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A review by chamberk
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America by Rick Perlstein
5.0
What a massive book. I was initially terrified by its size, convinced it'd be a turgid tome. I was wrong - instead, I was fascinated by the politics of the 1960s and how closely they echoed today's politics.
The book has a dual focus: Nixon himself and the country he manipulated. Perlstein's depiction of society in the 1960s was both shocking and reassuring. It was shocking to see how America tore itself apart over issues like Vietnam and desegregation. It was reassuring because in comparison to today - which often seems like we are a nation full of crazies - America in the 1960s was so much worse. We may have birthers, Tea Partiers, and the like, but we have gotten better.
Since the 60s, we have been caught in the struggle between helping others and watching out for ourselves. No one saw this more clearly than Richard Nixon, and he was a master manipulator. I was slightly let down that the book didn't get into the Watergate hearings, but it did show how Nixon's paranoia led to the break-in at the DNC... in fact, it showed how Watergate was just the tip of the iceberg of Nixon's lies.
Finally, one fun aspect of the book is keeping an eye out for familiar faces - Karl Rove, for example, makes a memorable cameo. I also liked seeing Charles Colson's weaselly scheming, because he was the Baccalaureate speaker for my high school graduation. Oh, how things change... and how they stay the same.
The book has a dual focus: Nixon himself and the country he manipulated. Perlstein's depiction of society in the 1960s was both shocking and reassuring. It was shocking to see how America tore itself apart over issues like Vietnam and desegregation. It was reassuring because in comparison to today - which often seems like we are a nation full of crazies - America in the 1960s was so much worse. We may have birthers, Tea Partiers, and the like, but we have gotten better.
Since the 60s, we have been caught in the struggle between helping others and watching out for ourselves. No one saw this more clearly than Richard Nixon, and he was a master manipulator. I was slightly let down that the book didn't get into the Watergate hearings, but it did show how Nixon's paranoia led to the break-in at the DNC... in fact, it showed how Watergate was just the tip of the iceberg of Nixon's lies.
Finally, one fun aspect of the book is keeping an eye out for familiar faces - Karl Rove, for example, makes a memorable cameo. I also liked seeing Charles Colson's weaselly scheming, because he was the Baccalaureate speaker for my high school graduation. Oh, how things change... and how they stay the same.