Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics
The New York Times bestseller!

"A thriller-like, propulsive tour through 1968, told by a man who is in love with American politics and who knows how all the dots connect. Brilliant and totally engrossing."
-Rachel Maddow

"Delightful...brings to life the most fascinating election of modern times."
-Walter Isaacson

From the celebrated host of MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, an enthralling account of the presidential election that created American politics as we know it today


Long before Lawrence O'Donnell was the anchor of his own political talk show, he was a senior adviser to Senator Patrick Moynihan, one of postwar America’s wisest political minds. The 1968 U.S. presidential election—marked by RFK’s assassination, massive upheaval in the Democratic Party, and the first of Richard Nixon’s dirty tricks—was O’Donnell’s own political coming of age. In the decades since, the election has remained one of his abiding fascinations, as it set the tone for so much of what followed in American politics, all the way through to today. Playing with Fire represents his master class in American electioneering, as well as an extraordinary human drama that captures a system, and a country, coming apart at the seams.
1125762009
Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics
The New York Times bestseller!

"A thriller-like, propulsive tour through 1968, told by a man who is in love with American politics and who knows how all the dots connect. Brilliant and totally engrossing."
-Rachel Maddow

"Delightful...brings to life the most fascinating election of modern times."
-Walter Isaacson

From the celebrated host of MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, an enthralling account of the presidential election that created American politics as we know it today


Long before Lawrence O'Donnell was the anchor of his own political talk show, he was a senior adviser to Senator Patrick Moynihan, one of postwar America’s wisest political minds. The 1968 U.S. presidential election—marked by RFK’s assassination, massive upheaval in the Democratic Party, and the first of Richard Nixon’s dirty tricks—was O’Donnell’s own political coming of age. In the decades since, the election has remained one of his abiding fascinations, as it set the tone for so much of what followed in American politics, all the way through to today. Playing with Fire represents his master class in American electioneering, as well as an extraordinary human drama that captures a system, and a country, coming apart at the seams.
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Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics

Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics

by Lawrence O'Donnell
Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics

Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics

by Lawrence O'Donnell

eBook

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Overview

The New York Times bestseller!

"A thriller-like, propulsive tour through 1968, told by a man who is in love with American politics and who knows how all the dots connect. Brilliant and totally engrossing."
-Rachel Maddow

"Delightful...brings to life the most fascinating election of modern times."
-Walter Isaacson

From the celebrated host of MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, an enthralling account of the presidential election that created American politics as we know it today


Long before Lawrence O'Donnell was the anchor of his own political talk show, he was a senior adviser to Senator Patrick Moynihan, one of postwar America’s wisest political minds. The 1968 U.S. presidential election—marked by RFK’s assassination, massive upheaval in the Democratic Party, and the first of Richard Nixon’s dirty tricks—was O’Donnell’s own political coming of age. In the decades since, the election has remained one of his abiding fascinations, as it set the tone for so much of what followed in American politics, all the way through to today. Playing with Fire represents his master class in American electioneering, as well as an extraordinary human drama that captures a system, and a country, coming apart at the seams.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780399563157
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 11/07/2017
Sold by: Penguin Group
Format: eBook
Pages: 496
Sales rank: 23,419
File size: 20 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

About The Author
Lawrence O'Donnell is the host of The Last Word on MSNBC. Formerly an Emmy Award-winning executive producer and writer for "The West Wing," O'Donnell also served as senior advisor to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), chief of staff to the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works and the Senate Finance Committee. He is the author of Deadly Force and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and elsewhere. Born in Boston, O'Donnell graduated from Harvard College.

Table of Contents

Seizing the Moment 1

1 Declaring War 13

2 "Why Isn't He a Priest?" 23

3 Sleepy Hollow 31

4 "A Hard and Harsh Moral Judgment" 42

5 Dump Johnson 49

6 The General 55

7 "We Will Never Be Young Again" 68

8 Old Politics 79

9 "A Decent Interval" 91

10 Peace with Honor 103

11 Peter the Hermit 110

12 "Clean for Gene" 120

13 The New Nixon 133

14 "Nixon's the One" 154

15 "Abigail Said No" 166

16 The Poor People's Campaign 185

17 "Something Bad Is Going to Come of This" 196

18 "Stand Up and Be Counted" 210

19 "It's Not Important What Happens to Me" 218

20 "I've Seen the Promised Land" 231

21 The Happy Warrior 241

22 Don't Lose 250

23 "Everything's Going to Be Okay" 262

24 Stop Nixon 273

25 "Great Television" 285

26 The Last Liberal Standing 305

27 The Peace Plank 316

28 "The Whole World's Watching" 345

29 "The Government of the People in Exile" 360

30 The Perfect Crime 376

Epilogue 410

Acknowledgments 429

Notes 431

Bibliography 461

Index 471

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