The Memoirs of John F. Kennedy: A Novel


Book Description

The Memoirs of John F. Kennedy: A Novel brings to life the tantalizing possibilities of "what might have been" had JFK remained president after November 22, 1963. This book imagines an America where progressive leadership takes hold during the 1960s, where President Kennedy, after a grueling fight for his life in a Dallas hospital, survives his chest wounds and returns to the presidency. He is elected for a second term. He does not mount a ground war in Vietnam. Foreign relations with Cuba, the Soviet Union, South America, and our allies and adversaries around the world follow a very different path. This novel interweaves a two-track story. One takes place in 1963 at Parkland Medical Center and follows Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover as they cope with the explosive events of the assassination attempt while the wounded president hovers near death. The other more lighthearted fictional story-line unfolds through the eyes of Patrick Hennessey, the memoirist appointed by JFK during the approaching end of his second term in 1968. Through in-depth talks at the White House, Camp David, Hyannisport, on Air Force One, and golfing on Kennedy's private course at Glen Ora, Patrick gets to know the president as he reviews his decisions regarding the difficult path toward a peaceful resolution of world crises. This well researched alternate history will strike a chord with readers worldwide-those fascinated with the Kennedy mystique and those interested in the potential for politics to be "done right" during challenging times. Considering the current period-and the 50th anniversary of JFK's election-re-imagining a more positive past may enable us to collectively envision a more enlightened future.




The Memoirs of John F. Kennedy


Book Description

This book imagines an America where progressive leadership takes hold during the 1960s, where President Kennedy, after a grueling fight for his life in a Dallas hospital, survives his chest wounds and returns to the presidency.




"Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye"


Book Description

This classic New York Times bestseller is an illuminating portrait of JFK—from his thrilling rise to his tragic fall—by two of the men who knew him best. As a politician, John Fitzgerald Kennedy crafted a persona that fascinated and inspired millions—and left an outsize legacy in the wake of his murder on November 22, 1963. But only a select few were privy to the complicated man behind the Camelot image. Two such confidants were Kenneth P. O’Donnell, Kennedy’s top political aide, and David F. Powers, a special assistant in the White House. They were among the president’s closest friends, part of an exclusive inner circle that came to be known as the “Irish Mafia.” In Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, O’Donnell and Powers share memories of Kennedy, his extraordinary political career, and his iconic family—memories that could come only from intimate access to the man himself. As they recount the full scope of Kennedy’s journey—from his charismatic first campaign for Congress to his rapid rise to national standing, culminating on that haunting day in Dallas—O’Donnell and Powers lay bare the inner workings of a leader who is cherished and mourned to this day, in a memoir that spent over five months on the New York Times bestseller list.




Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis


Book Description

"A minor classic in its laconic, spare, compelling evocation by a participant of the shifting moods and maneuvers of the most dangerous moment in human history." —Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. During the thirteen days in October 1962 when the United States confronted the Soviet Union over its installation of missiles in Cuba, few people shared the behind-the-scenes story as it is told here by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In this unique account, he describes each of the participants during the sometimes hour-to-hour negotiations, with particular attention to the actions and views of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. In a new foreword, the distinguished historian and Kennedy adviser Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., discusses the book's enduring importance and the significance of new information about the crisis that has come to light, especially from the Soviet Union.




JFK Jr., George, & Me


Book Description

John Kennedy Jr.’s creative director for George magazine presents “a vivid portrait of JFK Jr. that only a select few have ever seen, offering a touching and honest tribute to John’s legacy” (BookReporter.com). If George magazine was about “not just politics as usual,” a day at the office with John F. Kennedy Jr. was not just business as usual. John handpicked Creative Director Matt Berman to bring his vision for a new political magazine to life. Through marathon nights leading up to George’s launch; extraordinary meetings with celebrities including Barbra Streisand, Robert De Niro, and Demi Moore; and jokes at each other’s expense, Matt developed a wonderfully collaborative and fun-loving relationship with America’s favorite son. They were an unlikely team: the poised, charismatic scion of a beloved political family and the shy, self-deprecating, artistic kid. Yet they became close friends and confidants. In this warm, funny, and intimate book, Matt remembers his brilliant friend and colleague—John’s approach to work, life, and fame, and most of all, his ease and grace, which charmed those around him. More than any book before it, JFK Jr., George, & Me reveals the friendly, witty, down-to-earth guy the paparazzi could never capture. Matt opens the doors of John’s messy office to share previously untold stories, personal notes, and never-before-seen photos from the trenches of a startup magazine that was the brainchild of a superstar. John helped Matt navigate a world filled with celebrities, artists, beauty, style, competition, and stunningly tender egos. In turn, Matt shares the invaluable lessons about business and life that he learned from John. What emerges is a portrait of JFK Jr. as a true friend and mentor.




Fairy Tale Interrupted


Book Description

Working Girl meets What Remains in this New York Times bestselling, behind-the-scenes story of an unlikely friendship between America’s favorite First Son, John F. Kennedy Jr. and his personal assistant, a blue-collar girl from the Bronx. Featured in the documentary I Am JFK Jr.! From the moment RoseMarie Terenzio unleashed her Italian temper on the entitled nuisance commandeering her office in a downtown New York PR firm, an unlikely friendship bloomed between the blue-collar girl from the Bronx and John F. Kennedy Jr. Many books have sought to capture John F. Kennedy Jr.’s life. None has been as intimate or as honest as Fairy Tale Interrupted. Recalling the adventure of working as his executive assistant for five years, RoseMarie portrays the man behind the icon—patient, protective, surprisingly goofy, occasionally thoughtless and self-involved, yet capable of extraordinary generosity and kindness. She reveals how he dealt with dating, politics, and the paparazzi, and describes life behind the scenes at George magazine. Captured here are her memories of Carolyn Bessette, how she orchestrated the ultra-secretive planning of John and Carolyn’s wedding on Cumberland Island—and the heartbreak of their deaths on July 16, 1999, after which RoseMarie’s whole world came crashing down around her. Only now does she feel she can tell her story in a book that stands as “a fitting personal tribute to a unique boss . . . deliriously fun and entertaining” (Kirkus Reviews).




The Memoirs of JFK: If Kennedy Had Survived


Book Description

THE MEMOIRS OF JFK imagines that John F. Kennedy survived Dallas, that he served two terms and then wrote a flawed memoir in which he fails to confront many of the questions that had arisen in the aftermath of the assassination attempt. A worried publisher sends a seasoned ghostwriter to try to persuade Kennedy to deal with these omissions. Their combat is the engine of this novel. Although THE MEMOIRS OF JFK is an invention, both its factual aspects and post-assassination conjectures are informed by the author's interviews with some 50 sources-many of them members of Kennedy's administration, some of them journalists he favored, a few of them close friends. No one, of course, can know for certain what decisions Kennedy would have taken, but given the nature of the man and his expressed intent, the world described in the novel is one we might well have lived in had he survived Dallas.




Mrs. Kennedy and Me


Book Description

"For four years, from the election of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in November 1960 until after the election of Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Clint Hill was the Secret Service agent assigned to guard the glamorous and intensely private Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. During those four years, he went from being a reluctant guardian to a fiercely loyal watchdog and, in many ways, her closest friend"--




The Men We Became


Book Description

For over twenty years Robert Littell was John F. Kennedy Jr.'s closest confidant. Now, in a beautiful and moving memoir, Littell introduces us to the private John. A story of laughter and sorrow, joy and heartbreak, The Men We Became is an unforgettable memoir. Rob Littell was a freshman at Brown when he met the young JFK, Jr. during orientation week. Although Littell came from a privileged background, it was worlds apart from the glamorous life of the son of the late President and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Eager to be accepted on his own terms, Kennedy admired Littell's irreverence toward his celebrity and they became close friends. John opened up to Littell on a very personal level, revealing the complex and sometimes tense nature of his relationships with his sister and cousins, as well as his mother's extraordinary influence on John - and how they both worked to keep it from being overbearing. John's marriage had its ups and downs and Carolyn had made enemies of some of his friends, but she was in great shape mentally and physically and they were planning to have children. Littell recounts wonderful dinners at Jacqueline Onassis's apartment where she surprised him with his favorite dinner of specially burned hamburgers and weekends at her retreat in Martha's Vineyard where she critiqued their touch football while lying on a chaise lounge, her face covered in cold cream and cucumber slices. As students, Littell and Kennedy bummed around Europe. They slept in Hyde Park, sampled the pleasures of Amsterdam, ran afoul of customs officers and almost got busted at the Ritz Hotel for smoking pot. They even shared apartments in New York City until Jackie summoned them to dinner one day and gently suggested it was time to grow up. The two went on to pursue their professional lives. John trained as a lawyer - and Littell speaks of his friend's anguish at repeatedly failing the bar - and then he founded his own political magazine, which seemed only fitting because Kennedy yearned to live up to the family name and accepted that politics would be his destiny. Later on, Littell was a part of JFK, Jr.'s secret wedding to Carolyn Bessette on Cumberland Island, Georgia, and three years later a pallbearer at his funeral. From shared adventures, private moments and lasting memories, Robert Littell offers a unique look at John F. Kennedy Jr.'s life - one that has never been seen before.




My Kennedy Years


Book Description

Fifty years after his assassination on 22 November 1963, John F. Kennedy is still a towering figure in the history of our times and across the world. Jacques Lowe was the official photographer of JFK's campaign for the presidency as well as his personal photographer following his election in 1960. Over 250 images capture life with this compelling politician - on the campaign trail, at home with Jackie and daughter Caroline, politicking behind the scenes at the convention, at work in the White House, as a leader on the world stage, and his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, mourned by millions around the world. Throughout, the photographs are complemented by Lowe's personal record of his friendship with the whole Kennedy family and his years at the heart of American politics. They provide a unique record of one of the most enduringly fascinating politicians of the modern era.