Stop every press in America.

A book has come out that praises President Nixon to the hilt.

No resignation obsession. No rewinding the tapes ad nauseam. No wallowing in the gutter cartoons.

This is a tome titled “Richard Nixon: California’s Native Son,” a sunny story about the onlypresident born in the Golden State — the man who died 30 years ago this spring.

The author is Paul Carter, a Southern California trial lawyer, just like his topic. And he unabashedly puts Nixon on the pedestal where he belongs, detailing his:

• Loving upbringing.
• Five decades of wedded bliss with Pat.
• Heroics in World War II’s Pacific theater.
• Gutsy congressional race in1946.
• Brilliant victory for the Senate in 1950.
• Backbone perseverance as vice presidential candidate in 1952.
• Rebound for the ages to win the presidency in 1968.

He did this, all while maintaining lifelong friendships from his Whittier upbringing and college days. Nixon became an international star, but he never forgot his friends and his disposition especially shone among these fellow Californians.

Carter wrote:

“Richard Milhous Nixon was shaped by a pioneer spirit, family-instilled tenacity, loyalty to friends and family, and a tireless work ethic, all founded on his devout faith.”

One of those California friends, George Argyros, lauded Nixon as hardly anyone does in history books:

“He was an amazing man. He was sensitive, accomplished, well versed, with a very realistic view of the world.”

Nixon carried his empathy beyond his home state.

At the other end of the country was his hospital visit with Bud McFarlane, the President Reagan aide who tried to kill himself in 1987.

After welcoming the former president to his hospital room, McFarlane said, “I recall the warmth in his voice when he said, ‘From now on, don’t look back. Get busy, earn yourself some money. You’ve done the right things in the past; now look to your future. You can do it.’ Coming from him, I can’t tell you what a tonic the encouragement was.”

Nixon is a giant because of much more than his kind demeanor.

The 37th president rocked at what he called nut-cuttin’ time.

Let’s count this prized poker player’s chips for America:

Vietnam: Nixon had a winning hand in January 1973. He ended America’s longest war. South Vietnam looked like it would stay free the way South Korea did. Only when Congress pressured the president to resign the next year and surrendered in Southeast Asia did that hand fold.

Air and water: Nixon started flushing the grime from America’s skies and rivers by opening the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. He was a true conservationist, not a weather hoax nutjob.

Voting age: Nixon shuffled the law to let 18-year-olds vote just like they can fight in our wars. His signature on the bill in 1970 lowered the age limit from 21 in federal elections. The next year, the 26th Amendment to the Constitution made the age change for all elections.

Desegregation: Nixon faced a weak hand when the courts ruled that schools had to bus children to achieve racial balance, an outrageous slap at families and communities. He forged through this political Cat 6 storm by calling for a pause on new busing orders and pushing voluntary integration plans. Bottom line, black child attendance at all-black schools plummeted to 8% in the South by his last year in office. All the while, Nixon displayed sober respect for Southern whites, whom liberals ripped as racists. Just like today. “We don’t poke our fingers in their eyes,” the president said in Carter’s book. “We don’t rub their noses in it. We don’t get our name in the newspapers — but we do it.” That touch turned Dixie his way in the 1972 landslide.

Killing the draft: This is Nixon’s ace. He pledged in his 1968 campaign to end the draft, and he came through on July 1, 1973. Thus started the all-volunteer Army, his ultimate salute to freedom. With soldiers who want to fight for America and earn the solid money that comes with service, the Nixon-born military has grown into the most muscular in history.

The moon: Nixon oversaw all six manned lunar landings from 1969 to ’72. Each one came while America was in the heat of the Vietnam War. Did Nixon wring his hands and cut the space program? No. He stared at the cards he was dealt and raised the stakes.

Israel: Man, could we use Nixon’s spine now as Israel looks for America’s help in the latest war on terror. He saw the Jews losing steam amid the Yom Kippur War in 1973, so he stepped on the gas. He shipped every aircraft in sight to Israel’s defense. It turned out to be a bigger airlift than the Berlin version of 1948-1949 — and saved our ally in the desert.

China: The red Chinese aren’t looking so hot these days. Still, Nixon was oceans ahead of his time. He saw the world’s biggest population in darkness and drew open the curtain. Since his 1972 drama, the Chinese have been performing an economic boom. Amid all that buying and selling of our goods, we can only hope for a long shot decades from now: China rejecting communism. That seminal visit to China at least paid off on a personal level. Carter reveals that while Nixon suffered in the hospital after leaving the White House in late 1974, he received a startling call. Mao Zedong was on the line. The communist told the Republican he met in Beijing two years before that he considered him “one of the greatest statesmen in history.” The bloodthirsty chairman at least spotted titans on the world stage.

President Nixon did California right. So does Paul Carter’s book.

Image: U.S. National Archives, via Picryl // no known restrictions

Bucky Fox is an author and editor in Florida.