In his memoir, an aide to Richard Nixon recalls him fondly

The President’s Man. By Dwight Chapin. William Morrow; 480 pages; $29.99 and £20

FIFTY YEARS ago this month, Richard Nixon embarked on his historic trip to China. Nixon loved planning it, recalls Dwight Chapin, an aide who helped prepare the visit. Mr Chapin’s ghostwritten memoir captures the excitement of the mission, as well as his awe at the president’s strategic vision. “We are going to China”, Nixon said at the time, “because in 50 years we will be adversaries and we must be able to talk to one another.”

Those were heady days for Mr Chapin, brought up on a farm in Kansas and now witnessing great-power politics, being served duck brain at a banquet with Zhou Enlai and, at just 30, impressing the Chinese premier with his youth. Thanks to his loyalty and organisational flair, he had progressed from working as an advance man on Nixon’s failed bid for California’s governorship in 1962 to occupying an office next to the president’s. His secret-service codename was “Watchdog”. As Nixon’s appointments secretary, he kept his daily schedule, “working with five of the most impressive words in the English language: ‘The White House is calling’.”

After China came Russia. Mr Chapin helped organise the first trip by an American president to Moscow, where Nixon signed the Strategic Arms...