Jack KennedyRecommendations

People read biographies to find out the answer to that fundamental question, according to Jack Kennedy. With the enthusiasm of a novelist, Chris Matthews delivers. We see this much-loved president surrounded by his pals. We get a close look at him, and we can tell he's having a good time and expressing his restlessness. As he grows from a privileged, rebellious youth to a brave American president, we follow him. His valor in battle and unselfish rescue of his PT boat crew are on display. JFK is depicted as a youthful politician who learns to play hardball and ultimately as the leader who stops nuclear war.

What was he like, this man dubbed "that enigmatic, memorable man" by his wife? The Jack Kennedy you'll meet here never wanted to be alone or bored. He admired bravery, despised conflict, and lived every day as if it were his last.

Chris Matthews' unique book is based on intimate interviews with individuals closest to JFK, oral histories by senior political staffer Kenneth O'Donnell and others, papers from his years at Choate, and notes from Jacqueline Kennedy's first interview following the Dallas bombing. You'll discover where his inaugural exhortation to "Ask what you can do for your nation" came from. You'll learn about his involvement in founding the Peace Corps, his civil rights activism, his effort to send a man on the moon, and his prohibition on nuclear weapons testing. You'll get to the heart of the guy, including the uncomfortable parts of his personal life, more than ever before. "I found a warring prince who was never free of grief, never distant from turmoil, never embracing the world he discovered, never wishing to be his father's son," Matthews writes. He was considerably more of a hero than he ever wanted us to realize."