Countdown 1960 - by Chris Wallace (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Instant New York Times Bestseller

The riveting new book on the momentous year, campaign, and election that shaped American history

It's January 2, 1960: the day that Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy declared his candidacy; and with this opening scene, Chris Wallace offers readers a front-row seat to history. From the challenge of primary battles in a nation that had never elected a Catholic president, to the intense machinations of the national conventions--where JFK chose Lyndon Johnson as his running mate over the impassioned objections of his brother Bobby--this is a nonfiction political thriller filled with intrigue, cinematic action, and fresh reporting. Like with many popular histories, readers may be familiar with the story, but few will know the behind-the-scenes details, told here with gripping effect.

Featuring some of history's most remarkable characters, page-turning action, and vivid details, Countdown 1960 follows a group of extraordinary politicians, civil rights leaders, Hollywood stars, labor bosses, and mobsters during a pivotal year in American history. The election of 1960 ushered in the modern era of presidential politics, with televised debates, private planes, and slick advertising. In fact, television played a massive role. More than 70 million Americans watched one or all four debates. The public turned to television to watch campaign rallies. And on the night of the election, the contest between Kennedy and Nixon was so close that Americans were glued to their televisions long after dawn to see who won.

The election of 1960 holds stunning parallels to our current political climate. There were--potentially valid--claims of voter fraud and a stolen election. There was also a presidential candidate faced with the decision of whether to contest the result or honor the peaceful transfer of power.

Review Quotes

Praise for Countdown 1960

"A look at a critical period in U.S. history that holds lessons for today... takes us behind the scenes. ... A reminder of how 1960 was... a deeply perilous time for America. It also was a moment the nation survived because of patriotism and courage." --Associated Press

"The latest installment in Chris [Wallace's] incredible COUNTDOWN books. This is a race that seems to have shaped everybody that I looked up to in media. This was a defining moment."--MSNBC's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough

"Chris Wallace unwraps the secrets of the larger-than-life personalities of 1960. With stunning revelations of private and behind-the-scenes alliances, strategies, and romances, we are treated to the histories of an inflection year in American politics in a compelling, page-turning narrative." --Senator Mitt Romney

Praise for Countdown bin Laden:

"Chris Wallace has done an exceptional job retelling this important event in modern American history with a great deal of research, and a flair for blow-by-blow storytelling that could easy parallel with the best selling thriller novels of Tom Clancy and W.E.B. Griffin. Overall, Countdown bin Laden reads like historical suspense." --Montreal Times

Praise for Countdown 1945:

"[A] superb, masterly book... Countdown 1945 is filled with fascinating details. ... On one hand, the book reads like a riveting novel as Wallace reveals the machinations and internal debates among the scientific community to devise a workable atomic bomb as quickly as possible. ... But Countdown 1945 is also a profound story of decision making at the highest levels--and of pathos." --Jay Winik, New York Times Book Review

"A compelling and highly readable account of one of the most fateful decisions in American history. Like John Hersey in his book Hiroshima, Wallace and Weiss humanize events too often reduced to technical or diplomatic arcana by telling their story through the lives of individuals. ... The book moves along at a rapid clip, with colorful anecdotes enlivening the narrative." --Gregg Herken, The Washington Post

"Vivid and engaging ... Wallace has made a taut nonfiction thriller out of the dramatic days between Harry S. Truman's succession to the presidency, following Franklin D. Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945, and the dropping of the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki less than four months later. ... This is a deeply absorbing reading experience about the fateful final months of a conflict that deserves to be known in detail to all Americans. It is what a popular history book should be: propulsively paced; well researched in primary sources; and written with sympathetic imagination, bringing people to life in their important moments. ... The book is deservedly the nonfiction blockbuster of the season." --James D. Hornfischer, The Wall Street Journal

About the Author

Chris Wallace is anchor of CNN's The Chris Wallace Show and host of Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? on Max. Prior to CNN, Wallace was the anchor of Fox News Sunday for eighteen years, where he covered every major political event. Throughout his five decades in broadcasting, he has interviewed numerous U.S. and world leaders, including seven American presidents, and won every major broadcast news award for his reporting, including three Emmy Awards, the duPont-Columbia Silver Baton, and the Peabody Award. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World and Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice.