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Title: The Making of the President, 1960 by Theodore H. White ISBN: 1-56849-143-3 Publisher: Buccaneer Books Pub. Date: April, 1999 Format: Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $45.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.31 (13 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Political Science classic
Comment: Theodore White's book, Making of the President: 1960, is considered a classic work of campaign reporting. Although the publishers were originally skeptical of how well the public would receive a book like this, they published White's book anyway. It was an instant best seller, and White was contracted to do works on the campaigns of 1964, 1968, and 1972 (long since out of print).
The book is a classic and well worth purchasing. His analysis of the campaign is thoughtful and still timely. White's writing style sets up the campaign as a classic battle between two strong-willed men. This narrative style works so well because of his main characters, Kennedy and Nixon. Both were emminently qualified and solid men, but personality wise, light years apart. My only minor quibble with it is that he spends much more time with Kennedy than with Nixon. The author was obviously better received by members of the Kennedy campaign. As a result, the Kennedy sections of the book are not only bigger, but better and more in depth.
In later years, White would be accused of creating "Camelot" to describe the JFK White House. Indeed, he wrote the eulogy for JFK in which the phrase first appeared (dictated to him by Jackie Kennedy). In "MOTP -- 1960," one can see "Camelot" forming, but it's not there yet. As a result, this book is still fairly even-handed in its conclusions.
This book deserves a place on any historian's shelf.
Rating: 5
Summary: Narrative History at its Most Vivid
Comment: One of my inspirations to become a historian stemmed from reading Theodore H. White's milestone Pulitzer Prize-winning narrative history of the exciting 1960 presidential race between Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Richard M. Nixon, "The Making of the President -- 1960." The big reason why I enjoyed and was so profoundly influenced by this milestone work was that it helped popularize the narrative historical approach, which merges the character-building drama of a great novel with the march of history. I found it infinitely preferable to the dry, fact-oriented textbooks I was so frequently compelled to wade through as a student. Almost assuredly, White used this style because it had become comfortable to him in the profession in which his writing career was launched -- journalism. He was a man who knew how to get a story and flesh out the fascinating aspects of the people he interviewed en route.
White certainly had a compelling drama in his midst in 1960, with John Kennedy seeking to become the first Roman Catholic ever to attain the presidency and Richard Nixon seeking to extend an eight year, Republican two term rule. As in the best of dramas, contrasts abound between the contestants. Kennedy came from a wealthy Boston family while Nixon was a middle class Southern Californian. The man of wealth was championed by liberals and unionists while the middle class Nixon was favored by conservatives of those of privilege, who feared that Kennedy and his Democratic Party followers were too radical for their tastes. Whereas Kennedy was a social mixer and, to a certain extent, an extrovert, Nixon was a solitary man uncomfortable around people.
Having experienced a cliffhanger presidential election in 2000, interested political readers and students of history can draw many correlations between Bush vs. Gore and the nail-biting race of 1960. In fact, the 1960 cliffhanger saw winner Kennedy prevail with a popular vote margin almost five times less the better than half million vote difference between Gore and electoral college winner Bush.
White, having decided that Kennedy was likely to prevail, was able to position himself at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannisport on election night. As a result he was able to furnish all kinds of dramatic, firsthand information about the reactions of Kennedy, his family members, and close political operatives.
William Hare
Rating: 5
Summary: Political Classic...
Comment: One of the best, and incredibly influential. What we know today about Kennedy was not probably available to White, and nobody would have dared to put it in print at the time anyway. White's books on the '64, '68, and '72 campaigns are just as good, and though long out of print are readily available and cheap at any used book store. Classic stuff!
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Title: The Making of the President, 1972 by Theodore Harold White ISBN: 0689105533 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: May, 1985 List Price(USD): $2.98 |
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Title: The Making of the President, 1968 by Theodore Harold, White ISBN: 0689102933 Publisher: Atheneum Pub. Date: June, 1969 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: See How They Ran: The Changing Role of the Presidential Candidate by Gil Troy ISBN: 0674796802 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: March, 1996 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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Title: Boys on the Bus by TIMOTHY CROUSE ISBN: 0345340159 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 12 July, 1986 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Making of the President, 1964 by Theodore Harold White ISBN: 045161190X Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: June, 1964 List Price(USD): $1.75 |
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