Abraham Lincoln, John Quincy Adams, and Jimmy Carter all published collections of poetry—and I don’t mean to diminish their stately, often tender contributions to arts and letters by what follows. But the simple fact of the matter is, their poetical efforts pale in comparison to Richard Nixon, who was, and remains, the most essential poet-president the United States of America has ever produced.
The Poetry of Richard Milhous Nixon, a slim volume compiled by Jack S. Margolis and published in 1974, stands as a seminal work in verse. Comprising direct excerpts from the Watergate tapes—arguably the most fecund stage of Nixon’s career—it fuses the rugged rhetoric of statesmanship to the lithe contours of song, all rendered in assured, supple, poignant free verse. Below, to celebrate Presidents’ Day, are four selections from this historic chapbook, which has, lamentably, slipped out of print.
THE POSITION The position isTo withholdInformationAnd to cover upThis isTotally true.You could sayThis isTotally untrue. TOGETHER We are allIn it Together. We take A few shots And It will be over. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t Want to be On the other side Right now. IN THE END In the endWe are goingTo be bledTo death.And in the end,It is all goingTo come out anyway.Then you get the worstOf both worlds.
THE POSITION
The position isTo withholdInformationAnd to cover upThis isTotally true.You could sayThis isTotally untrue.
TOGETHER
We are allIn it Together. We take A few shots And It will be over. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t Want to be On the other side Right now.
IN THE END
In the endWe are goingTo be bledTo death.And in the end,It is all goingTo come out anyway.Then you get the worstOf both worlds.
The power of Nixon’s poems was duly recognized by his peers—other writers, most notably Thomas Pynchon, have used them as epigraphs. From Gravity’s Rainbow:
Dan Piepenbring is the web editor of The Paris Review.
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