12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ON THE MARK, May 27, 2007
This review is from: Very Strange Bedfellows: The Short and Unhappy Marriage of Richard Nixon & Spiro Agnew (Hardcover)
For those of us who lived during the Nixon era, this book clears up a mystery. Witcover , by diligent research and first hand knowledge of his subjects, has produced a fascinating look into the lives and bizarre relationship of two men that has affected our national politics in a destructive way. The foibles and pettiness of both men is brought out in this book in a way that causes the reader to feel as if he were there and watching thiis tradgedy unfold before his eyes. Jules Witcover is able to do this not only by the power of his pen, but by his knowlege and experience as a writer who was there at the actual events . I strongly recommend this book.
BR
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Great Witcover Contribution to Our Political History, June 5, 2007
This review is from: Very Strange Bedfellows: The Short and Unhappy Marriage of Richard Nixon & Spiro Agnew (Hardcover)
As a political junky, I have always been puzzled by the Nixon-Agnew relationship which has received very little coverage. As I listened to the Nixon Tapes and his comments about Agnew, I wondered what went through Agnew's mind as he sat at the Nixon funeral. Witcover's book is riveting--as are all of his books-- and he answers many unanswered questions. I enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Morning After, June 20, 2008
Recently I read an article by Ben Stein about the sudden outpouring of books about Richard Nixon and his presidency. For the most part Stein focuses on Robert Dallek's excellent tome "Nixon and Kissinger" as well as Margaret MacMillan's somewhat tedious but thorough work, "Nixon and Mao." He referenced this book in passing and referred to Mr. Witcover as, "a third rate journalist." I beg to differ.
In examining the relationship between President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew, Witcover carefully examines one of the most overlooked aspects of his presidency. Witcover clearly draws on research he had done for previous books about Nixon and Agnew, but manages to distinguish this book from other Nixon books.
In the grand scheme of the Nixon presidency, Spiro Agnew is typically an afterthought as the focus usually falls on Watergate, Kissinger, the Vietnam War, the SALT agreement and opening relations with communist China. The book quickly makes clear that Agnew played a minor role, if any, in policy decisions. Witcover is at his best when he explores issues such as Nixon's own self-loathing and paranoia, which clearly fed into his decision to put Agnew on the '68 ticket. Mr. Whitcover also paints an interesting picture of Agnew's ability to offend an entire room in less than three sentences. And while he may have been far more elegant than George W. Bush in his ability to articiulate his ideas, it is also clear nearly ALL of his memorable soundbites (such as his reference to the press as "nattering nabobs of negativism")to William Safire and Pat Buchanan. Witcover's analysis and research makes also makes plain the irony of Nixon's treatment of Agnew, considering Nixon's own gripes about his limited role as Ike's VP.
But perhaps the most interesting and unique aspect of this book is the backstory of Nixon's relationship with John Connelly, and his desire to unite with Connelly (then still a Democrat) and start a third party that would shake up American politics as we know it. Nixon's desire to push Agnew off the 72 ticket and replace him with Connelly is well examined and documented by Mr. Witcover, who paints Connelly as one of the few people in Washington that Nixon was in awe of.
We all know how it ended, with Agnew's resignation, Ford's ascension to the VP-slot, and Nixon's own downfall. But if you are interested in a fresh take on an often forgotten chapter of the Nixon presidency, you can't do much better than this book.
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