Timothy Crouse, 1973
I picked up Boys on the Bus after David Axelrod referenced it in his book. Was a good choice. Boys sets out to examine the cast of characters who’s job it is to frame presidential choices to the American public: political journalists. He uses the 1972 campaign to share the narratives of the best known journalists and the inner-workings of how covering a campaign works.
The overwhelming theme is that everything we as average Americans understand about the world is influenced by the way that these select men decided to present it through their platforms. Kinda scary stuff.
Something that stood out to me was how many parallels there are to the Nixon white house and campaign’s treatment of the media to today’s Trump White House. The efforts at undermining public trust in the media and complete disdain for the work is obvious. I was born in 1987, other than Watergate I’ve never had reason to understand why Nixon has such a poor reputation – this book does a good job of positioning why he was such a hated figure for a large part of the country before the Watergate issues.
Pretty cool book if you’re into politics, history and how the media works.
Also Like: Boss, Believer, All too Human, Fire and Fury, The Gatekeepers
The Settle Inn 