by David Borgenicht and Turk Regan
When Nixon sought the presidency, his opponent, John F. Kennedy, hired a mole named Dick Tuck to play pranks on him. The day after the first debate (a contest many felt Nixon had won), Tuck spun the results by hiring an elderly woman wearing a Nixon button to hug Nixon in front of reporters and console him for losing the debate. Two years later, when Nixon ran for governor of California, Tuck had children in Los Angeles’ Chinatown greet him with a sign reading “Welcome Nixon” in English and beneath the greeting, “What about the Hughes loan?” in Chinese–a reference to a controversial loan Nixon’s brother had received. Nixon, who didn’t understand Chinese, posed smiling next to the sign, then tore it up in front of reporters when Tuck told him the translation. During a whistle-stop train tour on the same campaign, Tuck disguised himself as a conductor and ordered Nixon’s train to pull away from the station just as Nixon had begun a speech to the crowd. Worst of all, when Nixon ran for President in 1968, Tuck hired pregnant women to show up at his rallies wearing T-shirts that read “Nixon’s the One.” Nixon, who’d mastered the art of dirty tricks early in his career, came to both despise and begrudgingly admire Tuck. During his 1972 presidential re-election campaign, Nixon ordered aides to develop a “Dick Tuck capability.”
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I am a long time subscriber to the magazine and absolutely love it! My one question that I have been dying to ask (and get an answer to) is that how do you guys get the awesome graphics/pictures for the magazine? Are they stock photographs that you have rights to or do you have people posing or do you photoshop a few together?
The pictures have also caught my eye in their brilliance and I demand to know! :)
posted by Pink Coat on 8-7-2008 at 4:07 pm
It’s basically a combination of stock photography and rights-managed photography from photo houses. We tend to buy everything. Every once in a while we’ll set up a photo shoot (Winslow’s good friend Cary Norton shot the opener for the cereal piece in the last issue, which I think turned out beautifully), but for the most part it’s easier on our budget and tiny staff to just purchase the pics.
posted by Mangesh on 8-7-2008 at 4:15 pm
Seriously… after seeing a cover like that, how can anyone NOT subscribe? That’s just great… congrats.
Josh
posted by Josh on 8-7-2008 at 4:15 pm
Thank you so much for the prompt answer! Now I can enjoy my magazine (while wearing my Forever Jung shirt) in peace. :)
posted by Pink Coat on 8-7-2008 at 4:22 pm
I knew Dick Tuck. Well, sort of. I was pretty young but my dad was friend of John and Robert Kennedy and worked for both of them in the Justice Department. At Christmas, Dick Tuck had this Charlie Brown Christmas tree he called the Tuckmas Tree.
posted by patti on 8-7-2008 at 4:54 pm
I’ll be back in the States for a holiday soon – can’t wait to get the new issue! =)
posted by Dawn on 8-8-2008 at 11:44 pm