Description
Book Synopsis While Richard Nixon''s accomplishments and shortcomings are well-documented, one often ignored aspect of his career is his influence on the media conduct of politicians. Nixon pioneered the use of visual media in politics, beginning in the 1940s during his Congressional service. His historic Checkers speech was the first of its kind: a politician using television to save his political career. His appearances on entertainment television, which are now a normal feature of most national political campaigns, broke new ground as well.
This book details the blueprint Nixon set for using television to achieve political goals. Presidents have often used innovative media as strategic methods of communication and public relations. The author argues that Nixon pioneered television media, using it consistently to connect with the American public.
Trade ReviewEngaging reevaluation of Richard Nixon's adversarial relationship with the mainstream media...a crisp narrative that relates Nixon's high and low moments as a practicing politician...recommended"—
Choice "...a valuable scholarly contribution to the field of media studies and American politics [that] successfully documents Richard Nixon's attempt to 'control' what he considered a biased and hostile news media."—Joseph F. Dmohowski, Serials & Special Collections Librarian, Whittier College
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I: Lessons Learned
- One. Innovation in Political Communication in the Visual Age
- Two. Writing a Book and the First Lesson
- Three. The Second and Third Lessons: Checkers and the Crisis Within the Crisis of Eisenhower's Heart Attack
- Four. Nixon's South American Adventure
- Five. Nixon Makes a Crisis Out of His Visit to the Soviet Union in 1959
- Six. Campaign '60 as a "Crisis," Part One
- Seven. Campaign '60 as a "Crisis," Part Two
- Eight. A Seventh "Crisis" and More Lessons about the News Media: Running for Governor in California in 1962 and the Debut of Nixon's Manifesto
- Nine. Lessons Nixon Learned from LBJ
- Part II: The Lessons Applied
- Ten. The "Wilderness" Years Were Not the "Non-Media" Years
- Eleven. The Man for All Media
- Twelve. Nixon as a Television Guest with a Vengeance
- Thirteen. The Primary Battle and the Road to Miami
- Fourteen. Campaign '68: The Nixon Answer
- Fifteen. Laughing-in to the White House: Comedy and the Nixon Campaign
- Sixteen. Working the Refs
- Conclusion
- Chapter Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
