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Description:
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Within the growing field of new cultural history and Cold War studies , Richard Nixon is
an ideal approach to understanding the masculine ideologies , in their prescriptive and
proscriptive state , that shaped American perceptions of manhood in the twentieth century .
The prescriptive state examines the cultural roots of Cold War masculinity at the end of the
nineteenth century and the means by which the future President , through work , leisure , sports ,
and war hoped to evolve from boyhood to manhood . Nixon , like many men from the period ,
believed boys achieved manhood through physical assertion , violent punishments , physical and
emotional struggle , and , of course , through his favorite pastime , sports . At first glance , Nixon
may seem to be an odd choice . After all , he’s largely remembered for his profuse sweating , his
five o’clock shadow , the Watergate scandal , his Vietnam policies , the opening of China , and his
general awkwardness in social settings . Throughout the twentieth century , the masculine ideal
alternated between mythic figures such as the cowboy , the rugged outdoorsman , the athlete ,
the selfless soldier , and the economically independent man . At various times during his
lifetime , Nixon conformed to various constructs , which included the forgotten man , the anticommunist ,
the square , the hardhat , and conceptions of hardheaded détente . In the end ,
Nixon’s struggle to conform to these paradigms contributed to the destruction of his presidency
and his rebirth as elder statesman during the final years of the Cold War . |