Nixonland

"Nixonland" by Rick Perlstein seeks to answer one of the most pressing riddles of modern American history - the origins of the violent and chaotic cultural shifts of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Utilizing the structure of four elections between 1964 and 1972, "Nixonland" explains how the United States went from LBJ's landslide in 1964 to Nixon's landslide in 1972. The argument has three main parts: First, after 1964 there was an illusion of a permanent liberal national consensus shattered by discontent and violence over Civil Rights and Vietnam. Second, Richard Nixon was the most adept at speaking to these anxieties and American's desire for quiet to gain support of the “Silent Majority” to gain support. Third, Nixon not only exploited these tensions but exacerbated them and entrenching the modern narrative of two diametrically opposed Americas.

The book takes a macroscopic-microscopic approach which tries to draw the contours of larger cultural forces through a minute analysis of newspapers, magazines, and contemporary culture. The books main strength is that it convincingly uses Richard Nixon as a vehicle for demonstrating wider cultural shifts in American life. Too often Nixon is only remembered for and marginalized because of Watergate and this book reminds the reader that Nixon's influence has outlived him. Another strength the book shows some of the origins of foundational elements of modern day politics and gives a language and logic to the contemporary culture war.

However, while this book positions itself as the ultimate word on the era, it suffers from a lack of focus - does it really know what it wants to be? (a biography of Nixon? A cultural history? A work of political analysis?) - perhaps the book tries to do far too much. It is an amazing feat for someone to write a book that at once feels like it should have been much longer and much shorter than it is. My biggest criticism of "Nixonland" is that while it gives many of the "hows" and "whats" of the era, it was not so firm on the "whys." This could be more of a personal yearning than an academic one. I would like to be able to diagnose the origin of what is the fatal schizophrenia of American society. Structurally, the first two parts of the book are the strongest and begins to weaken after Nixon becomes president in Parts Three and Four. A recommended read but not necessarily for the casual reader.