I've never been a huge JFK fan. I guess that just knowing so much of the behind the scenes realities of his life, that it is hard to put myself in the position of those Americans of the early 1960s who saw him as such a figure of hope, optimism, and change. I really have no idea what he accomplished in his three years to be viewed as a top 10 president in more than one historical ranking.

If you've ever listened to Chris Matthews to any extent, you know about his Bill Clinton-esque hero worship of JFK, and with the subtitle "Elusive Hero," I'll give him props, he shows plenty of what went into making the sausage. I don't know if there is much new here, except maybe the Choate origins of the "Ask not what you can do for your country..." quote, but he seems to present plenty of the warts on the Kennedy story. I did find it to be interesting that Jackie pretty much knew what she was getting into, from a womanizing point of view...sad.