Profiles in Courage for Our Time

A book that I wish the politicians would read. Once again we read of people who thought of the greater good and not only for themselves. My favorite is about Gerald Ford and his pardon of Nixon, there are NO leaders like that today. This book inspires us to strive for and vote for better leaders who will look out for all and not a narrow interest group.

The "profiles" in this update to JFK's classic, are varied in both their subjects and their presentation. These accounts are not uniform in quality. Most stirring are those with a personal flavor such as Bob Woodward's profile of Gerald Ford, wherein we see a hidden profile of Woodward as well. However, others seem either too detached or tediously narrative, such as Michael Daly's "The Irish Peacemakers" which outlines the alphabet soup of the political/religious strife in Ireland, but does little to connect the overall themes of courage to anything outside the situation.

It is a good read, but not all the selections hold interest. I'd recommend particular excerpts for good classroom reading. I also commend the acknowledgement of show more politicians, leaders, and activists on both local and global levels. show less

3597. Profiles in Courage for Our Time, introduced and edited by Caroline Kennedy (read 8 July 2002) I read Caroline's father's Profiles in Courage on 21 Dec 1963, with great appreciation. This book contains an account of each of the winners of the Profile in Courage award, which has been given out since 1990. Each account is written by a different author, and they vary in interest. The best, I thought, was the account of Nicholas Murmion, county attorney of Garfield County, Mont., who prosecuted the "Freemen" there. All in all, not a bad book, and the people honored are worthy people, even Jerry Ford!