Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 312 Days that Changed America's Politics Forever

I truly enjoyed reading about the first campaign that caught my attention as a young person. It was interesting reading about inside details. I am familiar with campaigns, having volunteered for others and running for myself. It appears that most candidates at that national level face more challenges to win than at the local level but some candidates will go to any lengths to win. Because of this, it is important for voters to understand that politics is like a high stakes game that call for many players who bring different tactics in order to win. Campaigns are a sales job in some cases. Experience helps so that candidates can effectively make a plan to win in a straightforward manner and voters can expect to get a serious representative who is serious about serving the community’s needs.

Interesting year in politics..Highly recommend this book.

When I started this book, I thought it would be entertaining to read a book that chronicled the events that I had lived through. It not only brought back memories, it included back room and under belly events that I was totally unaware of and that would be worthy of a novel. So in the process of being entertained, it gave me pause to consider how different things could have been in 1960. Although the countdown approach was very effective, reading like a detective story, perhaps the best part of the book is the epilogue, where the reader is reminded of how different things were 60 years later with a similar scenario but with a person more interested in himself than the country. In addition to a great recounting of history, the book is an implicit warning for the future.

This is a very well written, informative and behind the scenes account of the 1960 presidential election. From the very beginning, I learned a lot about this interesting time in our history.

Fascinating

I have read all of Mr. Wallace’s books. I knew a bit about the story but still learned a lot. I like his writing style. I love history but get tired of many authors who use such big words I need a dictionary to understand what they’re saying. I did have a few words to look up in this one but for the most part it was an easier to read history book for me. I was not born during this time so it was very interesting to me that history does repeat itself. There are close elections.

I was already familiar with most of info in the book. For me the book was an ok read.

This is a well written and well formatted account of the 1960 presidential campaigns/election. The history is sometimes astonishing compared to the 2020 and 2024 elections. As much as he was disliked by many, Nixon still retained some sense of what our democracy and our Constitution entailed, as opposed to Trump. Yes, there were many lies and “dirty tricks” on both sides, we all know that now. This is an excellent telling of the realities of American politics and the “ Countdown” format reads like a mystery story. Highly recommended, five stars.

Great book on current happenings

Interesting, in a dark sort of way. Author probably doesn't really like either of the two candidates for pres, Kennedy or Nixon

Perhaps the past isn’t the way most of us remember it …… Mike Wallace’s son takes a second look.