Product Description

"Kennedy's life reads like a Greek tragedy....In many ways, this is a fable disguised as narrative history. Its moral is that the journey of Kennedy's life, his commitment to public service, to the poor and the disadvantaged, should be seen as an inspiring account of what it was like to be at Robert Kennedy's side and why he and many like him felt that vision and virtue walked with them."

-- Business Week

"Exceptionally important, one of a handful of books that anyone who cares for the politics of the '60s must read."

-- Newsweek

"A picture of a deeply compassionate man hiding his vulnerability, drawn to the underdogs and the unfortunates in society by his life experiences and sufferings."

-- Los Angeles Times

"An absorbing and vividly written study of a gallant and tragic man who might have made a difference had he lived."

-- The Boston Globe

"A moving and enchanting study of the young and often puzzling man who, if he had lived, would almost surely have been elected president instead of Richard Nixon...Kennedy knew the danger,! but he chose not to live in fear of it."

-- San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle

"Kennedy's was a complex, influential, and in many respects enigmatic life....His is a story not so much of what was as of what might have been, a story that leaves the reader aching for what cannot be recaptured. Schlesinger has told that story brilliantly."

-- Miami Herald

Winner of the National Book Award

with 16 pages of intimate photographs

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1223450 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-29
• Released on: 1996-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1088 pages

From the Inside Flap
Schlesinger, historian and friend of Bobby Kennedy, has had access for the first time to private papers, letters, and journals which make possible a fresh look at both personal relationships and public events. Winner of the 1979 National Book Award for Biography.

From the Paperback edition.

About the Author
ARTHUR M. SCHLESINGER, JR., the author of sixteen books, was a renowned historian and social critic. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize, in 1946 for The Age of Jackson and in 1966 for A Thousand Days. He was also the winner of the National Book Award for both A Thousand Days and Robert Kennedy and His Times (1979). In 1998 he was awarded the prestigious National Humanities Medal.

Customer Reviews

An ispirational and poetic tribute to a complex hero
This is my absolute favorite book in the world, and it is about my personal hero, so perhaps I am a bit biased. Yet this book spoke to me as few have. Robert Kennedy was among the most complex figures to appear on the American scene, and this is a balanced (though admittedly favorable) treatment of his fascinating life. Eminently readable, sometimes even beautifully written, Schlesinger's book seems to flesh Kennedy into a real person right before our eyes. What makes RFK such a hero to me is his humanity. He was not always perfect, not always easy, not always right. But he tried so hard, and worked so tirelessly, that even one who does not admire his social beliefs must respect his efforts. Though many mistrust him because of his late conversion to liberal politics, it is precisely this which makes him so salient a figure to me. As Schlesinger so effectively shows, Kennedy had an amazing ability to grow and change. He was ever in flux, constantly learning. This is why he would have made a great president, and this is why this book is still of so much import to the contemporary reader. As we look askance at a political community which does not seem to offer us sincerity, the picture of a fumbling, hard as nails, emotionally aroused, practical leader with a dedication to principle as well as an excellent political mind is refreshing. I recommend this book to everyone who still cares about the less fortunate in our society.

Bobby Up-Close
Schlesinger, a Kennedy insider, takes advantage of that and of his skill as a historian to present a wonderful study of Bobby Kennedy during his life on the national scene, especially as Attorney General and after.

His few years after JFK's assassination -- 1963-68 -- were years of profound changes in Bobby. Previously characterized as ruthless and opportunist, he seemed after his brother's death to also become a more compassionate and tender public figure. Though many bitterly criticized his entry into the presidential race in 1968 -- after Eugene McCarthy's single-issue anti-war challenge had forced LBJ's withdrawal -- Bobby won back most of liberal America in a few short months of campaigning, and was on his way to win the Democratic nomination when assassinated -- the night of his victory the California primary. Schlesinger was up close during this time, and sheds light on this extraordinary transformation with rationality, perspective and great care. Beyond being Bobby's friend, Schlesinger is at the same time truly a scholar. His scholarship allows his book to systematically present an extraordinary number of quotations by the major players in Kennedy's life in those years. It is thoroughly referenced, with good notes. Beyond that, the quotations add great dimension to the portrait of a great man moving through private and public transformation.

Brings RFK back to life
Although long (approximately 950 pages), the book is by far an exceptional look at the life of RFK. You realize what a truly and personal man that he was; and how he would have made a difference had he been elected President (speculation, of course). Nevertheless, we read what a caring and compassionate man that we was - a great supporter of the poor, the needy, the Blacks, civil rights - we could definitely use more people like him today who truly believe in these causes.

The book deals with his fights in the McCarthy era; his fights with Hoffa and other organized crime figures; the Cuban crises, and so on. The book seems compartmentalized, in this respect, and may have read better if it had been written in a chronological type order. Nevertheless, the book is exceptional. I think Arthur Schlesinger writes objectively and I disagree that the book is written in a worship style. For my purposes, once the book gets to the part where RFK joins his brother in the administration, the book really takes off.

After reading this book, you realize what a loss the world is without a human like RFK.