| Title | : | If Kennedy Lived: The First and Second Terms of President John F. Kennedy: An Alternate History |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0399166963 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780399166969 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 |
| Publication | : | First published October 22, 2013 |
November 22, 1963: JFK does not die. What would happen to his life, his presidency, his country, his world?
Now he presents his most compelling narrative of all about the historical event that has riveted us for fifty years. What if Kennedy were not killed that fateful day? What would the 1964 campaign have looked like? Would changes have been made to the ticket? How would Kennedy, in his second term, have approached Vietnam, civil rights, the Cold War? With Hoover as an enemy, would his indiscreet private life finally have become public? Would his health issues have become so severe as to literally cripple his presidency? And what small turns of fate in the days and years before Dallas might have kept him from ever reaching the White House in the first place?
As with Then Everything Changed, the answers Greenfield provides and the scenarios he develops are startlingly realistic, rich in detail, shocking in their projections, but always deeply, remarkably plausible. It is a tour de force of American political history.
If Kennedy Lived: The First and Second Terms of President John F. Kennedy: An Alternate History Reviews
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Rating: 4* of five
I've finally written a review for my LibraryThing Early Reviewers book IF KENNEDY LIVED. I love alternative history in general, and this is a very good example of the genre.
See it now on
my blog, since there's no way I'll give the dataminers more of my data to mine. -
On November 22, 1963 President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas....
But What If He Wasn't?
What If He Had Survived That Bullet?
Would He Have Been Re elected?
Emmy award winning journalist Jeff Greenfield explores what might have happened. This was an interesting read. I haven't read many Alternate History books but I've always been fascinated them. I don't really know how to rate this book because there's no way of knowing how close to the truth any of the things in this book might be. I tend to think that Greenfield has too positive a view of JFK. Some of his speculations tend to paint a vastly more progressive picture of JFK's policies. I unlike the author don't think JFK would have done anything about civil rights and I think he would have escalated the Vietnam War just as much as Lyndon Johnson did.
Overall I liked this book. It was interesting food for thought. -
I really liked this book. It gave a realistic account of what might have happened had JFK survived the assassination attempt on 11/22/63. The halo definitely comes off of this version of JFK. At times he seems more Nixonian than our beloved JFK. There are some sly references to modern times snuck in throughout the book, such as Sen. Al Gore Sr. telling his son that he could do something "when he runs for President", or a reference to "the idea of an interconnected population able to send audio and video from their homes out into the wider world, was something out of a science fiction fantasy." Or JFK surviving a revelation of his adultery: "What's Kennedy going to do?...Go on TV and ask for forgiveness?"
It's things like these that keep the book very entertaining. Otherwise it can be a bit heavy in political minutiae. I like that stuff. Greenfield backs up all his assertions with historical facts of the times. He just attributes them to JFK under the guise of "what if?"
It makes for a fascinating read, although it does make you re-think your impression of JFK. A good read for history buffs. -
Did not like this book much. While Greenfield had a clever premise, imagining a different outcome to the events in Dallas than what occurred, he stumbled badly putting together an alternative history based on Kennedy surviving an assassination attempt. While Greenfield makes a gallant attempt at putting together a history in which Kennedy actively contributed after November 1963, the funny thing is the world he describes is less exciting and less dynamic than what actually happened. He drags out old chestnuts about how Kennedy might have dealt with people and situations but adds nothing new to the guessing game, just dressing them up a little differently. The problem with alternative history is the same as with a duck - if it looks like a duck, moves like a duck, and sounds like a duck, it's just a duck. In this case, it looks like fiction, reads like fiction, and sounds like fiction - it's a fiction. Let's call it that (no matter how well researched and carefully thought out the premise is) and not place it on the history shelves.
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Jeff Greenfield's current contribution to fantasy politics includes a Kennedy victory over Goldwater in 1964, following Kennedy’s survival of the assassination attempt by Lee Harvey Oswald in November 1963. Fantasists will find “If Kennedy Lived” intriguing — students of the real world less so, writes H.W. Brands, who reviewed the book for The Post.
Greenfield's alternate history engages and entertains, but by the very plausibility of its fictions, it risks leaving readers knowing less than they did before they picked it up.
Read our review here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinion... -
If Kennedy Lived
By Jeff Greenfield
Publisher: G. P. Putnam & Sons
Published In: New York City, NY, USA
Date: 2013
Pgs: 249
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
November 22, 1963. Shots ring out in Dallas, TX, only it’s raining, and the President’s limo has a bubble shell over the covertible. Kennedy is wounded, but not killed. This is the story of the first and second terms of a John F. Kennedy who survived his 1963 trip to Dallas and what it meant to the people and politics of the era.
Genre:
fiction, what if, alternate history
Why this book:
It’s a What If and a Kennedy story. I was hooked in this run up to the 50th anniversary.
This Story is About:
could have beens
Favorite Character:
This JFK in trying to be strong in the face of shaky military intelligence being fed to him on Vietnam. He gets characterized as weak by the good old boys of the military industrial complex as he pushes peace as his primary goal in the run up to the election for his second term.
Least Favorite Character:
Bobby Kennedy isn’t being presented in a very positive light in this book. I wonder if his image got a significant makeover in the wake of his brother’s passing. The ideal that RFK couldn’t go from zero to Presidentially electable without ever having run for another elective office is probably spot on.
Most of those military industrial complex guys who appear in the lead in toward the election day of JFK’s second term. The crappy way they play politics with information and disinformation feeding it to the press and the electorate under cover of the night.
Character I Most Identified With:
I didn’t get the feel that I could walk a mile in any of these characters’ shoes.
The Feel:
The story reads like a documentary instead of a what if.
Favorite Scene:
LBJ running off to hide at his Texas ranch from the Senate investigations and news reports of ethics violations that keep coming closer to him.
JFK calling out his military advisors and the military adjuncts who tried to feed him a line about an attack on an American naval vessel in North Vietnamese waters illegally. The advisors expecting a rubber stamp and a blank check and instead getting a reasoned response and a wait and see attitude that infuriated them.
Settings:
Dallas; DC; the 1964 campaign trail
Pacing:
The pace of the story is excellent.
Plot Holes/Out of Character:
N/A
Last Page Sound:
...and that’s it. The story delivered what it promised with an unexpected surprise in the denouement, but it didn’t end anything like what I expected.
Author Assessment:
I would give other books written by Greenfield a shot.
Editorial Assessment:
The editing of the tome was spot on.
Did the Book Cover Reflect the Story:
An image of a smiling JFK, I’d say yes.
Song the Story Reminds me of or That Plays in my Head While Reading:
Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin
Illustrations:
No
Hmm Moments:
I wasn’t aware of the firestorm that was building surrounding LBJ’s ethics and influence peddling in the Congress.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
glad I read it
Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library, Irving, TX
Why isn’t there a screenplay?
There’s enough Kennedy stuff on the screen. The last thing we really need is another movie regardless of whether it is a good story or not.
Casting call:
N/A
Would recommend to:
Kennedyphiles, alternate historians, fans of what ifs -
Jeff Greenfield has long provided some of the driest, wittiest commentary on the American political scene for the "major" news outlets. At times it has been almost painful watching him suffer withanother panel discussion of a political debate as one of CNN's bazillion talking heads, where Greenfield has to cede air time to his much-less-talented colleagues.
He must find writing a worthwhile release for his creative side, as his alternate histories are well-researched (i.e., plausible) yet wickedly funny . . . these are not the kind of books that can be tossed off in a few weeks of casual thought. "If Kennedy Lived" is a worthy entry in Greenfield's bibliography.
It's not a spoiler to disclose that in Greenfield's telling, JFK survives his trip to Dallas. Thanks to Greenfield's extensive research and understanding of how journalism works, the reader sees what a major impact this has on the lives and careers of a dizzying range of characters, from LBJ and Richard Nixon to Jackie and the JFK inner circle. It also has a major effect on Nikita Khrushchev's leadership of the Soviets, Cuba, and Vietnam. Greenfield wonders how JFK's survival would change the world and also how the changing world would have impacted JFK - for example, he may become identified with the disenchanted, disaffected college students rioting on college campuses (not against the draft, but due to lack of participation in campus leadership) . . . something which the Greatest Generation would generally not have understood or appreciated.
Bobby Kennedy's career also takes a dramatic turn, as does the JFK-Jackie marriage. JFK also has to confront his ever-worsening back and the growing willingness of his opponents and journalists to explore his womanizing ways . . . and deal with some of the blowback from the Kennedy brass-knuckle political tactics he employed to such great effect.
This is a short book - with barely over 200 pages of material before the bibliography and index kick in. A political junkie will devour the entire book on a NY-LA flight, and that's a good thing - Greenfield has written an entirely plausible, often funny what-might-have-been that spares us the JFK-homage we were forced to endure over the 50th anniversary TV coverage.
All in all, a book well worth the price of admission. -
I just finished If Kennedy Lived by Jeff Greenfield. This is an alternative history book, subtitled The First and Second Terms of President John F. Kennedy.
I found myself so mesmerized by the book that I forgot it was a work of fiction—so I think the author succeeded in painting an realistic picture of what a completed presidency of John F. Kennedy might have been like. Greenfield makes liberal use of actual quotes from historical figures, but not necessarily in the their real setting. This adds a bit of realism to the work.
You may not want to read further if you don't want elements of the plot revealed.
Greenfield postulates that Kennedy would have:
--recovered from his wounds in Dallas, creating a favorability bounce much like Reagan received in 1981.
--skillfully removed troops from Vietnam, effectively eliminating the protest movement and all the ugliness that went with it.
--dropped LBJ from the 1964 ticket, mostly because of financial malfeasance that was to surface against Johnson.
--moved his brother from Attorney General to Secretary of Defense.
--survived an attempt, by the military establishment, to discredit him by revealing his affairs.
--by the end of his term in 1968, his physical maladies would have caught up with him and he'd be wheel-chair bound in private.
--that Jackie would, at the end of his term, basically leave him to live and work in publishing in New York City.
The end of the book acknowledges that anyone of these events might have gone a different direction, that this is just one possibility. One of the final chapters is entitled A Different Country—But How Different? Greenfield drives home the point that the country would really not have been that different in 1968—at least politically. In the 1968 election the candidates are Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon Ronald Reagan. We're left to speculate on who would have won—my money would be on Reagan.
This is not a varnished portrayal of JFK by any stretch of the imagination. This is Kennedy warts and all. A lesser book would have had Robert Kennedy running for President in 1968 and winning. This is not that book. This book explores a plausible path that history may have taken if JFK had survived that day in Dallas. I'd give it a four and a half stars out of five. -
The story begins on the morning of November 22, 1963, with the assumption that all events prior to that date happened just as they did in history. However, one fateful decision would be made this day, a change that would alter the course of history. It was something that very possibly could have happened: The bubble top was left on Kennedy’s limousine and he survived the assassination attempt in Dallas, similar to what happened to Ronald Reagan years later in the actual historical timeline.
The author goes on to imagine the Kennedy presidency maintaining plausibility by using real events and actual quotes from history. I was hoping for a fictionalized story about an alternate America, but that is not what this book is about. The focus is on political issues and predictions, on how they would have turned out had a Kennedy Administration been making the decisions. For example, knowing that Kennedy wanted to avoid an all out war in Vietnam, how would that have affected his relationship with Congress and the ability to pass other legislation such as the Civil Rights Act.
To become truly immersed in this book the reader needs a good foundation in the history of the era. Political junkies will appreciate the detail and the research that went into this novel. The casual reader may not catch a lot of twists in history and I’m sure I missed a few of them myself. I liked the author’s use of actual quotes from real historical figures and attributing them to other people, times or places. For example a joke told by Johnny Carson about Nixon was attributed to Johnson in the alternate time line.
The book was written as if it were non-fiction and is read in a news documentary style. Tom Stechschulte did a nice job with the narration. His clear tone and authoritative voice made it easy to believe I was listening to an investigative report.
It’s been fifty years since John Kennedy’s assassination but the topic is as fascinating and timely as ever. If Kennedy Lived will be appreciated most by political buffs but you don’t have to be a historian to enjoy this speculative tale. -
I was surprised to see this listed as a four star rating. This is, as the title states, a look at what possibly could have happened had JFK survived the assignation attempt. The book begins with the trip to Dallas on a rainy day. The bubble shield is on the limo. As the car makes the turn past the book depository, shots ring out and the bubble top explodes in pieces. A bullet hits Kennedy in the spine. A hurried drive to Parkland Hospital with an invasive surgery, allow the polls to increase, and a temporary hero is back in the White House.
Kennedy's injuries add to his already compromised spinal health, but he can walk. From there on we see a president who is physically, emotionally weak. Kennedy pays a high price in lack of southern support because of his pro-civil rights legislation.
Living with the fact that his terrible mistake in the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba is a thorn in his side when he seeks another term. His ensuing decisions not to take pro- active stances regarding war label him a soft candidate when he runs for his second term.
Kennedy's meeting with Khrushchev in Vienna showed him as an ill-prepared weakling resulting in the Berlin wall. As Kennedy's personal life spins out of control his sexual liaison are now fodder for the a media no longer willing to look the other way.
Overall, I can't recommend this book. It was dry, pedantic and uninteresting. -
This was a fascinating, if safe, account of what a Kennedy presidency could have looked like. Timed to release around the 50th anniversary of his assassination, the premise follows the questions "what if Kennedy survived the assassination attempt?"
I say "safe" as the author follows paths that existed during and after the Kennedy administration. Throughout the book are references to historical events and comments taken in new context. For example, when John Kennedy returns to the White House after his hospital stay after being shot, John-John (John Kennedy Jr) salutes his father as he exits Marine One.
The author covers the key themes of the times such as civil rights, nuclear war, the Cuban embargo, the cold war, our relationship with isolationist China. He also gets into scandals that may have come out had time allowed.
It was an enjoyable book. Fortunately, I was traveling and was able to read 1/2 of the book on my flight out, and the other half on the return.
If you are a student of the Kennedy era, I think this hits the highlights. I think Greenfield could have taken a few chances in taking more unlikely routes. It may have made this not just enjoyable but more exciting. However, it was well written and I'm glad I read it. -
The main thing to understand about this book is that it is neither a Sci Fi type (ie: Stephen King's 11/22/63) nor a conspiracy filled "who tried to kill JFK" tome. Greenfield's book is a political look at what he feels would be a likely direction for the United States had Kennedy indeed survived the attack. It starts out very interesting and hits a rather long lull about a third of the way in, where a tremendous amount of quasi-history is recounted where some of the facts are fiction and some are not, making it read like a slightly slanted history text book. The lull lasts a good 50% of the way from the second third of the book until a few chapters to go where things pick up again. All in all a very interesting look at "what if" and obviously incredibly crafted with a lot of knowledge of JFK, history and how he would have gone through a second term as President. An action thriller this is not. An intelligent read it is.
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If you like Jeff Greenfield's alternate histories, you'll love a similarly themed new novel by award-winning journalist/screenwriter Bryce Zabel, "Surrounded by Enemies: What if Kennedy Survived Dallas?" In this imaginative and meticulously researched scenario, JFK survives the Dallas ambush and then (with his attorney general brother Bobby) tries to figure out who tried to kill him and seek revenge... The climax is shocking but entirely plausible -- not a sci-fi fantasy... More the work of a dramatist than a political essayist... Check it out here:
http://www.WhatIfKennedyLived.com ... or
http://www.SurroundedByEnemies.com
Surrounded by Enemies: What if Kennedy Survived Dallas? -
This was a tough book to read. For the first part I kept going... but he can't know that's what would have happened. For the second part I just kept dragging my feet. I do understand it is an alternate history, and we won't ever know for sure, unless someone events a time machine and inadvertently creates an alternate timeline, but of course then the only one who'd know would be the one who created the alternate timeline. Anyway, I was fascinated the a lot of what was speculated in this book about Vietnam and the counter-culture, and the growing animosity of JFK's 2nd term, was quite similar to what is going on today in politics and also what was happening a few years ago when the US was struggling in the Middle East. After reading about the sources, I understand why that is now. Interesting theories, but I think history worked out the way it was supposed to.
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This was an interesting book- a "What if?" question that I think everyone in America has considered at some point. However, the one thing that really irritated me about this book is that in the narrative, people kept referring back to Kennedy's near-death experience. Writers, for example, said things like, "Look at the optimism our country has experienced over the past X years....can you imagine the doom that would have befallen the country if Kennedy had died that day?" It just seems like people don't actually think that way when attacks and such don't prove fatal. I don't know- maybe those who were around shortly after Reagan survived being shot can provide evidence to the contrary?
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Interesting, but as is inherent with this kind of book, a lot of this is guessing. Personally, the idea of Jackie wanting to strike out on her own in 1968 is utterly ridiculous to me. It does make you realize how much would change - how many other assassinations and murders might not have happened.
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Just not good. What else can I say?
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What if had President Kennedy not been assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963? That has been a frequent topic of alternate history speculation for more than fifty years now, especially in the major anniversary years of the assassination. 2013 was no exception with Jeff Greenfield's book If Kennedy Lived being just such an example.
The book certainly has the feel of being a work of informed speculation. Greenfield opens with an attempted assassination in Dallas, informed strongly by the events of that day. From there, a wounded Kennedy recovers and history slowly begins to diverge. The narrative hits all the high points one might expect from the 1964 election, Vietnam, and Civil Rights. It even takes readers into a quite different 1968 Presidential election through the eve of the election is where the book ends. There's a definite ring of plausibility to the book which helps it immensely.
While it may be plausible, it also feels a little too comfortable. While everything that happens in the book is well within the realms of possibility (given we are speculating after all), it feels a little too grounded in reality at times such as quoting past Kennedy speeches once too often or relying upon what other President's would do in later years. It leaves the book feeling more hollow than it should though that could also be down to the cool, academic tone the book takes as it's meant to be a non-fiction book rather than a novel.
There are also avenues that Greenfield seems less than keen to explore. Take, as an example, his decision about who was behind the assassination leads to an effective negation of discussion about the forces starting to rally against Kennedy during his thirteen months in office. Or he chooses to cover JFK's personal life and how the press might have dealt with growing rumors about his many affairs inside the White House. Both are touched upon in a handful of pages and set aside almost as quickly, forgotten about in effect. Compared with say Bryce Zabel's
Surrounded By Enemies (also written in a non-fiction style), it leaves this book feeling underwhelming.
We can never know for certain what would have happened, of course. If Kennedy Lived is an interesting take on the 'what if?' question even if it plays things too safe and with too much detachment at times. It isn't a bad book by any means. Yet, for those seeking an answer to the question, there are better and more plausible books out there worth your time and money. -
A lot of this book was over my head and contained much more political minutia than I had expected. Still, it is interesting to think about how easily things could have been different for both John F. Kennedy and the United States of America if, perhaps, it had rained all day in Dallas on November 22, 1963, as the forecasts had originally predicted.
In the highlights of this story, because of the unrelenting rain, President Kennedy's car had a Plexiglas bubble top that was still shattered by a would-be assassin's bullet, but because of the layer of protection, Kennedy escapes with his life. Consequently, the growing suspicion into the financial affairs of Lyndon Johnson do not fade away, and he becomes increasingly scrutinized until he finally leaves the vice presidency. Riding a wave of popularity after the failed assassination attempt, Kennedy chooses a new running mate (Stuart Symington) and is re-elected in 1964. Soon after, he chooses not to increase involvement in the war in Vietnam, and the rebellious phase of the late 60s and early 70s never develops in the United States. Nor does a cold war develop. Instead, the country and the world enjoy a time of extended peace and prosperity.
The book ends with Hubert Humphrey winning the 1968 Democratic nomination for President, choosing Al Gore, Sr. as his running mate, and Ronald Reagan winning the Republican nomination for President, choosing Gerald Ford as his running mate. The outcome is not predicted.
The afterword is interesting because the author leaves detailed (and accurate) information about how he chose to craft his speculation of how things progressed in America from 1963-1968, lending a great deal of credibility to this work of fiction. -
The American people still look back on the short term of John F. Kennedy as a golden age. A time of massive potential cut short by a sniper's bullet. But political journalist, Jeff Greenfield, puts together a what if? supposition of the rain not stopping that day in Dallas and the plastic bubble over the Presidential vehicle still being in place so that the first bullet shattered the dome, showering them with plastic shards, driving them to crouch down before a second bullet could be released.
Yes, injured but surviving, Greenfield looks at what Kennedy 'might' have done for the balance of the first and his likely second term in office. Would we have gotten further involved in Vietnam or not. What about the civil rights movement? The political futures of Johnson, Rockefeller, Ford, Bush, Nixon, Wallace, Humphrey and others active at the time? China and Taiwan's governments. The situation with Cuba and Castro. The Soviet Union and the build up of arms.
Greenfield tries to make every move and result based on 'plausibility'. Could this be what could or would have happened. It's still not a pretty situation but it fulfills many a Kennedy fan's wish for a fairy tale ending. Greenfield certainly could have gone further but he stopped as the Kennedy's are preparing to leave the White House and their future as former President and First Lady.
It's an interesting premise. But then, if done well, most alternate history stories can be interesting and this is definitely one. At least in my non-political opinion.
2021-141 -
This one is so tough to rate because of it being alternative history. Sure, Kennedy might have kept us out of Vietnam, but it also could have been even worse under him than it was. Even I am guilty of having this idealized version of the Kennedys, when in reality all those boys were pretty terrible people in their private lives. And why is that so hard for us to accept? Because the public bought the lie that the papers were peddling, and in this history, it is the papers that contribute to the truth coming out at the end of Kennedy's second term. The truth of the matter is that no matter how many times it is debated, we will never know what Kennedy had been capable of. Still, books like this can give us a decent glimpse of what might have been.
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Jeff Greenfield's "If Kennedy Lived: The First & Second Terms of President John F.ta Kennedy: An Alternate History" takes us down a path where JFK survives the assassination attempt in 1963 & continues on to a 2nd term. In this version of events, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 doesn't get passed, LBJ is forced from the vice presidency due to scandal & the US involvement in Vietnam never happens. The book itself is based upon a lot of speculation from other sources & does present an interesting version of what could have been. This is not the first time I've seen things about JFK & this is one of the more plausible versions of events. It's also a bit interesting to see the 1968 election play out in this as well. Overall, a decent book in an alternate version of the 1960s.
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This is purely a fictional piece and I think Jeff has written some points related to what JFK might have done or taken course if he would have been alive, which was unquestionably a great loss to world, the political scenario would have been different with JFK sueving the attack however the decisions post that and political scenario would have been entirely different and I doubt JFK would have taken such a conservative approach on Vietnam issue thoguh the reasoning drawn by Jeff is not that bad. However , I would give this book only 3 stars just because of narrative and language chosen. However it could have made better relevance in terms of political drama by giving more thorough approach to way of working of JFK...
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A little off, entertainment for sure but I think this is on the less probable end of a Kennedy what if. Many congressional leaders were quoted saying that Kennedy’s tax cut and civil rights bills would have passed even if he didn’t die.
Greenfield seems too pessimistic about the potency of a potential assassination survived JFK. As Thurston Clarke was able to show in his work JFK’s Last Hundred Days, JFK was shifting largely on Civil Rights and Vietnam. Greenfield seemed to think him too calculating.
Overall interesting and light enough to get through but some things I couldn’t get on board with:
Reagan winning the nomination in 68 is a big stretch.
The wink wink humor with Al Gore Sr and Nixon and HW Bush -
A very interesting, intriguing read. Lots of historical fact as well as fiction. What would have happened if Kennedy survived the assassination and get re-elected to a second term? Greenfield weaves a believable story. Nothing seems far fetched. Some good insights into that time in history. Kennedy is characterized as analytical and as a result can step away from situations and look at them in the abstract. Johnson and RFK are characterized as putting everything in personal terms. All in all, we see that history can turn on the smallest thing. "For the want of a nail, the war was lost."
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Loved this! I'm a huge fan of JFK, so this was also quite sad to think about what might have been. But, Greenfield does a great job of inventing conversations that you can really almost believe knowing the histories of such people as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jaqueline Kennedy, The Beatles, etc. And, just wait till you read who Greenfield believes would have been the Republican and Democratic candidates for President in '68! A very fun read!
