Incomparable Grace
JFK in the Presidency
(Sprache: Englisch)
An illuminating account of John F. Kennedy s brief but transformative tenure in the White House, from acclaimed author and historian Mark K. Updegrove, head of the LBJ Foundation and presidential historian for ABC News
...
...
lieferbar
versandkostenfrei
Buch (Gebunden)
36.70 €
- Lastschrift, Kreditkarte, Paypal, Rechnung
- Kostenlose Rücksendung
Produktdetails
Produktinformationen zu „Incomparable Grace “
Klappentext zu „Incomparable Grace “
An illuminating account of John F. Kennedy s brief but transformative tenure in the White House, from acclaimed author and historian Mark K. Updegrove, head of the LBJ Foundation and presidential historian for ABC NewsTremendously absorbing and inviting An important book. Doris Kearns Goodwin Elegant, concise, [and] knowing. Michael Beschloss Rescues JFK from Camelot mythology. Richard Norton Smith
Nearly sixty years after his death, JFK still holds an outsize place in the American imagination. While Baby Boomers remember his dazzling presence as president, millennials more likely know him from advertisements for Omega watches or Ray Ban sunglasses. Yet his years in office were marked by more than his style and elegance. His presidency is a story of a fledgling leader forced to meet unprecedented challenges, and to rise above missteps to lead his nation into a new and hopeful era.
Kennedy entered office inexperienced but alluring, his reputation more given by an enamored public than earned through achievement. In this gripping new assessment of his time in the Oval Office, Updegrove reveals how JFK s first months were marred by setbacks: the botched Bay of Pigs invasions, a disastrous summit with the Soviet premier, and a mismanaged approach to the Civil Rights movement. But the young president soon proved that behind the glamour was a leader of uncommon fortitude and vision.
A humbled Kennedy conceded his mistakes, and, importantly for our times, drew important lessons from his failures that he used to right wrongs and move forward undaunted. Indeed, Kennedy grew as president, radiating greater possibility as he coolly faced a steady stream of crises before his tragic end.
Incomparable Grace compellingly reexamines the dramatic, consequential White House years of a flawed but gifted leader too often defined by the Camelot myth that came after his untimely death.
Lese-Probe zu „Incomparable Grace “
IThe Torch
The Kennedys leave their Georgetown apartment on the morning of JFK's inauguration, January 20, 1961.
Jacques Lowe, Jacques Lowe Photographic Archive, Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin
Transition
The snow came fast and thick. On the morning of Thursday, January 19, 1961, storm clouds blew up from North Carolina and Virginia in icy gusts, paralyzing the mid-Atlantic states, which saw as much as twenty-nine inches of precipitation as the mercury dived into the low twenties, and then the teens. By day's end, eight inches of snow would blanket Washington, D.C., as the city prepared for the peaceful transfer of power.
Two hours before the snow began to fall, John Kennedy met in the Oval Office with President Dwight Eisenhower, the seventy-year-old incumbent, who would pass on the burden of the office to Kennedy the following day at noon. Even beyond their twenty-seven-year age difference-the greatest America has seen between an incoming and outgoing president-the contrast between them was stark: Kennedy was the tousle-haired picture of young-man-in-a-hurry vitality and ambition, bronzed from a recent stay at his father's Palm Beach estate; Eisenhower was the Kansas farm boy turned stalwart hero of D-Day-pallid, bald, and aged-who wore the mantle of power with reflexive ease. Before repairing to the West Wing, the two men had greeted each other warmly before a gaggle of eager press photographers at the White House's North Portico, flashing the famous smiles that had lit up thousands of campaign posters through the years. All was cordial as they met, belying an undercurrent of tension between them. Among their respective aides, Eisenhower derided Kennedy as "Little Boy Blue," while Kennedy called Eisenhower "that old asshole," a military term reserved by junior officers for the top brass, and, later, "a cold bastard."
This was their second transition meeting. The first, in early December, a discussion
... mehr
on national security matters lasting the better part of an hour, hadn't amounted to much. Remarkably, Kennedy and Eisenhower had crossed paths only once before the transition, a brief encounter in Potsdam, Germany, during World War II when Kennedy was covering the war for Hearst newspapers that Eisenhower couldn't recall. This despite the fact that throughout the entirety of Ike's presidency Kennedy had sat in the U.S. Senate representing his home state of Massachusetts, speaking to the infertility of Kennedy's tenure in Congress's upper chamber.
Regardless, JFK had used his political r sum -six years in the House of Representatives, eight years in the Senate-to launch a successful candidacy for the nation's highest office. On Election Day, he had eked out the sparest of wins against his Republican challenger, Eisenhower's vice president, Richard Nixon, carrying 49.72 percent of the vote to Nixon's 49.55 percent-a margin of just 118,574 votes. The slimmest victory of the twentieth century, it was hardly the mandate Kennedy had hoped for, limiting his ability to deviate markedly from the policies of Eisenhower and nipping at his abundant confidence. "How did I manage to beat a guy like [Nixon] by only a hundred thousand votes?" he asked his aide Kenny O'Donnell incredulously. Still, it had been enough. As Kennedy himself said after the votes had been counted and his win confirmed the following day, "The margin is thin, but the responsibility is clear."
He had gotten there by pledging to "get America moving again," implicating a supposedly complacent Eisenhower as he hammered away at the "missile gap," a contrivance designed to foster anxiety that the Soviet Union had slowly built up its arsenal disproportionally as the cold war simmered and the president sat idly by. Eisenhower was stung by Kennedy's attacks on his record, and by Nixon's failure to defend him. The old general viewed Kennedy's win as a repudiatio
Regardless, JFK had used his political r sum -six years in the House of Representatives, eight years in the Senate-to launch a successful candidacy for the nation's highest office. On Election Day, he had eked out the sparest of wins against his Republican challenger, Eisenhower's vice president, Richard Nixon, carrying 49.72 percent of the vote to Nixon's 49.55 percent-a margin of just 118,574 votes. The slimmest victory of the twentieth century, it was hardly the mandate Kennedy had hoped for, limiting his ability to deviate markedly from the policies of Eisenhower and nipping at his abundant confidence. "How did I manage to beat a guy like [Nixon] by only a hundred thousand votes?" he asked his aide Kenny O'Donnell incredulously. Still, it had been enough. As Kennedy himself said after the votes had been counted and his win confirmed the following day, "The margin is thin, but the responsibility is clear."
He had gotten there by pledging to "get America moving again," implicating a supposedly complacent Eisenhower as he hammered away at the "missile gap," a contrivance designed to foster anxiety that the Soviet Union had slowly built up its arsenal disproportionally as the cold war simmered and the president sat idly by. Eisenhower was stung by Kennedy's attacks on his record, and by Nixon's failure to defend him. The old general viewed Kennedy's win as a repudiatio
... weniger
Autoren-Porträt von Mark K. Updegrove
Mark K. Updegrove is a presidential historian and the author of five books on the presidency. He currently serves as the President and CEO of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation and the Presidential Historian for ABC News. Earlier in his career, he was the director of the LBJ Presidential Library and publisher of Newsweek. He has interviewed seven U.S. presidents. His latest book, Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency, will be published by Dutton in April 2022.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Mark K. Updegrove
- 2022, 368 Seiten, mit farbigen Abbildungen, Maße: 16,3 x 23,5 cm, Gebunden, Englisch
- Verlag: Dutton
- ISBN-10: 152474574X
- ISBN-13: 9781524745745
- Erscheinungsdatum: 21.04.2022
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
Absorbing Updegrove provides a balanced look at Kennedy's personal and political failings while offering a look at why a man who served just 1,036 days in office continues to rank so high by historians among the nation's presidents. Associated PressUpdegrove limns Kennedy s ascent from overshadowed, somewhat sickly second son to war hero... Updegrove doesn t lose his way in excessive detail, penning a biography that brings JFK into living perspective for a younger generation who might know him only from their parents tales. Booklist (starred review)
Updegrove s skillful portrait reveals a president who learned on the job and did so with humility, calling forth the best in all of us, which helps account for the widely shared enshrinement of Kennedy s memory today A well-rendered portrait showing that presidential politics can be both effective and a force for the good. Kirkus
The fast-paced narrative smoothly transitions from one high-stakes matter to the next and reveals just how eventful the abbreviated Kennedy presidency was . a brisk and entertaining biography. Publishers Weekly
In this tremendously absorbing and inviting portrait, Mark Updegrove delivers a warm, yet unflinching examination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. His deep knowledge of the presidency allows him to convey the political complexity of the issues without ever losing the narrative flow. This is an important book that captures the energy, hope and vision of a young president navigating a potential nuclear confrontation, a gathering storm in Vietnam, and the struggle for justice at home. Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Leadership: In Turbulent Times
We are lucky that Mark Updegrove has brought us this elegant, concise, knowing, fluent and highly-readable look at John F. Kennedy as president. In these troubled times, JFK s leadership looks better and better in the rearview mirror, and Updegrove here deploys his wise
... mehr
historical judgment to show us the essentials of why. Michael Beschloss, New York Times bestselling author of Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times
With narrative gifts worthy of its title, Incomparable Grace rescues JFK from Camelot mythology. In its place Mark Updegrove gives us the event- and conscience-driven transformation of a cautious Cold War liberal to a trailblazing advocate for nuclear restraint and the dismantling of his own country s segregated culture. Candid and clear eyed about Kennedy s failings, this hugely readable volume explains and justifies his lofty ranking among historians, and his continuing hold over the popular imagination. Richard Norton Smith, author of On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller
With narrative gifts worthy of its title, Incomparable Grace rescues JFK from Camelot mythology. In its place Mark Updegrove gives us the event- and conscience-driven transformation of a cautious Cold War liberal to a trailblazing advocate for nuclear restraint and the dismantling of his own country s segregated culture. Candid and clear eyed about Kennedy s failings, this hugely readable volume explains and justifies his lofty ranking among historians, and his continuing hold over the popular imagination. Richard Norton Smith, author of On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller
... weniger
Kommentar zu "Incomparable Grace"
Schreiben Sie einen Kommentar zu "Incomparable Grace".
Kommentar verfassen