Unfinished Life JFK 1917-1963

The Kennedy family is very well known. They may be one of the most famous American families of the 20th century. I thought I knew a lot about the Kennedys. After reading Unfinished Life John F. Kennedy 1917-1963 by Roger Dallek, I was clearly wrong.

Written in 2003, Dallek had access to documents that prior Kennedy biographers did not. Dallek goes into detail about JFK medical issues, philandering and a family's obsession with having a son elected President of the United States.

My roommate in college during the 89-90 school year would tell me stories about playing summer baseball in the Cape Cod League. If you are a serious baseball fan, you know that the Cape Cod League is the premier summer baseball league for amateur players trying to make the big leagues. You are probably asking yourself, what does the Cape baseball league have to do with JFK? His family owned a house, probably better described as a compound in Hyannis Port, MA on the Cape. My roommate played in the summer of 1989 in Hyannis. He would tell me stories of driving by the Kennedy compound and seeing Rose Kennedy sitting on the front porch. To tell a story of JFK, you need to start with Rose.

Rose was the daughter of John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald who was served two terms as mayor of Boston. Rose would marry Joe Kennedy and they would go on to have nine children with JFK being the second oldest. Honey Fitz did not approve of the marriage as Joe was the son of P.J. Kennedy one of his political rivals.

I knew the Kennedys were wealthy but the book goes into great detail about Joe's business ventures and the tremendous wealth Joe amassed. The wealth shielded the family from problems during the depression. JFK admitted to friends he did not know the impact the Depression had on Americans as he was away at prep school during this time. The wealth helped JFK receive a tremendous amount of medical care as he a tremendous amount of health problems during his life.

Rose was a very devout Catholic. Joe had numerous affairs including with actress Gloria Swanson. Joe would even have his children help him find women to have sex with.

Joe had a plan early on for one of his sons to be President. The plan was for his eldest son Joe Jr. This plan did not materialize as Joe Jr. was killed in action in WWII as his plane was shot down. This would be the start of shocking deaths for the Kennedy. JFK had a sister die at the age of 28 in 1948, his untimely death in 1963, his brother being killed in 1968 and his son dying in a plane crash in the late 90s.

JFK served in WWII and famously saved his crew while captaining his boat PT 109. He won a 

Pulitzer prize for writing Profiles in Courage. Served in Congress as a Rep and Senator. All of this was part of the plan to become President.

Growing up Catholic, I was well aware of JFK being the first and only Catholic President. What I didn't know there was such anti-Catholic sentiment in the country leading up to the 1960 election. He choose LBJ as his running mate in part to secure the Southern vote. Another factor was the rising use of television. This election was the first time Presidential debates were televised. JFK looks, charming personality and gift for public speaking were tremendous assets. JFK failed to get a majority of the vote and beat Nixon by 112,000 votes. An argument can be made that JFK won as Nixon was not a likeable person.

His presidency lasted for approximately 1,000 days and included:

• Failed Bay of Pigs invasion
• Escalating tensions in Vietnam and Southeast Asia
• Cold War with the Soviet Union
• Failing to pass Civil Rights legislation
• Starting NASA and promising a man on the moon by the end of the decade

Could JFK done more on civil rights? I would say yes. He was more worried about winning reelection in 1964 pushing for significant changes to take place. He was worried about upsetting the white segregationists in the South than doing what is right.

He gets a tremendous amount of credit for his handling of the Cold War and not sending in ground troops in Vietnam. His negotiations avoided a nuclear war that could have wiped half of the planet. He received advice from many to send in troops in Vietnam. Unfortunately, 57K Americans would die before realizing ground troops is a mistake. JFK was right. Vietnam was not a winnable war.
His life came to a tragic end on November 22, 1963. Many theories have been discussed at length about his killing. Did Castro order the killing as payback for the failed CIA attempt to kill Castro? Did the CIA order the killing as JFK was comprised as he had an affair with a woman who had ties to East German communists? Was it someone in the Mafia as his brother Bobby who just happened to be Attorney General was cracking down on organized crime.

When you analyze his time in the White House, JFK was an above average President. He often gets talked about in the same company as Washington, Lincoln and FDR. Most Presidential scholars agree he does not belong in the same conversation with them. His elevation takes place due to his family being the closest thing possible to royalty in America.

No matter what your opinion of JFK is, the title of the book states it well. An Unfinished Life.

6,171 pages have been read in the 11 books. Only 33 to go. Up next is Lincoln, Doris Kearns Goodwin book titled Team of Rivals.

Truman- The Accidental President

As I continue on this journey, I have strayed a bit from the Barnes and Noble list. Jean Edward Smith's book on FDR was fascinating and may be one of the best I have read so far. I have now decided I will not be deviating from the list anymore.

Here is the list of the Presidents that I have read:

1) Washington
2) John Adams
3) Jefferson
4) Madison
7) Jackson
18) Grant
32) FDR
34) Eisenhower
36) LBJ

In addition staying with books on the B&N list, I have now decided to go in order. The bouncing around during different periods of time is getting confusing. I decided to go with Truman through Obama, back to Hoover (31). An obvious advantage is you learn about the same events and people multiple times. In the FDR book, I learned about JFK's father becoming ambassador to Great Britain. I will save Trump for last, as I figured I am living through his presidency and things are changing on a daily basis.

For Truman, B&N recommends Accidental President by A. J. Baime.

As I am reading the books my mind starts to wander, what did I learn in school about the Presidents. For Grant, I remember learning he was a drunk, terrible General and awful President. After reading Ron Chernow's book on Grant, these are the furthest things from the truth. (Tease for future blog post.)

For Truman, I remember the following;

• The S as his middle initial stands for nothing
• The phrase, the buck stops here
• He is from Independence, Missouri
• Succeeding FDR as President when FDR died in office
• He ordered dropping two atomic bombs on Japan to end WWII
• 1948 election where the press wrongly predicted Dewey beat Truman

While all of this accurate, there is more to the story. To understand the story, you need to learn how Truman became President. Truman described himself becoming President as an accident.

Truman was born in 1884 in a rural town in Missouri. He graduated high school in 1901 in Independence where he met his future wife Bess. His family had no money for college and he worked various jobs including his family farm. He had a few failed business ventures with no real direction on what he wanted to do with his life.

He served in WWI. He was approached by a local political boss named Tom Pendergast. Tom helped Truman win an election to become a county judge. elected to the US Senate in Interesting choice as Truman was not a lawyer. Truman was ultimately elected to the US Senate in 1940. Pendergast ultimately went to jail. Truman survived his association with Pendergast as Truman had no ties to the crimes Pendergast was committing.

This leads us to the 1944 Presidential election. FDR was running for a fourth term. It was pretty common knowledge in Washington D.C. that if FDR won the election, he would more than likely finish the term. This made the VP in the 1944 election a very sought-after position. Everyone except Truman. Truman did not want to be VP. His wife and daughter did not want him to accept. the Truman family enjoyed their quiet life in D.C.

FDR asked Truman to be VP. Not because he was the best choice. He would hurt FDR the least. It proved to be a successful choice.

April 12, 1945. This is the day FDR died. Truman was thrust into the role of President. A job he did not want. Baime does a masterful job in the book focusing on the first four months of his presidency. The decisions Truman had to make would shape the future of the world that are being felt to this day.

Setting the stage in April 1945. D Day occurred ten months prior. The war was going on in two fronts. Europe and the Pacific.

During the first four months of his Presidency the following occurred:

• United Nations is created
• Hitler dies and Germany surrenders
• Allied troops liberate the Nazi death camps
• Potsdam conference - negotiations with Russia and Great Britain
• Two atomic bombs are dropped on Japan
• August 14th Japan surrenders

As I was reading book, my mind drifted back to school and what I learned about the end of WWII. I knew the bad guy in Hitler lost. What I learned in this book, was the cunning and deceitful actions of Russia. Russia was needed to defeat the Germans. Unfortunately, Russian had intentions of spreading Communism to China and across Europe.

At the Potsdam conference, negotiations focused on various topics. The main focus was occupation of Germany. it was decided, the British, US and Russia would each get a section. This ultimately led to the creation of East and West Germany with East Germany being run by the Communist Party until the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989.

Truman was notified in the early days of this Presidency of the Manhattan Project. The top-secret project to create an atomic bomb. Only a handful in the government knew about the project. Billions of dollars were secretly approved to fund the project. Members of Congress didn't even know the budget they were approving funds to develop an atomic bomb.

The decision to use the atomic bomb. One man, Harry S. Truman, ultimately made the decision to drop the bombs on Japan. You have a vision in your mind that Truman was in an office with a box with a little red button on it. he would press the button and the order would go out. This is not how it happened. Truman had given the order and left it up to the military commanders to carry out the attack Weather was a factor in when the bomb would be dropped. Relentless firebombing had previously taken place so the bomb needed to be dropped on an area of Japan untouched by the fire bombs. You can make an argument that the devastation and innocent lives lost by the fire bombs is much worse that the attack on Pearl Harbor

Truman would defy odds and win the 1948 election over Dewey. In 1952, he briefly sought the Democratic nomination but pulled out after losing one of the first primaries. 

Many historians debate Truman's legacy. When he left office in 1953, he was wildly unpopular. After reading this book, I am grateful for the very hard difficult decisions that he made that saved the world from having WWIII.

Ten books completed for a total of 5,453 pages. Next up JFK.