Rick Perlstein

Perlstein was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to a Reform Jewish family, the second child of Jerold and Sandra (née Friedman) Perlstein.{{cite magazine |last=Perlstein |first=Rick |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/my-crisis-of-zionism-and-ours-20120502 |access-date=December 23, 2015 |magazine=Rolling Stone |title=On the Crisis of Zionism

|date=May 2, 2012}}{{cite web|title=Obituary: Jerold Irving Perlstein {{!}} SummitDaily.com|url=http://www.summitdaily.com/news/8068661-113/perlstein-milwaukee-friedman-irving|website=The Summit Daily|access-date=November 5, 2015}} His father ran Bonded Messenger Service, a delivery company founded by his grandfather in 1955. Perlstein grew up in the Bayside and Fox Point neighborhoods of suburban Milwaukee, taking cross country trips with his parents and siblings to national landmarks like Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park.{{cite web|title=Perlstein planned, traveled and pursued everything he loved|url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/perlstein-planned-traveled-and-pursued-everything-he-loved-b9992265z1-222734501.html|website=www.jsonline.com|access-date=November 5, 2015}} In high school, upon earning his driver's license, Perlstein would head to Renaissance Books in downtown Milwaukee, and spend hours in its basement among stacks of old magazines from the 1960s. He later recounted in an interview: "I ended up getting my own archive on the 1960s culture wars. That's where it started."{{cite web|title='The Invisible Bridge': 10 or So Questions with Rick Perlstein|date=August 5, 2014|last=Saltoun-Ebin |first=Jason |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-saltounebin/the-invisible-bridge-10-o_b_5648712.html|website=The Huffington Post}} Updated October 5, 2014. Retrieved 2015-11-04. He also wrote in Rolling Stone: "A sixties obsessive since childhood, I misspent my teenage years prowling a ramshackle five-story used-book warehouse that somehow managed ... to stay one step ahead of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's building inspectors."Perlstein, Rick (2012-03-16). "[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-conservatives-are-still-crazy-after-all-these-years-20120316 Why Conservatives Are Still Crazy After All These Years]. Rolling Stone. rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2017-05-04. Following graduation from Nicolet High School, Perlstein attended the University of Chicago, earning a bachelor's degree in history in 1992.{{cite web|title=Rick Perlstein|publisher=Huffpost. huffingtonpost.com |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-perlstein/|access-date=2015-11-04}} While at the University of Chicago – years Perlstein described as "delightfully noisy and dissident", and a stark contrast to the suburbia of his youth, which "felt like a jail" – he was able to engage with and catch neighborhood jam sessions.{{cite web|title=The New York Times Magazine College Essay Contest|url=https://www.nytimes.com/marketing/collegeessay/essay.html|website=New York Times|access-date=November 4, 2015}}

After graduate study in American studies at the University of Michigan, Perlstein moved to New York in 1994, settling in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.{{cite web|last=Steininger |first=Judith |title = Books – Mequon native Rick Perlstein |url = http://www.gmtoday.com/features/books/css/books002.htm|website = Greater Milwaukee Today. www.gmtoday.com|access-date = November 4, 2015}} While in New York, Perlstein interned at Lingua Franca, a magazine about academic and intellectual life, where he would become an associate editor.{{cite web|last=Adams |first=Lucas |date=June 20, 2014 |title = Reagan Rising: Rick Perlstein|url = http://publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/62987-reagan-rising-rick-perlstein.html|website = Publishers Weekly. publishersweekly.com|access-date = November 4, 2015}} Perlstein also began writing book reviews, for publications like The Nation and Slate.{{cite web|last=Perlstein |first=Rick |date=March 4, 1996 |title = Infinite Jest |work=The Nation |via=HighBeam Research|url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18045888.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160222160441/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18045888.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = February 22, 2016|access-date = November 4, 2015}}{{cite news|title = Boston vs. Austin|url = http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/1997/11/boston_vs_austin.html|newspaper = Slate|date = November 5, 1997|access-date = November 5, 2015|issn = 1091-2339|language = en|first = Rick|last = Perlstein}} It was Perlstein's 1996 Lingua Franca essay "Who Owns the Sixties?" that won him public notice, by exposing the emerging chasm between older and younger historians.{{cite web|title = Historians Duke It Out Over The '60s|last=Warren |first=James | date=May 24, 1996 |url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/05/24/historians-duke-it-out-over-the-60s/ |website = Chicago Tribune. chicagotribune.com|access-date = November 4, 2015}} The essay also aroused the attention of a literary agent and soon after earned him a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In December 2023, Perlstein was hired by The American Prospect to contribute a weekly column/email newsletter on media criticism, history and the 2024 United States elections, titled The Infernal Triangle.{{cite web | title=David Dayen talks with Rick Perlstein about his new column for TAP | website=YouTube | date=December 2023 | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PuNXdQJYHo | access-date=April 21, 2024}}{{cite web | last=Perlstein | first=Rick | title=Subject: 📣 A Message from Rick Perlstein (The American Prospect newsletter)| website=Archive of Political Emails | date=December 28, 2023 | url=https://politicalemails.org/messages/1275065 | access-date=April 21, 2024}}

{{external media| float = left | video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?164532-1/before-storm-barry-goldwater Booknotes interview with Perlstein on Before the Storm, June 3, 2001], C-SPAN| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?205838-4/nixonland Presentation by Perlstein on Nixonland, June 8, 2008], C-SPAN| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?320983-1/qa-rick-perlstein Q&A interview with Perlstein on The Invisible Bridge, August 14, 2014], C-SPAN |video4 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?320896-1/the-invisible-bridge Presentation by Perlstein on The Invisible Bridge, August 5, 2014], C-SPAN}}

File:Barry Goldwater photo1962.jpg

File:Nixon's the One! (Portrait) 1968.png

File:Ronald Reagan with cowboy hat 12-0071M edit.jpg

{{asof|2020}}, Perlstein had published four notable books on the subject of modern American conservatism.

In 1997, Perlstein began work on a history of the rise of Barry Goldwater, a transformative event for the conservative movement. Perlstein's book, Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, was released in 2001 to widespread acclaim, including a laudatory review in The New York Times by William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard. Kristol wrote of Before the Storm, "It's an amazing story, and Perlstein, a man of the left, does it justice."{{cite web|title=In His Heart, He Knew He Was Right|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/01/reviews/010401.01kristot.html|work=The New York Times|first=William|last=Kristol|date=April 1, 2001|access-date=November 5, 2015}} Perlstein won the 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History.{{cite web|title=Book Prizes – Los Angeles Times Festival of Books» Winners By Award|url=http://events.latimes.com/bookprizes/previous-winners/winners-by-award/|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=November 5, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405013402/http://events.latimes.com/bookprizes/previous-winners/winners-by-award/|archive-date=April 5, 2013}} Soon after, Perlstein moved from New York to Chicago. Perlstein was the national political correspondent for The Village Voice from 2003 to 2005, and contributed articles to publications that included The New York Times, The New Republic and The American Prospect.

Beginning in spring 2007 through 2009 Perlstein was a Senior Fellow at the Campaign for America's Future where he wrote for its blog The Big Con about the failures of conservative governance. A co-director at the Campaign for America's Future once noted, "Rick was unique. … I don't know when he sleeps."[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-perlstein Rick Perlstein Biography], Huffington Post[http://www.ourfuture.org/user/6/full Biography], Campaign for America's Future{{cite journal|title=Sympathy for the Devil?|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/rick-perlstein-sympathy-for-the-devil/Content?oid=1212864|journal=Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry|access-date=November 5, 2015|first=Harold|last=Henderson|year = 2016|volume = 55|issue = 6|page = 525|doi = 10.1016/j.jaac.2015.11.017|pmid = 27238073|url-access=subscription}}

{{Main|Nixonland}}

In May 2008, Perlstein's Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America was published to rave reviews.{{cite magazine|title=The Fall of Conservatism|first=George|last=Packer|date=May 19, 2008|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/26/the-fall-of-conservatism|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=November 5, 2015}}{{cite news|title=Our favorite books of 2008|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/our-favorite-books-of-2008-16742|newspaper=The AV Club|access-date=November 5, 2015}}{{cite news|title=Rick Perlstein: Nixonland|url=https://www.avclub.com/review/rick-perlstein-inixonlandi-2918|newspaper=The AV Club|first=Ellen|last=Wernecke|access-date=November 5, 2015}}{{cite web|title=E Pluribus Nixonw|first=Ross|last=Douthat|author-link=Ross Douthat|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/05/e-pluribus-nixon/306765/|website=The Atlantic|date=May 2008 |access-date=November 5, 2015|language=en}}{{cite web|title=A Nation Divided In 'Nixonland'| work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93848994|publisher=NPR.org|access-date=November 5, 2015}}{{cite news|title=Rick Perlstein's 'Nixonland': A Gripping Look at the Nixon Era|first=Thomas J.|last=Sugrue|date=August 13, 2008|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/rick-perlsteins-nixonland-gripping-look-nixon-era/|newspaper=The Nation|access-date=November 5, 2015|issn=0027-8378}} In his review, the conservative columnist George Will credited Perlstein having "a novelist's, or perhaps an anthropologist's, eye for illuminating details" and called Nixonland "compulsively readable."{{cite news|title=Bring Us Apart|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/books/review/Will-t.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 11, 2008|access-date=November 5, 2015|issn=0362-4331|first=George F.|last=Will}} At the end of 2008, The New York Times included Nixonland among its notable books.{{cite news|title=100 Notable Books of 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/books/review/100Notable-t.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 7, 2008|access-date=November 5, 2015|issn=0362-4331}} In 2009, The A.V. Club included it among the best books of the decade.{{cite news|title=The best books of the '00s|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/the-best-books-of-the-00s-35774|newspaper=The AV Club|access-date=November 5, 2015}}

In August 2014, Simon & Schuster published The Invisible Bridge: the Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan. In his New York Times review, Frank Rich wrote that the tome was "a Rosetta stone for reading America and its politics today."{{cite news|title = 'The Invisible Bridge,' by Rick Perlstein|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/books/review/the-invisible-bridge-by-rick-perlstein.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = July 31, 2014|access-date = November 5, 2015|issn = 0362-4331|first = Frank|last = Rich}} The Invisible Bridge received favorable reviews from The New Yorker, Slate, and The Washington Post among others.

In August 2020, Perlstein published a fourth work detailing the events of the years before Ronald Reagan's presidency and his presidential race against Jimmy Carter from 1976 to 1980.{{Cite book|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Reaganland/Rick-Perlstein/9781476793054|title=Reaganland|date=August 18, 2020|isbn=978-1-4767-9305-4|language=en|last1=Perlstein|first1=Rick|publisher=Simon and Schuster }} Reaganland is Perlstein's longest publication at almost 1,200 pages long.

Reaganland received favorable reviews from The Guardian,{{cite news |title=Reaganland review: Rick Perlstein on Carter's fall and the rise of the right |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/16/reaganland-review-rick-perlstein-jimmy-carter-ronald-reagan |website=The Guardian |first=John S.|last=Gardner |date=August 16, 2020 |access-date=September 26, 2021}} the Los Angeles Times,{{cite web |title=Review: How Reagan and the finance bros gave us Trump |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-10-08/review-how-reagan-and-the-finance-bros-unmade-america-and-gave-us-trump |work=Los Angeles Times|first=Stephen|last=Metcalf |date=October 8, 2020 |access-date=September 26, 2021}} and The New Republic.{{cite magazine |title=How the GOP Became the Party of Resentment|first=Patrick|last=Iber |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/158680/republican-party-resentment-reaganland-rick-perlstein-book-review |magazine=The New Republic |access-date=September 26, 2021}} Reaganland was one of the New York Times 100 Notables Books of 2020.{{cite news |title=100 Notable Books of 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=November 20, 2020 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/books/notable-books.html |access-date=September 26, 2021}} It was also subject to a scathing critique in Commentary by Steven F. Hayward, himself an author of a two-part volume on Reagan.{{Cite web|date=October 19, 2020|title=No Perls of Wisdom|first=Steven F.|last=Hayward |url=https://www.commentary.org/articles/steven-hayward/reaganland-rick-perlstein/|access-date=December 22, 2022|work=Commentary|language=en-US}}

Conservative author and public relations consultant Craig Shirley has alleged that The Invisible Bridge stole distinctive words and phrasing from his 2004 book, Reagan's Revolution.{{cite web |last1=Alter |first1=Alexandra |title=Reagan Book Sets Off Debate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/business/media/rick-perlsteins-the-invisible-bridge-draws-criticism.html |work=The New York Times|date=August 4, 2014 |access-date=July 17, 2019}} Perlstein's supporters regarded the criticism as a partisan attack. Responding to numerous complaints, Times public editor Margaret Sullivan dismissed the plagiarism allegations as a "smear" and criticized the reporting for "conferr[ing] a legitimacy on the accusation it would not otherwise have had."{{cite web |last1=Sullivan |first1=Margaret |title=Was an Accusation of Plagiarism Really a Political Attack? |url=https://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/12/was-an-accusation-of-plagiarism-really-a-political-attack/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 |work=The New York Times|date=August 12, 2014 |access-date=July 17, 2019}}

Responding to letters from Shirley and his attorneys, Perlstein's publisher, Simon & Schuster, stated that the claims of plagiarism "ignored the most basic principle of copyright law." Those same letters from Shirley's attorneys demanded that Simon & Schuster pay Shirley $25 million in damages, pull all copies of The Invisible Bridge and take out ads of apology in various publications. If these demands weren't met, the letters promised that a lawsuit would be filed on July 30, 2014, nearly a week before the book was to be released on August 5. On August 9, 2014, it was reported that there was no evidence a lawsuit had ever been filed.{{cite web |last1=Geiger |first1=Timothy |title=Reagan Biographer Claims 'Copyright Infringement' Because Another Biographer Used The Same Facts |url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140807/09270928138/reagan-biographer-claims-copyright-infringement-because-another-biographer-used-same-facts.shtml |website=Techdirt |date=August 8, 2014 |access-date=July 17, 2019}} For his part, Perlstein said, "Mr. Shirley has sued me for $25 million and tried to keep people from reading my book; I've told everyone to read his book."{{cite web|title=The Paris Review Toasts Rick Perlstein's New Book, The Invisible Bridge|first=Ken|last=Kurson|date=August 8, 2014|url=http://observer.com/2014/08/the-paris-reivew-toasts-rick-perlsteins-new-book-the-invisible-bridge/|website=Observer|access-date=November 5, 2015|language=en}}

• {{cite book |last1=Perlstein |first1=Rick |year=2001 |title=Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus |publisher=Hill and Wang |location=New York |isbn=0-8090-2859-X}}
• {{cite book |last1=Perlstein |first1=Rick |author-mask=1 |year=2005 |title=The Stock Ticker and the Superjumbo: How the Democrats Can Once Again Become America's Dominant Political Party |publisher=Prickly Paradigm |location=Chicago |isbn=0-9761475-0-5 |display-authors=etal}}
• {{cite book |last1=Perlstein |first1=Rick |author-mask=1|year=2008 |title=Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7432-4302-5}}
• {{cite book |last1=Perlstein |first1=Rick |author-mask=1|year=2014 |title=The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan |publisher= Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4767-8241-6}}
• {{cite magazine |last1=Perlstein |first1=Rick |author-mask=1|date=January–February 2017 |title=He's making a list : Donald Trump is as paranoid as Nixon—and even more dangerous |magazine=The New Republic |volume=248 |issue=1–2 |pages=18–19}}
• {{cite book |last1=Perlstein |first1=Rick |author-mask=1|year=2020 |title=Reaganland: America's Right Turn, 1976–1980 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4767-9305-4}}

• 1964, a documentary about the political, social and cultural events that marked the United States in 1964.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://rickperlstein.org/}}
• [http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Rick-Perlstein/18810306 Rick Perlstein author page at Simon & Schuster]
• [https://www.rollingstone.com/contributor/rick-perlstein Rick Perlstein index at Rolling Stone]
• [https://www.motherjones.com/author/rick-perlstein/ Rick Perlstein at Mother Jones]
• [http://www.thenation.com/authors/rick-perlstein Rick Perlstein at The Nation]
• [http://bigthink.com/rickperlstein#!video_idea_id=17026 Video interview of Rick Perlstein], BigThink (video)
• {{C-SPAN|89240}}
• [https://thebaffler.com/authors/rick-perlstein Rick Perlstein] at The Baffler

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Perlstein, Rick}}

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