Pretty good biography, but I realize it's not the best one of JFK. Mainly told from perspective of his friends and political associates. I have become sort of fascinated with the Kennedy family. ( )

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13475134

I always liked Jack Kennedy, but I wondered how much of that feeling was from all the myths and his legendary charisma. What I believe is the real Jack comes through in this book.

Hardly a saint, neither was he that bad of a sinner.

From an early age he was a reader. His physical problems led to his having to spend a great deal of time at home alone, and books kept him company nicely. He developed or was born with a remarkable ability to retain information, to process it. And like our founding fathers he knew history.

His physical problems were far worse than I had realized. Yet he put up with great pain to present the appearance of health and vigor, which he needed for the course he followed. First, as commander of a PT boat, he behaved heroically to save his men when his ship was destroyed. Later, when campaigning for the House of Representatives he went door to door for months, and did it again when campaigning for Senate and for president. These efforts took a toll on his body.

Lit with a fire from within, Kennedy seemed to know that he was destined for the presidency from early on. He felt he needed to be there to do what had to be done. You could say he was full of himself to believe he had the answers. I don't think that's all it was. He honestly seemed to have learned from his study and his observations and wanted very much to do more for his country, as he urged all Americans, than he asked it to do for him.

Through much of the book I felt that Matthews had a kind of hero-worship toward Kennedy and that this probably colored his approach to the book. Nevertheless he did not back away from telling of Jack's infidelities (not that he spent much time on them) and of the way he used Bobby Kennedy in particular (but also others) to keep people in line. He was ruthless when he felt it was necessary.

I came away sad for Jaqueline Kennedy, who weathered much in private, and admiring of the man who wanted more for all of us, the flawed hero but hero nonetheless. ( )

In my reading of Presidential biographies, I tend to gravitate towards the larger tomes. I want to get a broad picture of the zeitgeist of the day, and I figure that in a smaller biography, those details would be the first to be edited out. This time, however, I broke pattern and went with a book that was barely over 400 pages. Mr. Matthews didn't fail me. He paints a full picture of John Kennedy and the times he lived in. Based mostly on interviews with Kennedy's friends and co-workers, Mr. Matthews tells the story of the rich boy who struggled with ill health and grew up in the shadow of his older brother. Service in World War II helped shape him, and after the war he turned his attention to politics, creating his own style of campaigning. As I read the book, I got a better understanding of Kennedy's charisma and appeal. Growing up in the wake of the Kennedy assassination, I sometimes wondered if his legacy in our culture was simply the response to his untimely death. This book shows that John Kennedy did indeed help shape American culture, even as he wrestled with the events of the day.
--J. ( )

As much as Matthews commentates poorly on television daily his books are generally a step above. The clarity of his books supersedes his daily commentary since he is a traditional liberal interpreting liberals. The liberal tradition, in the meantime, has been taken over by the progressives like Obama and Hillary but Matthews has not caught on yet.

The author shows us a very human Kennedy beset with health issues and yet triumphant in his dedication and ruthlessness pursuing ambitious political goals. The author clearly admires the classical liberal Kennedy yet shows us a flawed but admirable JFK. Along with his other work, Kennedy and Nixon, the rivalry that shape postwar America, perhaps a bit overstating the pair, nonetheless surveying Kennedy's significance in the postwar period. Although not as detailed as the scholarly work on Kennedy by Robert Dallek the work is a more popular introduction to the importance of Kennedy.

https://www.prageru.com/videos/jfk-democrat-or-republican

This one was a very readable biography of JFK. I didn't get far, but will probably read it at some point. It would make a good book club pick for a history selection.