An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917 - 1963

Robert Dallek's biography on John F. Kennedy is very well titled. It is a work that leaves you a little unsatisfied. Not because Dallek did a bad job, quite the contrary it is a very good book, but in the end you just feel like you watched a really good movie that ends suddenly and very incomplete. There is a lot of huff made in comparing Kennedy to President Lincoln, in the years they were elected, names of their vice presidents/successors, etc, etc. However, it is important to note the major difference of Lincoln serving a full term plus, and Kennedy's dying at the start of his re-election bid. Lincoln's story climaxes at the Gettysburg Address and concludes at his second inaugural, when he is later murdered by John Wilkes Booth, the mission that he started had already been completed beyond his, Lincoln's, wildest dreams. The Union had been saved and slavery, which he wanted to put on the path to destruction, was destroyed; Lincoln had fulfilled his place in history. Kennedy had been able to complete a good deal of the ground work that he needed to accomplish in his historic mission. The bill that would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had been proposed to the Congress; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had stated was the most powerful civil rights legislation ever proposed by a president. To help settle some of the political damage that it was going to cause in the South, Kennedy went to campaign in Dallas, Texas where he would lose his life. Dallek's story begins with the history of the two families that would create John F. Kennedy, the Kennedys and the Fitzgeralds. Joseph P. Kennedy marries Rose Fitzgerald the daughter of Mayor John 'Honey Fitz' Fitzgerald uniting their two families. They would name their second son after his maternal grandfather. Everyone in the family expected a lot of John's older brother, Joe, Jr., who John was very close to growing up. His other brothers were far too young for him to have much of a relationship with. Kennedy's youth, although blessed with wealth, was cursed by a lack of health; he was always ill and spent a great deal of time with doctors. Throughout the whole misadventure Kennedy would maintain good humor about his situation. "More puzzling medical problems punctuated Jack's second year at Choate. In January and February 1933, 'flu-like symptoms' plagued him, as well as almost constant pain in his knees. 'Jack's winter term sounded like a hospital report,' a fiftieth-anniversary remembrance of his attendance at the school recounted, 'with correspondence flying back and forth between Rose Kennedy and Clara St. John [the headmaster's wife]. Again, eyes, ears, teeth, knees, arches, from the top of his head to the tip of his toes, Jack needed attention.' X-rays showed no pathology in his knees, and so his doctor attributed his difficulties to growing pains and recommended exercises and 'built up' shoes." p.34-5 Nevertheless he would through sheer determination, get himself in shape enough to join the Navy and serve as a P.T. boat captain. He would famously captain the PT-109 and would get his most of his crew to safety when an enemy destroyed their boat. Unfortunately, for the Kennedy family they would suffer two tremendous tragedies during the war. The first, which took place before JFK's command, was his sister Rosemary's botched lobotomy that took her personhood. The second was the death of Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. who was killed on a secret mission. When the war was over JFK, began to pursue his own political career, his father's ended the moment he misjudged the political situation of World War II, going as far to praise the German Dictator Adolph Hitler. The young Kennedy, however, was going to rise and rise fast. Kennedy wrote a book, Why England Slept, in which he separated himself from his father's opinion of World War II. He would be elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1946. There he would befriend another freshman Congressman, named Richard M. Nixon. A pure status-type of politician Congressman Kennedy became bored of the House and, in 1952, ran for the United States Senate against the incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge II, whose grandfather for whom he was named, helped bring down Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations proposal. Kennedy would win and would enter the Senate that would soon be ruled by an all-powerful majority leader named Lyndon B. Johnson. Kennedy's eight years in the Senate were rather unremarkable but he did find the time to write, or at least be the leader chief editor, for the Pulitzer Prize winning book Profiles in Courage. In 1960, John F. Kennedy changed history by running for president, not just being the first Catholic to win the office, but he changed the way presidents were nominated. Kennedy took the primaries more seriously than any candidate in the past; enough so that when the convention started Kennedy was able to capture it on the first ballot. The master of the Senate, much to the suffering of the candidate's younger brother, Robert F. Kennedy, was going to be on the ticket for vice president. Kennedy would go the general election facing his old friend Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Together they were going to participate in the first televised presidential debates. Nixon seemed to win on substance but Kennedy would win on style. When Election Day, came Kennedy would prevail in one of the closet elections on record and would take office on January 20, 1961. "In the final analysis, the most important question is not why Kennedy won but why his victory was so narrow. Harry Truman was amazed at the closeness of the race. "Why, even our friend Adlai would have had a landslide running against Nixon,' he told Senator William Benton of Connecticut. Given the majority status of the Democrats, the discontent over the state of the economy and international affairs, and Kennedy's superior campaign and campaigning, he should have gained at least 52 or 53 percent of the popular vote. Everyone on his staff had predicted a victory of between 53 and 57 percent. The small margin shocked them. What they missed was the unyielding fear of having a Catholic in the White House. Although about 46 percent of Protestants voted for Kennedy, millions of them in Ohio, Wisconsin, and across the South made his religion a decisive consideration. It was the first time a candidate had won the presidency with a minority of Protestant voters." p.296 Kennedy's presidency has been described as Camelot and there certainly was that feel. A new young President and his family had moved into the White House and things were going to be different. Kennedy's administration would change the nation in a number of ways; this presidency saw an increase of national support for NASA and the moon program. In addition, there were some real highs and lows of the Cold War. The botched Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba was a national embarrassment but more importantly President Kennedy saw us through the scary Cuban Missile Crisis. "The Peace Corps proved to be one of the enduring legacies of Kennedy's presidency. As with some American domestic institutions like Social Security and Medicare, the Peace Corps became a fixture that Democratic and Republican administrations alike would continue to finance for over forty years. It made far more friends than enemies and, as Kennedy had hoped, convinced millions of people abroad that the United States was eager to help developing nations raise standards of living."p.340 On Civil Rights, like Lincoln a hundred years before him, he would be pressured from all over the political spectrum, to the advocates on the ground he was too slow and to conservatives he was too fast and radical. The first two years of his presidency, Kennedy wanted to move slowly though executive actions rather then fight for legislation. Later the President began to take more forceful action on that front, but he not live to finish the job. That would be carried on by his successor President Lyndon B. Johnson*. Assassination creates secular saints and when Lee Harvey Oswald, murdered the President on November 22, 1963, Kennedy's martyred image would aid the new administration in establishing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and would be an asset to what President Johnson called the Great Society. Dallek does an incredible job detailing a great deal of these events, and I strongly recommend this book. *That is something Lincoln did not have, his replacement, President Andrew Johnson, caused all sorts of problems during his incompetent stay as the nation's chief executive.

I read biographies on occasion and I believe this is a good one. Understand that although I was ten years younger than Kennedy I really didn’t know much about him. I knew that he was a war hero, he was rich, he had back trouble and he was a womanizer , his press conferences were a delight to watch, and of course that he was assassinated. Dallek’s 700+ page biography fills in the gaps nicely. You get a picture of his parents, his siblings, his early education and early health problems. He did not become a serious student until his last two years at Harvard and there, for his senior thesis, he undertook a serious study of international affairs. The data gathering was aided by his ambassador to England father who arranged for his extensive European travel plans. “Why England Slept,” a much revised version of his thesis, was a best seller. Kennedy’s presidency had a host of problems; one of these he inherited from Eisenhower. A cadre of expat Cubans was being trained in Guatemala to invade Cuba and take their homeland back from Castro. Without armed U.S. support they had no chance; also if he withheld armed support he would face “soft on communism “ accusations. If he gave them armed support there would come a renewal of “Yankee Imperialism” charges. Then came the real nut, the Cuban missile crisis. One misstep here and it’s all over. Of course he has to deal with vastly conflicting advice from the likes of LeMay, the air force general, who thinks the answer to any threat is bombing. His ilk is opposed by Stevenson and others who prefer not to risk an atomic holocaust. Their advice would also lead to “soft on communism” charges. Dallek’s descriptions of these events are gripping! Then comes the Berlin wall and Khrushchev’s perpetual belligerence and brinkmanship. Must we fight our way into Berlin…again? This is followed by civil rights unrest and activists delegations who tell Kennedy that since pacifism doesn’t seem to work maybe they will try a different approach! Kennedy simply cannot grasp the white hostility to equal rights…and he is afraid to alienate the southern democrats whose votes he needs for his social programs. (He doesn’t get their votes anyway.) There’s more! Now he is beginning to get mired down in Viet Nam. He recognizes the need to withdraw but again gets conflicting advice from the military and his civilian counselors. His reelection campaign is approaching but the trip to Dallas comes first. Throughout the book we get excellent descriptions of Bobby Kennedy’s belligerence when anyone disagrees with him. The little brother syndrome perhaps because who can fire Bobby? Then we see Big Daddy’s cash and connections helping Jack to win election after election. (His cash isn’t much help in the Cuban missile crisis.) Jack’s womanizing is discussed as is the presses’ indifference to reporting anything about it. We also get a good look at Kennedy’s appalling health problems as President. Many of his difficulties are caused by physicians using experimental treatments whose effects they don’t understand; some of his problems are perhaps caused by his lifestyle. Some have criticized the book because of the extensive coverage of Kennedy’s health; I wouldn’t, I believe this information helps us understand him better. Others believe more should be written about his assassination and the various theories concerning it. Everyone from LBJ to the CIA, the FBI, the mob, the Cubans, perhaps even Lady Bird Johnson for all I know have each been suspected of involvement. One is left with an image of a man with great style and charm. I’ve watched his press conferences and they were splendid examples of his spontaneous wit. At the same time his treatment of his wife was incredibly cruel. He was vacationing on a boat in the Mediterranean when she miscarried and he could not be bothered to come home to comfort her.

This was a very detailed account of the comparatively short life of JFK. His appalling lack of sexual morality was balanced by a sound judgement in political and world matters such as illustrated by the Cuban missile crisis. Although not an admirer of the Kennedy family, one sympathizes with his determination and fortitude to overcome his physical problems and rise to the number one position in the country in spite of almost constant and at times excruciating pain. The book was well written and held my attention to the end.

On this day, the 47th anniversary of his death of which he would have been 93 years old, I write this review of an extraordinary biography written about one of America's most popular presidents by Robert Dallek.Some people play the game of looking back and seeing what president was in office when they were born.For me, it was Kennedy, a man of many talents and enigmas. I don't have any cognitive relationship to him as I was all of one year old when he was killed so I was not able to see him in action while he was alive.I've had to rely on the historical document to review his life and times and wanted something more concrete to assess his accomplishments. Yet, there remains some crazy connection, some unknown draw, an affinity if you like, with him which I can't explain even now, an uncanny relationship to him which may sound bizarre, and trust me, not weird nor pathological but is present in my awareness on a consistent basis nonetheless, more spiritual I guess, than anything else. Robert Dallek has written perhaps one of the better biographies of John F. Kennedy that remains in print today.Kennedy as you may or may not know had many things to hide from the American public, many of which would have effectively nixed his election had they been fully exposed to the American public at the time when he was running for office.This book covers much of what remained unsaid then and even now when referring to him. Namely his medical issues of which there were several.Had he not been assassinated he most likely would have been dead already given his medical conditions and medical knowledge at the time.Dead at 46 he may have lasted another twenty years at most if he was lucky which puts his natural death at about 1983 or there about.Death at sixty six or even more given medical advancement, a ripe old 70, would have been tops in my estimation given the medical history included in Dallek's book.This man had plenty wrong with him and it would have taken its toll plus the extreme toll the presidency had and took on him for even that short a time.The book itself looks at his entire life even his families before he was conceived. It reaches back to the dirt of Ireland and the farm land he sprang from.His father had something to say about his life, we all know that, but his individualism,his slacking at school and the effect it all had on him as a person are examined. A significant psychoanalytical look at his childhood from a non psychological bent will help the reader who thirsts for more to understand the psyche and push Kennedy developed under those conditions.Yes, it mentions the famous South Pacific years of the war. The coconut,PT 109 and the effect the navy had on him.Politically there is much to say and is said in a consistant chronological timeline. Reading this book one can't help but feel that you are right along side JFK as he grows up. Almost a fly on the wall as you follow his political learning and career forward to the presidency some would say his father bought for him and some may be right. But once in office he truly tried to maintain the delicate balance between policy both foreign and domestic,truly a tough act to do. Reading about his trials and tribulations while in office would dissuade one from ever trying to obtain it given the pressures and limitations inherent in the office of president of the United States.Not a job for the weak or wishy washy but a constant bother and a job one would gladly turn down. He wanted it so bad and worked rather hard to get there he couldn't turn it down but sometimes wanted to effecting him in ways which can only be fully understood after reading this book.Most interesting for me was the nearly full disclosure of his many and varied medical conditions something I had limited knowledge of prior to reading this tome.Now, seeing the full range of medical issues he faced on a daily basis gives me even more sympathy for him as his life was far from comfortable from a physico/medico point of view, truly a dynamic challenge to overcome,maintain and sustain privately.His foreign policy as well as the long term ramifications which his decisions made were astounding. He had grace and goal oriented thinking, a true concern for the worlds health as well as America's.He labored over his inaugural speech and felt he should try to address what he put forth while dealing with the issue which scared him the most, Communism and the takeover of the Pacific rim, South America and possibly the world if not stemmed somehow.We now know that Communism was destined to fail as is any attempt at socialism in a powerful nation, for they just don't seem work do they?Then, Kennedy could not have known this and fretted until he was anemic. J.F.Kennedy had his brother Robert F. Kennedy, a healthy assistant, sometimes a bother but a trusted confidant .We all know what happened as well. Kennedy managed to avert a nuclear war and for that point alone he should be admired if for nothing else maintaining our power position in the world against those big, bad Soviets who wanted to eat us alive but never could, could they?He could not have realized that for all he did he was creating the atmosphere for his own death especially when he began to consider the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam. Had he lived he would have probably done it forever changing the course of America's history.His death by assassination either by Oswald or by others sanctioned by the government in tandem with the power elite is yours to wrestle with and is not addressed in the book other than the cold facts.But it shouldn't be.His life ends with those rifle shots and that's that.For those who want a significant, real, honest history of JFK than this is it. Sure there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of other books you could read but this one is different and should at least be included in your exploration of this mans' life and times. You won't be sorry and will feel that you know just about all you need to upon conclusion.Dallek has nailed it and the Kennedy family have concurred as to his sensitive and professional treatment of facts which were damaging then and avoided but have a significant basis in the shaping of and ultimate character development of one of our most popular yet tragic presidential stories since Lincoln.As a medical person I found his constant lifelong battles with conditions known and unknown,procedures,operations, drug use and his general lament that some people complain about this or that but are not thankful that they are healthy, the one thing he could not attain despite his wealth and power to be both fascinating and enlightening when the full measure of his medical history is reviewed. What he managed to accomplish despite living with several debilitating conditions is amazing.Listen, I'm no expert in presidents or history, just an armchair reader.I like Washington, Lincoln and Kennedy.Of these three I can boast some modest level of expertise.This book by Dallek is for you, the Kennedy enthusiast, the interested fan,the beginning historian.For a well rounded look and understanding of J.F. Kennedy and please forgive me, as I said I'm no great historian, trust me, you won't be disappointed. In my humble opinion you will be far better off than before.I had several reviews to write and couldn't decide which to write first. I asked my young son, gave him the choices and he picked this one, "do the Kennedy first" he said. Why, I asked? and he thought about it a little and said, "it's his birthday?".Nooo, I said, he thought some more, "today was the day he was killed wasn't it". Yes I said it was."Wow,he said see I was right, do the Kennedy first".The karma was right and the choice made. Requiescate In Pace,President Kennedy.

A very good biography about JFK. It's a thorough book that is about a 1000 pages long. But when a book is very good it reads fast. This one did! Mr. Dallek goes through Kennedy's life from start to the sad finish. He leaves no stone unturned as he delves into what made Kennedy who he was. He goes over all his womanizing but does not dwell upon it. Just as does not dwell on any of the conspiracy theories about the assassination that have run amok over the years. The biggest thing he brings out about Kennedy that was unknown at the time was his many health issues he faced. With all he faced its amazing what Kennedy could do with the energy he had. The book does seem to end abruptly at Kennedy's assassination. Not much speculation on what may have happened if he had lived and what did happen afterwards. Of course we will never know how differently this country may have been if he had lived out his term and won re-election. Still a great book about Kennedy and one that you should read if like reading presidential biographies.

With all that is written about JFK it was surprising to me how much I enjoyed revisiting his life and times through this very well researched and written biography. The author provides a balanced view of JFK demonstrating he was a flawed man in some respects but one who was driven to achievements by both his aggressive and manipulative father and his own inner desire to overcome his physical limitations. Professor Dallek spends much page space relating the endless physical ailments and treatments JFK endured for his entire life. While in a general sense I was aware of his back problems I didn't realize the extent of his illnesses before reading this. The most remarkable realization that this book delivered to me was the understanding of the number of issues and dilemmas that he faced as president in such a short compressed period of time- Berlin, Cuba, Southeast Asia, CIvil Rights, Recession, nuclear proliferation all demanding his attention concurrently. I think the book does a good job of giving each the attention and detail required to assess Kennedy's handling of the situations but what it left me with was an appreciation once again of how volatile both foreign and domestic issues were in the early 1960s even though I lived through them as a young kid. Interestingly the assassination is handled rather briefly in just a few pages ( I imagine because so much has already been written of it) and the author chose instead to move directly into an assessment of JFK's legacy. Overall this was a fascinating look at a leader who rose to the challenges that his time in office produced and raises interesting questions about how a potential second Kennedy term would have played out. Outstanding Biography that I recommend to anyone interested in the period.

I appriciate the fact that it contained recently declassified information that Kennedy worked with organized crime to assassinate people who got in his way. He used American idols like Frank Sinatra to help him constantly cheat and embarrass his wife. Mostly it was his addiction to pain killers that made him vulnerable to bribery. . He was NOT the wonderful president history has made him out to be. This book is well written, well sourced, and very informative. I do not condone assassination, but when you play by the sword you will die by the sword. Recommended reading for any scholar of presidential history.

I can’t decide if I am more disappointed with JFK’s “unfinished” presidency or with Robert Dallek’s pedestrian account of his tragic life. I must have set my expectations too high. Historians rank Kennedy as one of the ten best and “An Unfinished Life” is the highest rated single-volume biography of America’s 35th president. Dallek does a solid job of chronicling Kennedy’s early life. Like TR and FDR, Jack trod a path of Northeastern wealth and privilege that led to Harvard. Like both Roosevelts, he would have to overcome formidable health challenges. Dallek speculates that Jack’s father Joe most likely pulled some strings to allow his ailing son to see action in the South Pacific as the captain of PT-109. This was when I began to struggle with Dallek’s narrative. Dallek allows his access to newly obtained medical records to overshadow Kennedy’s wartime exploits. After wading through all the medical diagnoses and treatments, I had a good sense of the sinking of Jack’s boat and his heroic rescue of his men, but Dallek subsequently relates, “And for the next six weeks he got in a lot of fighting and, to his satisfaction, inflicted some damage on the enemy” (p. 100). What fighting? What damage? Dallek makes it clear that for all his charisma, quick wits and eloquent speeches, Kennedy accomplished little during his 12 years in Congress, with his father playing a crucial role at every turn. Kennedy’s most notable (and controversial) action was to not vote to censure Sen. Joseph McCarthy for his Communist witch hunt. Kennedy did become a celebrity and launched his presidential run with the publication of “Profiles in Courage,” but as one of his colleagues put it, “Why not show a little less profile and a little more courage?” (p. 217). Even though JFK’s election in 1960 was every bit as close as Truman’s in 1948, Dallek’s account lacks the drama or verve of David McCullough’s “Truman.” JFK was in the poorest health of anyone to become president. He was always taking at least ten different drugs, including pain killers, to treat a range of ailments, led by Addison’s disease and a bad back. As one doctor reviewing his medical files put it, Kennedy was “doped up” (p. 471). This makes it all the more amazing that JFK was competing with LBJ to be the most promiscuous president. Indeed, Dallek spends more time discussing Jack’s affairs, ranging from Marilyn Monroe to a White House intern (thinking of you, Bill!), than he does Jackie Kennedy and his two children. Foreign affairs-wise, Kennedy is best known for approving the CIA’s botched invasion of Cuba in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later. Dallek is strongest in relating these two events, but he fails to convey the public’s widespread fear that the world was on the precipice of a cataclysmic nuclear war. Dallek and most analysts have praised Kennedy for standing up to Khrushchev's dispatch of nuclear weapons to Cuba, but what if the mercurial Soviet leader hadn’t turned back his ships once Kennedy imposed the blockade? You can only win a game of chicken if your opponent folds first. Yes, the missiles violated vague notions of the Monroe Doctrine, but did they qualitatively change the nuclear threat posed to the U.S.? No. Besides, Soviet troops remained even after the nukes were removed. American also became a little bit pregnant in its military involvement in Vietnam on Kennedy’s watch. I would pinpoint the moment of conception as 15 November 1961 when Kennedy announced a tripling of the number of military “advisers” in Vietnam. Dallek does not provide the figures, but according to militaryfactory.com, more American soldiers died during Kennedy’s first year in office (16) than during the previous five years under Ike. The U.S. went from having several hundred to 16,000 troops dispatched when Kennedy died. Based on my reading of Ambrose's "Eisenhower," Ike saw Vietnam as a fool's errand. Kennedy also failed to listen to his policy coordinator at the State Department. Kennedy's failure to reject the hawks and conventional wisdom showed poor judgement and a lack of leadership on the critical issue of the decade--just as W, Hillary and Biden would do the same 40 years later (Iraq). Dallek does make a strong argument that JFK would not have escalated like LBJ did in 1965 because he was more skeptical and would not be facing reelection. Still, Kennedy started America down a disastrous track that LBJ failed and even Nixon would struggle to take America off of. Kennedy’s unambiguous accomplishments were more modest. He did sign the first nuclear arms control agreement with the Soviets and pledged to take Americans to the moon by the end of the decade. Amazingly, Dallek doesn’t even mention Kennedy’s famous “We Choose to Go to the Moon” speech at Rice University in September 1962. Instead, I found myself having to skim through pages of stillborn domestic policy initiatives. My favorite accomplishment? Kennedy created the Peace Corps. I wanted to join when I was at U.C. Berkeley until I discovered they had pulled out of South Korea several years earlier. Kennedy’s ambitious domestic agenda, particularly expanding civil rights and social welfare, would have to be accomplished by his successor. To my great surprise, Dallek provides only a cursory account of Kennedy’s assassination, devoting only a few sentences to the event itself. Reading about JFK made me realize that I have had the good fortune of meeting three of the most important people from Kennedy’s inner circle. Chief speechwriter Ted Sorensen gave a talk to my fellow interns at the World Affairs Council in SF when I was a senior. Ten years later, I made a point of introducing myself to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara at a conference in Washington, D.C. because we both went to Cal. And I interviewed key adviser Arthur Schlessinger for a Korean newspaper a few years after that. How I wish I had asked them about Jack! This review makes me realize that I am more disappointed with Dallek than JFK because I still want to read much more about Kennedy and those around him. To his credit, Dallek mentions his favorite previous biographies of Kennedy, especially those by Richard Reeves and Seymour Hersh. I was surprised that Kennedy relied heavily on advice from Dean Acheson, which moves him up my supporting roles reading list. One of the joys of reading about so many presidents is discerning the thru-stories of folks who served multiple presidents, like like Lincoln's John Hay and FDR's Henry Stimson. I had planned to read “Profiles in Courage” until I learned it was written primarily by Sorensen. First I plan to read Chris Matthews’ “Bobby Kennedy” (2017). Bobby was Jack’s closest friend by far. Next will be McNamara’s “In Retrospect” (1997) as much to better understand the Vietnam tragedy. That means I should also read Max Hastings’ “Vietnam” (2018).

Dallek knows his stuff…… well researched and written in a style that’s easy to follow…… although you may find the number of people in this book are hard to follow….. perseverance is the key!

More easy to read on a kindle , print in paper back to small when you get old, easy to adjust on kindle

After visiting the JFK library I wanted to have a more thorough understanding of JFK's presidency. The book puts together the main facts to understand the policy of JFK's presidency. The circumstances of his personal conditions and political restraints are laid out trying to leave the judgement on the achievements to the reader. Sources are disclosed and in some instances discussed.

Where to start with this review? Despite reading a couple of Kennedy books I'd always preferred to read about Bobby and Ted thinking that they were more interesting, but wow this book completely changed my view on the entire JFK presidency, and as the Title suggests showed the long term legacy that JFK left. I'd firstly say the book is a good biography, in that it covers his early life, his childhood and basically what made the man. Some books tend to rush this but Dallek really developed the Kennedy Family, and helped you understand what it was like in Massachutes at the time. The review of Kennedy's health is extremely developed as Dallek was the first author to get access to his full records. He really shows just how the illness sidelined JFK for much of his early life, and how it impacted his lifestyle choices. I'm glad Dallek doesn't go into depths about JFK's womanising, he mentions it and explains it but doesn't make the mistake of basing the whole book on it. In regards to foreign policy, the book is a pure gem. It explains the evolution in Kennedy's mind, and goes through great depth to describe every event that JFK faced from the Bay of Pigs to Loas. The section on Vietnam is worth a read, for anyone who thinks that JFK supported the war! Civil rights could of been expanded a bit more, along with domestic policies but this is because JFK didn't achieve as much but Dallek still walks you though the options. The book also subtly puts in parts about his legacy throughout, saying what would of changed if he lived whilst not being 100% pro-Kennedy. Overall it's a brilliant read because it offers comprehensive history of the era, a good insight into the 1960 election, a look at the master team assembled by Kennedy, a step by step guide to decisions and the overall rationale of JFK. Any politics, or history fan should read this book just for the depth alone. Dallek gives a brilliant insight into John Kennedy

Nice one