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Very Strange Bedfellows: The Short and Unhappy Marriage of Richard Nixon & Spiro Agnew

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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

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.

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.

Jules Witcover is an excellent writer who, unfortunately, sometimes lets his political and philosphical beliefs get in the way. There are various instances in this book where he is just as intent on criticizing conservatives and the Republican Party as criticizing the two main characters -- Nixon and Agnew.

It is obvious that he is and was no fan of President Nixon. In some respect, despite his dislike for Agnew there are places in the book where it seemed Witcover was sympathetic with him. One senses that Agnew, for all his flaws, wanted to be an important member of the Nixon Administration while Nixon and his staff grew to dislike him and tried to relegate him to obscurity. It is no secret that Nixon became enamored with John Connally and would have preferred Connally as his successor. Witcover sees a tormented vice president who wanted to be so much more than what the president would let him be. And then, skeletons came out of the closet to doom the vice president.

Two things stood out that keeps me from rating this higher. First, if Witcover would have left his biases out of the book -- or been more subtle with his biases -- it would have given his account more credibility. As it is, his little digs at not just Nixon and Agnew but the Republican Party and conservatives in general, gives this book more of a flavor of a hatchet job.

Second, and this may seem trivial, but there are no pictures. Other than the cover jacket there are none. Pictures really add a lot to a historical book such as this. I grew up in that era and remember well how the main characters -- Nixon, Agnew, Connally, Haldeman, Erlichman, etc -- looked. But to younger people, the failure to match a face with the people being written about detracts from the book. There could have been pictures of Nixon in the 1968 campaign, the 1968 GOP convention, Nixon and Agnew campaigning in both 1968 and 1972, Agnew giving speeches during the first administration, the investigators and culprits who destroyed Agnew in 1973, Agnew leaving the federal court in Baltimore as a former vice president, both men in their later years, etc. There were so many possibilities of where pictures would have added so much to this book. But there were none.

As I began to read Jules Witcover's revealing book about the Nixon-Agnew relationship, I thought that this book must have limited appeal....especially to those of us who grew up during that time. Indeed, the author alludes to this point in his preface, but then again, "Very Strange Bedfellows" has overtones for today. One hopes that Witcover has another book in mind as he has already set foot in one of those intriguing relationships from the past... Nixon and Agnew.

Luck more or less got Agnew off on his trajectory and lack of luck finished him off. I didn't know that Agnew had been a Rockefeller man until I began reading the book, and how quickly things changed. The stars were aligned for Agnew. It's no wonder, however, that the smallness of Agnew eventually got him, as Witcover so describes.

The author is the perfect person to write this book. Having assessed the potential of Nixon and Agnew, his narrative is terrific. I lived through that very period and followed the two closely, but Jules Witcover has written an account that covers it all. It's a walk down memory lane. I highly recommend "Very Strange Bedfellows". It uncovers the the behind-the-scenes look at one of the weirdest political connections.

Jules Witcover has written several books on Richard Nixon, and can be rightly named an expert in the field. Very Strange Bedfellows focuses on an overlooked aspect of Nixon's administration, namely his relationship with Vice President Spiro Agnew. It's an interesting topic for sure, but Witcover's book is middling.

Agnew has gone down in history as an obscure political punchline ("They're really sticking it to this Spiro Agnew guy!" Milhouse Van Houten once observed of Mad Magazine), but for a brief period he was the embodiment of conservative America. Plucked from obscurity as the law-and-order Governor of Maryland (mostly because he was unknown and unoffensive), Agnew proved a superlative hatchetman to Richard Nixon. While Nixon tried to present himself as a uniter, a statesman above the turbulent '60s political scene, he sicced Agnew on the anti-Vietnam protestors, hippies, the press and other perceived enemies, with memorably alliterative tirades ("Nattering nabobs of negativism," "effete corps of impudent snobs") that won the affection of American conservatives. Agnew was even positioning himself for a Presidential run in 1976, but a financial scandal dating back to his days as Governor of Maryland destroyed his career.

Witcover presents a vivid portrait of Agnew, showing him to have been a very unique individual. Like many Vice Presidents, Agnew chaffed at the limited role granted to him. Unlike most Vice Presidents, however, Agnew openly rebelled against his chief, scheduling trips his boss didn't approve of, openly voicing disagreement with Nixon's policies and calling out members of Nixon's cabinet. Agnew's penchant for shockingly boneheaded gaffes doubled his annoyance factor, making him a major headache for Nixon. Witcover shows the strained relationship between these two very flawed men, which devolved to the point that decisions to attend formal dinners and golf outings took weeks of careful staff negotiations.

Readers will find some interesting information to chew on. The most interesting sections involve Nixon's attempts to dump Agnew for John Connally, the former Texas Governor and Democratic turncoat who served as Nixon's second Treasury Secretary. Nixon's idea of creating a fusion political party, made up of conservative Republicans and moderate Democrats, is an intriguing revelation that shows how far-sighted Tricky Dick could be. Finally, Witcover reveals that while Agnew was loathed by American liberals, conservatives practically worshipped him; indeed, many Republicans turned against Nixon for his unwillingness to stand by Agnew during Watergate.

Unfortunately, the book as a whole isn't a great read. Witcover's writing is often pedestrian and he makes little attempt to hide his antipathy towards his subjects (not to mention the requisite shots at George W. Bush). There are a number of niggling errors that will bother more knowledgable readers: for one, he claims Nixon's famous encounter with protestors at the Lincoln Memorial occurred following the Vietnam War Moratorium of October '69, rather than Kent State seven months later. The latter sections on Watergate and Agnew's downfall are a drag; Whitcover relies excessively on quotes from participants' memoirs and diaries, along with transcripts of the Nixon Tapes, which makes for extremely dry reading.

Very Strange Bedfellows is a decent read for political junkies and history buffs, but the presentation is often lacking. Still, as an introduction to Spiro Agnew, an often forgotten political giant, one could do far worse.

"NIX on AGNEW" was the wording written on a popular anti Nixon campaign button from 1968.

In this informative little volume we learn just whole heartedly Richard Nixon himself may have shared its sentiments.

Tracing the period of the 1968 election to the finally denoument of the Nixon/Agnew administration this book discusses the ins and outs of the tempestuous relationship between Richard Nixon and his ertswhile running mate Spiro Agnew.

It shows how Agnew didn't even start out supporting Nixon in 1968 but rather Nelson Rockefeller, the then governor of New York. For his part, Nixon himself was no Agnew supporter in that he only came to accept Agnew as his running mate when he learned that Agnew was the one choice that wouldn't cost him votes in the 1968 election. (In this regard, the then existing polling showed Nixong running best with no running mate whatsoever. Told best in the great election book The Selling of a President 1968, we learned that Agnew litterally was the closest to nothing that Nixon was able to get, and with him, of course the United States as well.)

After 1968, we see Nixon's decided lack of enthusiasm at having Agnew included in any inner circle discussions. Even something as stupid as who would be attending the annual Press Club Gridiron dinner was relegated to Agnew by way of an aide.

As his history records, Agnew worked his way into Vice Presidential infamy with his ad homiminem attacks against black leaders, protesters and long haired students. His love of alliteration will live on in phrases like "nattering nabobs of negativism."

By 1971, even Nixon was casting around for a replacement to Agnew and almost found one in John Connolly, the former governor of Texas.

The story of how Agnew survived replacement recounted in this book tells more about the fortunes of history than its does about any effective manuevering on Agnew's part.

But ultimately both Nixon and Agnew fell under the scythe. For my part, it was sad that this part of the book was only 120 pages or a third of its length. It's always been my opinion that history readers like Nixon/Agnew stories for the same reason movie goers like movies like Titanic...the sheer morbid spectacle of diasaster. In that way, readers eager for more of the story of Agnew's downfall can look to Witcover's excellent earlier A Heartbeat Away which tells how Agnew's financial improprieties kept him from the nation's highest office.

And in the end, it's the story of Agnew's improprieties and his fall from political grace that makes the reader one with all Agnew's ditractors throught the rest of the book. While Richard Nixon apologized to America in his much publicized David Frost interview, all Spiro Agnew gave us (see his book Go Now...Or Else) were lame excuses and fake denials.

In the end, the realization that Agnew wasn't even Richard Nixon's moral equal was perhaps his greatest failure.

This book is not a hatchet job. It's an honest account of a man dwarfed by midgets and it's highly recommended reading.

unfortunately, found this book to be tedious and boring. long stretches of agnew being ignored by nixon. really little about agnew's resignation or life after the vice presidency

This is an entertaining read, but I agree with other reviews that say the book is a bit too long and relies a bit too much on the White House tapes to make judgments. Agnew is a very interesting man, but at times what makes him intriguing is buried by Witcover's book.

Richard Nixon.Spiro Agnew....two of the most controversial,and despised individuals ever to hold the offices of president and vice president of the united states...One would think that a book written about these two ,even if written by a supporter(which,clearly,Witcover is not),would have a little zip to it..And this author is a celebrated political writer of long-standing...but alas,instead of sizzle what we get is a day watching c-span ,except in book form and not in front of the boob tube...
Witcover makes much of the fact that we are privy to the actual words used by many of the participants in this drama of the strained relationship between Nixon and Agnew..Aside from the infamous "white house tapes",there are the writings of various aides of both men..Careful,selective use of quotes from such sources add something,but only when the author's own narrative is itself interesting..Witcover's narrative is anything but,and to fill out his manuscript Witcover gives us wholesale chunks of dialouge and written diary material without bothering all that much to edit it in any meaningful way..Particularly boring are the writings of Nixon aides Handelman and Erlichman..
Given that we are talking about a president whose"
tricky Dick" nickname and sleazy method of operation make him prime material for a truly fascinating narrative,coupled with a bellicose,shoot-from-the-hip vice president who resigned in disgrace after being accused of taking kick-backs,both stories painted against the backdrop of the unfolding watergate scandal and you would think that Witcover had material enough to write a history that would read as fast and as exciting as any novel...Instead what he has given us is a long-winded high-school-history-class boring review of the whole affair told mainly in the even more boring jottings and self-serving memoirs of the participants themselves..
Hey...Witcover's book is awful,just like too many books on history and politics are awful,and that isn't because the events themselves are boring but,alas,only because most who undertake the task of writing them up do not have the chops needed to do so entetainingly.This book is a prime example of this fact.