Conrad Black says writing a biography on another controversial public figure, former U.S. president Richard Nixon, was an exercise that took his mind off his legal troubles.

"It's a tremendous diversion from the rather tedious subject of one's legal travails when you're assaulted as I've been and not just in the ways that are public," Black told CTV's Canada AM.

Black made the comments during an interview to discuss his book "The Invincible Quest: The Life of Richard Milhous Nixon."

While Black was not able to specifically address the charges he faces in a fraud trial currently underway in Chicago, he spoke to the suggestion that some think he identifies with Nixon because both faced allegations of wrongdoing.

"I'm not a holder of a great office," Black told Canada AM. "I'm a rather mundane figure compared to Nixon and secondly, unfortunately he did do some things that were simply not reconcilable with his oath of office in my opinion."

"My contention, as you know, is that cannot be said of me. It has been said of me, but shortly after this book is published, it will be seen that there is no truth to that."

Black, along with three other co-defenders, is accused of defrauding shareholders in the sale of U.S. newspapers.

Black said that he identified with Nixon because both men had been subjected to personal attacks and operated under a significant amount of pressure.

"It was time, I thought for emotionalism to be set aside and for him to be reintegrated into the history of the country," Black told Canada AM. "He was really sort of standing up like a pikestaff, like some freakish character."

Black's biography on Nixon suggests a reconsideration of the widely held notions surrounding the former president's impact on American society.

He especially lauds Nixon's foreign policy initiatives and feels that he was not treated fairly in the Watergate conspiracy, which eventually forced him to resign as U.S. president.

Nixon is portrayed as an ordinary man for whom nothing came too easily, but for whom his persistence was one of his most valuable traits.

"I think those who are interested in Nixon are haunted by the thought that the country treated him unfairly," Black said.

With files from the Canadian Press