The team at Random House has demonstrated again that it’s in a class of its own. Andy Ward and Marie Pantojan were virtuoso editors—deeply discerning, endlessly patient, ever supportive. On the production side, Loren Noveck and Will Palmer were masterful, and I’m indebted to Michelle Jasmine and Ayelet Gruenspecht for their expert efforts in publicity and marketing. To David Ebershoff, who encouraged me to pursue the project and signed it, thank you! In Britain, Daniel Crewe, the publishing director of Viking, showed early and steadfast enthusiasm. At John Hawkins & Associates, Warren Frazier is simply the consummate agent, a pro who combines smart, savvy, and exuberant in the best possible way.
This book would not have happened had it not been for Susan Kamil, the late and legendary publisher and editor in chief of Random House. From the start Susan was an irrepressible champion of the project, and I treasured our leisurely lunches at Harvest in Harvard Square when she came for visits, our conversations ranging far and wide but always coming back to the book trade she loved. The lunches will be no more, but I will cherish the memory of them always.
Friends and family undergird writing projects like this in ways that are harder to measure but no less vital. For their love and encouragement I’m deeply grateful to Richard and Robin Parker, Jonathan Kirshner, Esty Schachter, Robin Wilkerson, Steve Atlas, Ken Mouré, David Starr, Bertil and Tracy Jean-Chronberg, Tanya Meyer, Rohn Meijer, Tom and Karen Gilovich, Alan Lynch, and Julie Simmons-Lynch. Apologies to Julie (who read the entire draft) that we didn’t go with her suggested title: You Don’t Know Jack. Special thanks to my dear friends Kristen Rupert and John Foote, whose charming summer home in aptly named Friendship, Maine, provided a tranquil setting for feverish writing.
My wonderful daughter and son, Emma and Joe, provided constant support and affection, and Emma showed her sharp editorial eye on the preface. Warm thanks also to my siblings, Maria and Robert, and to our parents, who did not live to see this project completed but who thrilled at the news that their son would write an in-depth biography of an American president who was and is a deeply inspirational figure to many Scandinavians. Danyel, my lovely and brilliant and witty wife, read every word and gave fabulous feedback, on the big picture as well as the intricate details, while also providing love, devotion, laughter, and a regular supply of her matchlessly delicious Swedish baked goods. I dedicate this book to her.
NOTES
ABBREVIATIONS USED
1. Archives
AESP: Adlai E. Stevenson Papers, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
AHC: American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
AKP: Arthur Krock Papers, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
AMSP: Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
CBLP: Clare Booth Luce Papers, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.
CBP: Clay Blair Papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
CBSI: CBS Interviews, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
CCP: Clark M. Clifford Papers, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.
CSA: Choate School Archives, Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, Connecticut
DFPP: David F. Powers Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
FDRL: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park, New York
GBP: George Ball Papers, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
HCLP: Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts
HIP: Harold L. Ickes Papers, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.
HMP: Henry Morgenthau Jr. Papers, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.
HUA: Harvard University Archives, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
JFK Pre-Pres: John F. Kennedy Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
JFKL: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
JFKPOF: John F. Kennedy President’s Office Files, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
JFKPP: John F. Kennedy Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
JPKP: Joseph P. Kennedy Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
JKOP: Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
KLBP: Kirk LeMoyne Billings Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
LC: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
MHS: Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts
NARA: National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
NAUK: National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, U.K.
OCF: Official and Confidential Files (J. Edgar Hoover), Record Group 65, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
RKP: Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
TOP: Tip O’Neill Congressional Papers, John J. Burns Library, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
TSP: Theodore C. Sorensen Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts
2. Individuals
AES: Adlai E. Stevenson
FDR: Franklin D. Roosevelt
JFK: John F. Kennedy
JPK: Joseph P. Kennedy
JPK Jr.: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.
KK: Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy
KLB: Kirk LeMoyne “Lem” Billings
RFK: Robert F. Kennedy
RK: Rose Kennedy
TS: Theodore “Ted” Sorensen
3. Newspapers
BG: Boston Globe
BP: Boston Post
NYT: New York Times
SEP: Saturday Evening Post
THC: The Harvard Crimson
WP: Washington Post
4. Oral Histories
Alastair Forbes OH, JFKL
Arthur Krock OH, CBP
Arthur Krock OH, JFKL
Barbara Ward OH, JFKL
Betty Coxe Spalding OH, CBP
Billy Sutton OH, JFKL
Charles Bartlett OH, JFKL
Charles Spalding OH, JFKL
David Powers extended OH, box 9, DFPP
David Powers OH, JFKL
Dore Schary OH, JFKL
Edmund Gullion OH, JFKL
Edward J. McCormack OH, JFKL
Fletcher Knebel OH, JFKL
Frank Morrissey OH, JFKL
George Taylor OH, JFKL
Gloria L. Sitrin OH, JFKL
Grace de Monaco OH, JFKL
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. OH, JFKL
Hirsch Freed OH, JFKL
Hugh Fraser OH, JFKL
James Farrell OH, JFKL
Janet Auchincloss OH, JFKL
Janet Travell OH, JFKL
Jean McGonigle Mannix OH, JFKL
Joe DeGuglielmo OH, JFKL
John M. Bailey OH, JFKL
John Droney OH, JFKL
John Sharon OH, JFKL
John T. Burke OH, JFKL
Joseph Alsop OH, JFKL
Joseph Healey OH, JFKL
Joseph Rauh OH, JFKL
Kay Halle OH, JFKL
Kirk LeMoyne Bill
ings OH, JFKL
Luella Hennessey OH, JFKL
Mark Dalton OH, JFKL
Patricia Kennedy Lawford OH, JFKL
Peter Lawford OH, JFKL
Peter Cloherty OH, JFKL
Phil David Fine OH, JFKL
Polly Fitzgerald OH, JFKL
Ralph Horton OH, CBP
Ralph Horton OH, JFKL
Samuel Bornstein OH, JFKL
Thomas Broderick OH, JFKL
Thomas “Tip” O’Neill OH, JFKL
Tony Galluccio OH, JFKL
Torbert Macdonald OH, JFKL
William Douglas-Home OH, JFKL
William O. Douglas OH, JFKL
NOTES
PREFACE
1. Prior to his arrival in Berlin, he had visited other German cities, including Munich and Hamburg. On the storm troopers, see Sandford, Union Jack, 53. And see also Lubrich, John F. Kennedy Unter Deutschen, 129–50.
2. On the German government’s propaganda efforts, see Evans, Third Reich in Power, 695–96.
3. JFK to Lem Billings, August 20, 1939, printed in Lubrich, John F. Kennedy Unter Deutschen, 146–48. See also Leaming, Jack Kennedy: Education, 89; and O’Brien, John F. Kennedy, 96.
4. Shirer, Berlin Diary, 181–83; Kotkin, Stalin: Waiting, 661; “Greatest Surprise in Berlin,” The Scotsman, August 22, 1939.
5. Ted Widmer, “Ich Bin Ein Berliner,” NYT, June 25, 2013; Martin and Plaut, Front Runner, 127; McCarthy, Remarkable Kennedys, 81; The American Weekly, May 30, 1948.
6. JPK diary, March 12, 1939, box 100, JPKP.
7. The speech in full is on the website of the International Churchill Society, winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1939-in-the-wings/war-speech/, accessed February 8, 2020.
8. Second on the list is Dwight Eisenhower, with a 65 percent average rating. Harry Truman averaged 45 percent, and Lyndon Johnson 55 percent. Kennedy’s was of course an abbreviated presidency, and thus he was not subject to the dip in ratings that typically occurs in the second term. For ex post facto popular views of Kennedy’s performance, see Andrew Dugan and Frank Davenport, “Americans Rate JFK as Top Modern President,” November 15, 2013, Gallup, https://news.gallup.com/poll/165902/americans-rate-jfk-top-modern-president.aspx. For the first set of figures, showing who claimed to have voted for Kennedy, see Manchester, Glory and the Dream, 890.
9. Dallek’s valuable An Unfinished Life moves swiftly through the first two-thirds of Kennedy’s life and is now almost two decades old. Herbert Parmet’s perceptive two-volume effort, Jack and JFK, dates from the 1980s, when much archival material was still unavailable. Other useful works include O’Brien, John F. Kennedy; Burns, John Kennedy; Matthews, Jack Kennedy; Leaming, Jack Kennedy: Education; Perret, Jack; and Martin, Hero for Our Time. Not to be missed are the often penetrating early accounts by insiders: Schlesinger, Thousand Days; Sorensen, Kennedy; O’Donnell and Powers, “Johnny”; and O’Brien, No Final Victories. See also Sorensen’s memoirs, Counselor. Several family portraits are likewise important, including Leamer, Kennedy Men and Kennedy Women; Maier, Kennedys and When Lions Roar; Collier and Horowitz, Kennedys; and, especially, Goodwin, Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys. Brief and useful introductions to JFK include Brinkley, John F. Kennedy; Burner, John F. Kennedy; and Ling, John F. Kennedy. Interpretive works, some of them polemical in tone, include Wills, Kennedy Imprisonment; Hersh, Dark Side; Hellman, Obsession; Hogan, Afterlife; and Brogan, Kennedy. Several biographies of Joseph Kennedy are key, starting with Nasaw’s seminal effort, Patriarch. See here also Whalen, Founding Father; Kessler, Sins of the Father; and Koskoff, Joseph P. Kennedy. On Rose Kennedy, see Perry, Rose Kennedy; and Cameron, Rose. Rose Kennedy’s own account Times to Remember is essential. In a special category is the extraordinary compendium of Joe Kennedy correspondence compiled by his granddaughter Amanda Smith, Hostage to Fortune. For a discerning and balanced overview of the historiography, see Michael Kazin, “An Idol and Once a President: John F. Kennedy at 100,” Journal of American History 104 (December 2017): 707–26.
10. Highly important on the early years is Hamilton, JFK: Reckless Youth. Hamilton and I disagree on various aspects of these years, and abundant archival and other material has appeared in the almost three decades since the publication of his book, but I remain in his debt. Also valuable on the early years is Blair and Blair, Search for JFK.
11. Historian Barton J. Bernstein has written, “Scholars should adequately recognize that chief executives, like other people, develop attitudes, responses, and values well before reaching middle age or beyond. Those who enter the presidency are neither unformed nor fully formed, but they are usually largely formed.” Barton J. Bernstein, “Understanding Decisionmaking, U.S. Foreign Policy, and the Cuban Missile Crisis: A Review Essay,” International Security 25, no. 1 (Summer 2000): 134–64.
12. Especially valuable are the voluminous Joseph P. Kennedy Personal Papers, which until 2013 were accessible only by permission but which are now open to all. An extremely useful compendium, which includes perceptive interpretive essays, is Smith, Hostage to Fortune.
13. Schlesinger, Life in the 20th Century, 261.
14. “My husband was a romantic,” Jackie Kennedy said a year after his death, “although he didn’t like people to know that.” Look, November 17, 1964.
15. Aide Richard Goodwin, who also worked for Lyndon Johnson, said many years later, “We all loved the guy, those of us who worked for him. The feelings were more intense than they were for Johnson.” Richard Goodwin, interview with the author, October 16, 2016, Concord, MA.
16. “As a lifetime fan of comedy and American history,” Conan O’Brien observes in a trenchant essay, “I have thought quite a bit about our truly funniest presidents, and I think we have had exactly two: Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy….The humor that resonates with me is…the sense of humor one needs in order to hold two opposing ideas at once: that our life here on earth is simultaneously beautiful and terribly sad. To wit, it is the humor of John F. Kennedy.” Conan O’Brien, “Comedy as Worldview,” in Smith and Brinkley, JFK: A Vision for America, 27–29.
17. Manchester, Portrait of a President, 49; JFK to Inga Arvad, n.d. (September 1943), printed in Sandler, Letters, 31–33; transcript of MBN radio address, November 14, 1951, box 102, JFK Pre-Pres.
18. He returned to the topic many times in the years thereafter. See, e.g., his speech at the University of Notre Dame on January 29, 1950. Transcript is in box 95, JFK Pre-Pres.
19. As Jill Abramson has put it, “a dolorous mood of ‘what might have been’ hangs over a good deal of writing about Kennedy.” Jill Abramson, “Kennedy, the Elusive President,” NYT, October 22, 2013. My thanks to Zach Shore for his input on this point.
CHAPTER 1: TWO FAMILIES
1. A half century later, the Kennedys would pay $55,000 to repurchase the house, refurnish it with everything from the original Victorian furniture to JFK’s bassinet, and then turn the deed over to the federal government, to maintain as a national historic site: the birthplace of the thirty-fifth president. At the official dedication in 1969, Rose Kennedy stood on the front porch she had crossed as a newlywed and spoke briefly to the crowd of seven hundred gathered in front of her. “We were very happy here,” she said, “and although we did not know about the days ahead, we were enthusiastic and optimistic about the future.” Greg Wayland, “At His Birthplace in Brookline, Historians Preserve Stories of JFK’s Early Years,” WBUR News, May 25, 2017, www.wbur.org/news/2017/05/25/jfk-birthplace-brookline, accessed March 18, 2019.
2. Karr, Between City and Country, 189–90; Hamilton, JFK: Reckless Youth, 23–24.
3. The term is usually attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. In his novel Elsie Venner (Boston, 1847), Holmes describes a young Bostonian: “He comes of the Brahmin caste of New England. Th
is is the harmless, inoffensive, untitled aristocracy.”
4. Rawson, Eden on the Charles, 162–67. On Brookline’s rise in these years, see Karr, Between City and Country.
5. Some accounts suggest he traveled directly from New Ross to Boston, but it seems more likely he went via Liverpool. Passenger lists from the period show several Patrick, Pat, or P. Kennedys arriving in Boston on various dates, so it’s impossible to be certain when he traveled, and by which route.
6. O’Connor, Boston Irish, 59.
7. Maier, Kennedys, 22; Miller, Emigrants and Exiles, 285.
8. Ó Gráda, Ireland’s Great Famine, 14–16; Miller, Emigrants and Exiles, 283; Dolan, Irish Americans, 71–72.
9. Kerby Miller, “Emigration to North America in the Era of the Great Famine, 1845–1855,” in Crowley, Smyth, and Murphy, Atlas, 214–27; Dolan, Irish Americans, 74; Kenny, American Irish, 94–95.
10. Ó Gráda, Ireland’s Great Famine, 190–91, quoted in Dolan, Irish Americans, 74; Kenny, American Irish, 99.
11. Kenny, American Irish, 102; Woodham-Smith, Great Hunger, 238.
12. Kelly, Graves Are Walking, 252–89; Handlin, Uprooted, 50–52; Kenny, American Irish, 94–95; Whalen, Founding Father, 7–8. Herman Melville, who served as crew member on an emigrant ship, the Highlander, in 1849, wrote of the passengers’ experience: “Stowed away like bales of cotton, and packed like slaves in a slave ship, confined in a place that during storm time must be closed against light and air, [unable to do any] cooking nor warm so much as a cup of water.” Quoted in Kelly, Graves Are Walking, 271.
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