McGinniss aimed to reveal his first-hand encounter of the effort it took to market Nixon during the 968 election when he wrote this book. To better understand the process of developing a presidential campaign, McGinniss contacted Harry Treleaven, creative director over Nixons campaign. Treleaven was hired by Len Garment, Nixons law firm partner and his supervisor. Treleaven discussed with Garment the possibility of McGinnis being present during the campaign process. Garment agreed to allow McGinniss to shadow for& several months and watch the advertising being created (McGinniss, 988, p. xvi). Nixon had previously run for president in 960 where he lost to President John F. Kennedy, a handsome, poised and confident man. The American people did not favor Nixon because he came across as a cold, dark, and unhappy individual. When Nixon decided to run for president again, his team of advisers were concerned that his old image would ruin his chance of winning the 968 election against Hubert Humphrey. They found it necessary to recreate his public image and aimed to make him appear like an honorable, more personable, and charismatic man. Nixons team of advisers relied on television to advertise his new and warmer public image. McGinniss sat on the sidelines and watched as they packaged Nixon to sell like a new car.
In The Selling of the President, McGinniss provided the reader with background knowledge of how this work came into exis
tence. It was noted that he was a well-travelled American journalist who had lunch with Gene Prakapas, the editor-in-chief of the Trident Press. The two discussed a book that Theodore Teddy White was in the process of writing regarding the presidential campaign. McGinniss thought there could be additional insight, a striking new phenomenonthe marketing of political candidates as if they were consumer products (McGinniss, 988, p. xv). Prakapas liked the idea of a book that detailed how candidates were marketed and paid McGinniss $500 to make it happen. McGinniss resigned from his job and focused on the book. Initially he sought out to land the Hubert Humphrey account, but he was turned away. Without hesitation, he reached out to Nixons people and they naively agreed to let him quietly observe the campaign process. McGinniss wondered why they agreed, but he came to the conclusion that they were doing nothing of which they thought it necessary to be ashamed & and [his] answer [was] that in all probability they did not take [him] very seriously (McGinniss, 988, p. xvii). He was granted access to some of the most intimate moments in creating a campaign. He had behind the scenes access, was allowed in the conference rooms, and was present while Nixons advisers strategically planned out the campaign. Without this personal encounter, he would not have been able to provide the reader with details about how President Nixon was marketed.