This is an easy read and one that I had a difficult time laying down. I remember JFK when he was President, and the backstories that Chris Matthews' shares gives the enlightenment that I was seeking to better understand Kennedy's leadership style and how it developed through his early years. Telling the story through JFK's friends provides a better picture of him as a person and added to the readability. For those who are too young to remember him, I recommend the book as a good snapshot to understand why Kennedy is still talked about today. It is a shame that America lost such a man so early in his life. Fascinating and endearingly written by Chris Matthews (sometimes in the first person) who is in awe of the man but still mostly manages to keep (enough) critical distance. At the very end he touches on the question was this a "moral" president or not - and the book consistently points out that at many times this depended on which compartment of his life you are looking at. Sometimes his exalted ends (securing civil rights, avoiding nuclear warfare) justified the means - to an extent that might be difficult to pull off under todays media scrutiny. Reading a biography at a time like this (9.2013) gives one a sharp sense for "history in the making" and makes one very curious how an Obama biography might read 50 years later on the topic of Syria crisis decision making. It was fascinating to learn how tough of a man this was in WW2, and enduring so much physical pain while hiding it from the country. Also surprising how willing he was to play somewhat dirty politics and bully to get other politicians in line. Its hard not to compare him to the present president and realize how strongly they differ in terms of love of the game and skill as far as the art of politics itself goes. The book is also a good history brush up for those of us who whizzed through "American History from 1960 onwards" during some sweltering hot last week of school and forgot what exactly the Cuban Missile Crisis and Bay of Pigs was all about. Inspiring, witty, well worth reading.
Essential Kennedy reading. It has it all. Chris Matthews is also a surprisingly talented writer
—mihari
Really good, basic JFK biography. I really enjoyed it!
—Hollink
A good generic biography of John F. Kennedy.
—zeldafreak1
Informative - quick read. I liked it.
—angelaphillips25
