Sharon R. (hazeleyes) reviewed A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy on + 331 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This riveting biography by a University of Wisconsin history professor explores John Kennedy's character, assesses its influence on his presidential decisionmaking and brings into focus the discrepancy between the Camelot image and the man himself. Reeves reveals how indifferent Kennedy was to the moral and legal objections to the Bay of Pigs invasion, the overthrow of the Diem regime in South Vietnam, and plans for the assassination of Fidel Castro. There is a wealth of new material here concerning JFK's often precarious health, his relationship with his wife, his flagrant philandering. Reeves concludes that Kennedy abused his high position for personal self-gratification, that his reckless liaisons with women and mobsters were "irresponsible, dangerous, and demeaning to the office of chief executive." By the author of The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy , this is a solidly researched look at John Kennedy's morals or his lack thereof. History Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Readers interested in a serious revisionist examination of Kennedy's life and record should look at A Question of Character, . . . a book that, judging by Hersh's 'Chapter Notes,' seems not to have come to his attention. If it had, perhaps we would have been spared The Dark Side of Camelot."
? Jonathan Yardley, in his Washington Post review of Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot.
"The John Kennedy who emerges from these pages was not a man of good moral character. He was reared not to be good but to win."
? Los Angeles Times
"It is the Marilyn Monroe chapter that speaks the loudest in this book of the incredible hubris of Jack and Bobby Kennedy. You have to read it to believe it."
? Liz Smith -- Review
"Readers interested in a serious revisionist examination of Kennedy's life and record should look at A Question of Character, . . . a book that, judging by Hersh's 'Chapter Notes,' seems not to have come to his attention. If it had, perhaps we would have been spared The Dark Side of Camelot."
Jonathan Yardley, in his Washington Post review of Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot.
"The John Kennedy who emerges from these pages was not a man of good moral character. He was reared not to be good but to win."
Los Angeles Times
"It is the Marilyn Monroe chapter that speaks the loudest in this book of the incredible hubris of Jack and Bobby Kennedy. You have to read it to believe it."
Liz Smith
From Publishers Weekly
This riveting biography by a University of Wisconsin history professor explores John Kennedy's character, assesses its influence on his presidential decisionmaking and brings into focus the discrepancy between the Camelot image and the man himself. Reeves reveals how indifferent Kennedy was to the moral and legal objections to the Bay of Pigs invasion, the overthrow of the Diem regime in South Vietnam, and plans for the assassination of Fidel Castro. There is a wealth of new material here concerning JFK's often precarious health, his relationship with his wife, his flagrant philandering. Reeves concludes that Kennedy abused his high position for personal self-gratification, that his reckless liaisons with women and mobsters were "irresponsible, dangerous, and demeaning to the office of chief executive." By the author of The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy , this is a solidly researched look at John Kennedy's morals or his lack thereof. History Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Readers interested in a serious revisionist examination of Kennedy's life and record should look at A Question of Character, . . . a book that, judging by Hersh's 'Chapter Notes,' seems not to have come to his attention. If it had, perhaps we would have been spared The Dark Side of Camelot."
? Jonathan Yardley, in his Washington Post review of Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot.
"The John Kennedy who emerges from these pages was not a man of good moral character. He was reared not to be good but to win."
? Los Angeles Times
"It is the Marilyn Monroe chapter that speaks the loudest in this book of the incredible hubris of Jack and Bobby Kennedy. You have to read it to believe it."
? Liz Smith -- Review
"Readers interested in a serious revisionist examination of Kennedy's life and record should look at A Question of Character, . . . a book that, judging by Hersh's 'Chapter Notes,' seems not to have come to his attention. If it had, perhaps we would have been spared The Dark Side of Camelot."
Jonathan Yardley, in his Washington Post review of Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot.
"The John Kennedy who emerges from these pages was not a man of good moral character. He was reared not to be good but to win."
Los Angeles Times
"It is the Marilyn Monroe chapter that speaks the loudest in this book of the incredible hubris of Jack and Bobby Kennedy. You have to read it to believe it."
Liz Smith
