Publisher: Trident Press (A division of Simon & Schuster)
Original Publication Date: 1969
Format: Hardcover with dust jacket
Historical & Content Background
When 26-year-old journalist Joe McGinniss embedded himself within Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign staff, he wasn't there just to report on policy. Instead, he spent months chronicling how a team of advertising executives, television producers, and media consultants completely reinvented Nixon for the screen.
Before 1968, Nixon was widely viewed by the public as stiff, awkward, and untrustworthy—an image cemented by his sweaty, pale appearance in the famous 1960 televised debate against JFK. McGinniss's book exposed how the campaign used classic Madison Avenue advertising tactics to sell the "New Nixon" to the American public exactly like a commercial product. The unforgettable dust jacket art—featuring Nixon’s face on a pack of cigarettes—brilliantly satirized this idea of a "packaged" politician.
The book was an absolute sensation, spending over four months on the New York Times bestseller list. It remains a foundational text in political science and media studies because it accurately predicted the next 50 years of media-driven political marketing.
