Sheila's name is in the front of the book signed by her This Edition is preceded by a special memorial forward by Robert F. Kennedy

Should be required reading for every HS student and everyone running for office. ( )

I picked up "Profiles in Courage" in July at the JFK Library in Boston where it was extensively praised in the video tribute. It also garnered a Pulitzer. I love US history and like JFK. Everything points to me liking this book. Unfortunately, I did not. This is a political book masquerading as history. JFK covers all the bases. Here a nod to intolerant Southerners, there a wink to isolationist Midwesterners and for starters some goodies for conservatives. The key message: Don't fear my presidency, I am not a Massachusetts liberal. This "inclusiveness" wrecks any kind of consistency in the cases selected.

It is not a surprise if senators do no come to mind if one imagines courageous people. Nay-saying is the chief function of the senate. It is a feature and not a bug. Senators have little to fear for nay-saying. Incumbents are nearly impossible to unseat, way past their shelf-life. Their six year terms leave ample time for amnesia to work. Courage for a senator according to Kennedy is voting against their party/state interest. I would divide JFK's examples into three categories: 1) Conscience voters: Thomas Hart Benton (MO, pro Union), Sam Houston (TX, against secession), Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (MS, against currency debasing), George Norris (NE, filibustered WWI entry). 2) Legalists: Edmund G. Ross (KS, against impeachment), Robert A. Taft (OH, against Nürnberg death penalties). 3) Compromisers: John Quincy Adams (MA, pro Embargo), Daniel Webster (MA, slavery compromise). Among the decisions only Edmund Ross' refusal to vote for Johnson's impeachment had a historic impact. All the other events would have happened even if the senator under discussion had voted otherwise (the 1850 compromise is debatable, though).

Overall, a not particularly well written book which served its purpose in adding an intellectual halo to JFK but does not stand the test of time. ( )

This is a great book. John F. Kennedy wrote this when he was a senator and he focused on eight U.S. senators and their acts of courage or bravery (they chose to do what was right, even if it meant they would have to pay for it later by loss of popularity or whatever). He focused on both republicans, democrats, and the federalists and the book later won the Pulitzer Prize. Of note, a couple of the senators mentioned are John Adams and Robert Taft. I really really liked this book, it was interesting and showed that not everyone in the Senate were horrible people. ( )

John Kennedy wrote a better one. ( )