The daunting challenge in writing a dual biography, particularly one about a president and First Lady, is composing the subjects in a comfortable balance, so that one does not eclipse the other. Swift’s psychological paradigms serve him well. highly intelligent and far more sophisticated than the decades’ worth of quick takes . . . fair-minded and thorough attempt to trace the long, jagged arc of the Nixons’ marriage . . . Kate Buford, author of Burt Lancaster: An American Life This president and his first lady left such a deep mark on their times and our history that it is important to come to understand, in reading Pat and Dick, the intricate personal drama that was going on behind the public upheavals.' 'Will Swift’s sympathetic but rigorous examination of their marriage upended long-held assumptions and left me deeply moved by the end. the distance from Watergate-and access to new personal documents-gives Pat and Dick a freshness to a much-considered chapter of history.' largely sympathetic examination of one of America’s most mysterious political couples . . .

'A complicated picture of the Nixons . . . Written by a leading presidential biographer who “narrates with grace and style” ( Kirkus Reviews), this remarkable biography shows us a couple who, despite their trials, managed to find the strength, courage, and resilience to sustain a true connection for more than half a century. From Dick’s unrelenting crusade to marry the glamorous teacher through the myriad crises of his political career, the Nixons’ story is filled with hopes and disappointments, both intimate and global. With the help of personal writings and interviews with family and friends, Swift unveils a woman who was warm and vivacious, yet much shrewder and more accomplished than she has been given credit for. Nixon the man was enormously complicated: brilliant, insecure, sometimes coldly calculating, and capable of surprising affection with his wife. In Pat and Dick, biographer Will Swift brings his years of experience as a historian and marital therapist to this unique examination of a long-misunderstood marriage. Now, the couple’s recently released love letters and other private documents reveal that as surely as unremitting adversity can fray the fabric of a marriage, devotion can propel it to surmount disgrace and defeat. But a very different image of the polarizing president emerges in this fascinating portrait of the relationship between Richard and Pat Nixon.

When Americans remember the controversial Nixons, they usually focus on the political triumphs, the turbulent White House years, and the humiliating public downfall. Shortlisted for the 2015 Plutarch Award for Best Biography, “the most humanizing portrait of the Nixons we’re likely to have” (Douglas Brinkley) is a sweeping depiction of the turbulent fifty-three-year marriage of Richard and Pat Nixon.

Pat and Dick by Will Swift