The Making of the President, 1960

Media:	Library Binding
Author:	Theodore H. White
Publisher:	Buccaneer Books
Release date:	01 April, 1999
List price:	~~$45.95~~
Our price:	$28.95 that is 37% off!

The Making of the President, 1960

Average rating: Stars

Superb, Romantic and Exciting

Journalist Theodore H. White (1915-1986) captured the excitement of the Presidential campaign (and the Pulitzer Prize) with this romantic look at the 1960 race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. White spent a year on the campaign trail, and his prose makes readers feel as if they're alongside the two young candidates as history plays out. Kennedy was just 43, brilliant, charming and charismatic, while at 47, Nixon was a brooding introvert, but also highly capable. We meet also-rans like Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Adlai Stevenson and Nelson Rockefeller. We also see the moves of king-makers like Chicago's mayor Richard Daley and Governor David Green (Pennsylvania) in an era where party conventions still chose candidates. Readers get a look at then-vital issues such as religion (Kennedy was Catholic), the Cold War, civil rights, and the effect of the first TV debates in that black-and-white era when quite a few homes still lacked television. Then there's the sprint to finish line as the candidates crisscross the nation in frenzied stumps for votes. Finally, we experience the suspense of election night as the close vote is slowly tallied, ending with a razor-thin margin for Kennedy after the sun rose the next morning.

This superb best-seller isn't flawless. The author favors Kennedy and discounts (or ignores) charges that he was a rich and under-prepared playboy, while also forgiving Nixon's red-baiting, "Tricky Dick" style. Still, THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT is an exciting read, and a more optimistic volume than the three nearly-as-good versions the author wrote after the 1964, 1968, and 1972 campaigns.

The Making of the President, 1960 - Theodore H. White

Help - I'm stuck in the 60's (and loving it).

Name the two greatest years in history?
1968 and 1968.
But 1968 didn't just happen and if you read this great book you'll start to get a feel for Dick Nixon, LBJ, et al, and how it all came crashing down in 1968. It is one of the most revealing, comprehensive, enjoyable history books I've read.
I also challenge you to read Chapter One of the next "The Making of the President 1968" and put it down. This first chapter (1968) is one of White's all time best.

Theodore H. White - The Making of the President, 1960

Narrative History at its Most Vivid

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

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