Conversations with Kennedy

This book was truly a page turner. I was facinated by the intimate details and facts revealed by the author. It allowed me to see Kennedy as a man and not only as a legend. I would recomend this book whole heartedly to anyone interested in JFK. It is a book that is worth being read.

President Kennedy once said that his favorite form of reading was biography, because it attempted to answer the question: what was he really like? John F. Kennedy has been a hero of mine ever since I was a child, and this book, more than most, answers that question is a manner that is consistent with the historical record. Bradlee reveals a very human JFK in some of his more private moments, and helps us to better grasp what is, admittedly, beyond our grasp: the magic of the man.Perfect he was certainly not; indeed, Kennedy probably had more foibles than most men. But he also had more gifts, and these he used to ultimately make the world a better place. While his actual accomplishments as president are rather meager, his most lasting legacy was a summons to excellence in the service of others, a conviction in the hearts of his countrymen that we can indeed do better, and the argument -- which has never been refuted -- that in reaching for the moon and the stars, and in setting sail on new seas, we find in the midst of a common human endeavor, the best of ourselves. He was that kind of a president. This book makes it clear that he was a special, but flawed, kind of man.

It's important to read books written by a JFK's friend. Here you can see JFK as a person and I feel that now I know better JFK than if I had bought ten books about the assassination or about his 1000 days in the White HOuse.

Very interesting book on JFK by Ben Bradlee. Unlike most recent JFK books written by authors who never meet or knew JFK, Conversations with: is written by Bradlee who was a not only a close friend of JFK but was also a journalist. The insights into JFK the man, before the Camelot myth was started are facinating. A great book for anyone interested in what JFK was like as a person.