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The Kennedys at War: 1937-1945
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Somebody once asked John F. Kennedy how he became a war hero. "It was easy," he replied. "They sank my boat." JFK's adventure aboard PT-109 in the Second World War is fairly well-known. Kennedy's boat did indeed sink in the Pacific, but it was his able leadership that helped his men survive in dangerous waters and then on a deserted island. This episode comprises only a sliver of Edward J. Renehan Jr.'s story of the Kennedy family at war. Father Joe Kennedy, who was FDR's isolationist ambassador to Great Britain, looms over much of the book, especially the first half. JFK's older brother, Joe Jr., was also involved in the war; when he died on a bombing raid, the family's political aspirations shifted onto Jack. (Sisters Kathleen and Rosemary also receive due attention.) Renehan provides a fascinating glimpse at how the central event of the 20th century shaped one of America's great dynasties. He disputes a few previous interpretations--he says JFK's book Why England Slept became a bestseller because of its merits rather than his father's eagerness to buy multiple copies. What emerges is a clear picture of the future president as a young man and a story of how a war changed him: He "looked at life and the world in a new and unique way, operating from a perspective he could not have previously imagined." The Kennedys at War is a welcome addition to a crowded field of Kennedy books and highly recommended for anybody interested in this fascinating family. --John Miller
From Publishers Weekly
Veteran biographer and historian Renehan (The Lion's Pride, etc.) presents a well-written, well-researched account of the Kennedys in the years leading up to and during WWII. Renehan begins with the ambitious patriarch, Joseph Kennedy, Sr., his ambiguous relationship with President Franklin Roosevelt and his disastrous turn as ambassador to Great Britain. Kennedy's fervent isolationist views, combined with both anti-Semitic and pro-fascist leanings, made him an ardent supporter of Neville Chamberlain's disastrously failed policy of appeasement. Not long after WWII broke out, the ambassador resigned, to FDR's relief. Rehehan is most revealing on the way the sinking of son JFK's boat, the fabled PT 109, was turned from a disaster into a public relations triumph: initially, JFK was to be blamed for not noticing advancing enemy vessels, one of which rammed his boat, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur "is supposed to have said that Jack should have been court-martialed." However, molded by sympathetic journalists like the New Yorker's John Hersey, the PT 109 saga benefited from early public relations "spin" and boosted JFK's later political career. JFK's brother Joe Jr., the family's heir apparent, was killed in 1944 during a mission over France. Tragedy struck the family again when sister Kathleen's new husband was killed fighting in Belgium. Renehan argues quite convincingly that the war was the transformative experience of young JFK's life, and set the tone for both the triumphs and tragedies that would mark the family for the rest of the century. This is a worthy installment in the always-popular Kennedy saga.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
Somebody once asked John F. Kennedy how he became a war hero. "It was easy," he replied. "They sank my boat." JFK's adventure aboard PT-109 in the Second World War is fairly well-known. Kennedy's boat did indeed sink in the Pacific, but it was his able leadership that helped his men survive in dangerous waters and then on a deserted island. This episode comprises only a sliver of Edward J. Renehan Jr.'s story of the Kennedy family at war. Father Joe Kennedy, who was FDR's isolationist ambassador to Great Britain, looms over much of the book, especially the first half. JFK's older brother, Joe Jr., was also involved in the war; when he died on a bombing raid, the family's political aspirations shifted onto Jack. (Sisters Kathleen and Rosemary also receive due attention.) Renehan provides a fascinating glimpse at how the central event of the 20th century shaped one of America's great dynasties. He disputes a few previous interpretations--he says JFK's book Why England Slept became a bestseller because of its merits rather than his father's eagerness to buy multiple copies. What emerges is a clear picture of the future president as a young man and a story of how a war changed him: He "looked at life and the world in a new and unique way, operating from a perspective he could not have previously imagined." The Kennedys at War is a welcome addition to a crowded field of Kennedy books and highly recommended for anybody interested in this fascinating family. --John Miller
From Publishers Weekly
Veteran biographer and historian Renehan (The Lion's Pride, etc.) presents a well-written, well-researched account of the Kennedys in the years leading up to and during WWII. Renehan begins with the ambitious patriarch, Joseph Kennedy, Sr., his ambiguous relationship with President Franklin Roosevelt and his disastrous turn as ambassador to Great Britain. Kennedy's fervent isolationist views, combined with both anti-Semitic and pro-fascist leanings, made him an ardent supporter of Neville Chamberlain's disastrously failed policy of appeasement. Not long after WWII broke out, the ambassador resigned, to FDR's relief. Rehehan is most revealing on the way the sinking of son JFK's boat, the fabled PT 109, was turned from a disaster into a public relations triumph: initially, JFK was to be blamed for not noticing advancing enemy vessels, one of which rammed his boat, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur "is supposed to have said that Jack should have been court-martialed." However, molded by sympathetic journalists like the New Yorker's John Hersey, the PT 109 saga benefited from early public relations "spin" and boosted JFK's later political career. JFK's brother Joe Jr., the family's heir apparent, was killed in 1944 during a mission over France. Tragedy struck the family again when sister Kathleen's new husband was killed fighting in Belgium. Renehan argues quite convincingly that the war was the transformative experience of young JFK's life, and set the tone for both the triumphs and tragedies that would mark the family for the rest of the century. This is a worthy installment in the always-popular Kennedy saga.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
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