Product Description

The greatest political story ever told—the epic clash between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, as captured in Theodore White's dramatic and groundbreaking chronicle

The Making of the President 1960 is the book that revolutionized—even created—modern political journalism. Granted intimate access to all parties involved, Theodore White crafted an almost mythic story of the battle that pitted Senator John F. Kennedy against Vice-President Richard M. Nixon—from the decisive primary battles to the history-making televised debates, the first of their kind. Magnificently detailed and exquisitely paced, The Making of the President 1960 imbues the nation's presidential election process with both grittiness and grandeur, and established a benchmark against which all new campaign reporters would measure their work. The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction—and the first entry in White's influential four-volume "narrative history of American politics in action"—this classic account remains the keystone of American political journalism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1199752 in Books
• Published on: 1999-02
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.34 pounds
• Binding: Library Binding

From Amazon.com
Students of politics and political reporting should cheer: This too- long-out-of-print classic is coming back. The book and the campaign it covered are throwbacks to an era more and more citizens, increasingly mired in sound-bites and tabloidism, are at least subconsciously desperate to resuscitate. You'll be amazed at how knowledgeable (and sometimes even wise) both White and the candidates he covers--Kennedy and Nixon--seem. Yes, it was too good to be true, but what a nice idea.

Review
“More than a fascinating account of how one man succeeded in reaching the White House, while other failed; it is a graduate lesson in the rough, relentless, subtle and devious workings of American politics. It is a magnificent job of reporting, but it is also history.” (Saturday Review )

“A masterpiece . . . full of deep insights into political power in America and how our democracy works in choosing the President. It gripped me from beginning to end as very few books have.” (William L. Shirer )

“A notable achievement. White has written a fascinating story of a fascinating campaign.” (Time magazine )

“[White] revolutionized the art of political reporting.” (William F. Buckley )

“No book that I know of has caught the heartbeat of a campaign as strikingly as Theodore White has done in The Making of the President 1960.” (New York Times )

About the Author

Theodore H. White (1915–1986) was an American political journalist, historian, and novelist, best known for the Making of the President series: his accounts of the 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 presidential elections, all of which are being reissued with new forewords by Harper Perennial Political Classics. His other books include Thunder Out of China, America in Search of Itself, and In Search of History: A Personal Adventure.