Kennedy
by Theodore C. Sorensen
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The classic, intimate, and magisterial biography of JFKIn January 1953, freshman senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts hired a twenty-four-year-old from Nebraska as his Number Two legislative assistant--on a trial basis. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, in the eleven years that followed Sorensen became known as Kennedy's intellectual blood bank, top policy aide, and alter ego.
Sorensen knew Kennedy the man, the senator, the candidate, and the president as no other associate show more did throughout these eleven years. He was with him during the key crises and turning points--including the spectacular race for the vice presidency at the 1956 convention, the launching of Kennedy's presi-dential candidacy, the speech to the Protestant clergy of Houston, the TV debates with Nixon, and election night at Hyannis Port. The first appointment that Kennedy made as a new president was Ted Sorensen as his Special Counsel.
Kennedy is an account of this president's failures as well as successes, told with surprising candor and objectivity. Sorensen relates the role of the White House staff and evaluates Kennedy's relations with his Cabinet and other appointees, reveals Kennedy's errors on the Bay of Pigs and his attitudes toward the press, Congress, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and details his actions in the Cuban missile crises and the evolution of his beliefs on civil rights and arms control.
Three months to the day after Dallas, Sorensen left the White House to write the account of those eleven years that only he could write. First published in 1965, Kennedy is an intimate biography of an extraordinary man, and one of the most important sources of history in this century.
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John Kennedy was a child of privilege who lent his considerable gifts to the betterment of ordinary Americans. His life was cut short by assassination, but his charisma was such his successor, Lyndon Johnson was able to seriously advance the rights of black people in the USA. This book is partisan, but well researched.
I could not get through this one. It's terrible.
It's supposed to be about John F. Kennedy, but after a few chapters I already knew more about the author than about JFK (who I already knew things about before picking up the book!).
One big, boring ego trip. Put it aside, or better yet, don't pick it up at all.
It's supposed to be about John F. Kennedy, but after a few chapters I already knew more about the author than about JFK (who I already knew things about before picking up the book!).
One big, boring ego trip. Put it aside, or better yet, don't pick it up at all.
香港大學歷史系
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Publisher's Weekly NON-Fiction list - 1912 - 1975
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Books in the Bibliography of Freethinkers by Susan Jacoby
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Author Information
14+ Works 1,459 Members
Theodore Chaikin "Ted" Sorensen (May 8, 1928 - October 31, 2010) was an American presidential adviser, lawyer, and writer, best known as President John F. Kennedy's special counsel, adviser, and legendary speechwriter. President Kennedy once called him his "intellectual blood bank." In 2010 Sorensen published his definitive biography of JFK based show more on those years when he worked along side him as Special Counsel. The book, Kennedy: The Classic Biography, became a New York Times bestseller. Sorensen earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and also attended law school there, where graduated first in his class. On February 25, 2010, he received the National Humanities Medal for 2009. On October 31, 2010, Sorensen died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital due to complications following a stroke he suffered a week earlier. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Kennedy
- Original publication date
- 1965
- People/Characters
- Lyndon Baines Johnson; John F. Kennedy; Theodore C. Sorensen
- Important places
- USA; Washington, D.C., USA; White House, Washington, D.C., USA
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 973.922092
- Canonical LCC
- E841
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 973.922092 — History & geography History of North America United States 1901- Cold War, Vietnam War, Digital Age (1953-2001) Dwight D. Eisenhower, 2nd Term (1953-1961) Sputnik Crisis, Little Rock Crisis, National Aeronautics and Space Act Biography
- LCC
- E841 — History of the United States United States Later twentieth century, 1961-2000 Kennedy's administration, 1961-November 22, 1963
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 844
- Popularity
- 32,556
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.86)
- Languages
- 5 — Czech, Danish, English, French, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 34
