All you have to do is pull your little finger

I've never been a JFK fan. I think it stems from reading something when I was little about his assassination, and the book said something like, "Not since the death of Abraham Lincoln had the country mourned so much." My favorite President is FDR. I was outraged. People were very upset when Roosevelt died. The country probably was more upset about JFK's assassination...BECAUSE WORLD WAR II WAS STILL GOING ON WHEN ROOSEVELT DIED.

I apparently still feel strongly about this. But honestly, JFK wasn't that good a President. I don't really count "bringing youthful vitality to the White House" that much. He did a good job with the Cuban Missile Crisis, and he did start the process of the civil rights bill. But Bay of Pigs and escalation in Vietnam. So, mixed bag. Him being attractive? Not considered.

I just finished reading Death of a President: November 1963. It was written by William Manchester and published in the late 60s. Manchester had the blessing of Jackie and Bobby and had written a book about Jack earlier, so he knew these people. He interviewed pretty much everyone even tangentially involved with the Kennedys or the assassination. It's a 650-page book. It's very thorough.

Most of the book is a fairly straightforward account of the week surrounding Kennedy's death (from the Wednesday before to the Monday after), and Manchester describes the scenes and people involved vividly. One of the hardest things about reading this book is remembering who everyone mentioned is, which really is a testament to Manchester's work.

In general, I enjoyed it, though if Manchester was trying to hide any biases, he failed miserably. In discussing some of Kennedy's staff, Manchester frequently points out the problem of being loyal to a man versus a position. He makes a lot of the fact people don't refer to Lyndon Johnson as the President...and he is obviously totally fine with people not wanting to call Johnson the President, even well after he was. Manchester frequently includes lines about how hard it must be for Johnson, but it's just lip service. It's pretty clear that while he understands intellectually that Johnson had to start governing, Manchester sure couldn't understand emotionally.

(He also, amusingly, makes a snide comment about someone writing something scandalous about JFK's personal, like obviously there was nothing scandalous there. Heh.)

Manchester also emphasizes how the entire country just spent the entire weekend in mourning, how everyone kept trying to get drunk to dull the pain but it just wouldn't work, how the world stopped for this weekend. (To the point that there was a moment of silence or similar, and trains stopped. Really?!) And yet, he acknowledges that JFK wasn't the most popular in the world. Manchester clearly doesn't like Texas, and blames Dallas for the assassination. So...not everyone was paralyzed by grief. (Including my parents. Not that they didn't like JFK, as far as I know, but I DO know that they had their first date that weekend. So life did indeed go on.)

Speaking of, dude does NOT like Lee Harvey Oswald. He 100% believes that Oswald did it, acting alone. But his portrayal of Oswald is one with zero sympathy, zero empathy, zero redeeming qualities.

Mind you, I found some of the principals in the story somewhat unsympathetic. Jackie was obsessed with making sure Jack would be remembered, which at times came across to me as somewhat unseemly. (Did she really need to add a plaque to his bedroom that he slept there? You, sir, are no Abraham Lincoln.) (Turns out the Nixons removed it. Which is awesome.) On the other hand, she showed a grace and thoughtfulness toward others that was strictly amazing. And who should make a cameo late in the book but Aristotle Onassis!

The bits like that were largely depressing, mostly because of the knowledge of what would happen to Bobby the year after this book was published. Seeing Bobby and Ted in this context was just sobering. Also statements about attempts to pass gun reform bills in the wake of the shooting were all too familiar.

But overall, a good book. I particularly enjoyed finding out the details about what went on between Parkland and Arlington. The random conversations, the debate about where to bury JFK, the odd behavior that wasn't seen as particularly odd, the confusion about tell Caroline and John-John. Fascinating.

A good, if time-consuming, read.