The Madness of Richard Nixon With Professor Zachary Jacobson

In foreign policy circles, the "madman theory" asserts that acting irrationally and unpredictably can be a major advantage when dealing with one's adversaries. In recent years, some have pointed to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as practitioners of the madman theory. The father of this theory, however, was not Trump or Putin: it was America's 37th president, Richard Nixon. In this episode, we interview Professor Zachary Jacobson, author of On Nixon's Madness, about this controversial theory.

ON NIXON'S MADNESS: AN EMOTIONAL HISTORY https://www.amazon.com/Nixons-Madness-Emotional-History/dp/1421445530/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1685587446 JOIN PREMIUM Listen ad-free for only $5/month at www.bit.ly/TAPpremium FOLLOW US www.linktr.ee/thisamericanpresident CREDITS Host: Richard Lim Producer: Michael Neal Artist: Nip Rogers, www.NipRogers.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.