Constructing Nixon's Majority - by Frank Kusch (Hardcover)

About the Book

Frank Kusch reframes Nixon's landslide election win in 1972 as a pivotal moment in American politics, the result of a masterful campaign strategy based on the exploitation of national anxieties.

Book Synopsis

This book reframes the 1972 election as a masterclass in political messaging, strategy, and the manipulation of national divisions. Drawing on extensive archival research, it reveals how Nixon's campaign reshaped American conservatism, laying the groundwork for modern political polarization.

Frank Kusch argues that Nixon's landslide was the product of a carefully orchestrated campaign that capitalized on the fears of a conservative electorate uneasy with the social upheavals of the 1960s. By presenting Nixon as a steady leader amid turmoil, his campaign forged a coalition defined less by polices it championed than conditions it opposed- radicalism, protest, and chaos.

Review Quotes

"Frank Kusch's Constructing Nixon's Majority: Winning Rhetoric in the Presidential Election of 1972 is a fresh and welcome addition to our understanding of one of the four greatest landslides of the 20th century. Expertly researched yet written for a wider audience, it is a must read for any afficionado of U.S. political history." --Luke A. Nichter, author of The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968

"Frank Kusch's account of Nixon's 1972 election tells the story of a strategic, disciplined campaign that built a political coalition that echoes in Trump's America. It is a well-researched, engaging analysis of how Nixon produced one of the largest landslides in history." --Matthew Dallek, author of Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right

"The inside story of how Richard Nixon won his 1972 presidential landslide has never got told, because a more fascinating story-Watergate-came to preempt it. Frank Kusch delivers a rock-solid account that provides plenty of insights along the way about the power of well-crafted political language, strategic discipline, and that vaunted Nixonian cunning." --Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America

About the Author

Frank Kusch is a historian and writer whose previous books include Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention and All American Boys: Draft Dodgers in Canada from the Vietnam War. He has taught American history at the University of Saskatchewan and has worked as an editor, communications specialist, and student aid administrator.