It's the second of four books by Rick Perlstein tracing the beginnings of the modern day US conservative movement. Starts with Barry Goldwater, then a bit on JFK/LBJ, then Nixon, a bit on Carter, and stops at Reagan.
The main takeaway is the reactionary forces in the US have always been there and will always be there, and are directly linked to the absurdly wealthy. Perlstein adds a lot of color by using quotes from the NYT/WaPo and popular culture to make the era breathe. It's well done.
Nixon was a really weird guy because he was trying to warm relations with China while at the same time bombing the shit out of people
What no theory does to a MFer. I'm in the middle of Nixonland right now, great read.
What’s it about
It's the second of four books by Rick Perlstein tracing the beginnings of the modern day US conservative movement. Starts with Barry Goldwater, then a bit on JFK/LBJ, then Nixon, a bit on Carter, and stops at Reagan.
The main takeaway is the reactionary forces in the US have always been there and will always be there, and are directly linked to the absurdly wealthy. Perlstein adds a lot of color by using quotes from the NYT/WaPo and popular culture to make the era breathe. It's well done.