The Kennedy Imprisonment
A Meditation on Power
-
-
3.2 • 9 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
With a new preface: An "irreverent [and] entertaining" portrait of JFK, the Camelot mystique, and the politics of charisma (The Christian Science Monitor).
Described by the New York Times as "a sort of intellectual outlaw," Garry Wills takes on the romantic myths surrounding the Kennedy clan in this thought-provoking examination of electoral politics and the power of image in America.
Wills argues that the much-admired dynasty, beginning with patriarch Joe Kennedy, created a corrupt climate where appearances were more important than reality, truth was discarded when it wasn't convenient, and an assortment of devoted loyalists sacrificed integrity for the sake of reflected glory. Touching upon topics ranging from the manipulation of the PT-109 story in the media to the authorship of Profiles in Courage to the handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis to persistent rumors of extramarital affairs, Wills offers a persuasive look not only at President John F. Kennedy and his brothers Robert and Edward, but also at the bubble that existed around them and lured in some of the best and brightest of the era.
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Lincoln at Gettysburg and Why I Am a Catholic, The Kennedy Imprisonment is "a brilliant and troubling study of the Kennedy era in American politics" (The Philadelphia Inquirer).
Customer Reviews
Sleight of hand
Wow. Such a string of excuses for bad behavior I have never read. Chappaquiddik has to take the cake. For the record, no, Ted Kennedy was not turned down as presidential candidate because he was awkward (he was) or because he played around (he did) but because, to save his own reputation he allowed a young woman he had accidentally driven into a creek to die when she would have lived if he had called in for rescue. (Testimony of the fire inspector who arrived on the scene 10 hours later.) The whole book is full of this stuff. Yuck.