Reviews for Kennedy & Nixon

The average rating for Kennedy & Nixon based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-03-29 00:00:00 Gustaaf Plancke This book marks a new twist in my feelings about Christopher Matthews. When he was a secondary talking head and would show up on Sunday morning talk shows, I kinda liked him. He was a democrat with a maverick streak for acknowleding when the Republicans were making more sense then we were. I like the intellectual honesty that underlies that kind of behavior. Unfortunately, HARDBALL ruined that image for me. He morphed into a loud mouth more interested in hearing the sound of his own voice than even a thinly veiled charade of exchange. In that sense he seemed to be apeing a style that suits the viewers of Hannity and Rush more than it is likely to appeal those of us looking for different fare. Well, I don't know what to think of Chris Matthews now, because no matter how obnoxious he is as a television personality, this is a DAMN FINE BOOK. The prose is tight, fast-paced and compelling. The book is basically about the bizarre criss-crossing of the lives of John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The story truly has the makings of a Greek tragedy or Shakespearian history. Young friends from different backgrounds, with mutual admiration, spend the rest of their lives competing. But Nixon's basic insecurities eat him alive creating a life of defeats large and small to Kennedy and his ghost. You can not truly appreciate the election of 1960 and everything that comes after it until you read this book. It is well known to students of politics that Kennedy was a conservative Democrat, despite having taken on liberal icon status in death. Similarly, astute observes of Nixon will note that despite his villification by the left, he was really a liberal Republican. After reading this book, you really understand how similar the world view of these two men actually was. If you are even vaguely interested in these two men, I highly commend you to this fine book. It did well in sales, but it really is an important contribution to the understanding of this era, and should have been more widely lauded as a piece of history.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-03-26 00:00:00 James Mulcock Very fun read. Only problem is (like with the Watergate book) it's a little sketchy--could've been longer (like I need another 500+ page book to wade through). Also with this one some of the sketchiness was a bit insiderish--he assumed knowledge I'm not sure I always had. Of course, part of the problem was having to research a friendship (a pretty tough assignment)--and keep one's attention focused on that throughout. But it was beautiful how it worked--and poignant (they really were evidently good pals when they both came up to Congress--and mutual admirers in those salad days). If it had just been a comparison of any two postwar politicians it would've been skippable--but those two in particular...their friendship/wranglings makes a great and sort of haunting structure. And actually, Kennedy was a pretty ruthless sort--and his brother Bobby comes off as a real jerk; plus there was the original dirty trickster Dick Tuck (wasn't he in Midsummer Night's Dream?). Maybe Nixon wasn't quite the monster we thought...there was definitely something to be said about there being a double standard (also thought it interesting that according to Haldeman Nixon never rued the 1962 press conference).