Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero

In my reading of Presidential biographies, I tend to gravitate towards the larger tomes. I want to get a broad picture of the zeitgeist of the day, and I figure that in a smaller biography, those details would be the first to be edited out. This time, however, I broke pattern and went with a book that was barely over 400 pages. Mr. Matthews didn't fail me. He paints a full picture of John Kennedy and the times he lived in. Based mostly on interviews with Kennedy's friends and co-workers, Mr. Matthews tells the story of the rich boy who struggled with ill health and grew up in the shadow of his older brother. Service in World War II helped shape him, and after the war he turned his attention to politics, creating his own style of show more campaigning. As I read the book, I got a better understanding of Kennedy's charisma and appeal. Growing up in the wake of the Kennedy assassination, I sometimes wondered if his legacy in our culture was simply the response to his untimely death. This book shows that John Kennedy did indeed help shape American culture, even as he wrestled with the events of the day.
--J. show less

I have read a great deal on John Kennedy for two reasons. One being he was one of the most interesting figures of the 20th century. Two because there is so much written about him. Chris Matthews well known for his reverence of the man pretty much devotes the entire book to reinforce this. So we see a picture of the man painted in this perspective. Bare mention is made of the darker side of his nature but then again there is a lot out there available on that side. The tragedy of losing such a captivating figure in our political history leaves us with the search for what would or could have been. How would he have played out the Viet Nam conflict at that time? Matthew's like us all is left hanging as by 1963 Kennedy did not seem sure. The show more one thing that struck me most about his presidency related here was the rapid fire major crisis's that dropped into his lap. Overall well worth spending time with this book reliving the John Kennedy legacy. show less

I really enjoyed the book and thought Matthews did an able job of keeping his personal politics out of it. Wonder how accurate a portrayal it was of JFK's romantic life and how Matthews decided which romantic aspects of JFK's life shaped who he was as a leader and a man.

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13475134

I always liked Jack Kennedy, but I wondered how much of that feeling was from all the myths and his legendary charisma. What I believe is the real Jack comes through in this book.

Hardly a saint, neither was he that bad of a sinner.

From an early age he was a reader. His physical problems led to his having to spend a great deal of time at home alone, and books kept him company nicely. He developed or was born with a remarkable ability to retain information, to process it. And like our founding fathers he knew history.

His physical problems were far worse than I had realized. Yet he put up with great pain to present the appearance of health and vigor, show more which he needed for the course he followed. First, as commander of a PT boat, he behaved heroically to save his men when his ship was destroyed. Later, when campaigning for the House of Representatives he went door to door for months, and did it again when campaigning for Senate and for president. These efforts took a toll on his body.

Lit with a fire from within, Kennedy seemed to know that he was destined for the presidency from early on. He felt he needed to be there to do what had to be done. You could say he was full of himself to believe he had the answers. I don't think that's all it was. He honestly seemed to have learned from his study and his observations and wanted very much to do more for his country, as he urged all Americans, than he asked it to do for him.

Through much of the book I felt that Matthews had a kind of hero-worship toward Kennedy and that this probably colored his approach to the book. Nevertheless he did not back away from telling of Jack's infidelities (not that he spent much time on them) and of the way he used Bobby Kennedy in particular (but also others) to keep people in line. He was ruthless when he felt it was necessary.

I came away sad for Jaqueline Kennedy, who weathered much in private, and admiring of the man who wanted more for all of us, the flawed hero but hero nonetheless. show less

Surprisingly interesting read. I had heard Chris Matthews interviewed on his book tour and it peaked my interest. I have not read much about the Kennedy boys, because I abhor their denegration of women. As with everyone else in my generation I remember the day of the assassination, where I was, etc. I was familiar with his political career, but had not understood much about his peronsal suffering from his back and his Addison's disease. The effort he put forth in spite of these trials, is impressive and explains a lot about his personality and his desire to succeed. Unfortunately, his use of power when it comes to individual relationships is leass than admirable. For someone who I know has true admiration for JFK, I thought Chris show more Matthews gave a fairly forthright portrayal good and bad. show less

As much as Matthews commentates poorly on television daily his books are generally a step above. The clarity of his books supersedes his daily commentary since he is a traditional liberal interpreting liberals. The liberal tradition, in the meantime, has been taken over by the progressives like Obama and Hillary but Matthews has not caught on yet.

The author shows us a very human Kennedy beset with health issues and yet triumphant in his dedication and ruthlessness pursuing ambitious political goals. The author clearly admires the classical liberal Kennedy yet shows us a flawed but admirable JFK. Along with his other work, Kennedy and Nixon, the rivalry that shape postwar America, perhaps a bit overstating the pair, nonetheless surveying show more Kennedy's significance in the postwar period. Although not as detailed as the scholarly work on Kennedy by Robert Dallek the work is a more popular introduction to the importance of Kennedy.

https://www.prageru.com/videos/jfk-democrat-or-republican show less

This book really cuts a lot out of the life of JFK. It's basically a fluff piece, written by a man obviously enamored of his subject. The book focuses mostly on the goods deeds of JFK, and basically skims over his faults. Look elsewhere if you want a serious, well-rounded biography of JFK.