Fan in Chief

"Both sport and Richard Nixon fascinate the nation, but they are not usually seen as connected. Many people have forgotten that Nixon loved athletic events and let his guard down in sports settings. As president he invented the practice of calling teams after winning the Super Bowl, World Series, or other important contests. He held a White House reception for the players in the 1969 Major League All-Star Game that many found strange and surreal, and in 1972 he selected a historical all-star baseball team that received heavy media coverage. He forced the National Football League to change its policy for televising home games to the one currently in use. Nixon attended a Washington Redskins practice session to help boost the spirits of his team after a devastating loss to their archrivals the Dallas Cowboys, and he even called the coach of the Miami Dolphins to suggest plays to use in the Super Bowl against the Cowboys. One Powerful Fan is a study of Richard Nixon and his political use of sport. In addition to being an avid fan, he used sport to garner publicity without having to take any political action. Although he had a number of chances to use his position to influence events in the sporting world, Nixon rarely took action to shape national sport issues unless there was a political upside to the matter in which he would win votes or garner political support. As a result, this book is part biography, part political history, and part policy history"--