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Summary: Kennedy's Profiles Continue to Inspire
Review: President John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage" is not only a timeless inspiration to all Americans who devote their lives to public service--it is a fast moving, well written, concise history that offers brief yet compelling glimpses of courage under fire in the United States Senate.
The message of this book--that there are times when it is the responsibility of an elected official to vote his or her conscience regardless of what public opinion dictates--is even more salient today than it was when Kennedy penned these stories in the mid-1950s. With the advent of cable news networks, the use of the Internet as a tool of public interest advocacy, and the increased dominance of mass media in our society, the pressure of public opinion polls on elected representatives is greater today than at any point in our history. Because floor votes can now be instantaneously transmitted to the American populace, it takes even greater courage today for Senators to defy public opinion and vote their conscience. Almost as prophesy, Kennedy himself notes in the final section that "when we realize that a newspaper that chooses to denounce a Senator today can reach many thousand times as many votes as could be reached by all of Daniel Webster's famous and articulate detractors put together, these stories of twentieth-century political courage have a drama, an excitement--and an inspiration--all their own" (163).
In order to maximize this inspiration, Kennedy profiles eight United States Senators, representing different time periods in American history. His prose and use of narrative in each profile is exceptional, and the organization of these stories into a cohesive thematic work in which each episode reinforces various components of "courage" is mesmerizing. From John Quincy Adams to Robert Taft, each individual profile allows the reader to delve into the character and motivation of leaders who valued integrity over political expediency--a way of governing that is essential to the longevity of our republican form of government.
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Summary: A Thoughtful Review of Patriotism
Review: JFK has written a thoughtful review of men who have shown courage under fire in American History. He has selected a diverse group and explained fully why he believes the actions each took represented heroism. It is a book well worth reading for gaining political perspective.
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Summary: Courage is indeed a virtue
Review: John F. Kennedy presented to America a book that obviously would have stood out for all time as one of the most patriotic and true books ever to be written about the courage to stand up for what you believe is right. The central theme that Profiles In Courage emphasizes is that courage is a virtue that should, and has been, a trait which only a few Senators have shared. JFK was himself a senator at the time that this book saw the light of day in 1957. Perhaps it goes without mention that this book reveals the author's courage in the face of opposition. JFK biographers have pointed out on numerous occasions that President Kennedy was, as a youth,taught to stand up for your rights. Every senator portrayed here in this masterpiece tells a different story, but every single one of them never allowed themselves to be subjected to a popular referendum. Politicians today have lost sight of some of the most sought after virtues in America and within the United States Government. Our nation's leaders should take a good look at this book and read every chapter, word for word, until they understand, as did JFK, that political courage is always learned and never aquired. I would recommend this book to any serious American who is concerned with the way in which the United States is being governed.
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Summary: Quite quick, but interesting, not flashy
Review: The stories of eight men, Senators, whom Kennedy believes showed extraordinary courage in their behaviour at one moment or another in their careers. The one who has always stuck with me over the years since i read this book before is Edmund G. Ross, the man whose uncertain vote was not converted to a vote for the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Though he was completely opposed to Johnson and his policy of reconciliation with the South, though he had lead the drive to recall the Senator he replaced, because his predecessor was not harsh enough, though he had every opportunity to defeat Johnson by voting to remove him from office, Ross was, through his integrity, determined to act as an impartial judge in the matter and, convinced that the case had not been proven, he voted for Johnson, providing the one uncertain vote preventing a two-thirds majority. Not one in a hundred, nowadays, has ever heard of him, let alone remembered his name, but Ross acted neither for the present nor posterity, but for his own character and honour. All the others Kennedy wrote of did the same; some in a cause we would consider right, some not, but all concerned that their yea be yea and their nay, nay. Ironies abound here, as in all aspects of Kennedy's life; for as much as he had to do with the production of this Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Kennedy could be proud.
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Summary: Good Book, Bad Editing
Review: This book gives a fantastic account of what it meant to be a true, courageous leader in the United States Senate. The book itself was excellent, but the editing in this edition, or lack thereof, left a bit to be desired. References to the election of Lincoln in "1850" and the "impeachment of Andrew Jackson" did a tremendous disservice to this book, which otherwise would have been a tremendous read.
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Summary: A must read for anybody who follows politics
Review: JFK's profiles in courage, is simply a look at six differnent senetors who faced tough situations, and made the right choice. This book is about how people can overcome popular opinion and the pressure of their peers to make a desion that they know is right. What JFK points out is that while in hindsight many of these choices that were made by these politicans were very obviously correct, they went aginst overwhelming odds to what was right. If the people examined in this book had lacked this courage, the Lousiana purchace whould still be French, Andrew Johnson would have been expelled from office and congress would have almost totall power over this country. This is not a book with a lot of brilliant politcal commentary, but a book showing people just what pressures that people who are in high office face, and what characteristics they must have to overcome them. Everyone who votes should have to read this book, just so they can know what courage it has taken to build this country.
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Summary: Political parables
Review: This book reminds me that it is better to lose on the right side than to win on the wrong one.
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Summary: gives the reader a quiet glow of pride
Review: I feel sorry for everyone who didn't like this book. I loved it-the history was fascinating and the writing was clear. The only problem that I can forsee others having was that Kennedy put too much trust in his readers to dumb down his writing- his ideas are elaborate and complex, and if you do not pay careful attention, it can be quite boring. But I'm glad he did what he did- his ideas and writng are both wonderful, and I'm proud we had him as a President.
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Summary: inspiring examples of integrity....
Review: ....whom I wouldn't have chosen myself but whose stories I found interesting. A good book to read when tempted to believe that politics is only about corruption and lack of accountability; for the men written about here, it was about principle.
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Summary: The Mind of a Great Man and President John F. Kennedy
Review: I first read "Profiles in Courage" when I was in high school, because it was a required reading in a history class. My history teacher loved this book. I remember telling her how boring the book was. Well that was then. I now have the book on my book shelf and I read it again often. That Ted Sorenson might be the real author is just nonsense. If you know the man Kennedy, you know that the book could only be written by him. John F. Kennedy is the author of the book period. Ted Sorenson was a competent editor of the book. Both men deserve much respect as writers. If you look at Kennedy's speeches, his actions, his tendencies during his life, one can see that many of the heroic qualities he extolled in his book could be found in the very author of the book. Edmund Ross and Kennedy's quote from him "I . . . looked down into my open my grave" reveals a side of Kennedy who more than once in his life brushed with death. The book also reveals much of Kennedy's cold and yet compassionate, bold and yet cautious, cruel and yet kind, devious and yet disarmingly honest, brutally realistic and yet idealistic, low and high character. He was an intelligent and courageous man who had the brains and the guts. He was also a great politician who respected results. He could "stoop to conquer" as Churchill would put it about FDR. Forces of the will and events pit him against Nixon who was also highly intelligent and gutsy as well as eloquent. They were great candidates. And Kennedy, or maybe Fortune, made Kennedy the victor. He was also, I believe, religious, though he boasted of how he could laugh sarcastically at common mortals and boasted of how he had no illusions about life. Like Lincoln, he believed there was a God and that God had much control of his destiny. Given many talents, he followed Aristotle's wisdom and concentrated on one he could excel. He was a gambler with his life and women. Women he prized, went after and went down to conquer. He loved that "chase" more than the kill. Though he said he did not love women, he could have for had the nature to love other human beings. His love for Jackie was there, set aside, controlled for his ambition and for his vanity and for his ideal. He was a dreamer and he was an actor. He was John Kennedy he loved, respected and pleased. He taught in action as he did with words. His legend may go down in history. He was a true philosopher of action.
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