Nixon's Piano: Presidents and Racial Politics from Washington to Clinton

by Kenneth O'Reilly

The author of Racial Matters offers a critical look at the institution of the presidency from Washington to Clinton, charging that the vast majority of presidents have strongly hindered, rather than helped, the cause of civil rights.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

544 pages, Hardcover

First published November 8, 1995

Reviews

[Anna Snader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. This book was definitely something. People kept asking me why I decided to continue reading a book that stressed me out so much, and the reason was: the book was VERY interesting. This book is about the racial politics throughout the presidential administrations from Washington to Clinton, organized chronologically with great chapter titles. It was also very dense. I always understood the first 15 pages of every chapter, but then the topics would become too specific and hard to track. I would lose interest, anticipating the next chapter, only for it to happen again. There was SO much information and SO many names that I got lost. Like "Who's Agnew?" (I figured out who Agnew was later from a review book). But.... in the end, I learned some fascinating things.

The earlier chapters were about slavery, and although I knew a lot from U.S. History, I was unaware that many of the presidents knew that slavery was immoral but allowed it to exist. Throughout the book, what also intrigued me was how the politicians who grew up in integrated settings or had "best friends" who were people of color, did not necessarily have a political agendas that benefited minority groups.

Party realignment is one of my favorite things to learn about. I knew that the realignment of the Republican party began with FDR and the New Deal, but that was about it; I had no idea about Nixon and the southern strategy. Reading about how the party slowly evolved through each administration after Nixon, slowly blew my mind. I had always thought the shift was quick; however, the party developed into a white man's party over several administrations. Other topics that caught my interest were the conversations on affirmative action and "reverse discrimination." They were very intriguing topics. Another phenomenon that interested me, which became very prevalent after the 15th amendment was added, was how politicians learned to adjust their policies to gain a majority of white or black votes. Depending on the administration and the demographic they were trying to attract, their policies would change. The fluidity of their racial beliefs was astounding and intriguing.

My major critique with this book was the limited scope of the term "racial politics." There is plenty of in-depth information about presidential politics and African Americans but the book fails to provide information on Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Indigenous people, etc. When I think "racial," I think this would apply more broadly, but in this, the scope was more narrow. I don't have a problem reading through a specific lens; I just thought the title was misleading and disappointing.

Anyways, I'm really glad this book is over.

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful survey of how American presidents either addressed, or more frequently failed to address, racial issues from the founding fathers to Bill Clinton. Mostly, it's a story of neglect, benign or otherwise, interspersed with period of active contribution to white supremacist agendas. On my re-read I was concentrating on JFK, LBJ, and Nixon. O'Reilly accurately calls Kennedy a "civil rights minimalist," emphasizes Nixon's polite adaptation of George Wallace's white populism via the Southern strategy, and LBJ's sad decline from the most effective advocate of civil rights ever to occupy the White House (I'd include Obama, though that's probably open to at least a bit of debate) to the angry confusion of his last two years in office.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scathing survey of how presidents throughout history either exploited racial politics or sidestepped and obstructed attempts to rectify civil rights abuses. Anyone with even a passable knowledge of history will hardly be surprised to learn that, aside from Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson, the inhabitants of the White House weren't models of progressive thinking. I didn't agree with all of the author's points, and in a few instances I think he oversimplifies some situations -- it can sometimes be a little too easy to ignore the political calculations imposed on all presidents -- but this is an impressive work of political analysis.

[Doug Ebeling · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author takes you through the various presidents and their views and actions on race in America (up to Clinton). It was interesting, but became somewhat dry and conclusory after awhile, there is not a lot of context and the book moves swiftly so I found it illuminating regarding presidents I was familiar with, but a bit hard to follow with others.