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

by Jules Witcover (Author)
Key Phrases: traveling reporters, diary that night, heartbeat away, White House, New York, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"I loved this wonderful book which is lucid, intimate real history. Sensational in every way" -- Bob Woodward

"Marvelous ...it might be his most insightful in his treatment of the White House inner circle. His everyday newspaper style makes easy reading." -- Buffalo News, March 25, 2007

"This book successfully portrays the complicated and dysfunctional relationship of these two men." -- The Oklahoman, May 6, 2007

"Witcover does an admirable job of briskly pacing the narrative. [It's] a period piece of the politics of the past." -- San Francisco Chronicle, May 30, 2007

"Witcover has done it again ...absolutely riveting reading... It's a terrific book... [Witcover] is still at the top of his game." -- The Hill, April 26, 2007

"Witcover is an old pro and his crisp, clear writing style keeps things moving... [It's] fast-paced, organized...[and] funny stuff indeed." -- Washington Times, June 3, 2007

"Witcover is at his best when he relates the unraveling of the Nixon presidency..." -- Library Journal, April 15, 2007

"fascinating...a riveting examination of a rarely visited side of the Nixon Presidency." -- American Heritage, May 16, 2007

"highly readable... The tale remains engrossing to this day." -- Bloomberg News, May 25, 2007

"wrapped up neatly in page after page--pettiness...and uncontained ambition of two men we will never see the like of again." -- USNews.com, May 3, 2007

Product Description
The definitive account of a bizarre chapter in national politics, told with a historian's breadth of knowledge by a journalist who was there.

Nixon and Agnew were an odd couple whose political love affair disintegrated over five years into a calamitous denouement. Agnew's divisive rhetoric skyrocketed his popularity, but he grew weary of exclusion from the Nixon inner circle. Nixon, concluding that Agnew was not the man to succeed him, conspired to dump him in 1972 and later to remove him from the line of presidential succession. But before Nixon's presidency collapsed in Watergate, a tawdry scandal of payoffs to Agnew in the White House accomplished the job.

Jules Witcover, a leading political reporter of that period, wrote political biographies of both men and coauthored the acclaimed account of the Agnew resignation, A Heartbeat Away. Now, with three decades of perspective, a trove of new material including Nixon's White House tapes and interviews with close Nixon-Agnew associates, Witcover has written a captivating narrative that reveals how the foibles, pettiness and weaknesses of each man destroyed that marriage, and ultimately their careers. Very Strange Bedfellows' revealing look into the flawed and fascinating Nixon presidency will be catnip to anyone interested in American politics and American history.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs (April 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586484702
• ISBN-13: 978-1586484705
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #787,558 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ON THE MARK , May 27, 2007

By	William L. Rodgers (Chambersburg,PA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ka-boom! Witcover delivers, July 14, 2007

By	Jon Hunt "musician, teacher" (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Witcover Contribution to Our Political History, June 5, 2007

By	Richard M. Marano - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.