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1960--LBJ Vs. JFK Vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies (2008)

by David Pietrusza(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1402761147 (ISBN13: 9781402761140)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Union Square Press

review 1: In-depth history of the 1960 Presidential campaign. Very compelling to read through the ups and downs, twists and turns of a campaign showdown where we of course know the outcome, but is dramatic stuff none-the-less. I loved the information not only on the candidates, their wives, and families, but on each leaders friend's, staff, and advisers. Given the benefit of history it is interesting to note when candidates were given good advice, by whom, and insight into why, or why not, they'd choose to follow it.I'm again reminded of, and amazed by, how much I don't know. For example, the 1960 debates between candidates Kennedy and Nixon. I've seen clips and read before that Nixon was tired, didn't look good, and didn't understand the medium of TV as well as the suave and s... moremart Kennedy. Here I learned that although Nixon was overly tired for the first debate and came off poorly when compared to Kennedy's calm and composed demeanor on TV, that those listening on radio actually felt Nixon was the debate winner. And then for debates 2 - 4, Nixon is universally felt to have gotten the better of Kennedy.As far as securing each party's nomination, the process was so different back then. I was not aware that in 1960 there were only 11 primaries, and that candidates would never think to enter each one. They'd pick and choose which primary might give them the best press, best momentum, or best shot at securing the Presidential nomination at their party's political convention. LBJ barely campaigned at all prior to the Democratic convention, and another Democratic front runner, Adlai Stevenson, actively communicated he was not interested in the nomination (a practice that had worked well for him in securing the Democratic Presidential nomination in both '52 + '56).Fascinating reading... 4 Stars★ = Horrid waste of time★★ = May be enjoyable to some, but not me★★★ = I am glad I read it★★★★ = Very enjoyable and something I'd recommend★★★★★ = A rare find, simply incredible
review 2: Interesting style, but it paled a bit after a while. Don't get me wrong, injecting a little vigor and readability into political books is just what the doctor ordered (if only more of them didn't sound all terminally stodgy, like theses rotting away on some university shelf), but it was hard to know how to take his attitude sometimes. Like when he lambasts the supposed shallowness of the era of the TV presidential debate as "Government by gotcha." I mean, is he really that snide? Or is he that dense? Either way, it's a bit off-putting (and USA Today-ish), and I found myself not quite trusting him by the end of the read (this was incidentally enforced by the utterly pointless final chapter). At the start of things I found it perhaps refreshing to read a sentence in such a book like: "The day [JFK's] older brother Joe was blown to bits." Later on though it started to seem a bit gimmicky and cheap.But of course it was a heck of a contest, and time (and all that). Particularly diverting was reading of Nixon's impromptu junket to Tijuana at the end of the campaign. The Trickster hardly got any wackier than that! (it was like the 1970 Lincoln Memorial dawn all over again, only it came first of course). less

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