On 22 November 1963 John Fitzgerald Kennedy, thirty-fifth president
of the United States, was shot by an assassin while campaigning in Dallas,
Texas. Such a shocking death for a glamorous figure, at the peak of his
power, encouraged a "Kennedy industry" that has already generated some
one thousand books. The fact that his surviving family enjoyed achieve-
ment and adulation while suffering scandal and tragedy helps to explain
the enduring fascination with all aspects of the Kennedy legend. The
questions left unanswered, the policies still undeveloped, and the tragic
sense of promise unfulfilled continue to draw historians to the early 1960s.

The history of his presidency was shaped at first by the rich and lov-
ing memoirs of two of his more liberal aides, Theodore Sorensen and
Arthur Schlesinger Jr. ¹ Later writings challenged the image of a gifted
and wise leader, potentially one of the great modern presidents, in two
crucial respects. First, his achievements in foreign policy were subject to
increasing scrutiny. He was blamed for helping to trigger those crises
over Berlin and Cuba that also provided his finest hours, and for allow-
ing the drift into the Vietnam War to gather pace. Kennedy "had his
chance" to introduce a more enlightened American foreign policy, ac-
cording to Thomas Paterson, "and he failed." ² Second, revelations were
made about a private life somewhat at odds with a public image domi-
nated by charm, wit, and intellect. An apparently insatiable sexual appe-
tite and dubious associations sit uneasily with an image of family man
and responsible public servant. The issue of whether Kennedy's private
flaws impinged on his public duties made the character issue the central
question of Kennedy historiography. ³

The drive to replace history as celebration by history as indictment
culminated in Seymour Hersh The Dark Side of Camelot. ⁴ However, the
tendency in the more serious biographies has been to present Kennedy
as a complex personality, in office at a difficult time, and with a mixed
performance during his short tenure as president. ⁵ In following this ap-
proach, I am more concerned with explanation than judgment. This book
does not attempt to be a full biography of Kennedy. It looks only at

-ix-