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Title: An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek, Richard McGonagle ISBN: 1-58621-544-2 Publisher: Time Warner Audio Major Pub. Date: 13 May, 2003 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 8 List Price(USD): $42.98 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.02 (64 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Thoughtful appraisal of a difficult & tragic administration
Comment: Indeed, why another JFK biography? The answer of course is that good history writing is timeless and Robert Dallek writes good history. In this exemplary work, Dallek covers the life of JFK as it's never been covered before...relying on new information regarding JFK's medical history, Dallek pens a marvelous history while maintaining personal touch with his subject and the result is historical biography on a David McCullough level.
John Kennedy's life of course has been the subject of much scrutinization and it is indeed rare when new information is unearthed. We learn how Kennedy and his family/associates hid his many ailments and how in spite of these he gains the highest political office in America. Dallek thus manages to shed JFK's character in a new light and, while still showing his many faults, adds another component to his already legendary reputation.
Born into a life of privilege and intense sibling competition, the young JFK is no standout, mainly due to the effects that his parents had on him. His mother was surprisingly distant emotionally and his father fostered an incredibly difficult and competitive homelife that submerges him in his brother Joseph's shadow. We see an almost apathetic Jack going through the motions at the finest schools, while beginning to show the symptoms of his many ailments that trouble him for the rest of his life. JFK's military career is given a fresh look and we learn of the subterfuge on the part of his father to get him in the Navy as an officer. Dallek correctly points this out as the beginning of his father's almost maniacal control of his career and we see how JFK uses these opportunities to make a reputation for himself. He of course becomes a military hero with the rescue of his crew aboard PT-109 and garners a congressional election based on this feat. The Senate is his next goal and again his father (now giving JFK his full attention following the death of his son Joseph) uses his major influence and, more importantly, his monetary standing to push him over the edge. Dallek covers Kennedy's House and Senate record with balance and an astute eye towards actions that have little effect on legislation, but have major effect on his future political outlook. Also, at this point we see the disturbing trend in Kennedy's character for personal recklesness and careless behavior. Dallek attributes this initially to his emotional shunning as a child and the effect that his growing medical maladies have on his psyche...Kennedy shows an incredible fatalism even at this relatively early stage in life.
The bulk of this work and the major focus of Dallek's analysis is of course Kennedy's Presidential term. The monolithic 1960 election victory over Richard Nixon and the initial stages of Camelot set the stage for the memorable Kennedy administration. Dallek uses his immense talent in describing the Bay of Pigs failure and Kennedy's subsequent political recovery. The Cold War competition escalates in legendary proportions as foreign issues such as Berlin, Cuba and the arms race with the Soviet Union top Kennedy's agenda. Dallek describes these in comprehensive, but also readable, detail from Kennedy's perspective and we get a true sense of the man and how he overcomes the towering restraints of this new job.
Kennedy grows into the Presidency and creates his aura with his performance during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Dallek uses the latest White House tape transcripts during this crisis and presents new scholarship and perspective that no JFK biography had until now. He shows how Kennedy managed the crisis while at the same time increasing his levels of dangerous medication. Indeed, we see Kennedy as attentive and cogent throughout while outshining even the "best and brightest" of his administration.
The other important issues of JFK's Presidency are also placed under the Dallek microscope and we see Kennedy's sometimes brilliant, sometimes disappointing leadership through the burgeoning Civil Rights era, the economy and most importantly Vietnam. Dallek attempts to show evidence of Kennedy's thinking and concludes that he would not have let this war get out of hand. This is one of the most intruiging arguments of Kennedy's Presidency and Dallek gives thoughtful consideration to this and other issues that Kennedy would have faced in a second term.
This is historical biography on a grand scale and Robert Dallek continues with and adds immensely to his his already large reputation with "An Unfinished Life". The prospective reader should not be disouraged from taking on this massive tome (about 700 pages) as it is incredibly readable and sheds much new information on the JFK Presidency. Above all else, Dallek shows us a new Kennedy...one of self deprication and faults while also intelligent and a legendary leader...this should be the definitive work on JFK's life for many years to come. Highest recommendation.
Rating: 4
Summary: Objective & Thorough
Comment: There are numerous books on this person. So with another biography or historical book about Kennedy, many will not bother assuming that there's anything new to read about. This book however, provides a lot of new information that wasn't known before. What piques the interest today of the latest by Robert Dallek is the fact that he was given unlimited access to Kennedy
family documents which included previously unseen information regarding Joseph and Rose. A lot of information relating to Kennedy's ailments, and the medications he took reveal not only his poor health and chronic pain he endured but the fortitude to perform and function in the manner he did with such health problems.
This should lead to some questions and possibly even skepticism. If Kennedy was in such poor health, faking his medical records to get into the Navy, survive the South-Western Pacific, and the phony myth of the PT-109 heroics, what else could be be fabricated?
Some more of his playboy philandering is noted in the now proven
affair with a 19 year old intern in the White House while he was President. This has already been corroborated by the very person JFK had the tryst with, which gives Dallek some credibility. (The portion regarding the intern relationship was very small in the book.)
Another titillating tid-bit (if we can go that far) is Kennedy, although protected by the press at the time, invited an underage cheerleader to his hotel room, during the West Virginia primary, which was basically bought with Joe Kennedy's money.
In sum, this is a scholarly book that was heavily researched. It's not gossipy, revealing, or an exposé into anything earth-shattering. And it shouldn't be. It's a historical biography, and Dallek has done an excellent, objective job.
Rating: 5
Summary: This is one of the best biographies of JFK
Comment: Robert Dallek did a good job! This is perhaps the best biography of JFK I've read. It was fair and balanced. If anyone asked me what book they should read on JFK's life. It would be this one.
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