John F. Kennedy: The Presidential Portfolio: History as Told Through the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum

by Charles Kenney

PublicAffairs is proud to introduce the first volume in our new Presidential Library Series, edited by renowned presidential historian Michael Beschloss.

Each year, thousands of people visit the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum to experience the "thousand days" of his presidency and learn what it took to be the leader of the most powerful nation on earth. Now readers can revisit the tenure of one of America's most mythic figures and most controversial presidents through this elegantly designed book and portfolio.

John F. The Presidential Portfolio is a unique time capsule that captures the essence, style, and excitement of the Kennedy presidency. Readers will travel back in time to the breathtakingly close election; the drama of the Cuban Missile Crisis; the careful political maneuvering at the start of the civil rights movement; the Bay of Pigs fiasco; and the inspiring creation of the Peace Corps. Key figures, such as First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, are vividly profiled. And bound to each book is a 90-minute CD recording of never-before-heard Kennedy phone conversations and dictations.

For Kennedy Library visitors, fans of Camelot, or anyone interested in American history, this historically authoritative examination of the man, his era, and an institution is an essential reference volume and a beautiful gift.

Genres: History, Biography, Politics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2000

Reviews

[Richard Jespers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, no matter how much one may have read about John F. Kennedy, provides details that might be surprising—with regard to his upbringing and family line. Both of his parents are Irish immigrants who then become millionaires in the United States. There are details of his education, his military career, and his time in politics. Many pages feature original documents that JFK himself writes, speeches and the like. The CD is comprised of a series of dictations Kennedy is making to his secretary by way of a Dictaphone, as well as commentary by historian, Michael Beschloss. A chapter near the end summarizes the day in 1963 that he is assassinated. JFK’s wife, Jackie, cries out: “He’s dead—they’ve killed him—Oh Jack, oh Jack, I love you” (223). I was fifteen when this momentous day in history took place, but I never recall hearing of this intimacy uttered in her last minutes with her husband as they are about to roll him away. The book is full of these small surprises, and I can see myself returning to its pages to review them, lest I forget, lest I forget.

[Chels · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. I suppose it'd be interesting if you liked biographies. It was okay as far as those go. Lots of pictures, kinda interesting....