Kennedy and Nixon: The Rivalry That Shaped Postwar America [Paperback]

Christopher J Matthews (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 28, 1997

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"

Editorial Reviews

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (August 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684832461
• ISBN-13: 978-0684832463
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #806,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( N ) > Nixon, Richard

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Think You Know These Two? November 4, 2001

By Joseph S. Lamountain

Format:Paperback

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.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Balanced but superficial December 9, 2004

By EarlHepJames

Format:Paperback

Matthews provides a balanced and fair, if superficial, examination of Nixon and Kennedy. As an avid studier of this era of politics, and Nixon in particular, I didn't learn a whole lot that I did not already know. But this book, I don't think, is meant to provide the function of in-depth scholarly research. It's pleasant fluff, for people who might be interested in learning a little bit about Nixon and Kennedy, but don't want to invest too much energy and brain power. And there's nothing wrong with that. I think we all have subjects we'd like to know a little bit more about, but don't necessarily want to make a major scholarly investment in.

Matthews' writing style is easily digestible and entertaining, even if it does make you think that Matthews might just be as stupid in real life as he appears on TV. He also provides a solid and fair account free of egregious errors. If anything, I might be inclined to believe he has a slight bias towards Nixon and against Kennedy in terms of their respective treatments. Despite Watergate, and my own liberal leanings, I tend to have a similar bias so it didn't bother me. Nevertheless, Kennedy and especially Nixon are both fascinating figures, and Matthews does a credible job of capturing what makes the both of them so interesting. In short, I'd give this book a fairly mild recommendation, with the understanding that there are better books about each figure out there, and Matthews does not provide any crucial, original, or insightful analysis. It is good for the person with a mild interest, who'd like to know a bit more about Kennedy and Nixon, but who does not have the time or energy for something heftier.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Political Rivalry/Tragedy Recalled in "Kennedy v. Nixon" March 5, 2004

By Anthony G Pizza VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

MSNBC host and news columnist Christopher Matthews charts the rivalry of "Kennedy v. Nixon" as backstory and inspiration behind most of America's post-World War II history. His meticulous research and breezy storytelling style creates a psychological/historical drama mixed with Shakespearean tragedy and some hilarious, touching anecdotes.

In it, Richard Nixon, the 37th president who resigned under pressure from the Watergate scandal, battles the ambitions, then the "Camelot" mythology of President John F. Kennedy, who defeated Nixon in 1960's close, contested election. Nixon is then shadowed throughout his political life by memories of the slain president: first by brother Robert, (a likely 1968 candidate before his assassination), and finally youngest brother Edward Kennedy.

"Kennedy vs. Nixon" tells a story of personal friendship souring under political differences and career paths. It shows how these cordial political colleagues who shared a hallway both opposed what they saw as Yalta's squandered victory after World War II, and fought Communist insurgency and infiltration domestically and internationally. Matthews traces their roles in the era's major events, all playing against a Cold War backdrop: tacit support for Joe McCarthy's investigations, distrust of Alger Hiss as Nixon prosecuted him, 1952's infamous "Checkers" speech preserving Nixon's vice-presidential candidacy even as President Dwight Eisenhower coldly minimizes Nixon's accomplishments and even attempts to remove him.

During these chapters Matthews reveals the start of Nixon's legendary personal distrust, hinted when vanquished Congressional opponent Helen Douglas branded him "Tricky Dicky." Here Matthews also introduces characters (Archibold Cox, Charles Colson, Larry O'Brien) who became household names less than 15 years later as henchmen for or targets of Nixon's need to retain power . You also see the slow roots of America's painful Vietnam involvement, and how it helped fuel Nixon's 1968 comeback victory.

The core of the book is dedicated to 1960's presidential election and TV's major role in its presentation and outcome. Matthews meticulously retells 1960's "Great Debate" and how Nixon's TV image which, compared to Kennedy's carefully crafted public persona (and what Nixon saw as creative counting) painfully cost him that election. But recounting private taped and untaped unconversations, you sense both men's anger and frustration against enemies foreign (Kennedy's Bay of Pigs, and 1963's assassination of South Vietnam president Ngo Dihn Diem) and domestic (Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre," his palpable need to discredit Ted Kennedy even after 1969's Chappaquiddick tragedy ended any hopes for his presidential run.)

Matthews effectively argues Ted Kennedy's threat as fueling Nixon's self-destruction, but adds Nixon's suspicions were justified. From being used by Kennedy's wealthy father as pawn for President-elect Kennedy before the inauguration, to investigated for loans given Nixon's brother Donald (for "Nixonburgers"), to Ted Kennedy's role in prosecuting Watergate, Nixon felt constantly chased by Kennedy legacy and perceptions he only held space until another Kennedy "restoration" and couldn't compete with Kennedy' carefully written legacy. This leads to several bitter but even hilarious anecdotes (the ones about the phony train conductor, the pregnant woman and the beach photo opportunity being three favorites).

Even in Nixon's declining, post-retirement years, his foreign policy expertise respected and presidency re-examined, he couldn't hide antipathy for his 1960 rival and events leading America to the Vietnam war always associated with Nixon's presidency. Even his 1994 death was shadowed a few weeks later by that of President Kennedy's widow Jacqueline (with whom Nixon shared sweet and sincere correspondence after Ms. Kennedy's family visited Nixon's White House in 1971.) It is a somber, fitting ending to Matthews' remarkably told story, whose details provided deeper, long-missing reasons behind some of history's tragic, yet seismic events. "Kennedy vs. Nixon" is a recommended story addressing personal and political clashes between two of American history's most significant, forever fascinating figures.