A Companion to John F. Kennedy

A Companion to John F. Kennedy presents a comprehensive collection of historiographical essays addressing the life and administration of the nation’s 35th president. Featuring original contributions from leading JFK and Kennedy–era scholars, readings reflect the latest critical scholarship surrounding developments and events in Kennedy’s private and public life, from his privileged youth and early career in politics to his presidency and 1963 assassination. Initial essays explore themes addressed in the major Kennedy biographies, followed by readings covering Kennedy’s political career prior to his presidency, looking at his time in Congress and the U.S. presidential election of 1960. Subsequent essays explore Kennedy’s management of the presidency, including his dealings with Congress, the significance of his family and key advisers, and his handling of the media and the military. Berlin, Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs and other major crises that would define the JFK presidency are explored next, along with Kennedy’s responses to a variety of related regional and global challenges. A final series of essays address domestic concerns, including women’s issues and civil rights, and contentious debates surrounding the tragedy in Dallas. From Camelot to the Cuban Missile Crisis, A Companion to John F. Kennedy presents compelling new insights and a balanced reappraisal of JFK, both the man and president.

Marc Selverstone is Associate Professor and Chair of the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virgina’s Miller Center. He is the author of Constructing the Monolith: The United States, Great Britain, and International Communism, 1945–1950 (2009), which won the Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. He is currently writing The Kennedy Withdrawal: Camelot and the American Commitment to Vietnam .