Distinguished journalist Benjamin C. Bradlee’s intimate biography of President John F. Kennedy and his Camelot years. Conversations with Kennedy is legendary reporter and executive Benjamin C. Bradlee’s account of his intimate dialogues with JFK—a man he counted as a confidante and friend. Beginning in 1958, when Kennedy was a US senator running for president, and continuing until 1963, the year that Kennedy died, Bradlee shared a close professional and personal relationship with the charismatic politician. Both men were war veterans, idealists, and up-and-coming American leaders, and they shared values that drove their friendship. Kennedy was a politician equally at home with the bruising intellects he appointed to government posts and his working-class constituents. He respected his complicated father, understood his brothers, admired women, and had few illusions about human nature. Bradlee’s eye for detail reveals JFK’s views on everything from Communism to conservatism to freedom of the press. From parties at the White House to weekends at Palm Beach to JFK’s enduring influence on Bradlee’s own life, this is an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the man behind a myth, written by a giant of American journalism.
To mark John F. Kennedy's centennial, celebrate the life and legacy of the 35th President of the United States. In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy recorded seven historic interviews about her life with John F. Kennedy. Now, for the first time, they can be read in this deluxe, illustrated eBook. Shortly after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, with a nation deep in mourning and the world looking on in stunned disbelief, Jacqueline Kennedy found the strength to set aside her own personal grief for the sake of posterity and begin the task of documenting and preserving her husband's legacy. In January of 1964, she and Robert F. Kennedy approved a planned oral-history project that would capture their first-hand accounts of the late President as well as the recollections of those closest to him throughout his extraordinary political career. For the rest of her life, the famously private Jacqueline Kennedy steadfastly refused to discuss her memories of those years, but beginning that March, she fulfilled her obligation to future generations of Americans by sitting down with historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and recording an astonishingly detailed and unvarnished account of her experiences and impressions as the wife and confidante of John F. Kennedy. The tapes of those sessions were then sealed and later deposited in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum upon its completion, in accordance with Mrs. Kennedy's wishes. The resulting eight and a half hours of material comprises a unique and compelling record of a tumultuous era, providing fresh insights on the many significant people and events that shaped JFK's presidency but also shedding new light on the man behind the momentous decisions. Here are JFK's unscripted opinions on a host of revealing subjects, including his thoughts and feelings about his brothers Robert and Ted, and his take on world leaders past and present, giving us perhaps the most informed, genuine, and immediate portrait of John Fitzgerald Kennedy we shall ever have. Mrs. Kennedy's urbane perspective, her candor, and her flashes of wit also give us our clearest glimpse into the active mind of a remarkable First Lady. In conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy's Inauguration, Caroline Kennedy and the Kennedy family are now releasing these beautifully restored recordings on CDs with accompanying transcripts. Introduced and annotated by renowned presidential historian Michael Beschloss, these interviews will add an exciting new dimension to our understanding and appreciation of President Kennedy and his time and make the past come alive through the words and voice of an eloquent eyewitness to history.
During the spring of 1966, the vision of the late John F. Kennedy, the martyred President of the United States, appeared to me on three separate occasions, in three different places, and engaged me in lengthy disquisitions about the condition of man, the dangers apparent in his present estate, and what must be done to avert them. I made it clear during these conversations that I was very dubious about the value of anything that I might be able to do, but John F. Kennedy assured me that for a number of reasons, which he explained, I was the likeliest person to proceed with this assignment. I have lost none of the doubts which assailed me during these conversations. If anything, they have increased. First of all, I can offer no evidence to a mechanist or materialist society that the conversations took place. They must start or fall according to the information which they contain. There are no signed documents; there is no blurred photograph of an evanescent mist which I could claim to be the spirit of John F. Kennedy returning to his present mode of being. I cannot even say that I actually SAW John F. Kennedy during these conversations. The physical, or rather, non-physical, circumstances of these encounters were quite simple. On each occasion, I was engulfed by a strange radiance in which the physical world disappeared, and I was serenely aware that I was in the Presence of John F. Kennedy. There was absolute peace, and I was under the impression that nothing ever had or ever could disturb us in these surroundings. It was as though one had attained a state of ultimate beauty, and had left behind forever all the cares of earth.
Imagined by one of the world's foremost JFK scholars, this fictionalised conversation presents the essential biography of America's most glamorous and mythologised president. For many, the presidency of John F. Kennedy was a magic interlude in American history. His admirers saw him as a leader of intelligence and imagination, who wielded power with grace, courage and verve - although detractors have questioned the depth of his convictions and drawn attention to his serial philandering. Kennedy's rise also marked the beginning of modern "celebrity" politics - a politician with film star charisma who proved ideally suited to the new age of television. Meet the man himself and he'll tell you how it felt to have his finger on the red button when the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war. The book is divided into two parts: a biographical essay that provides a concise overview of JFK's life, achievements, scandals and controversies; and a Q&A dialogue based on rigorous research and incorporating JFK's actual spoken or written words whenever possible, along with rigorously researched biographical interpretations of his various views and positions. Here you will find all the key moments in JFK's life and career: his early days at Harvard and the US Navy; his family background and the importance of his Catholic faith; running for office against Richard Nixon; his clashes with communist power in Berlin and Cuba; the Civil Rights movement; Vietnam; and the president's often scandalous personal life that was carefully concealed from an adoring public. Kennedy's assassination on 22 November 1963 marked the beginning of a tumultuous and bitterly divided decade, and birthed countless conspiracy theories that thrive to this day. These legacies of polarisation and suspicion of established authority have assumed particular salience in the 21st century.
Mr. Lifton and I initially started talking per phone once a month or so around mid-2018, this due to the David Lifton Project, a video interview my students created back in February 2018 - the point being to share his all important research with the next generation of Americans, the youth of our nation; students sharing the importance of Mr. Lifton's work with other students. Though much of the student film covers the thesis of Best Evidence, midway into the film, Mr. Lifton discusses the seeds of Final Charade - which sprouted in March of 1980. Over the next few months, the frequency of our phone conversations grew to about once a week at its height. The origins of Conversations with David S. Lifton: 'Best Evidence' to 'Final Charade' stem from the fact that Mr. Lifton was aging, and I feared his some forty years (1980-2020) of post-Best Evidence research could be lost if he passed suddenly without anyone knowing how to access his research in his trusty but cryptic Apple MacBook Air. If so, Final Charade might never see the light of day. When discussing this with a fellow researcher, he told me emphatically, "Jim, you have to discuss this with him." This work is the result of that conversation.
John F. Kennedy creates an absorbing, insightful and distinguished biography of one of America's most legendary Presidents. While current fashion in Kennedy scholarship is to deride the man's achievements, this book describes Kennedy's strengths, explains his shortcomings, and offers many new revelations. There are many specialized books on Kennedy's career, but no first-class modern biography--one that takes advantage of the huge volume of recent books and articles and new material released by the JFK library. Ten years in the making, this is a balanced and judicious profile that goes beyond the clash of interpretations and offers a fresh, nuanced perspective.
"Our Jackie: Public Claims on a Private Life chronicles the evolving media coverage of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, tracing interpretations of her public persona, from campaign wife, first lady, and revered widow to a jet setter, career woman, and, ultimately, treasured national icon"--
President Kennedy is the compelling, dramatic history of JFK's thousand days in office. It illuminates the presidential center of power by providing an indepth look at the day-by-day decisions and dilemmas of the thirty-fifth president as he faced everything from the threat of nuclear war abroad to racial unrest at home. "A narrative that leaves us not only with a new understanding of Kennedy as President, but also with a new understanding of what it means to be President" (The New York Times).
