Granted, this book is certainly not my genre. I feel like half the time I need to provide the reason for why I decided to read this book. (Though since I'm probably the only person who reads this review, it's just as well.) I wasn't alive during this time, but I've always been distantly mindful of the Kennedys. My mother still tears up and gets a little upset at the mention of JFK, perhaps because he represented such promise and potential. Indeed, he addresses and encourages peace more often than almost anyone I've ever known.

I don't know what it's like to have lived during that time, right after WWII, during the Cold War and Vietnam and Cuba and China. I don't know much about Kennedy, but I know enough from reading this that, as others have said, this isn't a full biography of Kennedy. There are really only small references to Jackie, to other members of his family and other such people. There's a bit of jumping around, and there are certainly times when I wish Matthews would give more of an explanation. But this book was never meant to be a proper biography, and for that reason, I feel like it's a good supplement that offers particular insight into several areas, some of which are no doubt the role of his father, Joe Sr, his interesting sense of detachment, and his health issues.