Customer Reviews

Conversations with Kennedy

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Bradlee, the Washington Post journalist and editor, was befriended by Kennedy months before the 1960 Presidential Campaign. They had in the next four years over one- hundred and fifty conversations, the paraphrases of which make up the heart of this volume. The method Bradlee uses is one which I found wanting, as it does not present the President so much in his own words, as in Bradlee's recountings of what those words were.
The book is best at giving an inside - view of the way friendship and politics go together, and often not - together in Washington. The lapses in the periods of conversation were due to Bradlee's being put in an occasional doghouse for writing in a way the White House did not enjoy.
The picture presented of the President if of a person of exceptional charm, and good intelligence who is nonetheless afflicted by countless petty considerations. For instance Bradlee reveals the President resented Jackie's mastery of languages, and even resented her star- status the night of the famous White House Broadcast in which she showed it redecorated to an American television - viewing audience.
The most painful and moving chapter is the last, the account of the President's assassination and especially of his widow's actions during this time. For anyone who was alive at the time and remembers the assassination it will be chilling to read this chapter.
Kennedy devotees will take pleasure in this book for each incidental story it gives about the President. I think though that for most readers the work will provide less than full satisfaction. One reason for this is that it's telling is quite bland, and instances of the famed Kennedy wit are not as frequent as they might be.

conversations with kennedy is a very interesting book because we can learn about jfk the man.
the annecdotes are very interesting and never boring.
there are a few pictures too.
moreover,the book is written by a jfk's friend so infirmations are true.
I highly recommend it

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.

This is a book I will have,I have been a J F K fan for a very long time, the chance to learn more of the private person should not be missed, this looks like it will provide an insight into the real J F K, the one I have been searching for.

I did enjoy this book, but didn't feel it was a page turner until the last quarter of the book. I wanted more details on their lost baby Patrick, more on the "Marilyn Monroe days", more of his beliefs of the Civil Rights movement, (MLK, Jr. was not mentioned at all) more on his relationship with his children and all the other events that surrounded his life during his presidency. However, from the title, I should be satisfied as it wasn't "The Life Of JFK". I wanted to read it to learn more about that era and what his thoughts, morals, ethics and policies really were. This book will give you a glimpse of it, but not in great detail. I do remember exactly where I was when I heard that Kennedy was shot even though I was only "4". I would recommend this book if you are looking to increase your knowledge of the man he was during his presidency, but would not recommend it if you are truly looking for a truly enthralling indepth inroad to who JFK and Jacqueline were.

This was not as good as I thought it would have been considering the author. It doesn't feel as if a journalist or even a friend wrote this book more like a teenager writing a research paper for high school economics. THe conversations didn't seem to be mcuh of anything..there was probably about 50 pages that fit into the title of the book otherwise it was more like a personal account and opinions from the writer that had nothing to do with Kennedy except ina work aspect. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is a Kennedy supporter/fan because it is not worth the money or the time in reading. Most of the information that was in this book that was personal conversations you can find in many other books by other authors so it is nothing exclusive to Ben Bradlee. A friend trying to make an extra buck on a past friends name and didn't even do it honor, which is such a shame

I really enjoyed this book. It is a fascinating insight into a very complex man. I most enjoyed Ben's oblique discussions of JFK's "girling". More interesting was Ben's own insecurity about JFk and his wife. Ben must have been somewhat uncomfortable when he and his then wife were around JFK due to the President's predatory sexuality regarding any female within striking distance. Ben references this fact more than a few times and of course it was revealed by his wife years later that JFK had in fact sexually assaulted her. Whatever those tensions may have been, the book offers us a detailed look not only at the king but also of one of the king's vassals. It must have been hard to constantly kiss JFK's rear just so he would have access to the President. I felt sorry for Ben when he reveals that JFK cut him off for not toeing the White House line on something. He sounds like a little school girl when he relates how elated he was at being let back into the king's court. I think JFK treated him like him like a pet dog. I guess Bradlee got the last laugh as his book became a bestseller. Parenthetically, Jackie cut the Bradlees off for the final time because of Ben's accurate recounting of JFK's "salty" language.