The Making of the President, 1972

Theodore H. White's account of the 1972 Nixon-McGovern election chronicles both the Democratic and Republican parties during Richard M. Nixon's first term. White describes key moments that shaped the campaign: the attempt on George Wallace's life, Edmund Muskie crying in the snow in New Hampshire, the rise and fall of Tom Eagleton, and the ongoing conflict over Vietnam. These events lead to a Democratic collapse and a landslide victory for Nixon. White observes that as the president's ambitions were confirmed, the "new Nixon" of 1968 gives way to what he characterizes as the corrupt Nixon of old. The book covers Nixon's foreign policy initiatives, the Muskie campaign's decline, the McGovern phenomenon, the president's surrogate campaign strategy, the Democratic convention at Miami Beach, and McGovern's decline as a viable candidate. This edition includes a new foreword by Cokie Roberts.