1961-1963

Presents a brief biography of John F. Kennedy, thirty-fifth president of the United States, providing information on his childhood, his education, and his political career.

JFK's final year in office was spent in a struggle for a sustainable peace with the Soviet Union. President Kennedy and his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, came close to Nuclear War during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They both emerged with the determination to forge a less threatening direction for the world. Together they would chart a path for future peacemakers to follow. The first of those measures was reached in the summer of 1963--the partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

January 1953 marked the year that Ted Sorensen and the freshman senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy, began their professional relationship and personal friendship. The young lawyer from Nebraska worked closely with JFK on his most important speeches, as well as his book, Profiles in Courage. Sorensen followed him to the White House in 1960 and was there for some of the most crucial days in JFK's presidency. After Kennedy's assassination, Sorensen stayed with President Johnson for a few months before leaving to write a biography of JFK but he returned to Washington in 1968 to help run Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign.

A second revised edition of what is claimed to be the most balanced book on John F. Kennedy's White House years. Newly accessible archival material and declassifed documents show how domestic and foreign policies were interconnected at a time when the Cold War dominated national life.

Contains an in-depth look at the Kennedy family during John F. Kennedy's presidency, focusing especially on his wife and children, and explores the impact of photography and the media on Kennedy's public image and persona.

Examines how and why America went to war in Vietnam, and investigates the question of why men who were said to be the ablest to serve in government in the twentieth century had been the architects of the tragic conflict.

Primary documents examine the key issues that presidents faced from 1953 to 1969, offering arguments both for and against each president's actions and views.