Product Description

Everywhere acclaimed and talked about, An Unfinished Life is the first major, single-volume biography of John F. Kennedy to be written by a historian in nearly four decades. Drawing upon previously unavailable material and never-before-opened archives, the book is packed with revelations both large and small-about JFK's health, his love affairs, RFK's appointment as Attorney General, what Joseph Kennedy did to help his son's election to the presidency, and the path JFK would have taken in the Vietnam entanglement had he survived. AN UNFINISHED LIFE strikes a critical balance-brilliantly exploring JFK's strengths, never shying away from his weaknesses-as it offers up a virtuoso portrait of a bold, brave, complex, heroic, human Kennedy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44459 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 848 pages

Customer Reviews

Fallen Icon
Robert Dallek's biography is commendable for its honest approach to a biography of the 35th president. While some biographers may gloss over less flattering facts, Dallek is unflinching in his analysis and claims to have the most complete documentation of Kennedy's medical records. In this, he may have composed one of the most valuable records of the life of John F. Kennedy.

The book begins with the early history of the Kennedy family including the merging of the Fitzgerald and Kennedy family which molded the political dynasty. Though Joe Kennedy modeled his oldest son Joseph to be the future president, his dreams were shattered when Joseph died in World War II. The burden was then placed on the initially unwilling second son John. With the use of his father's wealth, John experienced a meteoric rise through the House and Senate before he ran for president in 1960. Though some would suggest the Kennedy money and Chicago mayor Richard Daley "delivered" Illinois, and as a result the presidency to John, Dallek's evidence suggests otherwise.

Though Kennedy is remembered as one of the great presidents in history, his work is suggested to be somewhat overrated in the broad scope. Kennedy's finest hour may have been the Cuban Missle Crisis. However, this may never have happened if Kennedy had not failed in the Bay of Pigs. Movements in civil rights were influenced by the political climate only until his conscience could not negotiate the price of political gains relative to the turmoil in the south.

Relatively little time is spent on the assassination. This is a good thing in that the book is intended to focus on Kennedy's life. Ficticious or not, there are already too many books that focus on the assassination.

No part of this book is more staggering than the documentation of John F. Kennedy's medical records. Even as an adolescent, he endured numerous medical issues. By adulthood, he took a drug regiment which will never be completely known. "Dr. Feelgood" was very secretive about what he gave the president. Testerone and steriods were among the drugs he took for his back and may also explain his womanizing to some degree. Even if Kennedy had not died in 1963, one must wonder how long he would have lived. One may even doubt whether living through two terms was possible.

While some are far more interested in the scandals, Dallek's delightful account is detailed and reveals previously unknown facts. As a person that has difficulty staying interested in longer reads, I had no difficulty with this book. In terms of American history, this book is a must.

Excellent full-life biography.
Dallek does a very fine job of presenting a balanced look at his subject; he obviously thinks a great deal of Kennedy, but this is no hagiography; when there are mistakes or missed chances by Kennedy, he gives them as much attention as he gives the successes. Those who wish to cannonize Kennedy will be disappointed, as will those who think he is overrated, with the best reputation that his father's money could buy, as well as those intent on believing any and all conspiracy theories about his assassination. But anyone wanting an evenhanded view of the man will find this book a treasure trove of information.

Solid one-volume treatment
The esteemed author of a two-volume biography of LBJ takes a hand at a "comprehensive" bio of JFK, drawing on all that went before, and adding some new research.

A lot went before. More books have been written about JFK than any other presidents except Lincoln and FDR. If you don't want to wade through them all, this is a good one-stop choice.

The main new information comes from Dallek's first-ever access to cartons of unsorted medical records from Dr. Janet Travell, JFK's official in-house physician. These and other records reflect much more, and much more serious, medical problems than was known during JFK's life. In particular, he had severe intestinal problems as a teenager, which were treated with corticosteroids, then a new treatment. The steroids caused osteoporosis of the lower spine and vertebrae, leading to lower back problems as early as 1940. In addition, he suffered from rheumatic fever and, later, prostatitis, urethritis, ulcers, and malaria.

Over his life, he took an astonishing quantity and variety of drugs, including hormones, amphetamines, codeine, cortisone, Lomotil, paregoric, penicillin, procaine, Ritalin, antidepressants, and testosterone. During the campaign, he was followed everywhere by a "black bag" containing his medications. This was once lost, to his distress, lest the severity of his problems be disclosed.

He was medicated during critical times, including the Vienna summit with Khrushchev and the Cuban Missle Crisis. Dallek opines, with expert assistance, that the medications did not impair his performance, and indeed, that he could not have functioned without them.

Dallek also uncovered some five hospitalizations between 1955 and 1957 that were not previously known, raising the implication that there were others, and reconfirming Kennedy's adeptness at cover-up. Dallek's judgment on this is two-pronged: first, that JFK recklessly endangered the country by seeking and accepting the presidency in such fragile health, and was devious in covering it up; second, that he was nevertheless even more heroic than we imagined in coping with it.

Dallek's most publicized revelation was of "Mimi", a nineteen-year-old intern that Kennedy had an eighteen-month affair with ("Kennedy's Monica"). The episode is mentioned only in passing in the book, but was the lead story in the press when the book was first out.

On Vietam, Dallek dug up a brief oral statement taped by Kennedy days after the Diem coup in November, 1963 (just weeks before his own assassination). In it, Kennedy refers to the extreme division there had been in his government over whether to support the coup, and the regrettable murkiness of a cable sent to Ambassador Lodge, setting him on a course to which "he was already inclined". He also expressed shock at the death of Diem, and concern about whether the new government would be stable.

Dallek cites this tape as evidence that Kennedy was going to order a pullout of the 16,000 U.S. advisors then in Vietnam, and that he would never have escalated as Johnson did. Other evidence consists of an order to Defense Secretary McNamara to prepare a plan to withdraw "by 1965", an order to the State Department expert on Vietnam to prepare an analsis of "all options, including withdrawal", a statement in a September, 1963 TV interview that "it's their war", and one or two "think-aloud" private remarks.

Dallek is not convincing. The actual record is sparse and ambiguous. Robert Kennedy himself said later that he did not know. Against Dallek's view are Kennedy's commitment to containment of communism, his "bear any burden" rhetoric and mentality, and his professed belief in the domino theory. The one concrete action he took was to order the increase from a few hundred advisors to 16,000 in the first place. And his main advisors--McNamara, Rusk, Taylor, and Bundy--were also LBJ's.

Like Johnson, Kennedy obscured the U.S. role from the public. By the time he died, the issue had not yet come onto the general public's radar screen. Even viewing his actions cynically, he was too much the politician to simply abandon Vietnam to the communists.

The truth probably is that Kennedy was conflicted, that the increase in advisors was a "buy time, split the baby" measure, and that he had in fact not yet decided what to do. In all things, he was more of a reactor and improviser than a large strategic thinker.

Like the LBJ books, this one is written in plain English rather than that dreadful academese that many professional historians are captives of. Apart from the disclosures above, there is little that is new. It is mainly a distillation and re-presentation of the vast prior literature. As such, it is an admirable job, worth a solid B+ if turned in by a graduate student.