Never Trust a Local: Inside Nixon's Campaign and the White House

Stuart, Charles

ISBN 10: 0875863981 / ISBN 13: 9780875863986

Edité par Algora Publishing (edition illustrated edition), 2005

A propos de cet article

It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.

N° de réf. du vendeur 0875863981-11-1

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Never Trust a Local: Inside Nixon's Campaign and the White House
• Éditeur: Algora Publishing (edition illustrated edition)
• Date de parution: 2005
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0875863981
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780875863986
• Reliure: Paperback
• Édition: illustrated edition.
• État de l'article: Very Good

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Never Trust a Local: Inside Nixon's Campaign and the White House shares an intimate, behind-the-scenes account of the 1968 Nixon presidential campaign and the early White House years from someone who was actually there making things happen. Charles Stuart wasn't a household name or senior policy advisor—he was an advance man, a “Nixon man”, one of the operatives who built rallies, managed logistics, and turned campaign stops into television spectacles that reached millions of Americans.

Stuart's story begins at the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami, where his creative solution to overshadow a Rockefeller campaign sign caught the attention of John Ehrlichman. That single moment of ingenuity launched him into the inner circles of one of America's most consequential political operations. What follows is a collection of vivid, often humorous anecdotes that reveal how presidential campaigns actually work—the scrambling, the problem-solving, the occasional disasters, and the personalities driving it all.

The book covers the practical mechanics of electoral campaign advance work: how to fill a 15,000-seat rally on a Saturday morning, what to do when hotel rooms mysteriously disappear the day before a candidate arrives, and why you should never trust local volunteers to execute your carefully laid plans. Stuart describes working alongside Ed Morgan, a brilliant and witty advance man whose legal career would later be destroyed by Watergate. He details the demanding personalities of Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, Nixon's powerful gatekeepers. He recounts the White House years, including overseas trips to Asia where he managed schedules for the First Lady and orchestrated complex diplomatic visits.

Beyond campaign logistics, Stuart provides candid observations about the Nixon administration's inner workings. He discusses the 5 O'Clock Group, which managed the president's public image and schedule. He reflects on the culture of overwork that pervaded the White House, where twelve-hour days were standard and weekends were treated as working time. He even touches on Watergate's aftermath and how good people got caught up in the scandal's machinery.

What makes this memoir distinctive is its focus on the unglamorous details that historians and famous memoirists typically overlook. Stuart captures the texture of political life—the exhaustion, the camaraderie, the small victories, and the occasional ethical compromises that seemed reasonable at the time. His writing is clear and accessible, peppered with self-deprecating humor and genuine affection for the people he worked with, even as he acknowledges their flaws.

This is political history told from the ground level, by someone who understood that in campaigns and governance, everything depends on execution.