Abramson Jill - Kennedy the Elusive President

8/20/2019 Abramson Jill - Kennedy the Elusive President

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Kennedy, the Elusive PresidentBy JILL ABRAMSON

Published: October 22, 2013

As the 50th anniversary of his assassination nears, John F. Kennedy remains all but

impossible to pin down. One reason is that his martyrdom for a !eneration of Ameri"ans still the most traumati" publi" event of their lives, #$%% notwithstandin! has obs"ured mu"h about the man and his a""omplishments.

&as Kennedy a !reat president, as many "ontinue to thin'( Or was he a re"'less

and "harmin! li!htwei!ht or, worse still, the first of our "elebrities)in)"hief( *o

what e+tent do his numerous personal failin!s, barely reported durin! his lifetime

but amply do"umented sin"e, overshadow or undermine his poli"y a"hievements(

And what of those a"hievements in "ivil ri!hts and poverty, to name two issues

his administration embra"ed. &erent the brea'throu!hs a"tually the doin! of his

su""essor, -yndon . Johnson(

Even the basi" fa"ts of Kennedys death are still sub/e"t to heated ar!ument. *he

histori"al "onsensus seems to have settled on -ee arvey Oswald as the lone

assassin, but "onspira"y spe"ulation abounds involvin! Johnson, the 1.2.A., the

mob, Fidel 1astro or a baro3ue "ombination of all of them. 4any of the theories

have been "ir"ulatin! for de"ades and have now found new life on the 2nternet, in

&eb sites febrile with unfiltered and at times unhin!ed musin!s.

Of "ourse the Kennedy fi+ation is hardly limited to the di!ital world. An estimated0,000 boo's about him have been published sin"e his death, and this anniversary

year has loosed another vast outpourin!. 6et to e+plore the enormous literature is

to be stru"' not by whats there but by whats missin!. 7eaders "an "hoose from

many boo's but surprisin!ly few !ood ones, and not one really outstandin! one.

2t is a "urious state of affairs, and some of the nations leadin! historians wonder

about it. 8*here is su"h fas"ination in the "ountry about the anniversary, but there

is no !reat boo' about Kennedy,9 7obert 1aro lamented when 2 spo'e to him not

lon! a!o. *he situation is all the stran!er, he added, sin"e Kennedys life and deathform 8one of the !reat Ameri"an stories.9 1aro should 'now. is epi" life of

Johnson :four volumes and "ountin!; brilliantly "aptures parts of the Kennedy

sa!a, espe"ially the assassination in


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who didnt a""omplish very mu"h.9 o enthralled was he

by this last topi" that he has written a follow)up, 81amelots 1ourt,9 whi"h profiles

members of Kennedys famous brain trust and is bein! released for the 50th

anniversary. *his time, however, it is


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Everett "hlesin!er Jr., who wrote three

ma!isterial volumes on Fran'lin 7oosevelt and the ew


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4onroe bein! sewn into the G5,000 flesh)"olored, s'inti!ht dress she wore to

"elebrate the presidents birthday at 4adison >3uare Carden in %#DB. :*his is the

pla"e to note that 7eeves edited 8*he Kennedy 6ears,9 *he ew 6or' *imess own

addition to the ever)e+pandin! Kennedy "osmos, and 2 wrote the foreword.;

alan"in! out, or warrin! with, the Kennedy "la3ue are the Kennedy haters, li'e

>eymour 4. ersh and Carry &ills. 2n 8*he


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And yet Kennedys unreality, in 4ailers view, may have answered the parti"ular

"ravin! of a parti"ular histori"al moment. 82t was a hero Ameri"a needed, a hero

"entral to his time, a man whose personality mi!ht su!!est "ontradi"tion and

mysteries whi"h "ould rea"h into the alienated "ir"uits of the under!round, be"ause

only a hero "an "apture the se"ret ima!ination of a people, and so be !ood for the

vitality of his nation.9 *hose words seemed to prophesy the Kennedy mysti3ue that

was to "ome, reinfor"ed by the whis'er)thin vi"tory over i+on in the !eneral

ele"tion, by the romanti" e+"itements of 1amelot and then by the horror of henon finds the woman, now in her H0s, in 4e+i"o, she denies havin! had a

relationship with Oswald, and >henons en"ounters with her prove more mysterious

than illuminatin!.

Kennedys murder was bound to attra"t novelists, and some have approa"hed the

sub/e"t inventively, if with stran!e results. >tephen Kin!s 8%%$BB$D,9 a best seller

published in B0%%, ta'es the form of a time)travel romp involvin! a hi!h s"hool

En!lish tea"her who finds roman"e in *e+as while 'eepin! tabs on Oswald. At more

than I00 pa!es, the novel demands a "ommitment that e+"eeds its entertainment

value.

2 rather li'e 4ailers 8Oswalds *ale,9 published in %##5. 2t is, li'e his earlier

masterpie"e 8*he E+e"utioners >on!,9 a wor' of 8fa"tion,9 whi"h is 4ailers termfor his hybrid of do"umented fa"t and novelisti" elaboration. 4ailer and his

"ollea!ue, -awren"e >"hiller, spent si+ months in 7ussia e+aminin! Oswalds

K.C.. files, and the hu!e 3uasi novel that "ame out of it "ontains a !ood deal of

en!rossin! material about Oswald and his 7ussian wife, 4arina, as well as the odd

assortment of people the "ouple mi+ed with in *e+as. 4ailers narrative s'ills are

prodi!ious, but in the end he has little to tell us that wasnt already un"overed by

Pris"illa Johnson 4"4illan in 84arina and -ee,9 her nonfi"tion portrait of the

troubled "ouple from %#HH. :4ailer properly "redits 4"4illans boo'.;

:Pa!e of D;


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4ost "riti"s seem to thin' the outstandin! e+ample of Kennedy assassination

fi"tion is 8-ibra,9 "hlesin!er Jr. and he herself was

involved in the publi"ation of two boo's and the release of a""ompanyin! tapes.

One of them, 8Ja"3ueline Kennedy? istori" 1onversations on -ife &ith John F.


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Kennedy,9 "ontains the trans"ripts of the first ladys interviews about her husband

with >"hlesin!er, "ondu"ted in %#D but 'ept se"ret until B0%%. *hey are revealin!

and mesmeriin!. *he other, 8-istenin! 2n,9 offers &hite ouse "onversations

"aptured in a se"retly installed tapin! system in the Oval Offi"e. >in"e Kennedy

"ontrolled the devi"e, these "onversations are more !uarded, but the boo' in"ludes

at least one memorable moment, when the president hilariously loses his temper

over unflatterin! press about the G5,000 "ost of 4rs. Kennedys hospital maternity

suite 8Are they "ray up there( ow you 'now what thats !onna do( Any

"on!ressman is !oin! to !et up and say, 1hrist, if they "an throw G5,000 away on

this, lets "ut em another billion dollars. 6ou /ust san' the Air For"e bud!et9

*he most disturbin! "ase of the familys attempts to "ontrol history "ame early on,

and it involved &illiam 4an"hester, the historian "hosen by the Kennedys a few

wee's after the assassination to write the authoried a""ount, 8*he


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the 50th anniversary is that -ittle, rown has now reissued paperba"' and e)boo'

editions.

2ts !ood news be"ause, remar'ably, and a!ainst all odds, 4an"hester :who died in

B00; wrote an e+traordinary boo'. *here are obvious defe"ts. Predi"tably, he blares the trumpets of 1amelot, and he has a wea'ness for melodrama. 2ts hard to

believe, even at the time of Kennedys murder, that to the world it was 8as thou!h

the A+is powers had surrendered and Adolf itler and Fran'lin 7oosevelt had died

in the hours between noon and midafternoon in &ashin!ton of a sin!le day in

%#5.9 ut these e+"esses dont really matter, than's to 4an"hesters vivid

reportin!, masterly narrative and authenti"ally poeti" tou"hes.

2t is in small, 3uiet s"enes that 4an"hesters "hroni"le a""umulates its !reatest

for"e. &hen it is time for eptember %B, %#5,9 the date of

her marria!eL it "ontains her weddin! !own. *he blo"')printed label on the other is

8&orn by Ja"'ie, ovember BB, %#D.9 2nside, neatly arran!ed, are the pin' wool

suit, the bla"' shift, the low)heeled shoes and, wrapped in a white towel, the

sto"'in!s. &ere the bo+ to be opened by an intruder from some land so remote that

the name, the date and photo!raphs of the ensemble had not been published and

republished until they had been !raven upon his memory, he mi!ht "on"lude that


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these were merely stylish !arments whi"h had passed out of fashion and whi"h,

be"ause they were asso"iated with some pleasant o""asion, had not been dis"arded.

:Pa!e D of D;

2f the trespasser loo'ed "loser, however, he would be momentarily baffled. *he

memento of a happy time would be "leaned before storin!. Obviously this "ostume

has not been. *here are u!ly splot"hes alon! the front and hem of the s'irt. *he

handba!s leather and the inside of ea"h shoe are "a'ed dar' red. And the sto"'in!s

are 3uite odd. On"e the same substan"e strea'ed them in mad s"ribbly patterns, but

time and the sheerness of the fabri" have altered it. *he rusty "lots have fla'ed offL

they lie in tiny brittle !rains on the nap of the towel. E+aminin! them "losely, the

intruder would see his error. *his "lothin!, he would per"eive, had not been 'ept

out of sentiment. e would realie that it had been worn by a slender youn! woman who had met with some dreadful a""ident. e mi!ht ponder whether she had

survived. e mi!ht even wonder who had been to blame.

=nfortunately, the tapes of 4an"hesters two five)hour interviews with Ja"'ie

Kennedy, who seems to have re!retted her fran'ness, remain under seal at the

Kennedy -ibrary until B0DH. *his is a final sadness for a reader siftin! throu!h

these many boo's. *a'en to!ether, they tell us all too little about this president,

now !one 50 years, who remains as elusive in death as he was in life.

Jill Abramson is the executive editor of The Times.

A ersio! o" this #rticle #$$e#rs i! $ri!t o! October 2%, 2013, o! $#&e BR1 o" the Su!d#y Boo' Reie( (ith the

he#dli!e: )he *lusie Preside!t+

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Abramson Jill - Kennedy the Elusive President