How to Sell the President 1968 ( The Selling of the President 1968 ) - a book by the American writer Joe McGinnis in the genre of documentary prose published in 1969, which tells about the election techniques used by Richard Nixon 's headquarters during the presidential election in the United States in 1968 .
Content
History
According to McGuinness himself, the idea to write this book came to him by a lucky chance when he was traveling on a train to New York and one of his fellow travelers exalted the candidate from the Democratic Party Hubert Humphrey and smugly declared that “after six weeks we will see that he is better than Abraham Lincoln ". Subsequently, McGuinness first tried to take part in the election campaign on the Humphrey side, but was refused, and then he turned to Nixon’s headquarters, where he was more cordially welcomed [1] .
Success came to McGuinness at age 26 when his book hit the bestseller list of The New York Times lasting 31 weeks from October 1969 to May 1970 [2] .
In 1972, a short Broadway musical was created on the basis of the book [3] .
Ratings
The book was quite well received by critics and the public. Salon.com Browser Craig Fehrman noted that she “lasted more than six weeks on the bestseller list, and McGuinness sold many copies thanks to television, being a guest on the famous shows of Merv Griffin , David Frost , Dick Cavitt and others. " [1] In addition, he pointed out that this is a" classic report on the campaign, which first immersed many readers in the scenic world of political theater " [1] . In turn, conservative writer and journalist William Frank Barkley suggested that McGuinnes relied on “a deft deception that inspired joy and hope in Nixon’s haters” [1] . The Washington Post called the book “a classic of political journalism.” [4] Fox News Channel Head Roger Isles A consultant at Nixon’s campaign headquarters noted that McGinnis “forever changed political writing in 1968” [5]
Americanist O. A. Feofanov cites this book in the documentary and popular science film “ Sighting Your Brain ” as an example of how political technology is applied in the US presidential election.
Editions
- The Selling of the President 1968 . - New York: Trident Press ( Simon & Schuster ), 1969 .-- 253 p. ISBN 0-671-27043-5
- The Selling of the President 1968 . - New York: PocketBooks (Simon & Schuster), 1970. ISBN 671-78036-0 (No. 77-92157 in the Library of Congress )
- The Selling of the President . - New York: Penguin Books, 1988 .-- 272 p. ISBN 0-14-011240-5 (reprinted with a new entry by the author)
Russian translations
- How to Sell the President (excerpt) // Wolf T. New Journalism and Anthology of New Journalism. - SPb. : Amphora , 2008 .-- 576 p. - (Amphora 21). - ISBN 978-5-367-00578-3 , ISBN 0-330-24315-2 .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Fehrman, Craig (2011-01-21) When Roger Ailes was honest about what he does Archived February 28, 2011. , Salon.com
- ↑ "TBR Inside the List, McGinniss's Campaign" // The New York Times , December 16, 2007
- ↑ The Selling of the President // The Internet Broadway Database
- ↑ "Palin's new neighbor turns out to be a legendary journalist" // The Washington Post , 05/25/2010
- ↑ Associated Press . Roger Ailes: Joe McGinniss changed political writing forever . Politico (March 11, 2014). The appeal date is September 24, 2014.