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Summary: Reeves neither fawns, nor muckrakes in this balanced account
Review: Richard Reeves' book is a welcome addition to the "Camelot Years" genre. Written from the President's perspective, i.e. "a day in the life" type format, this excellent read neither fawns, nor muckrakes, but rather gives a balanced account of a Presidency that, until this point, has not been examined in an objective light. Reeves' first person perspective shows a president who had more profile than courage. Inspite of his many gifts, JFK was diffident, at best, as President. Reeves book reveals a JFK that was driven, almost maniacally, to get to the White House, but once he got there was pretty much out of his league. The portrait of a neophyte statesman is obvious when Kennedy makes his first trip to Europe, receives a lukewarm reception from DeGaulle, and is taken to the woodshed by Nikita Khrushev who, upon seeing the youthful president exclaimed "he's younger than my own son." Reeves account beautifully illustrates how the rich playboy-president miscalculates Khrushev; one gets the impression that Kennedy felt that his Soviet counterpart could be rolled like a Boston pol. Kennedy came away from his first overseas trip as president much chastened. Richard Reeves' book is excellent; well written, well researched, and balanced. I highly recommend it. (I've read it twice!!)
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Summary: Reeves Neither Fawns, nor Muck-rakes
Review: Richard Reeves' book is a welcome addition to the "CamelotYears" genre. Written from the President's perspective,i.e. "a day in the life" type format, this excellent readneither fawns, nor muckrakes, but rather a balanced account of aPresidency that, until this point, has not been examined in anobjective light. Reeves first person perspective shows a president whohad more profile than courage. Inspite of his many gifts, JFK wasdiffident, at best, as President. Reeves book reveals a JFK that wasdriven, almost maniacally, to get to the White House, but once he gotthere was pretty much out of his league. The portrait of a neophytestatesman is obvious when Kennedy makes his first trip to Europe,receives a lukewarm reception from DeGaulle, and is taken to thewoodshed by Nikita Khrushev who, upon seeing the youthful presidentexclaimed "he's younger than my own son." Reeves accountbeautifully illustrates how the rich playboy-president miscalculatesKhrushev; one gets the impression that Kennedy felt that his Sovietcounterpart could be rolled like a Boston Pol. Kennedy came away fromhis first overseas trip as president much chastened. Richard Reeves'book is excellent; well written, well researched, and balanced. Ihighly recommend it. (I've read it twice!!)
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Summary: Balance and tension
Review: Richard Reeves's enlightening book is a refreshing balance. One one hand he mentions Kennedy's many affairs, the Bay of Pigs Disaster, kennedys weak showing at Vienna, and his tepid support of civil rights, and his continuing secret attempts on Castros life. On the other hand we see Kennedys brilliant handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, his efforts on trhe nuclear test ban treaty, and his calm handling of the Berlin Wall Crisis. Reeves shows the contradictory advice Kennedy received, especially concerning Vietnam. The use of dates as chapter titles gives the book the personel feel of a diary. The chapter headings, and the mentions of future and reelection plans remind us of Kennedys assassination in Dallas
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Summary: The BEST about JFK
Review: Separates the hype from the facts. No myths, only the truth. Honest, fair, good reporting. Simply the best book about the presidential years of JFK. Tells the real history of the early 1960's. Buy it, read it, enjoy it. Highly recommended.
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Summary: The real JFK
Review: Simply put, Richard Reeves' "President Kennedy" is indispensable to any understanding of the Kennedy administration. This is a thrilling account of how JFK bumbled into crises yet brilliantly managed the country's way out of danger. Reeves also analyzes Kennedy's personal foibles as they were relevant to his exercise of power, not as a matter of prurient interest. Here is a portrait of Kennedy that rings true and is not romanticized. The author spells out the options that were available to Kennedy as JFK saw them, and gives the reader a real sense of "being there" as the president dealt with the rush of events.
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Summary: On The Job Training
Review: The author took an interesting view of the subject matter, instead of a dry history lecture the author tries to put the reader in the shoes of JFK and really show you what it was like to be him or at least with him in his presidency. I learned a lot from this book, the unorganized and stumbling start to his presidency, his lack of attention and in depth understanding of what was going to happen with the bay of pigs and his relationship with Khrushshev were all very interesting and new for me. I was also struck by how conservative this Democratic President was and his almost forced work on the Civil Rights issues. The book gives you a real look at the three years he was in office, not an overly positive Camelot view and not a tabloid style gossip sheet only talking about women. What was so great is that the author was able to obtain so many actual conversations that JFK had with staff. You could really get a sense of the man from the interactions that the author chose to detail. Based on the bibliography and source notes, you can tell that the author spent a great deal of time on research and it shows in the quality of the book. One last point is that I also gained a better understanding of LBJ and the differences in how much more liberal he was then JFK. My only issue, and it is minor, is the end of the book did tend to drag a bit with the Vietnam War info. I also would have liked a bit more detail on the Cuban missile crises, but the author did a good job given the overall time frame and space limitations the book offered. The details of some of the letters being passed back and forth could have been left out of the book for me. Overall the book was very good and interesting. I do not think you need to be a political junkie to enjoy the book.
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Summary: Engaging Perspective on JFK's Presidency
Review: This book is a well-written chronological account of Kennedy's presidency. Minimized is the personal gossip and inuendo while highlighted is the decision-making style of JFK and his entourage as events unfold. You get a sense of what it's like being thrust into the vortex of events for which no president is totally prepared. The writer attempts to reveal President Kennedy as both more and less than the Camelot charisma would have you believe. Thoroughly enjoyable and informative must-read addition.
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Summary: Fantastic! Powerful! Informative and Skillfully Written!
Review: This was a very powerful and informative display of what A president is all about - but made even more powerful because it includes Kennedy's charactor, emotional pains as well as physical pain. It taught a history course while teaching about a man that everyone loved from continent to continent!!
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Summary: Tabloid free account
Review: Though I have only read a few books about President Kennedy, I enjoyed this one the most. Though it is predominantly a political book, it is still entertaining. It is like A Thousand Days without being totally pro Kennedy. But, unlike Reckless Youth or the recently published Jack, it steers clear of gossip.
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