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Television and the Making of Richard Nixon

William T Horner author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:McFarland & Co Inc

Published:28th Jul '22

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Television and the Making of Richard Nixon cover

While Richard Nixon's accomplishments and shortcomings are well-documented, one often ignored aspect of his career is his influence on the media conduct of politicians. Nixon pioneered the use of visual media in politics, beginning in the 1940s during his Congressional service. His historic "Checkers" speech was the first of its kind: a politician using television to save his political career. His appearances on entertainment television, which are now a normal feature of most national political campaigns, broke new ground as well.

This book details the blueprint Nixon set for using television to achieve political goals. Presidents have often used innovative media as strategic methods of communication and public relations. The author argues that Nixon pioneered television media, using it consistently to connect with the American public.

“Engaging reevaluation of Richard Nixon’s adversarial relationship with the mainstream media...a crisp narrative that relates Nixon’s high and low moments as a practicing politician...recommended”—Choice
“...a valuable scholarly contribution to the field of media studies and American politics [that] successfully documents Richard Nixon’s attempt to ‘control’ what he considered a biased and hostile news media.”—Joseph F. Dmohowski, Serials & Special Collections Librarian, Whittier College

ISBN: 9781476686639

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 13mm

Weight: 322g

258 pages