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Summary: Profiles In Courage
Review: Profiles of Courage is an interesting little book about famous episodes in the history of the United States Senate, and the senators who made these events memorable by standing up for an issue that made them unpopular with either their colleagues, party, or constituents. They include John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Sam Houston, George Norris, and Robert Taft. This is a good book for those casually interested in the United States Senate, as well as those interested in the Kennedy legacy, whether this book was written by JFK or Ted Sorenson.
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Summary: Great stories, well written.
Review: Kennedy has proven time and time again that his writting is impecable. I understand he went through a large ordeal with this book where he was accused of having the volume ghost-written for him, but if you read his other works you can tell this is a false accusation.
Profiles in Courage tells stories of a different kind of courage, a political courage many of our present Senators and politicians lack. If this book is not mandatory for your college or high school studies, then all students and lovers of history should seek this book and take advantage of its wonderful stories and great writing.
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Summary: An American classic?
Review: Although Kennedy's actually having written this book is still fervently debated, I still beleive that alone is not enough to merit skipping over this book. Rich in description and detail, and obviously based in meticulous research, I felt I was transported to the time periods this book describes. Recommended for any history, politics, or political science lover.
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Summary: A marvelous look at the U.S. Senate
Review: JFK has written an indepth look at the glory days of the U.S. Senate: the 1800s. With beautiful language and a thorough understanding of the material about which he is writing, Kennedy biographs a group of men who stood up for themselves and their beliefs (emancipation, etc.) in the Senate against the majority of men and popular thinking. Although sometimes it goes a little slow, this Pulitzer Prize winning work is necessary for any American history buff.
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Summary: It changed my life!
Review: The book changed the course of my life and I highly recommend it, especially for high school students. The book has always been recognized from its well-known author, the late John F. Kennedy. I doubt that he is the true author of the book, but it does not make a difference because the book definitely changed my life. To Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Sam Houston, Thomas Hart Benton, John Quincy Adams and many other remarkable politicians - it is a history book in itself. Most students will not take much pleasure in reading this book, but in a select few - it will simply open new doors of information and knowledge. It plainly lays out a short history of American politicians that went against the mainstream for the betterment of the country. But these men were not saints, but politicians voting what they thought was the right thing to do. "Profiles in Courage" is an enjoyable book that introduces you to important characters in American politics and get a sense of American history that is ignored in your history book. I found the book extraordinarily inspiring that I wanted to be a history teacher. I am right now a second year student at Indiana State University majoring in History. I recommend this book to people that want to learn "a little bit" about American political history.
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Summary: Life of the Goverment
Review: If you like true government books Proflies of Courage by John F Kennedy is the book for you.This encourages people to be in the government.It also tells it is not easy.Jhon Kennedy tells how he got to be president.The other things he put in his book is that he said all of the things he has been though were very harsh.Well all of things you go though try to get to the council,governor ,or the presidsy.Any one of those would you have to work very hard and you don't want to quit.[He said once you get council,governor,or president you will feel you have conquered your greatest goal you have ever set in your life].[He also said once you have get one you wanted you have to work even harder when you are going for what you you wanted].Once your turn is over you feel like you helped the U.S.There you are no bad prats in this book only good prats.My favorite prat of the book is when he becomes president.Remember the book Prfiles of in courage by John F Kennedy is the book for you if you like government books.
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Summary: Political Courage
Review: John F. Kennedy is a very accomplished man who valued personal and political couarge. He possessed the qualities that us Americans want embodied in our political leaders. In this novel he explained what he thought the "perfect" political person's character and actions had to be. He states that politics is filled with people who follow the crowd to be accepted instead of sticking with what they believe is right. He then chronicals the lives of people who he feels fufills the character of a good politician. I have read a great deal about JFK and his family and this novel displays his feelings of how the political world is not what it should be.
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Summary: Excellent
Review: President Kennedy certainly had courage in writing this book. This work is an important document that anyone involved in politics, or any form of leadership should not miss. Kennedy does an amazing job of looking at couragous policiticians from both parties and how they impacted their time and their country. I read this book in a few days and could not put it down once I started to read it. Before anyone serves in government at any level, they should read this book.
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Summary: Profiles In Courage
Review: This is a book about the most admirable of human virtues - courage. Grace under presure. "Ernest Hemingway defined it. And these are the stories of the pressures experienced by eight United States Senators and the grace with which they endured them".
John F. Kennedy
During 1954 - 1955, John F. Kennedy, then a U.S. Senator, chose eight of his historical colleagues to profile for their acts of astounding integrity in the face of overwhelming opposition. These heroes include John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benson, and Robert A. Tft.
Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1956. Profiles in Courage resounds with timeless lessons on the most cherished of virtues and is a powerful reminder of the strength of the human spirit. It is, as Robert Kennedy states in the foreword, "not just stories of the past but a book of hope and confidence for the future. What happens to the country, to the world, depends on what we do with what others have left us.
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Summary: Don't pass this one up
Review: "Profiles in Courage" does not belong to any of my preferred genres. I became interested in it after researching John Quincy Adams. The film "Amistad" started me down this path and eventually led to JFK's Pulitzer Prize winning book. It was written while he was still a Senator and focuses, for the most part, on historic politicians. Kennedy obviously admired these men, not for their great successes but for the personal price they all paid as a result of choosing to do what they felt was right.Each man gets at most a chapter, and so Kennedy limited himself to one or two important events in their political careers, often their last stand. Not only are these men admirable but they are also very real. He manages to show us the human, less than perfect, side of each while convincing us of their moral strength. Each chapter leaves you wanting to know more about these men, who helped to shape American history. The nice part about the book, and probably the key reason it won a Pulitzer, is that each event reads like a thriller. These are interesting stories and because Kennedy wrote them in chronological order with a few historic segues, the whole thing holds together to give us a better feel for the sweep of history. We willingly learn about the underlying currents that can inexorably drive a country in a certain direction. "Profiles in Courage," is an easy read that teaches as it entertains. Kennedy seems to be encouraging us to look back at a past where "politician" was not a dirty word and in so doing, we are left with the suspicion that Kennedy himself, was trying to live up to those outmoded ideals. Knowing his fate, every word seems to have a poignant aura that makes it all the more memorable.
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