Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America - Hardcover

Hersh, Burton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786719826 ISBN 13: 9780786719822

Publisher: Basic Books, 2007

Synopsis

The history of one of the most admired (Bobby Kennedy) and one of the most reviled (J. Edgar Hoover) are entwined with that of Joseph Kennedy. This triumvirate was marked by conflict, betrayal and a strange Shakespearean familial bond. Set against the ongoing context of Joe Kennedy's behind-the-scenes manipulation of key players in Congress, organized crime, and his own family, major players are revealed such as Roy Cohn, Martin Luther King, Marilyn Monroe, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

About this title

About the Author:

Burton Hersh, a journalist and historian, has chronicled the Kennedy family for over 35 years. His 1992 book The Old Boys , about the origins of the CIA, was widely praised. He lives in New Hampshire and Florida.

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. Historian and journalist Hersh (The Old Boys) might well have titled his excellent book "Collision Course," for that is exactly what J. Edgar Hoover and the Kennedys were on from as early as the 1930s. The many tensions between Bobby (as both attorney general and senator) and the power-hungry FBI director are well known. What Hersh brings to the party is important new research and intensive analysis revealing the complex background attendant to the confrontations of the 1960s. The third party to RFK's and Hoover's sparring was Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., whose long history of professional affiliations with such gangsters as Johnny Rosselli, and amorous flirtations with the likes of Gloria Swanson, swelled one of Hoover's secret files and (like JFK's peccadilloes) did much to complicate dealings with "the Director." Joe's past still overshadowed everything when in December 1961 the father was incapacitated by a stroke, leaving his boys to deal with an FBI head who secretly despised not only the father but his brood. On this stage, in a drama populated by such fascinating and contradictory characters as Roy Cohn, Martin Luther King Jr., Jimmy Hoffa and mob boss Carlos Marcello, Hersh reveals the ways of power, deceit and survival-of-the-fittest in Kennedy-era D.C. (June 1)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0786719826
• ISBN 13: 9780786719822
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 624