The Making of a Cold War President

Editor's Introduction: Many thousands of books—more than 40,000 by most estimates—and countless articles have appeared over the past 60 years about the short life and interrupted presidency of John F. Kennedy, the youngest man ever elected as U.S. president. During his presidency he had to contend with two of the most severe Cold War crises—the Berlin crisis of 1961 and the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, both of which came perilously close to provoking war between the Soviet Union and the United States—and he also significantly escalated U.S. military involvement in Vietnam and tried unsuccessfully to overthrow Fidel Castro's Communist regime in Cuba. Kennedy had an ambitious domestic agenda, but, except for an important tax cut, he accomplished almost none of his domestic priorities, unlike his successor, Lyndon Johnson, who accomplished a great deal, especially on civil rights. Nonetheless, when polling organizations ask the public about their assessments of U.S. presidents, Kennedy invariably is rated well above Johnson. This has less to do with Kennedy's meager achievements as president than with his handsome appearance, his charisma, and the way his life ended. The assassination of Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas on 22 November 1963 preserved the image of the glamorous young president in public memory, largely omitting his egregious flaws and the paucity of his achievements in office.Fredrik Logevall, a distinguished historian of U.S. foreign policy and long-time member of the JCWS Editorial Board (and a colleague and friend of mine at Harvard), is completing an authoritative, two-volume biography of Kennedy for Random House. Because of the Kennedy administration's crucial role in the Cold War, we are publishing a special forum about the Logevall biography. We have asked four experts to write commentaries on the first volume (they will also write about the second volume once it is out), and we are pleased to include Logevall's reply to the commentaries.In 2013, on the fiftieth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination, Jill Abramson complained in The New York Times Book Review that despite the publication of some 40,000 books (and counting) devoted to the slain president since his death, there were “surprisingly few good ones, and not one really outstanding one.” Unlike Thomas Jefferson (Dumas Malone), Abraham Lincoln (David Herbert Donald, among others), Dwight D. Eisenhower (Stephen Ambrose), Lyndon B. Johnson (Robert Caro), and Richard M. Nixon (Garry Wills et al.), Kennedy the man and his presidency had yet to inspire a truly classic study. She acknowledged that many fine works had appeared, although some were hagiographic, or appeared too soon to exploit vital sources released later, or both (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days, and Theodore Sorenson, Kennedy, portraits by White House aides, rushed out less than two years after Dallas, fall into this last category). Conversely, other authors aimed to rip the gauze off Kennedy's memory (think Gary Wills, The Kennedy Imprisonment, or Seymour Hersh, The Dark Side of Camelot). Perhaps the most ambitious prober, Nigel Hamilton, ran into stiff resistance from the Kennedy family after the publication in 1992 of the first of three projected volumes, JFK: Reckless Youth, with its scathing portraits of Kennedy's parents and vivid libidinous adventures. The Kennedy family's decision to withhold further access to crucial sources caused Hamilton to drop the project. The best biography, Abramson thought, was Robert Dallek's An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963, which crammed the whole story (including fresh medical revelations) into one volume. Mystified that so many “highly accomplished writers” seemed “unable to fix [Kennedy] on the page,” Abramson concluded, “Kennedy, the odd man out, still seeks his true biographer.”1Well, the wait may be ending. For readers seeking to understand Kennedy's personal story and his part in, evolving understanding of, and impact on the tumultuous 20th-century world and country he grew up in, studied, experienced, and tried to shape, Fredrik Logevall's JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century offers a prime contender. (Full disclosure: I am a longtime friend of Logevall and read the book in manuscript.) Incorporating a wealth of new sources, particularly recently released materials from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library (JFKPL) in Boston, Logevall blends a nuanced, updated account of Kennedy's life up to 1956—when he sought but failed to obtain the Democratic nomination for vice president on Adlai E. Stevenson's doomed ticket against Dwight D. Eisenhower, yet put himself into position for his own successful bid for the top spot four years later—with a superb contextual analysis of U.S. and international history from the interwar years through World War II to the first decade of the Cold War. Seeing how Kennedy as a young man perceived and intersected with these events—how his evolving political views increasingly diverged from the pro-appeasement of his Kennedy (and Jr., his World War understanding of the president he crucial for volume when an a new biography will with and Logevall's Kennedy volume is of for in years in the I many of the and by over in the to Kennedy's Logevall's out in a with and fresh sources that have in especially and history of family and at the as well as of in Kennedy's from his to one of his best to the Kennedy, to his the to was in some the of the not was the Kennedy for who in a four years after their Logevall's an life with and and after World War Logevall of Kennedy's years that have his with his for and and (and and for Logevall of this (and not from but also an who was than the in for his to for the White House after the of Jr., who had to a in Logevall so out of to his as the of most Logevall's with 20th-century international has two books on the U.S. war in The for and the of War in Vietnam and the of The of an and the of Vietnam a on the Cold War, and many articles on of U.S. foreign his account of the and of the young Kennedy's This above from his and for policy in the to World War the that the young Kennedy a by the war in for an the of his who at the was as to the of later, the young Kennedy from the pro-appeasement with his which was after the as its into a young from his publication of the short the that had through (and the of own and Logevall on in international in to on as had to his (and the A to Berlin and as World War II out, which Logevall had Kennedy's for to the House of the young Kennedy's for war against the and for U.S. from the of his and in Logevall's of the political between and the of have had the war and on the political his had out for have to Jr., but he is to have so as as his Robert for in these have his own political or is to also Kennedy's a especially at he an of and which in and a that an for that distinguished from both and which for (and caused to medical from he to a this these to on history (including World world and and his to his in and with history in in Berlin and and in the as a of which his foreign policy World War II in the in the Kennedy had as the most of his a for with which to that be a on of the of and Logevall despite Kennedy their She had in he he The have further in the of from who that have for elected for the in the with in The New by John the Kennedy's in the and in to his The book that the to Kennedy's that military a that the Cuban missile after the with and in and ever in his that U.S. was to the and Soviet as the Cold War his and but the two close and not in Logevall it not for to after in and that his from his his when it came to he was Kennedy's true have a for Logevall in volume will be to Kennedy, as the U.S. in his for a he in and his his in he that not to its and that the to the of the as a between and will be years later, as a U.S. from he war to in the White by Cold War he to than the U.S. role and own A in Logevall will the yet of Kennedy, had he Dallas, have escalated the U.S. military role in Vietnam in his second as Lyndon Johnson or have Vietnam to at the of Communist F. Kennedy was a political and a president. assassination in 1963 at the of short his into a A later, Kennedy's has Many still as one of their presidents, still and and his story and family and new of the Kennedy is that for it has for to their and by to Kennedy a with a few the up to its own to their and the public that Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, was the one who many of the that Kennedy to the and the War on also which to the memory of a and an to the is not have too in at Kennedy, both the of his Cold War and the of his how one his or the of his there is that he the United a crucial of its as it from a of the Cold War into a of with the Soviet also as the of to into of Kennedy both of and the and that both his foreign and his domestic have largely the of Logevall's JFK: Coming of Age in the American the first of a projected two-volume biography, not the Kennedy will wait for volume the for Kennedy's be in to a two-volume some years after the Logevall this with not to the man but also to his the with its to classic Kennedy's years in the House and (and White with the of the United as a its as the of the as the has is to the Cold War Kennedy, as he the Cold War. Logevall's first we the at Kennedy of as a man and a against the of (and a few Logevall's is a of not the Kennedy, and the but also of the historian at and a public Logevall is to write this his with two of the Vietnam War. be Kennedy have Herbert a good two-volume life in the and Robert the we have to a account in Richard an of the Kennedy and of have works on from the Cuban missile crisis to the as Logevall out, of [Kennedy] have and there biography, one that the life and and of the Logevall's for his is not that there is a to be has that the of and of Kennedy has with and of the For a a to Kennedy's years is Logevall this in his account of with a that will for the a Logevall a of almost about Kennedy's life and also the man in his on of a and an Logevall young Kennedy in a way that is to the ambitious and and for to his and this Logevall be in the first of U.S. or is also a Logevall is to his in the for at a many are to Logevall into the The readers about for of the or the domestic and the he the international or story Kennedy's the young to as a for or first the to the of civil international in Kennedy, was the U.S. to to of and that he was a with who the family unlike many from an was the were not in of but were by and about the crisis on the Logevall's account of Kennedy's in the U.S. to his of a after the of their into a or the Kennedy's Logevall also how Kennedy's of and was a and of young from his in foreign and to a that his for the of his on the and on Kennedy as a of the world not the of or Logevall with the four years his into is not but the of these to is the of his of to he was as by as by Logevall and the to despite the many for which he is the was and of and that was a and an part of his may for or for of as a in and are of a with Logevall's also that was his own will most the of and about Kennedy not who have read about is that from this biography as a and a and an in world to as a that for an and of Logevall's account of the of Kennedy's personal and political that his Logevall also to the volume in after Kennedy's failed bid to be as Adlai Stevenson's on the Democratic his years further the is that when Kennedy as he almost after that to a he at of a and readers into volume will have to how that and were the most John F. Kennedy not be for biography of last than 40,000 books have about the U.S. president. the on Kennedy the of on Abraham Lincoln is by as the of one to read the of on the and for some to the new JFK: Coming of Age in the American by historian Fredrik Logevall, will the on is a two-volume so the first volume the young his for the White House. for the of how the of the first U.S. president is the and how he in a presidency that but so and that it into the American that for books on Kennedy, is there new to the years since the last biography (Robert Dallek's An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, appeared in an has to the of and Kennedy's by Schlesinger, Jr., a few after the the of the Kennedy a of Robert Kennedy's and the of in other family have these for on their but one has with Logevall's to Kennedy's life have released and will particularly volume colleague the an that after his with from the of on the of a president. Schlesinger, Theodore and to their as the long-time and the in the and the of A of Logevall's new book and his of the Vietnam War, a to the his and and and readers are with the wealth of that has on the most political in U.S. will that is in the biography. has a or to the and other in the Kennedy Presidential Logevall analysis of young John Kennedy's and as in War II from the and articles as a military for on the United and The of Kennedy's of and as Logevall the of a in his through to World War was American in the Logevall the for Kennedy's crucial from his and for the successful political This to the Kennedy from the of a foreign policy from which Logevall to the of the A and to biography is but it is most when the life with in history that the as the United World War by his to his by and of when his in the United by for which he despite his and by the Cold as an the the book Kennedy is a Cold that an foreign policy the world from his of this is from the with Kennedy was a in the of his and John F. he as not his he an to he the through the he at the of his in the Kennedy soon as man of the of it to the may be up for the of the in a and Kennedy's to the with than Kennedy the from the and about it be that once there was a for one as as Kennedy U.S. may Kennedy himself will in history as as about to in new the great of is not the and the and F. Kennedy, at I for John F. Kennedy in the I was not years the I that I was not but in a after by and history at I with I for it was not on or of policy of Kennedy's the country for and with it was the of and the for the still to that the with the and and in Richard the with the I not read to the which came out a later, and I not have of it I I I have the This was a of it is that Kennedy the first about the of The by in The of the his account of the were the The had that the for Dwight Eisenhower the and of as as the and and the the Kennedy was the of a the was with and articles by the an when and other with less than and as the We were to of and at some of the most not country do for ask do for the president was on 22 November an and and into by Kennedy's for and in books by and great and a include as Schlesinger, A Thousand and Theodore Kennedy and We by and not for The had for Kennedy's on civil rights. The increasingly the Vietnam War on Kennedy's for and of the and through the of Kennedy's personal that the was had a in with and which put Kennedy (and his recently in the with Abraham Lincoln and Jr., of a of it the Kennedy's life and have and Nigel Reckless and than it himself and his first how Kennedy's for with some (including the to The which Kennedy's role in the civil and the that he a of The is and from to the of I of this to how Fredrik Logevall had to to at the life a historian who has on U.S. foreign policy the Vietnam and contextual off into and the further than it book will be to and to the Perhaps most he is a of through the by and the by he a also the that in Kennedy's life as the the of the and the many that both in Kennedy's way and the first volume of a projected two-volume biography, Logevall's Kennedy from his in in through his bid for the Democratic nomination in readers will be with at the of so a especially in the of other be it is the way Logevall, on in and sources, or to the are of in Logevall's is as in and as in his life as he is he also and on by and Logevall as the that was a Kennedy is has as and than Logevall that was a with domestic and that in by and too when the were and Logevall some of in and and about the the Kennedy The is to in November but is a of are unlike be a was not an at when the was a with a memory and with the of his in Logevall that that not have the that he have had with the and do not up This was his own to the and of his ran to his and views that public that the president was his not and in the in World War Kennedy's with a (and was and than is was to the (and who that be a by Kennedy and his their not a have his political who Kennedy for the of the Logevall's of as a Kennedy for the first he in the but he for his on of his and in the was Kennedy the life of the most in for be The and and the for and are not by the that family his story into The New the of John by who tried to do to the to John to and by the World War II and were a that a of Jr., the was in the of when his up in the second and the to the president was in a in these were not crucial to decision to the of is not Logevall a by the of it had to do with a to at with that into as a to not had in himself to have that and a successful political was too his and with political that were to well in the may have the had his own for his The family his personal and his own in history and in that Logevall's of Kennedy's political from his successful House in to his of the in the the of his both and with many of but Logevall into Kennedy's with of to the Kennedy family were from many of of the political Robert Kennedy as an and to and out at in the for but he from the Kennedy's against the came out in of later, a to the from came to to the and how to with the he that his had a a than is be to for a Unlike many elected Kennedy foreign to not as his in foreign he an that a in and he came that the United not to a for years on that and it their grew in a way had in his with was one of many that up Kennedy's in his and it is that he not to past The most of the and were that be after the to but also a story to from other was he in there was a that he not although he the to to a on During his he on in which a in which was Theodore than his Logevall the the and and was largely most of the that has on the Kennedy over the years from of his of in the of the and it is that the public that was and the were to to the not or at it with about the not the the on and the to two seemed to be with and also the between his to and his two Kennedy was most and were and was and than the was part of he was not of his was so over the years that it how a and and friend be so and Logevall not into the of but Kennedy's his he not Perhaps was a way to for a the of that were in his We for We do that he by almost a not too the a are other to Logevall's of Kennedy than I have read to the and of the between the and the and so in Logevall and and important of the but he also at the most Kennedy he his personal and the Kennedy's and for are the of about to of his the of the Kennedy's than has in Logevall is well on the into the great I to a on This is an volume. Random House the to it by a and the The are well The and are The include than many do these the on Kennedy's and for we and of so many in this book John Jr., and and so many are devoted to some of to and to the family that it is Perhaps I have too to the on a but of and have a is true of the of are by but when for one to The of on of the to which the to up the that Random House will this in volume to the of this for a forum on the first volume of biography of John F. Kennedy, and to the four for their and to that of to that in the of John F. Kennedy his and at in to a of biography, is also a The of the is that this contextual offers a understand not Kennedy but his country and his I write in the Kennedy the of the and the world not his but his first to and to a of this book is the to which Kennedy's life story with of political and of the JCWS may it especially that Kennedy's political not with the of the Cold War but also with the of the second at Kennedy had with his Kennedy, a who as U.S. to the of in the from to his came to as for the United in the of and especially by his and his international was in Berlin on the of the of he over in and to an one he for the of his the of as a for the at the of the United in Kennedy the of the to is among of from this he in the of the is of the in the or We have a way since in the war when we of and one The he was in the of a The political on in and to as soon as the war against Kennedy, who by was a for the administration's he acknowledged in a in that as vice president that is a good since the are at a not too great in of personal he that these were is that the have personal Kennedy the to and were to and to in Soviet had the and and were to their into and The United had but to of with in the book is the on foreign policy between and of in a at in that the United a as the the were on with against and in also about the of of that which the of the of to of the the to the and the to and the of the the president with which to and foreign a that as to with the Soviet although the Kennedy as in Cold that an foreign policy the world from he was a Cold of a on the to foreign policy through the of and especially in he a in the and in the World as well as an of the of the that the United with the that was a and that be or by military had to and recently Kennedy had to to their their he had to that so in U.S. political not as A at the he that U.S. with the world as it not as it to in the one he with through the of the will also in second how to this of and Cold War with the increasingly political at in the United an ambitious with his on the and the White he that many and that to at for and in their to Communist at and other in the United at the Kennedy that was the for who to in domestic I put it in the the for with or be but it for the to to of read with a about for Kennedy in at in his was still a but his with his family's and of that was a of among that of in this biography is to the sources and of Kennedy's also of himself the in his at in 1962, by he the great of is not the and the and a than with most public the man by his has by The has the Kennedy, the Kennedy, and This biography is an to to be for volume but at the I from the of these four distinguished

Aeronautics · Cold war · Economic history · Political science · Politics · American Political and Social Dynamics · Engineering · History · Law