The Making of the President 1960 (4)

Theodore H. White. New York: Pocket Books, Inc. 1961/1962.

Why read it? The strategies used by John Kennedy and his associates and by Richard Nixon and other candidates in the presidential election of 1960.

Sample ideas:

Adlai Stevenson: “I know that none of these steps is easy, nor is any solution attainable; but there must be a sense of direction in what we’re doing.” p. 145.

Stuart Symington: “This country’s become strong because government is a partner of everybody, and we have to recognize that kind of strength is our only hope….” p. 154.

Stuart Symington: “But you have to run it—you have to run this government, or it runs you.” p. 156.

“The root question of American politics is always: Who’s the man to see?” p. 163.

“He [JFK]…turned to his newspapers and read them, gulping columns at a time.” p. 174.

“In all, some forty delegate shepherds were assigned each to a particular state delegation that was theirs to cultivate; each was given packets of name cards listing the assigned state delegates by name, profession, hobby, children, wife, peculiarity, religion, and sent out to operate [by the Kennedys].” p. 188.

“One of them objected that his [LBJ’s] power would be far less as Vice-President than as majority leader [of the Senate]; to which Johnson replied, ‘Power is where power goes.’ ” p. 209.

JFK: “Can a nation organized and governed such as ours endure?” p. 213.

Nelson Rockefeller: “…here was this country, in this world, both of them growing increasingly complicated—science coming along, administration becoming more complex, technologies changing our way of life and our security; could democracy in its old-fashioned way master all these things; would our political system work in the face of these challenges?” p. 219.

Nelson Rockefeller: “The people want one thing above all others—leadership of clear purpose, candidly proclaimed.” p. 221.

To be continued.