Rethinking Kennedy: An Interpretive Biography

After an initial honeymoon with historians, in recent years John F. Kennedy has been more carefully scrutinized, resulting in a wide variety of assessments of his presidency and his life. Michael O'Brien, who knows as much about Kennedy as any historian now writing, has distilled the findings of his heavily detailed biography of a few years ago into a compact life that touches on all the important issues and incorporates the findings and judgments of major works since the president's death. He offers nuanced interpretations of the influence of Kennedy's parents, his early life, his struggles with health problems, his intellectual development, his heroism in World War II, his House and Senate career, and the paramount moments of his presidency, including the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and his stand on civil rights, tax policy, and other domestic matters.

Almost a half-century has passed since the brief presidency of John F. Kennedy illuminated the American political scene. His presence is still felt today. He had a special magnetism—flair, aspirations to great deeds, and contagious confidence. And his tenure in the White House occurred in the midst of dramatic world events and personalities. After an initial honeymoon with historians, many of whom were seduced by the Camelot myth, in recent years Kennedy has been more carefully scrutinized, resulting in a wide range of assessments of his presidency and his life.

Michael O'Brien's major biography, John F. Kennedy, based on eleven years of research into letters, diaries, financial papers, medical records, manuscripts, and oral histories, was published in 2005 to wide acclaim. Emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Fox Valley, he lives in Menasha, Wisconsin.