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

Kenney, Charles C.; Kenney, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1891620363 ISBN 13: 9781891620362

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2000

Synopsis

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. Kennedy: 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.

About this title

About the Author

Charles Kenney is a novelist and former journalist at The Boston Globe. He is, most recently, the author of The Son of John Devlin. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Reviews

Based on this inaugural volume, PublicAffairs' new Presidential Library series will offer fascinating multimedia portraits of U.S. presidents. In the Kennedy package, the lavishly illustrated volume is written by a novelist and former Boston Globe journalist, with a brief introductory assessment of JFK's legacy by presidential historian Michael Beschloss; there is also a 90-minute compact disc (not reviewed) of Kennedy phone conversations and dictations. The book's illustrations include family, school, campaign, and presidential photographs. More enlightening, however, are the artifacts the volume displays: report cards; "A Plea for a Raise" in young Jack's allowance; a 1960 Eisenhower telegram suggesting pre-election intelligence briefings; a handwritten 1962 note from Truman urging JFK to ignore "these damn columnists and editorial writers"; and pages from Kennedy's presidential speeches, memos, and handwritten notes. The text is less detailed (and less focused on controversy) than a full-scale biography, but it emphasizes what most would consider the key elements of JFK's presidency (civil rights, Cuba, and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty), while also devoting chapters to Jacqueline and Robert F. Kennedy. Likely to appeal to Kennedy fans and to others seeking a sense of the period. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1891620363
• ISBN 13: 9781891620362
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256