The Kennedys Amidst the Gathering Storm: A Thousand Days in London, 1938-1940 Hardcover – April 29, 2008

The author states that he is going to debunk the Joe Kennedy, sr. image of being a difficult, stubborn isolationist ambassador. . He spends about the first 3 chapters saying that he is going to do this.

So, I was getting bored...thinking, well, get on with it ! As the book went on it got a lot more interesting. Hence my wavering between 3 or 4 stars.

What was interesting was that as much as he was going to re paint the image of Joe Kennedy,sr. he actually simply reinforced the current image. So, there wasn't a lot of debunking, but it was an interesting book.

I learned a lot about the Kennedy family's time in England (1938-1940). Joe sr. WAS a difficult man, but FDR was his boss. And FDR was an equally difficult, demanding boss. FDR didn't always share his policy and thoughts with Joe sr. so it would be hard to represent your country in a knowledge vacuum.

So, I enjoyed it. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it. I got it as a daily deal I think. So, for the amount I paid, it was worth a read.

It is hard to go wrong with a book about the Kennedys, and this one is a gem. From the politically naive and inept father, the Ambassador, to chubby Teddy, age 6, writing charming notes to his father, to Jack bedding Marlene Dietrich as a young Harvard student, the stories are all fascinating. I especially enjoyed learning about Kathleen, who shared Jack's wit without his sizable brainpower, and Joe, Jr., a fearless guy who, brought up in the competitiveness Joe, Sr., glorified, but not as bright, witty or successful as a war hero as Jack, blew himself up in a suicide bomb run near the end of World War II. Joe, Jr., like his father suffered from political myopia and lack of vision, and stuck to extreme isolationism long after it was clearly untenable for a successful Democratic politician to do so.

Not to mention seeing Rosemary, the tragic one, attend elegant high society dances in London with her sisters, without any serious problems, and function well as an arts and crafts teacher in England, totally lose it when she returned to the US, causing Joe, Sr., to agree to a lobotomy, which turned her into a vegetable. And mother Rose, who probably spent as much money on fancy French couture as Joe did on his mistresses.

The book also contains lots of wonderful cameos, from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, to their daughter, the current Queen, to the Lindberghs,
who, with their own rarified brand of politicial naivete, were about to move permanently to Nazi Germany when the war began (!), to Jack's wonderful gay best friend, Lem Billings, and the gay American Ambassador in Paris, Wlliam Bullitt, who lived openly with his partner.

One persistent theme of the book is to criticize FDR's failure to explain his foreign policy to Joe Kennedy. This criticism is, I believe, misplaced. Joe Kennedy knew next to nothing about foreign policy when he asked for the job as the first American Irish Ambassador to the King, and less when he was forced to quit. FDR rightly did not trust Kennedy, and wanted Kennedy out of the country during the 1940 Presidential election. Joe, Sr., lacked the political sophistication to understand his role, or to adjust to FDR's policies and changing public opinion in the US, which moved towards supporting intervention before Pearl Harbor left people with no other option than to fight. FDR could not have clarified his foreign policy to Kennedy because FDR was hiding his own interventionist views from a public and a Congress (and a London Ambassador) who were stuck on neutrality and isolationism. Kennedy made the additional mistake of befriending Neville Chamberlain, a very small-minded and naive politician like himself, who made the near-fatal mistake of thinking Hitler would keep his promises. Kennedy and Chamberlain were two peas in a pod.

In addition, Joe, Sr., a successful businessman, made the mistake of thinking economics controlled the bloodthirsty ideologues of the Nazi regime.

Joe Sr's reward was to see his political career destroyed; he never held any political office after he left London.

On the other hand, Jack, Bobby, Ted, all of them far better politicians and strategists than their father, never made the mistake of hanging on to extreme positions, or giving disastrously candid interviews to reporters, such as Louis Lyons, who actually and courageously reported the crazy things Joe said after his return to the US. The cosmopolitanism and friends the family developed in England just before the war, however, proved a great benefit, especially to Jack. Without the Kennedys' experiences in England, could Camelot have existed?

The book is also full of witty stories and interesting analogies, such as the fact that FDR, like Obama, had trouble with the Irish Catholic working class voters of his day.

FDR achieved his goal of keeping Joe, Sr. out of the 1940 presidential campaign; at Rose Kennedy's urging, aided by some blarney from FDR, Joe even gave a nationwide radio address before the election endorsing FDR. The important job in the government which FDR, in a staged meeting at the White House, promised Kennedy, of course never materialized.

Joe's reward, as we all know, was an amazingly talented and fascinating family. Whatever his other faults, Joe seems to have been a genuinely good father, treating his children with respect, discussing issues at the dinner table and providing support when needed. When he was not around he wrote personalized letters to each of the children. Even the tragedies, such as Rosemary's problems, often had wonderful trajectories, such as the Special Olympics which Eunice and others developed following Rosemary's tragedy.

The sub text of this book could be called ' The period of America's reluctance to enter WWII'. I found this aspect of this book to be as interesting as the title character. The politics leading up to just before we committed to the alliance against Hitler. Popular U.S. sentiment kept America on the sidelines far longer than England wanted. I found this to be very interesting in relation to the numerous subsequent U.S. wars in the 70 years that followed wherein reluctance to enter into war was so easily discarded though there was a much less clear purpose and justification for entry. Wars which ended with a less clear and satisfying result. I.e. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and more smaller skirmishes such as Somalia. Over all a worthwhile read on a unique time in the development of the Kennedys when their patriarch Joe P. was Ambassador to England from 1938-40.

This book highlighted the important role Joseph Kennedy played in events prior to and leading up to WWII. It places him in a kinder, more balanced light with information not generally known. To me this is a "must read" book to better understand that period of history and prior to JFK's assassination.

Being something of a history buff, I enjoyed reading a more detailed account of Joseph Kennedy's time as U.S. Ambassador to England in such a turbulent era. I did come away with the feeling that the author wanted to find excuses for some of Kennedy's public and private gaffes. Since I have always found the Kennedy family fascinating, the inclusion of activities of other members of the family during this time made the book even more readable. I highly recommend it.

Very detailed account of Kennedy's ambassadorship.

Perhaps it's my preconception of Kennedy from prior reading, but this bio seems to be a bit defensive of Kennedy. Most interesting to me was reading about young Jack, Bobby and Ted. To be honest, I never cared for their brand of ultra-liberal politics, but this book did fill in some gaps for me.

I'm reading this right now, almost finished and it's very informative on the Kennedy's. I've read a few books on the Kennedy's and this is one of my favorites. A real inside look.

A different view of Joe Kennedy. Thoroughly enjoyable. Made me rethink my opinion of him and his relationship to FDR.