Brinkley, Alan. John F. Kennedy. New York: Times Books, 2012.
Call no.: 973.922092 K383br
Publisher's Description:
The young president who brought vigor and
glamour to the White House while he confronted cold war crises abroad
and calls for social change at home
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
was a new kind of president. He redefined how Americans came to see the
nation's chief executive. He was forty-three when he was inaugurated in
1961—the youngest man ever elected to the office—and he personified what
he called the "New Frontier" as the United States entered the 1960s.
But
as Alan Brinkley shows in this incisive and lively assessment, the
reality of Kennedy's achievements was much more complex than the legend.
His brief presidency encountered significant failures—among them the
Bay of Pigs fiasco, which cast its shadow on nearly every
national-security decision that followed. But Kennedy also had
successes, among them the Cuban Missile Crisis and his belated but
powerful stand against segregation.
Kennedy seemed to live on a
knife's edge, moving from one crisis to another—Cuba, Laos, Berlin,
Vietnam, Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama. His controversial public
life mirrored his hidden private life. He took risks that would seem
reckless and even foolhardy when they emerged from secrecy years later.
Kennedy's
life, and his violent and sudden death, reshaped our view of the
presidency. Brinkley gives us a full picture of the man, his times, and
his enduring legacy.
Publisher's Book Page: http://us.macmillan.com/johnfkennedy/AlanBrinkley
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds-IzS3GaRw
Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/alan-brinkley/john-f-kennedy-american-presidents/
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