About book Sons & Brothers: The Days Of Jack And Bobby Kennedy (1999)
Richard Mahoney's book on the Kennedy brothers is a well-researched and well written history of John and Robert Kennedy's years between 1952 and 1968. It provides interesting answers and pointers to the many 'puzzles' surrounding the murder of both the brothers and also the extent of the roles of the Mafia, the anti-Castro exiles in Miami, the Teamsters Union, the CIA and the FBI in an advanced industrial democracy like the US in the 1950s and sixties.The picture that emerges from the book about the two brothers and their father is somewhat as follows:Jack Kennedy was basically one who had statesman-like qualities which he showed clearly in the Cuban missile-crisis, in his reluctance to authorize the assassination of Castro on moral grounds and in his ability to see the futility of the war in Vietnam. He was idealistic enough to pursue the civil rights legislation but also political enough not to alienate his white constituency in the south. Jack also was detached enough to privately admit that he would probably be assassinated but he dealt with it in his own light-hearted manner. On the other hand, Jack was a philanderer and had used the Mafia in rigging the election results in Illinois to win his presidency. He knew about his father's buying the party bosses in Virginia with money to make him win the democratic primaries in 1960. Though he was a devoted and affectionate father, he wasn't a faithful husband to Jackie, even though he knew that it affected his much younger wife.On the other hand, Bobby Kennedy was more upright and also self-righteous. Except for a brief affair with Marilyn Monroe, he was faithful to his wife. He was a staunch Catholic, believed in right and wrong as black and white and went after the Mafia, the corrupt unions and also Fidel Castro with a vengeance, even though he knew that his own father was neck-deep in collusion with the crime bosses. He saw no contradiction in using the anti-Castro exiles to assassinate Fidel Castro. He believed in ends justifying the means. He believed strongly in civil rights. He took himself too seriously and pursued relentlessly his dangerous agendas thereby alienating the FBI boss Edgar Hoover, Lyndon Johnson, the Mafia, the union bosses and eventually the anti-Castro exiles.The book also brings out the close relationship between the brothers. Bobby was totally devoted and loyal to Jack. Jack admired Bobby's zeal and passion and his abilities to get things done. They both had a deep affection towards each other. In the end, one can surmise from the book that the brothers were killed because of Bobby's pursuit of the crime bosses even though Jack and his dad had used them to get to the Presidency. In the eyes of the crime bosses, the Kennedys did not keep their end of the bargain. They let down the Miami exiles badly in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion. The FBI, under Hoover, also conspired by withholding information about the imminent danger to their lives. Both the brothers had a fatalistic view about their own lives as a result.One disturbing image that arises from the book is the extent to which American politics at the highest level was corrupted and influenced by the Mob, the exile lobby and corrupt trade unions in the 1950s and 60s. Both Jack and LBJ had corruption to thank for to their rise to the highest offices. If this was the case in a rich, industrial democracy nearly 200 hundred years after independence, then it seems very self-righteous and unfair for the Administration of today to call the Afghan and Iraqi govts corrupt and beset by warlords. Applying this interpretation, one can say that J.Edgar Hoover behaved like a 'warlord' in the 1960s by using blackmail and snooping to advance his interests. The crime bosses and the CIA were their own centres of power in the 60s. The book is a humbling experience for anyone who is too critical of the struggle of democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan today. Finally, the author suggests that even though Bobby did not believe in the conclusions of the Warren commission, he 'accepted' them because that was the only way to protect Jack's and his family's legacies as well as his own guilt that he may have contributed to the murder of his own beloved brother by his relentless pursuit of the mob. This is an excellent and eminently readable book for all Kennedy admirers and non-admirers alike.
At the outset, I liked reading the book and I think anyone who is interested in that period of time, or the political Kennedys, will find some merit in the pages of Mr. Mahoney. Some of Mr. Mahoney's writing is striking and thought provoking, but he takes liberty with the truth to fold events into his theory that Mob-backed elements killed JFK, and by inference, Bobby as well. There are many instances where Mr. Mahoney cites as Gospel truth the unconfirmed and unproven ramblings of curious characters who gained tiny fame for being in Dallas on November 22, 1963, or knowing a guy who knew someone who saw a combative Lee Oswald at a firing range three weeks before JFK's assassination. More specific, he cites the since-debunked conclusions of Robert Blakey, a committed conspiracy buff, to reinforce his narrative leading up to Nov. 23, 1963. Simply because people hold titles, academic or otherwise, does not mean they are the sole purveyors of insight or truth. Mr. Mahoney leans hard of the puffery of titles and banks those opinions as knowledge. At the end of the book, he cites an unnamed friend of RFK leaning down over his dying face to hear Bobby whisper, "Jack. Jack." The source, cited as Richard Goodwin, was the person he selected to quote to close his story, but according to Mr. Mahoney's own end notes, there were two other things others reported the dying Bobby as saying before he lost consciousness, but he plucked something out of Mr. Goodwin's book because it was a convenient closing for his own.I suppose that is the writer's choice.As an aside, the more I learn about J. Edgar Hoover the more I'm convinced the man was a moral criminal. We would have all been better off had Hoover disappeared from the FBI long before he did. And if JFK brought out the best in politics, his Presidential successor reflected the worst in American politics.I'm glad I bought the book, and I enjoyed the read, but as your mother or best teacher should have told you long ago, "Don't believe everything you read."
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I thought this book was outstanding. The author sticks to his goal of detailing the relationship between the two brothers. It is tight prose with illuminating anecdotes. The author has a strong point of view, especially about the parties behind the assassinations, but weaves that nicely into the narrative. I noticed that some people didn't like all the discussion of the Mafia, but prosecuting the Mafia was the defining moment of Bobby's young career, where he started working professionally with his brother, and his father competed with and then made deals with the Mafia. So the Mafia stuff is pretty critical for understanding the family, even if you don't buy their connection to the assassinations. I highlighted passage after passage. The author worked hard to get to the humanity and driving forces behind the Kennedy brothers. They were wildly different people but unerringly devoted to one another. Bobby coping with Jack's death is one of the saddest passages I've ever read. Overall, great read!
—Ben
Why don't you learn any of this stuff in school? My AP US History book gave about a paragraph to Bay of Pigs, the Missile Crisis and Bobby Kennedy, total. None of this intrigue between the different branches of the CIA, FBI, and Justice, let alone secret dealings with the Mafia. Shame on "The Enduring Vision" for giving us such a bland, whitewashed version of recent history.That said, the book has flaws- the portrait of RFK post-JFK's assassination borders on saintly, and the allusions to tragic Greek heroes were overdone. Also I'm not sure the author gave Johnson a fair showing. Still, definitely worth a read.
—Maureen
Well written and interesting, no doubt, but for a large part not what I'd expected. The very last part, entitled "Bobby alone" is what I'd hoped this whole book would be: A close look at the person, his behaviour, growth, reception, self reflection, what not - that last part was a joy to read, making me sigh and swoon and think and mourn. I was close to this book right then, I felt it. And I'd so expected, no, hoped, for the rest of the book to be the same, with both JFK and RFK, their similarities, distinctions, interactions and what not being the center of it all and just getting to me, you know? And there was some of it, sure, and it was good and so promising. However, there was so much more, which made this book more of an overview of all things Kennedy administration. Which, again, is interesting. But you know, there's a time and a place for everything, and when I expect an indepth look at the brothers, I don't want to read pages of who's who in the mob. Some is necessary to put it all into perspective - mob, yes, as well as Cuba, foreign politics in general, all that - but this book lost focus too often. It just wanted too much instead of staying on its main topic. If you know that and accept and expect that, it's a good read though, just not the kind I'd expected it to be.
—Lennongirl
