I have two clarifications to John R. Coyne Jr.'s interesting and timely book review ("How Ike eased Middle East strife," March 29).
When it suits his purposes, whether political or literary, Vincent "Buddy" Cianci Jr. plays the goombah card, and plays it well - pasta, Sinatra, his management style: "When you spend your weekends kissing elderly women with mustaches, you can make the decisions."
In the immediate wake of the elections, there's a growing perception that as the novelty wore off and the romance faded, the president proved himself as inept at campaigning (at least for others) as he has been at governing.
Here comes Bob Woodward again, no longer needing to invent improbable deathbed conversations (former CIA director William J. Casey in "Veil") or create oddly named composite characters who like to use potted geraniums to signal furtive meetings in dark parking garages.
THE CONVICTION OF RICHARD NIXON: THE UNTOLD STORIES OF THE FROST/NIXON INTERVIEWS
NIXON AND MAO: THE WEEK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
