THE PRESIDENCY by HUGH SIDEY: Trying to Grasp the Real Nixon

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Not long ago, after one of those White House meetings in which Nixon's qualities of leadership were glowingly described by his aides, a powerful member of Congress who attended and who still retained a steely eye was asked about the session. "It was," he said, "the worst one I've been to. The President was garrulous, and he couldn't stick to the subject. He interrupted almost every discussion with personal reminiscences that didn't have much to do with our business. I came away feeling that we had not talked very seriously about serious affairs." It is one of the quirks of this strange time that seeing Nixon struggle realistically with himself and events in this manner might add some believable dimensions to the synthetic image that he has created and burdens him so much in his larger battle for survival.