The Presidency of John F. Kennedy

Where were you when President Kennedy was shot? Nearly everyone who was alive and aware in 1963 can answer that question. No single event stands out so sharply in our memories or shocked us so deeply. But Kennedy's tragic death colored our view of his life, creating a national blind spot that has hindered fair assessment of his administration. Only now, nearly three decades after his death, have we begun to look objectively at Kennedy, both as a man and as a president. In The Presidency of John F. Kennedy, historian James Giglio provides a succinct, comprehensive, and highly readable assessment of the Kennedy years. As a man, Giglio contends, Kennedy was indeed charming, witty, intelligent, and handsome, but he was also ambitious and vulnerable-a man who often failed to measure up to his romantic image. As president, Kennedy did deal effectively with many domestic economic and social issues, but he provided only sporadic and belated leadership in civil rights. He made little effort to combat poverty. He was more adept at managing foreign crises than preventing them, and by 1963, Giglio writes, Kennedy was on a collision course in Vietnam. Giglio utilizes the latest scholarship and newly opened material from the Kennedy Library to provide up-to-date analysis of a variety of issues (including agriculture, space, organized crime, and the Kennedy assassination) and personalities (Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson, Dean Rusk, Chester Bowles, and members of the White House staff and press). His portrait of the Kennedy years is clear, finely tuned, and long awaited. This book is part of the American Presidency Series.