Campaign ’72: The Managers Speak

Published by Harvard University Press 1973

Campaign ’72

The Managers Speak

Edited by: Ernest R. May and Janet Fraser

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674366794

Overview
Contents

About this book

In January 1973, for the first time in American history, principal participants in a major election met to discuss the science and the art of campaign strategy: the planning, calculation, contrivance, miscalculation, and mischance that determine what the electorate sees. Here campaign managers, pollsters, and journalists met to compare notes on their techniques and tactics and on their successes and failures as they reviewed the events of the primaries and election:

the poor decisions made in the face of complex state primary laws;

the decline of Muskie and the rise of McGovern;

the significance of issues versus Nixon's image;

the effects of party reform on the Democratic convention;

the credentials fights;

the twists of strategy during the final months of the campaign;

the way the press covered the campaign and how reporters were treated by the various staffs;

the lessons for 1976 drawn by reporters and campaign people.

The straightforward exchanges took place at the Harvard Conference on Campaign Decision-Making. Eighteen key people participated, including those in the campaigns of Nixon, McGovern, Wallace, Muskie, Humphrey, Jackson, and McCloskey. Four political correspondents--David Broder, James Naughton, Al Otten, and James Perry--expertly guided the conversation, probing for additional insights.

The transcript of the conference--oral history at its best--has been carefully edited and makes absorbing reading. Included are brief sketches of the participants, a chronology of major events of the campaign, tables of campaign statistics, and a full index.

Author information

May Ernest R. :

Ernest R. May was Charles Warren Professor of History at Harvard University and Director of the Intelligence Policy Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.Fraser Janet :

Janet Fraser is Assistant Director of the Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
The Authors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Before the Primaries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
2. The Primaries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
3. The Conventions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
4. The General Election Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
5. The Press in the Campaign Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
6. Looking to '76 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	266
Appendix A. Some Campaign Dates Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
Appendix Β. Some Campaign Statistics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Copyright year: 1973
Edition: Reprint 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Front matter: 9
- Main content: 318
Keywords: Presidents -- United States -- Election -- 1972 -- Congresses.; Campaign management -- United States -- Congresses.; POLITICAL SCIENCE / General

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780674366794

Hardcover

Published: February 5, 1973
ISBN: 9780674366787