Jack Kennedy: an elusive hero in book reviews

author - Chris Matthews

I was a child when Kennedy was killed, even younger when he ran for office. I was not either politically aware nor politically astute when he was in his heyday. I learned a LOT from this book, from his heavy handed means to an end, the evolution of his beliefs, from being a rabid anti-Communist in agreement with the HUAC if not their tactics, from his background, his use of power to his legacy. I think the following quote sums it all up. It's by Ted Sorensen (his speech writer).

"An American President, commander in chief of the world's greatest military power, who during his presidency did not send one combat troop division abroad or drop one bomb who used his presidency to break down the barriers of religious and racial equality and harmony in this country and to reach out to the victims of poverty and repression, who encouraged Americans to serve their communities and to love their neighbors regardless of the color of their skin, who waged war not on smaller nations but on poverty and illiteracy and mental illness in his own country and who restored the appeal of politics for the young and sent Peace Corps volunteers overseas to work with the poor and untrained in other countries -- was in my book a moral president, regardless of his personal misconduct."

Another quote from the book, attributed to Charlie Bartlett, a longtime friend of JFK:

"We had a hero for a friend -- and we mourn his loss. Anyone, and fortunately there were so many, who new him briefly or over long periods, felt that a bright and quickening impulse had come into their life. he had uncommon courage, unfailing humor, a penetrating, ever-curious intelligence and over all a matchless grace. he was our best. We will remember him always with love and sometimes, as the years pass and the story is retold, with a little wonder."

I highly recommend this book.