First published 2013
David von Drehle opens with John F. Kennedy's call for a New Frontier, then traces the president's journey from privileged playboy to war hero to visionary leader. The book examines Kennedy's contradictions: an athlete battling chronic illness, a wealthy heir championing the disadvantaged, a young politician who challenged Americans to reach the moon and confront Soviet power during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Von Drehle shows how Kennedy founded the Peace Corps, backed civil rights, and transformed the White House into a cultural center alongside Jackie Kennedy. The narrative moves from Boston through the South Pacific, from Hyannis Port to Washington, ending in Dallas where an assassin cut short his presidency. Through fresh interviews with Kennedy's family, friends and colleagues, plus rare photographs from TIME and LIFE archives, the book measures both the man and his lasting influence on American life during the early 1960s.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: biography
Setting: Boston, South Pacific, Hyannis Port, Washington, Dallas
Period: Early 1960s
111 pages · Hardcover · Time