read. . . . Paul Carter has crafted a fascinating, lawyerly narrative, scrupulously following the evidence in his research. By shifting the focus of Dick’s life from Washington, DC, to Southern California for the very first time, the true Dick Nixon is revealed. For those who have not yet made up their mind about my brother, this will provide revelatory reading.”—Edward C. Nixon, brother of Richard Nixon
“Richard Nixon: California’s Native Son is superb—there’s really nothing like it in the Nixon literature, or even in the literature of the American presidency. Ed Nixon refers to Paul Carter’s work as ‘lawyerly,’ and that captures a lot of what makes the book invaluable: the careful assembling of masses of material after exhaustive research, presented with the clarity of style and directness of argument that the best lawyers command. I’m wowed by the whole thing.”—Andrew Ferguson, author of Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe’s America and former speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush
“Paul Carter has done a brilliant job of providing an insightful and revealing portrait of Richard Nixon. Starting from his roots in Southern California and proceeding through his life in the public arena, Carter makes Nixon’s life come alive. Using source materials that have never been assembled so completely, coupled with meticulous attention to detail, the author has put together a compelling and important depiction of the life and emergence of Richard Nixon. . . . A superb portrait.”—John F. Rothmann, host of The John Rothmann Show on KGO 810 AM and lecturer on American politics at the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning at the University of San Francisco
“Richard Nixon: California’s Native Son is a deeply researched, highly readable account of President Richard Milhous Nixon’s life from a distinctly Californian point of view. . . . By showing that Nixon was a product of both his time and his birthplace, Carter retells this very American story in a unique way. Destined to become a classic within Nixon literature, this is a must-add to the presidential bookshelf as well as a must-read for those studying native sons of the Golden State.”—Heather Hardage Lee, author of The League of Wives: The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the U.S. Government to Bring Their Husbands Home
“A highly readable examination of Richard Nixon’s character and career. This story is impeccably detailed, with the author utilizing a wide variety of primary historical sources to illuminate Nixon’s rise, fall, and ultimate redemption on the grandest stage of American politics. Richard Nixon: California’s Native Son portrays the highest highs and the deepest lows that any American politician ever experienced. Paul Carter’s outstanding coverage of Richard Nixon’s remarkable journey stands in a class by itself.”—Joseph Dmohowski, Whittier College librarian and Nixon family author and historian
