The Professor and the President : Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the Nixon White House (Hardcover)--by Stephen Hess [2014 Edition] ISBN: 9780815726159

When Stephen Hess joined the Nixon White House staff in January 1969 his official titlewas Deputy Assistant to the President for Urban Affairs, but his role would turn out tobe much more complex.As Hess writes in his opening to The Professor and the President, “I am the onlyperson—perhaps in the world—who was a friend of both Richard Nixon and DanielPatrick Moynihan before they knew each other.”Nixon needed a prominent Democrat in his cabinet. Moynihan needed reentry toWashington's power center. From its origins in a brief political codependence, therelationship blossomed.Nixon grew fascinated by Moynihan, who advised the president on what books toread, to whom he should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and how not toredecorate the Oval Office.Moynihan earned Nixon's support in battles with Arthur Burns, the conservativeeconomist who served as counselor to the president. Nixon went on to propose theFamily Assistance Plan, one of the most progressive pieces of welfare legislation sincethe New Deal.

What happens when a conservative president makes a liberal professor from the Ivy League his top urban affairs adviser? The president is Richard Nixon, the professor is Harvard's Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Of all the odd couples in American public life, they are probably the oddest. Add another Ivy League professor to the White House staff when Nixon appoints Columbia's Arthur Burns, a conservative economist, as domestic policy adviser. The year is 1969, and what follows behind closed doors is a passionate debate of conflicting ideologies and personalities.

Who won? How? Why? Now nearly a half-century later, Stephen Hess, who was Nixon's biographer and Moynihan's deputy, recounts this fascinating story as if from his office in the West Wing.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927–2003) described in the Almanac of American Politics as "the nation's best thinker among politicians since Lincoln and its best politician among thinkers since Jefferson", served in the administrations of four presidents, was ambassador to India, and U.S. representative to the United Nations, and was four times elected to the U.S. Senate from New York.

Praise for the works of Stephen Hess

Organzing the Presidency

Any president would benefit from reading Mr. Hess's analysis and any reader will enjoy the elegance with which it is written and the author's wide knowledge and good sense. -The Economist

The Presidential Campaign

Hess brings not only first-rate credentials, but a cool, dispassionate perspective, an incisive analytical approach, and a willingness to stick his neck out in making judgments. -American Political Science Review

From the Newswork Series

It is not much in vogue to speak of things like the public trust, but thankfully Stephen Hess is old fashioned. He reminds us in this valuable and provocative book that journalism is a public trust, providing the basic information on which citizens in a democracy vote, or tune out. — Ken Auletta, The New Yorker

What happens when a conservative president makes a liberal professor from the Ivy League his top urban affairs adviser? The president is Richard Nixon, the professor is Harvard's Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Of all the odd couples in American public life, they are probably the oddest. Add another Ivy League professor to the White House staff when Nixon appoints Columbia's Arthur Burns, a conservative economist, as domestic policy adviser. The year is 1969, and what follows behind closed doors is a passionate debate of conflicting ideologies and personalities. Who won? How? Why? Now nearly a half-century later, Stephen Hess, who was Nixon's biographer and Moynihan's deputy, recounts this fascinat-ing story as if from his office in the West Wing. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927 2003) described in the Almanac of American Politics as "the nation's best thinker among politicians since Lincoln and its best politician among thinkers since Jefferson," served in the administrations of four presidents, was ambassador to India, and U.S. representative to the United Nations, and was four times elected to the U.S. Senate from New York. Praise for the works of Stephen Hess "Organzing the Presidency "Any president would benefit from reading Mr. Hess's analysis and any reader will enjoy the elegance with which it is written and the author's wide knowledge and good sense. " -The Economist " "The Presidential Campaign " Hess brings not only first-rate credentials, but a cool, dispassionate perspective, an incisive analytical approach, and a willingness to stick his neck out in making judgments. - "American Political Science Review "From the "Newswork Series " It is not much in vogue to speak of things like the public trust, but thankfully Stephen Hess is old fashioned. He reminds us in this valuable and provocative book that journalism is a public trust, providing the basic information on which citizens in a democracy vote, or tune out. -- Ken Auletta, "The New Yorker"" What happens when a conservative president makes a liberal professor from the Ivy League his top urban affairs adviser? The president is Richard Nixon, the professor is Harvard's Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Of all the odd couples in American public life, they are probably the oddest. Add another Ivy League professor to the White House staff when Nixon appoints Columbia's Arthur Burns, a conservative economist, as domestic policy adviser. The year is 1969, and what follows behind closed doors is a passionate debate of conflicting ideologies and personalities. Who won? How? Why? Now nearly a half-century later, Stephen Hess, who was Nixon's biographer and Moynihan's deputy, recounts this fascinating story as if from his office in the West Wing. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927#x96;2003) described in the Almanac of American Politics as "the nation's best thinker among politicians since Lincoln and its best politician among thinkers since Jefferson", served in the administrations of four presidents, was ambassador to India, and U.S. representative to the United Nations, and was four times elected to the U.S. Senate from New York. Praise for the works of Stephen Hess Organzing the Presidency Any president would benefit from reading Mr. Hess's analysis and any reader will enjoy the elegance with which it is written and the author's wide knowledge and good sense. -The Economist The Presidential Campaign Hess brings not only first-rate credentials, but a cool, dispassionate perspective, an incisive analytical approach, and a willingness to stick his neck out in making judgments. -American Political Science Review From the Newswork Series It is not much in vogue to speak of things like the public trust, but thankfully Stephen Hess is old fashioned. He reminds us in this valuable and provocative book that journalism is a public trust, providing the basic information PART I: THE TRANSITION: NOVEMBER 1968 TO JANUARY 1969 Why Nixon wants Moynihan Why Moynihan wants Nixon The courtship The memoranda Nixon: "The durable man" PART II: A YEAR OF TURMOIL: 1969 A full agenda Inauguration day: January 20 Nixon's team of rivals At work in the West Wing basement The Urban Affairs Council Beyond the great society Tutorial Social scientist at large in the White House The 75-day mark: April 14 Moynihan at Notre Dame: June 1 Nixon alone Welfare reform: Moynihan's white whale Nixon's address to the nation: August 8 Time for change: November 4 Planting greatness On fertile ground PART III: A YEAR OF DEPARTURES: 1970 Unfinished business An unexpected invitation. Chronicles the role of Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the Nixon White house and the relationship between the two that grew from there, told by a member of the White House staff at the time and friend of both men.