He tells the tale of the Electon, 1968. Nixon had already lost to JFK in 1960, and the public remembered clearly his sweaty, unshaven, and completely cold appearance during the debates. Nixon had a bad rap (which, of course, would only get worse). The goal of the marketing execs was to show Nixon as a good man. They couldn't get compassionate, nor could they get caring, and "attractive" was also far off the mark, so they settled on putting Nixon's voice-over on commercials with stirring images and hollow dialogue. This is how they successfully sold him.

"The Selling of the President" has one big flaw: it's very short. I read the 1st Edition Hardcover of this book, and at the end was nearly 100 pages of Appendix. Although the information therein was useful and informative, it didn't possess the flair and style of McGinniss's writing. It was also lengthy rehashes of what McGinniss had summed up using short sentences, clear language, and a good narrative voice.

The author has a slight bias, revealed through his characterizations of Nixon and especially Mrs. Nixon. There's a funny account of how Pat Nixon applauded herself on live National television, then covered her face in shame. The cameramen quickly averted their electronic gaze. Later, the producers told her what a good show it had been, only to have Pat walk away without saying a word.

Tricky Dick himself is seen grumbling, swearing, sweating, worrying, and acting like his usual paranoid self. It's a very illuminating portrait of a great, intelligent politician without a soul. McGinniss can never top this fantastic, engaging read.

The marriage of politicians and advertising men first took place in 1956 when Dwight Eisenhower ran for re-election and selected the agency of Batton, Barto, Durstine and Osborn. McGinniss explains that the basic advertising concepts remained unchanged right up to 1968 but that Richard Nixon made every use of all the sophisticated technical advances of the day. Moreover, the author details how slick New York advertising men seduced voters which elevated them from the smoky parlors to the expensive suites with the political big shots.

Advertising executives allowed Nixon to dominate the airwaves. To this end, the television campaign allowed Nixon to get through the campaign with a dozen or so carefully worded responses that would cover all the problems of America in 1968. After a while it is rather clear that Richard Nixon is basically a boring man. However, with proper packaging Nixon soon represented competence, respect for tradition, serenity, faith that the American people were better than people anywhere else, and that all these problems others shouted about meant nothing in a land blessed with the tallest buildings, strongest armies, biggest factories, cutest children, and rosiest sunsets in the world.

I found the marriage of political and advertising minds fascinating. Of particular interest is how certain keywords such as conscientiousness, vigorous, party unifier, newness, glamour, humor, warmth could create a television facade to hide a candidate's blemishes. This is a great book and should be used in the classroom to show how television altered how politics and campaigns are orchestrated in the United States.

Bert Ruiz