TRICKY DICK AND THE PINK LADY: Richard Nixon vs. Helen Gahagan Douglas, 1950

by Greg Mitchell

The year 1950 was a time of absolute trauma for America. The Korean War began, the Communists completed their takeover of China, and the United States sent its first military advisers to South Vietnam. The Rosenbergs were arrested as spies for the Soviet Union, which had recently tested its first atomic bomb. Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Hollywood blacklist were making headlines across the country. And it was a year that produced one of the most notorious and influential election contests in America's history. In California, two prominent members of Congress, Richard Nixon and Helen Gahagan Douglas, squared off for a seat in the U.S. Senate. He was a dynamic thirty-seven-year-old lawyer of moderate means who had just helped send Alger Hiss to jail; she was a rich and beautiful former actress turned progressive Democrat--a pioneering female activist in Congress who attempted to become one of the first women elected to the Senate. In a climate of Red hysteria, Nixon's chief election strategy was smearing Douglas as a Communist sympathizer. She was, he said, "pink right down to her underwear."
Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady is the first book to present a full-length portrait of the campaign widely remembered as one of the dirtiest ever--and pivotal in the history of gender politics. Greg Mitchell draws on a wealth of original documents--including shocking, never-before-published letters and memos by Nixon and his tenacious campaign manager Murray Chotiner--that he recently discovered at the National Archives. In an engrossing blow-by-blow narrative featuring Earl Warren, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt, William Randolph Hearst, Cecil B. De Mille, Melvyn Douglas (the candidate'shusband), Harry Truman, and future presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Reagan, Mitchell vividly captures the sensational 1950 race: the cunning tactics of a young Nixon that first earned him the indelible nickname "Tricky Dick"; the challenges and criticism Douglas faced as a woman in politics; and the paralyzing fear that marked the dawn of the McCarthy era and blacklisting in the movies, television, and radio. The book is full of startling anecdotes, humorous incidents, and newly uncovered "dirty tricks."

Genres: History, Politics, Presidents, Womens, Nonfiction

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 20, 1998

About the author

Greg Mitchell (born 1947) is the author of more than a dozen books. His new book (2020) is "The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood--and America--Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (The New Press). His previous book, from Crown, has been optioned for a major movie. It is titled "The Tunnels" and explores daring escape tunnels under the Berlin Wall in 1962--and the JFK White House attempts to kill NBC and CBS coverage of them at the height of nuclear tensions.

Mitchell has blogged on the media and politics, for The Nation. and at his own blog, Pressing Issjes. He was the editor of Editor & Publisher (E&P), from 2002 to the end of 2009, and long ago was executive editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. His book "The Campaign of the Century" won the Goldsmith Book Prize and "Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady" was a New York Times Notable Book for 1998. He has also co-authored two books with Robert Jay Lifton, along with a "So Wrong For So Long" about the media and Iraq. His books have been optioned numerous times for movies (including "Joy in Mudville" by Tim Hanks). He has served as chief adviser to two award-winning documentaries and currently is co-producer of an upcoming film on Beethoven with his co-author on "Journeys With Beethoven."

Reviews

[Bob Koelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

How little has changed with politics. Republicans playing ridiculous scare tactics, while their opponents try to devise policies that help actual people, and get called "communist" for their efforts. What makes this particularly disgusting is that Nixon was truly smart and talented, and could have done so much more than he did. He truly could have been the better candidate, had he not acted so despicably. Maybe it's encouraging that so many other things have changed. Hollywood isn't the conservative realm it was, and the studio heads don't control what happens in Los Angeles. I don't think that anyone could pass something like the McCarran Act today, and blacklists don't exist, unless you think "cancelling" is the new blacklist. I don't. It's just that there may not be much of a democracy after 2024, once many states decide on who their voters should have selected, instead of letting their votes count.

[Kerrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was a fascinating read. However, I think that many reviewers of this book are confused that this is a Republican versus Democrat issue. The actual issue that I thought about while reading this book was that politicians are able to rile up the masses with authoritarian messaging and policies whenever there is a crisis in the country. In this environment, (which the author is able to paint a thought provoking picture of during this campaign) Richard Nixon was able to use an appeal to authoritarianism instead of talking about issues with his opponent.

If Tricky Dick were to actually campaign on policy issues with Ms. Douglas, one would have seen that they had actually a lot in common because they were both similar to FDR Democrats, with Ms. Douglas being a little more liberal on a few issues. Historical evidence and the author himself concede that Richard Nixon was a moderate as far as his policy positions. With the red baiting tactics, however, Nixon was able to simply brand his opponent as a heretic.

Unfortunately, politicians are still able to use scare tactics and appeals to authoritarianism in any crisis, and the public still falls for it. In recent times policies involving covid were used by politicians to rile masses to to institute grave injustices to those who disagreed with lockdowns and other covid protocols that were detrimental to a slew of personal Liberty laws at the state federal and local levels. Those who disagreed were again treated like heretics. There are countless examples in history where political actors are able to use fear and anger to control others. Using these tactics during the Vietnam war for anti-war protesters or civil rights activists are also good examples, but I digress.

While reading this book it is definitely easy to see Nixon as a nefarious character, but I see him more as a product of this time period. I definitely think he had a bunch of media advantages, along with other people in the state backing him. However that does not mean that his opponent was a good candidate. In fact she seems like kind of a wiener at the end of the day. These passage in the book talking about her leaving a debate halfway through should have been a good example for anyone reading this. I will say that she was up against a losing battle though. It is easy to look back with 20/20 hindsight about what she could have done.

[John Schachter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d give this book 4 1/2 stars. If you’re interested in Nixon, and like me can’t get enough of him, and this is definitely a book for you. The 1950 Senate race is a lesser told story from Nixon’s life. He never talked much about it, largely because he was rightfully embarrassed by his behavior during the campaign. The author has unveiled the new information about the campaign and Nixon’s dirty efforts throughout. Helen Gahahan Douglas is a fascinating character who deserves more public attention like this book provides. During these times of Trump, it’s also fascinating to see some of Nixon’s modus operandi and how they mirror tactics he would use later in life and that Trump would use during his campaign and presidency.

[John E · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather short overview of the U. S. Senate election of 1950 in California and the surrounding Nixon/McCarthy red scare hysteria. A prelude to the current anti-"Communist" ranting of the far-right even after the fall of Communism. Not the most dynamic writing, but OK.

[RK Byers · Rating 3 out of 5]

would Helen Douglas winning this election have had the effect of Hannibal Barca deciding to enter the gates of Rome? maybe not...