John F. Kennedy (1) (1917–1963)

I never realized this book was about politician who stuck to what they knew was right! That's what happens when you hear about something so much but you never actually think to LOOK at it. A slim volume, all about people (mostly men, consider the times) who voted or stood for something that was basically guaranteed to lose them the next election.

When I finished the book, I wrote to the Library of Congress and nominated Liz Cheney for an award. It is too soon for her, but she spectacularly exemplified an elected official who stood for something all the while knowing it was her death knell.… (més)

This is a book today's politicans need to read. When elected to office, you represent all, not just thoes wuoud pay you to agree with them. No politician should come in poor and leave rich.

FROM JFK PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: John F. Kennedy had long been interested in the topic of political courage, beginning with his senior thesis at Harvard. The thesis, later published as Why England Slept, was a study of the failure of British political leaders in the 1930s to oppose popular resistance to rearming, leaving the country ill-prepared for World War II.

Kennedy’s election to the House in 1946 and the Senate in 1952 gave him personal experience in dealing with the conflicting pressures that legislators face.

When Kennedy took a leave of absence from the Senate in 1954 to recover from back surgery, it gave him the opportunity to study the topic of political courage. The project resulted in the publication of Profiles in Courage, which focuses on the careers of eight United States Senators whom Kennedy felt had shown great courage under enormous pressure from their parties and their constituents.

His own battles with physical pain and his experiences in World War II as a PT boat commander also gave him inspiration. Profiles in Courage, which Kennedy dedicated to his wife Jacqueline Kennedy, received the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957.… (més)

If anything happens to me I have this knowledge that if I had lived to be a hundred I could only have improved the quantity of my life, not the quality.

I found this potted biography based on letters to and from JFK, sourced primarily from the John F Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, interesting but also a little dry in places. Yes, I know Kennedy was the President and a politician but I would have preferred a more balanced reflection of the man and his profession. The first few chapters are fascinating and I picked up on quite a few quotes that I either haven't read before or have forgotten, while the White House years felt like a recap of the major events of Kennedy's brief term in office - Cuba, Khrushchev, Civil Rights and Vietnam, abandoning the correspondence of the title for political papers. Interesting, just not what I wanted to read. The letters included are an entertaining and informative mix of family, friends, acquaintances and fellow statesmen like Winston Churchill - Kennedy campaigned to have the former prime minister made an honorary citizen of the USA - and even the Queen.

A fair account of John F Kennedy's presidency based on primary sources, although probably better for readers who haven't already ploughed through multiple Kennedy biographies.… (més)

i read this for a high school history or english class. i can't remember which. what i do remember is this being one of the first nonfiction books that i truly enjoyed. since then, the true authorship of this slim little volume has been hotly debated; but the substance remains the same. it's a delightful collection of essays on famous american figures and their contributions to our country's history.

my current copy is from 1964 and in good-enough-to-read-without-the-pages-falling-out condition so i think i'll be rereading it at some point this year!… (més)