RETHINKING KENNEDY: AN INTERPRETIVE BIOGRAPHY by Michael O'Brien is a fantastic read for anyone interested in the most charismatic president. O'Brien is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Fox Valley along with being a Kennedy expert. He wrote a book previously to this one, a more comprehensive (read: less accessible?) biography on the same subject entitled: JOHN F. KENNEDY. O'Brien makes a sincere effort to make history totally accessible and readable. His biography gives a terrifically balanced point of view while traveling from Kennedy's youth, through his elections, to his death. While the author is clearly on Kennedy's side, O'Brien shows both sides of the aisle equally, while proving points. He covers major issues from Vietnam to the Bay of Pigs. O'Brien shows the strengths and weaknesses of these major events, controlled by the young president. Even more interesting, are the chapters about JFK's life with Jackie, his childhood, and his sexual life. O'Brien does not shy away from the tough questions about Castro and possible assassination attempts on the Cuban leader or relations with Marilyn Monroe and Mob leaders. Then the concluding chapter describes the president's final morning alive. I highly recommend this biography where O'Brien serves great justice to a well-loved president, while still pointing out some flaws and some controversies.
The critics agree:
"What you need to know about modern history's most compelling and complicated president is delivered in Michael O'Brien's compressed, highly readable package gleaned from his own deep knowledge and the volumes of scholarship, some of it quite critical, spawned by the nation's 35th president."
-Charles M. Madigan, Presidential Writer in Residence, Roosevelt University
"Based on recent scholarship, this lucid, interpretive summary of John Kennedy's life should appeal to the general reader and university undergraduates alike."
-James N. Giglio, author of The Presidency of John F. Kennedy
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