theodore h white the making of the president 1960

It was difficult to not frame the 2016 election in the terms revealed. The election process remains such an experiment, so prone to caprice and misunderstanding. Theodore White leaves the reader with a different sort of anxiety.

Walking back, I rattled off my list of those I voted for which failed to find victory. Early voting allows one to go to the polls weeks in advance yet there is something uplifting about going out on Election Day. We then walked the two blocks or so to vote. Last Tuesday my wife worked half the day and came home. Out of its experiment with the system it got Hitler.' Read moreĮvery American election summons the individual voter to weigh the past against the future. This was the Weimar Republic of Germany, which modeled its unitary vote of national leader on American practice. There are inserts - 'Only one other nation in modern history has ever tried to elect its leader directly by mass, free, popular vote. One of the monumental contributions of a 'journalist' in the days when that word referred to the professionals who reported the actual news.This report offers perspective and context, but is essentially a facts-only unbiased report on the election of 1960 between Nixon and Kennedy. Now however I am certain I will not be picking up another book by this author. Another example is the final chapter, which is as irrelevant as it is dull.When I saw that a book about each election from 1960 to 1972 had been written by the same author I was excited, and was looking forward to reading every book. No personalities, just duties- and even these are described in a way which is difficult to understand.

These become impossible to recall- and yet paragraph after paragraph are filled with these names and their minor duties. For example entire lists of names are hurled at the reader, with a brief explanation of each person's role. This however was an utterly tedious read.Although it covers an exciting election, and it does give you a somewhat new perspective on Nixon/JFK and the challenges they faced before and after their nomination, it is done in a painfully unreadable way. I love political books- I rate Richard Ben Cramer's 'What it Takes.' as my favourite ever book in fact.

Theodore h white the making of the president 1960