Product Description

A nationally syndicated columnist and political pundit explores the personal and political relationship of Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, showing how the course of that relationship reflected that of the whole nation. Reprint. 35,000 first printing."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #452654 in Books
• Published on: 1997-08-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Amazon.com Review
Christopher Matthews, the Washington bureau chief for the San Francisco Examiner and a former aide to Tip O'Neill, offers a fascinating look at the connections between the two most well-known politicians in the last 40 years. He traces the symmetries of their beginnings--both were elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and assigned to the same committee--as well as their similar thirst for power. While both men's rise and fall, events that had profound effects on America, have been well chronicled, Matthews' book is one of the few, if not only, that places the two in parallel historical context.

From Publishers Weekly
Wartime naval officers John Kennedy and Richard Nixon entered politics in the congressional class of 1947 and remained friendly thereafter. Until ambition and party identity began to pull them apart, they even shared a Cold War conservatism and middle-of-the-road domestic agenda. Yet Kennedy would remark after his narrow presidential victory in 1960, "If I've done nothing [else] for this country, I've saved them from Dick Nixon." Because Kennedy had his father's fortune as well as his father's ruthlessness, he was able to hold his own in the national arena after Nixon's own opportunism got him (during Eisenhower's illnesses) within a heartbeat of the White House. Additional Kennedy advantages were his authentic hero status and a reputation for braininess gained from his book Profiles in Courage. Washington cable news anchor Matthews (Hardball: How Politics Is Played) has described the largely familiar parallels between the political careers of the two electoral rivals and added some striking ones of his own. Nixon, he contends, was handicapped by resentment of Kennedy's affluence and easy elegance, struggling clumsily once in office to match what he saw as his presidential style. Running against the graceful ghost of one Kennedy, he found himself, in 1968, competing against the shade of a second martyred Kennedy, then against the inheritance of the Last Brother?whose ambitions he sought to sidetrack by means of the bunglers of Watergate. Haunted by the Kennedys, Nixon recklessly undermined his own presidency. To Matthews, the "Camelot" aura is as much a misperception as the idea that Watergate represents the real Nixon. Despite a straining for balance and a tendency to oversimplify to fit the tale to the theme, it is a good story. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
What caused the rift between Kennedy and Nixon, one-time friends and ideological soul mates, is the subject of this eminently readable dual political biography. Matthews, noted television commentator and author (Hardball: How Politics Is Played, HarperPerennial, 1989), shows how these two anti-New Dealers, anti-Communists, and freshmen members of Congress in 1946 became enemies as their political careers advanced. Kennedy's father donated $1000 to Nixon's 1950 senatorial campaign and even promised his support to Nixon in 1960 if Kennedy was denied the presidential nomination. Both men became enemies for life as a result of the bitter 1960 election. Kennedy never forgave Nixon for receiving almost as many votes as he did. Nixon never forgave Kennedy for establishing a dynasty he thought unbeatable. Even after the assassination, Nixon waged war against Robert and Ted, as well as JFK's ghost and the myth of Camelot. Matthews's portrayal of these political icons demonstrates that, in the words of Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, they were more like "two men on third" than the opposites they are believed to be. Highly recommended for public libraries.
-?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Township Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Think You Know These Two?
You might be surprised after reading Matthews' fascinating story on the friendship and rialry between these icons of post-WWII America. Having read numerous books on Nixon, and a few on Kennedy, I began reading without much expectation that I would walk away with any new insights or knowledge. How wrong I was.

What surprised me most was the number of similarities between Kennedy and Nixon's political views. From their ardent anti-communism to their disdain for the prevailing purveyors of liberalism, it's easy to see how they forged a friendship upon their election to Congress in 1947.

Kennedy and Nixon also shared a strong desire to move ahead and gain the ultimate prize - the Presidency - and this evenaully lead to their rivalry and ultimate disdain for one another. I never realized how Kennedy (and his family) consumed and impacted Nixon's political and physical psyche. But given Teddy Kennedy's significant behind-the-scenes involvement in Nixon's ultimate downfall, fully chronicled here, he had good reason.

If you're searching for a fresh analysis and interpretation of these two icons in American history, this is the book for you.

A concise and educational dual biography
Chris Matthews was an aid to Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, the largest liberal voice of the 1980s. I was surprised then at how even-handedly he treated his subjects.

He describes the Kennedy flaws quite aptly. He lays out the Nixon virtues in quite the same way.

It begins with Kennedy and Nixon both elected to the house of representatives in 1946. Kennedy was jovial and light. Nixon was quite a serious young man. Nixon went to the senate first. Kennedy made it to the Senate when Nixon became vice-president. The men had a cordial relationship.

In 1946 they went to Pennsyvannia to debate. Afterwards they ate dinner together in a local diner. On the train trip back to Washington they flipped a coin for the bottom bunk. Richard Nixon was a Guest at John and Jackie's wedding. They were both guests at Senator Joe McCarthy's wedding.

They would have remained cordial until they went against each other in the 1960 presidential contest.

Matthews shows how this loss at the hands of John Kennedy changed the way he saw politics. In a way Matthews blames the kennedy's for Nixon's ethical demise. Nixon felt the Kennedy's stole the election and decided no more Mr. Nice Guy. The culmination of this would lead to Nixon's resignation some 14 years later.

I left the book liking both Kennedy and Nixon as men and Presidents more than when I picked it up.

An informative history
Chris Matthews has written a extremely readable, informative, and fair history concerning two of the most important politicians in the post war era. Both were elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. Kennedy ran as a fighting conservative and Nixon as a common sense liberal. They became friends while serving in the House and later in the Senate. When it appeared that Kennedy might die in the mid 1950's Nixon broke down and cried. Both come across as extremely fair minded Senators politicians to do the right thing. Their friendship did not survive the 1960 election. After Kennedy was assassinated, Nixon could never live up to the myth of Camelot. It haunted him throughout the rest of his political career and played a part in his descent into Watergate.