nixon

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Recommended: The role of the media in politics

The Nixon Memo is a case study of Richard Nixon's quest for political rehabilitation by Marvin Kalb. At issue is the key role of this former president of the United States who is best known for his involvement in the famous Watergate scandal. Nixon was trying to clean up his name in the post-cold war debate about aiding Russia in its uncertain revolution.
Kalb, begins his book on March 10, 1992. Nixon had just written a private memo critical of President George Bush's policy toward Russia to his closest friends in hopes of a leak. The memo leaked and exploded on the front page of The New York Times. Nixon attacked President George Bush, by using the press to convey his ideas of what should be done with the falling Giant, Russia. Kalb goes on to show how the conventional wisdom on United States foreign policy is shaped by the insider's game of press/politics to manipulation. This story of Nixon's efforts to pressure the White House, by way of the press, into helping Boris Yeltsin and Russia
“Marvin Kalb read the documents behind the Nixon memo and interviewed scores of journalists, scholars, and officials in and from Washington and Moscow.” Drawing on his years of experience as a diplomatic correspondent, for NBC he identifies the press and politics in the fashioning of public policy. With the memo criticizing the president of the United States in 1992 this helped dictate the outcome of the presidential election. It put Bush as an outsider to a then up and coming Bill Clinton. With all the information out on the memo, such as the media coverage the information had to be exact knowing the significance of the topic.
Marvin Kalb, portrayed Nixon perfectly as in what kind of a man he was, a leader, and a fallen president. Kalb stated that “no other president would have been able to take the embarrassment, and hounding he took from the media, others faded away while he continued to express his views” (p.9). This memo served Nixon as his last way to soften his name in history.
Kalb made it clear early on in his writings that he was on the hate list of Nixon throughout his candidacy, such as his house being wire-tapped, along with his work office for NBC. But he gave credit to how Nixon played the media for what they were worth.

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