JFK

A Vision for America

By: Stephen Kennedy Smith, Douglas Brinkley

Narrated by: Paul Michael, Kirsten Potter, Jim Meskimen

Published in commemoration of the centennial of President John F. Kennedy’s birth, here is the definitive compendium of JFK’s most important and brilliant speeches, accompanied by commentary and reflections by leading American and international figures—including Senator Elizabeth Warren, David McCullough, Kofi Annan, and the Dalai Lama—and edited by JFK’s nephew Stephen Kennedy Smith and renowned historian Douglas Brinkley. Combined with over seven hundred documentary photos, it tells the story, in words and pictures, of JFK’s life and presidency, and depicts his compelling vision for America.

JFK brings together in one volume John F. Kennedy’s greatest speeches alongside essays by America’s top historians, analysis from leading political thinkers, and personal insights from preeminent writers and artists. Here is JFK at his best—thought-provoking, inspiring, eloquent, and wise—on a number of wide-ranging topics, including civil rights, the race to the moon, the environment, immigration, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and much more. JFK demonstrates the deep relevance of his words today and his lasting power and influence as an outstanding American leader and orator.

Elegantly designed and enriched by more than 500 photographs and facsimiles of Kennedy’s marginalia on drafts of speeches, his notes from important meetings, letters, and other fascinating documents, JFK is a major contribution to American history.

The august list of contributors includes Secretary John Kerry, Ambassador Samantha Power, Congressman John Lewis, Senator John McCain, Senator Elizabeth Warren, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Robert Redford, Conan O’Brien, Dave Eggers, Gloria Steinem, Don DeLillo, David McCullough, George Packer, Colum McCann, Michael Beschloss, Robert Dallek, David Kennedy, Ted Widmer, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Drew Faust, Tariq Ramadan, Pastor Rick Warren, Jonathan Alter, E. J. Dionne, Ron Suskind, Paul Krugman, Kofi Annan, Governor Jerry Brown, Paul Theroux, Jorge Domínguez, and many others.

Oh, What Might Have Been

Any book on John F. Kennedy which features his timeless prose brings a tear to my eye when I think about what America lost with his murder. This is even more true now when the prose of our current leader comes in the form of his tweet tantrums and the fawning restatements from the Congressional toadies and the GOP's media arm.

This book is a collection of JFK's speeches with analyses and reflections from a variety of figures in the political, academic, and entertainment worlds. What really struck me was how that in many of Kennedy's less cited speeches there is a prescience that is staggering (environmental catastrophe and the resentments of many in the Muslim world) and of course made me ponder what might have transpired if a madman had not struck him down. That being said, I think Lyndon Johnson did heroic work in pushing through legislation that Kennedy might never have been able to.

Get this book to give yourself not only an intellectual treat but as an antidote for today's miasma.

Great original speeches

A rare case that audio is a superior medium to printed book because of JFKs original speeches.