Robert Dallek

This is an extraordinarily clear and detailed biography of the legendary yet all too human American president, John F. Kennedy. Robert Dallek, author of an acclaimed two-volume biography of Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, has found, remarkably, untapped sources to bring additional life and light to Kennedy's story. Chief among these new resources are vast elements of Kennedy's medical records, which indicate both the excruciating pain and personal contortions JFK went through in an effort to serve well as president while also keeping his disturbing medical conditions from the public. Kennedy emerges from this book as not a great or epic president but as a very human being whose reach often exceeded his grasp and who sometimes did not reach far nor fast enough. The picture the reader is left with is of an admirable, physically brave and stalwart man, who had a genius for the subtleties of politics and an occasional, unfortunate penchant for learning from his mistakes only after making large ones. It is a fine book about a remarkable man.… (more)

Robert Dallek's massive two-volume biography of President Lyndon Baines Johnson is a monumental accomplishment of research and insight. This volume, Flawed Giant, picks up with the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Johnson's ascension to the presidency. As in the first volume (Lone Star Rising), Dallek integrates mountains of detail into his narrative without ever overwhelming the reader. Johnson, a wonderfully real human being in Dallek's telling, reveals himself as a tragic, misunderstood, bold man of unlimited concern for the mistreated and underprivileged, yet one whose flaws, as the title suggests, were writ large. I grew up during LBJ's career and fought in what was called Lyndon Johnson's War, Vietnam. Reading this book at last clarified for me how we came to be enmired there and why it was so difficult to free ourselves from the conflict. For that illumination alone, I am deeply grateful for this book. But as a gateway for understanding one of our most misunderstood presidents, it is hard to think of a better job of shedding light. Highly recommended.… (more)