close
On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller Audiobook, by Richard Norton Smith Play Audiobook Sample

On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller Audiobook

On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller Audiobook, by Richard Norton Smith Play Audiobook Sample
FlexPass™ Price: $24.95
$9.95 for new members!
(Includes UNLIMITED podcast listening)
  • Love your audiobook or we'll exchange it
  • No credits to manage, just big savings
  • Unlimited podcast listening
Add to Cart
$9.95/m - cancel anytime - 
learn more
OR
Regular Price: $32.50 Add to Cart
Read By: Paul Michael Publisher: Random House Audio Listen Time: at 1.0x Speed 27.17 hours at 1.5x Speed 20.38 hours at 2.0x Speed Release Date: October 2014 Format: Unabridged Audiobook ISBN: 9780553398762

Quick Stats About this Audiobook

Total Audiobook Chapters:

461

Longest Chapter Length:

08:54 minutes

Shortest Chapter Length:

11 seconds

Average Chapter Length:

05:19 minutes

Audiobooks by this Author:

2

Other Audiobooks Written by Richard Norton Smith: > View All...

Publisher Description

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE BOSTON GLOBE, BOOKLIST, AND KIRKUS REVIEWS • From acclaimed historian Richard Norton Smith comes the definitive life of an American icon: Nelson Rockefeller—one of the most complex and compelling figures of the twentieth century.

 

Fourteen years in the making, this magisterial biography of the original Rockefeller Republican draws on thousands of newly available documents and over two hundred interviews, including Rockefeller’s own unpublished reminiscences.

 

Grandson of oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, Nelson coveted the White House from childhood. “When you think of what I had,” he once remarked, “what else was there to aspire to?” Before he was thirty he had helped his father develop Rockefeller Center and his mother establish the Museum of Modern Art. At thirty-two he was Franklin Roosevelt’s wartime coordinator for Latin America. As New York’s four-term governor he set national standards in education, the environment, and urban policy. The charismatic face of liberal Republicanism, Rockefeller championed civil rights and health insurance for all. Three times he sought the presidency—arguably in the wrong party. At the Republican National Convention in San Francisco in 1964, locked in an epic battle with Barry Goldwater, Rockefeller denounced extremist elements in the GOP, a moment that changed the party forever. But he could not wrest the nomination from the Arizona conservative, or from Richard Nixon four years later. In the end, he had to settle for two dispiriting years as vice president under Gerald Ford.

 

In On His Own Terms, Richard Norton Smith re-creates Rockefeller’s improbable rise to the governor’s mansion, his politically disastrous divorce and remarriage, and his often surprising relationships with presidents and political leaders from FDR to Henry Kissinger. A frustrated architect turned master builder, an avid collector of art and an unabashed ladies’ man, “Rocky” promoted fallout shelters and affordable housing with equal enthusiasm. From the deadly 1971 prison uprising at Attica and unceasing battles with New York City mayor John Lindsay to his son’s unsolved disappearance (and the grisly theories it spawned), the punitive drug laws that bear his name, and the much-gossiped-about circumstances of his death, Nelson Rockefeller’s was a life of astonishing color, range, and relevance. On His Own Terms, a masterpiece of the biographer’s art, vividly captures the soaring optimism, polarizing politics, and inner turmoil of this American Original.

 

Praise for On His Own Terms

 

“[An] enthralling biography . . . Richard Norton Smith has written what will probably stand as a definitive Life. . . . On His Own Terms succeeds as an absorbing, deeply informative portrait of an important, complicated, semi-heroic figure who, in his approach to the limits of government and to government’s relation to the governed, belonged in every sense to another century.”The New Yorker

 

“[A] splendid biography . . . a clear-eyed, exhaustively researched account of a significant and fascinating American life.”The Wall Street Journal

 

“A compelling read . . . What makes the book fascinating for a contemporary professional is not so much any one thing that Rockefeller achieved, but the portrait of the world he inhabited not so very long ago.”The New York Times

 

“[On His Own Terms] has perception and scholarly authority and is immensely readable.”The Economist



From the Hardcover edition.

Download and start listening now!

"With a keen eye for richness of detail, a gift for recounting the sweep of his subject’s life and the mastery of a prose artist, [Richard Norton Smith] offers a complete portrait, one that neither exaggerates Rockefeller’s accomplishments nor downplays his faults. And he depicts Rockefeller—‘allergic to inactivity’ as a man whose breadth of interests and depth of determination continue to astound—in all his contradictions. . . . Inspired in conception, incisive in execution, On His Own Terms displays the artistry of its author and the significance of its subject."

— Richmond Times-Dispatch

Quotes

  • [An] enthralling biography . . . Richard Norton Smith has written what will probably stand as a definitive Life. . . . On His Own Terms succeeds as an absorbing, deeply informative portrait of an important, complicated, semi-heroic figure who, in his approach to the limits of government and to government’s relation to the governed, belonged in every sense to another century.

    — The New Yorker  
  • [A] splendid biography . . . On His Own Terms is a clear-eyed, exhaustively researched account of a significant and fascinating American life.

    — The Wall Street Journal  
  • A compelling read . . . What makes the book fascinating for a contemporary professional is not so much any one thing that [Nelson] Rockefeller achieved, but the portrait of the world he inhabited not so very long ago.

    — The New York Times  
  • Richard Norton Smith spent fourteen years researching this life of Rockefeller. [On His Own Terms] has perception and scholarly authority and is immensely readable.

    — The Economist  
  • A nightmare for political handlers, the man who claimed ‘a Democratic heart with a Republican head’ poses no small challenge for a biographer. But after a decade of exhaustive research, Smith delivers a compelling portrait of a man who defied the simplifying ideologies of his age. . . . Complete and balanced, a biography of exceptional substance.

    — Booklist (starred review)
  • Richard Norton Smith has brought us a gripping, magisterial, deeply researched life of one of the most intriguing figures in American political history. In Smith’s vivid rendering, Nelson Rockefeller is exuberant, talented, conflicted, apparently unstoppable, and then, ultimately, poignant amid the frustration of his Ozymandian ambitions. Along with the tale of Rockefeller’s life, On His Own Terms also brings us a timely, knowing close-up view of what used to be called—at its zenith, which now seems so long ago—the ‘Rockefeller wing’ of the Republican party.

    — Michael Beschloss, author of Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789–1989 and The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1941–1945
  • The amount of first-class scholarship Richard Norton Smith undertook to write about Nelson Rockefeller is utterly remarkable. This is one of the greatest cradle-to-grave biographies written in the past fifty years. It’s never dull and always joyfully lucid. Highly recommended!

    — Douglas Brinkley, author of Cronkite and The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
  • No one knows more about the American presidency than Richard Norton Smith. In On His Own Terms, readers will marvel, laugh, and delight in Smith’s long-awaited biography of almost president Nelson Rockefeller. In history writing at its best, Smith’s insightful account of the struggle for the soul of the Republican Party fifty years ago sounds at many moments uncannily contemporary.

    — Ronald C. White, Jr., author of A. Lincoln: A Biography
  • Perhaps no American in public life has had as varied a career as Nelson Rockefeller—art collector, real estate developer, Latin America policy czar, presidential candidate, and governor of New York for fifteen turbulent years. Richard Norton Smith brings Rocky back to life in all his ebullience. Warning: This is, appropriately, a long book and one that’s impossible to put down.

    — Michael Barone, American Enterprise Institute, senior political analyst, Washington Examiner, and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics
  • “The amount of first-class scholarship Richard Norton Smith undertook to write about Nelson Rockefeller is utterly remarkable. This is one of the greatest cradle-to-grave biographies written in the past fifty years. It’s never dull and always joyfully lucid. Highly recommended!”

    — Douglas Brinkley, New York Times bestselling author of Cronkite
  • “No one knows more about the American presidency than Richard Norton Smith. In On His Own Terms, readers will marvel, laugh, and delight in Smith’s long-awaited biography of almost-president Nelson Rockefeller. In history writing at its best, Smith’s insightful account of the struggle for the soul of the Republican Party fifty years ago sounds at many moments uncannily contemporary.”

    — Ronald C. White, Jr., New York Times bestselling author of A. Lincoln: A Biography
  • “[A] splendid biography…On His Own Terms is a clear-eyed, exhaustively researched account of a significant and fascinating American life.”

    — Wall Street Journal
  • “Richard Norton Smith spent fourteen years researching this life of Rockefeller. [On His Own Terms] has perception and scholarly authority and is immensely readable.”

    — Economist
  • “[An] enthralling biography…Richard Norton Smith has written what will probably stand as a definitive life…On His Own Terms succeeds as an absorbing, deeply informative portrait of an important, complicated, semiheroic figure who, in his approach to the limits of government and to government’s relation to the governed, belonged in every sense to another century.”

    — New Yorker
  • “A compelling read…What makes the book fascinating for a contemporary professional is not so much any one thing that [Nelson] Rockefeller achieved but the portrait of the world he inhabited not so very long ago.”

    — New York Times
  • “With a keen eye for richness of detail, a gift for recounting the sweep of his subject’s life, and the mastery of a prose artist, [Richard Norton Smith] offers a complete portrait, one that neither exaggerates Rockefeller’s accomplishments nor downplays his faults. And he depicts Rockefeller—‘allergic to inactivity’ as a man whose breadth of interests and depth of determination continue to astound—in all his contradictions…On His Own Terms displays the artistry of its author and the significance of its subject.”

    — Richmond Times-Dispatch
  • “A piece of first-rate scholarship…If you thought you knew ‘Rocky,’ think again. At the hands of this acclaimed presidential scholar, we see a towering public figure in all his ambition, glory, and disappointment…This insightful work proves that a masterly, monumental biography can still captivate our attention and thus belongs on the shelves of libraries serving patrons who are interested in American political history.”

    — Library Journal (starred review)
  • “A monumental biography…Rockefeller’s enormously full life as a diplomat, bureaucrat, politician, businessman, and avid collector and proponent of modern art justifies the prodigious scale of this intensively researched work, presented in sturdy, confident prose with the occasional well-placed barb. The author maintains a dignified objectivity throughout, recounting events with penetrating perceptivity but refraining from intrusive editorial comment or analysis. An overdue comprehensive biography of a giant of mid-twentieth-century American politics.”

    — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
  • “A nightmare for political handlers, the man who claimed ‘a Democratic heart with a Republican head’ poses no small challenge for a biographer. But after a decade of exhaustive research, Smith delivers a compelling portrait of a man who defied the simplifying ideologies of his age…Complete and balanced, a biography of exceptional substance.”

    — Booklist (starred review)
  • “Narrator Paul Michael is a good companion for the long haul; he helps keep this lengthy, detailed biography interesting and enjoyable. His voice is likable, and he handles pacing, the matching of tone to sense, and the intelligent shaping of sentences with an easy facility. His reading is sober without being drab and avoids theatricality, something welcome in serious nonfiction, especially at this length…His skilled reading keeps this long life story engaging.”

    — AudioFile

Awards

  • One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2014

On His Own Terms Listener Reviews

Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!

About Richard Norton Smith

Richard Norton Smith is the author of Thomas E. Dewey and His Times and biographies of George Washington and Herbert Hoover. A distinguished political speechwriter, he has worked especially closely with Bob and Elizabeth Dole, with whom he collaborated on their bestselling memoir Unlimited Partners. The director of the Gerald R. Ford Museum and Library, he lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

About Paul Michael

Paul Michael, winner of several Earphones Awards, has also won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He has acted on stage, radio, television, and in feature films in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. He has had leading roles in series and made-for-television movies and has guest starred in such series as VIP and Alias. He has been nominated for a Canadian Emmy and has recorded over 150 audiobooks, including the international bestseller The Da Vinci Code.