The Kennedy Men: 1901-1963

by Laurence Leamer

The renowned biographer and New York Times bestselling author of The Kennedy Women returns with this first volume in a multigenerational history that will forever change the way America views its most famous family ...

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Politics, American History, Presidents, Historical

928 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Laurence Leamer is an award-winning journalist and historian who has written eighteen books including five New York Times bestsellers. He has worked in a factory in France, a coal mine in West Virginia and as a Peace Corps volunteer in a remote village in Nepal two days from a road. He has written two novels and an off Broadway play but is primarily known for his nonfiction. His most recent book, Capote's Women, is being made into an eight-part series starring Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Calista Flockhart, and Demi Moore.

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 3 out of 5]

1901-1960 has as much time spent on it as the Cuban Middle crisis alone. It would have behooved the author to remember that there was more to the Kennedy male line than JFK. I have learned more about the sires reading Kennedy Women. A little disappointed, but at the same time much more knowledgeable about Jack.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is somewhat misleading. It is ostensibly about all of the Kennedy men, but in reality it is largely about Joe Kennedy Snr and John F. Kennedy, with a healthy side-helping of Bobby and Joe Jnr, but Teddy gets fairly short shrift. And the fact that book ends with JFK's assassination in 1963, despite the fact that Joe Kennedy lived another six years, Bobby another five years and Teddy until 2009, is telling.

Bobby and Teddy's lives are very much written as an adjunct of their brother's - the book doesn't mention Teddy's Senate career at all after he has won his seat, and Bobby is only mentioned in his capacity as his brother's Attorney General. It's a shame, because they are both such interesting personalities in their own right, and it would have interesting to have some comparisons drawn between Teddy's early days and his later role at the Lion of the Senate.

That said, it's an excellent book, incredibly detailed and well-written, as the nearly thousand pages attest. As a bit of a Kennedy buff, there was little new here for me, but it would serve an excellent introductory biography to the Kennedy men. The level of detail about JFK's injuries and health was certainly impressive - I'm not sure which is more of a miracle, that with such poor health JFK ever managed to serve in WW2, campaign for and serve as a Congressman, Senator and President of the United States, or that he somehow managed to conceal such ill health and project such an image of youth and vitality.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had a fascination with the Kennedys for many years and was looking forward to this as I had read the author's "Kennedy Women" some years ago. However I found this book very uneven. Parts of it were quick reads and parts of it I had to put down after just a few pages. It took me far longer to read this book than any book in years.

I really enjoyed the early story of where the Kennedy family came from. The parts that talked about the family dynamics and how they were as people were by far the most interesting.

Yet other parts were far too bogged down to be a fluid read. The author obviously did research and dug up many quotes. That doesn't mean you have to insert every single one into your book. The chapters on the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis were so convoluted, circling back in the story continually, that it was hard to tell where they were in the story. I'm glad I had a working knowledge of those two events to make it easier to determine.

That aside I was left with a sadness about just how inaccurate the Kennedy Myth has been. I knew the family was revered yet deeply flawed, which is part of my fascination with them. However any great image that these men had was mostly negated.

Not only did the father raise them to feel like they were invincible and could do anything, which is part of why many of them died young or tragically, but he also raised them to think that anyone outside of their clan wasn't worthy. It seemed there was a disdain for humanity that is in sharp contrast with the myth.

I knew JFK had Addison's disease but I had no idea just how debilitating it was for him. His heavy use of drugs to sustain him makes me feel that he shouldn't have run for president. I also never knew that his constant philandering included having these ladies in the White House as soon as Jackie left town! This book paints a very sad portrait of their marriage.

RFK was a good man in most part, but I never realized he was so very paranoid about Communism and Liberals as was his presidential brother. Both these brothers make me wonder why they considered themselves Democrats but i guess it's really more of a reflection of how that party has changed over the last decades.

Oddly enough for such a very long (over 700 page) book, it ends very abruptly. I wonder if the author got as tired of writing as we did of reading parts of it and ended it quickly.

I was leaning towards 2 and a 1/2 stars but with Good Reads's system , I felt a two was too harsh.

[Andie · Rating 3 out of 5]

One wonders at this point in time, what more can be said about the Kennedy family, but there seems to be a endless fascination with them, and I am not exempt from this phenomenon. Laurence Leamer's biography concentrates on the men in the family and ends with the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.

Leamer is not an unbiased biographer. He likes JFK despite his many, many character flaws and finds little to admire in either Joseph P. Kennedy or Bobby Kennedy. The former is described as a ruthless businessman and a (mostly) reactionary politician who would do anything to get his son elected to the highest office in the land. The latter, whom the author seems to truly despise, is portrayed as a man unable to see nuances in politics or his private life and who was motivated more by his many hates than in any positive program he wanted to put forward.

As for Teddy, he is portrayed largely as a likable boob who is more inclined to partying and good times than in large thoughts, and he appears to have stumbled into politics more in living up to family expectations than in anything he wanted to do himself.

Looking back at the bribes, womanizing, and hidden health problems, the reader realizes that none of these men would be able to be elected today in out era of 24/7 cable news channels. In fact, in today's environment, they wouldn't even make it out of the primaries. And all in all, that is probably a good thing.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me forever to finish, but I did enjoy it. Tons of information but the most fascinating sections were those that stripped away the veneer of respectability and exposed the ruthlessness of all the Kennedy's.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried SO HARD to read this book. The Kennedy family has always been tremendously fascinating but he managed to make them all duller than mud. Took me months to get through and I'm a binge reader.

[Lauren Hiebner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the Kennedy men from 1901 - 1963. The book has two themes. First is the influence Joseph Kennedy had on his sons. In order to understand this you have to examine the life style and beliefs of Joe Kennedy. Second is the theme of the relationship among the four boys and what they learned from their father.
Joseph always felt inferior being both Irish and Catholic to the boys around him, growing up in Boston. Attending Harvard, he tried to fit in playing baseball and made close friends with popular athletes who became life-long friends. Avoiding WWI, he became involved in banking and stocks where he became wealthy. Joe married Rose the daughter of the Mayor of Boston and immediately had several children but life wasn’t all roses at home as Rose left, threatened divorce but eventually returned. Rose ran the household. During Prohibition, Joe was involved in the bootlegging business and befriended numerous gangsters and mafioso types. Joe had homes in Hollywood and Palm Beach where he could carry on his affairs with women. When at home he was very aloof toward his boys and instilled in them fierce competitiveness which carried on in their lives. Joe was the driving force behind the scenes for the political campaigns of Jack, Robert, and Teddy.
Joe Jr. learned from his dad, also a womanizer, competitive, temperamental, and isolationist in foreign policy. Wanting to prove himself to his dad, he joined the Air Force and volunteered for the most dangerous missions in WWII. He died in a plane crash in 1944.
Jack was envious of Joe Jr., competitive, a playboy in college, always ill, and following his brother, enlisted in the navy in WWII. Here he suffered a severe back injury that would bother him for the rest of his life. However, he came out of the the war a hero, Traveling widely in Europe, he became an expert in foreign affairs of both the political and physical kind. Throughout his political career and marriage he will continue to have risky affairs. He also will be plagued with infirmities the will hospitalize him off and on for the rest of his life. He successfully ran for the House of Representatives and later Senator from Massachusetts in the 1950s. All of this was a spring board for the presidency. In all campaigns he is helped by the entire Kennedy clan and Joe’s money. Both books, Why England Slept and Profiles in Courage were ghost written by others but he put his stamp on both. Jack was slow to embrace Civil Rights issues as a Senator and kept his focus on foreign affairs (anti-communism) and labor rights. As the 1960 presidential campaign continued, the FBI was gathering information on JFK and the mafia connections. JFK handled the Catholic issue very well, using wit and humor on the campaign effectively. JFK defeated Nixon largely as a result of the televised debates even though both had similar views on many issues. In Civil Rights, JFK stayed behind the scenes as much as possible in order to garner Southern votes. JFK receiving daily injections of pain killers for his back and continued to have his affairs when Jackie was out of town. The first crisis, the Bay of Pigs was a failure he inherited but went on TV to take the blame. This led to the Cuban Missile Crisis which brought the US and USSR to the brink of nuclear war in October 1962. His use of televised press conferences tovgreatly enhanced his image. His family became celebrities in magazines as well, especially Jackie. JFK’s approach to problems was to bring in the best advisors, listen to various viewpoints and make a decision. However, behind the scenes his affairs with questionable women who may have been spies was something Hoover’s FBI continued to follow. Basically in 1963 all decisions foreign or domestic were in the context getting elected. The most difficult area, Vietnam wasn’t going according to plan and could be a real embarrassment. To stay and fight would be a mess, to withdraw would show him to be a coward. Also in middle 1963, JFK’s medications and daily injections were having negative affects, his hands were shaking uncontrollably. Despite his physical problems he always looked at what was best for the country.
Robert was probably the most religious of the Kennedy brothers. He also was very competitive, very physical in any game played. Often he got into fights. A navy veteran, he saw courage as more a physical than moral idea. Opposed to segregation, he ran Jack’s political campaigns to prove himself. Despite getting married, he was like his father a playboy. He was on McCarthy’s HUAC committee and a fierce, dogged interrogator who had done his research. His work uncovering corruption in labor unions which led to a book called The Enemy Within. Committee and staff members either hated him or tolerated him. He was passionate in his anti-communism and anti-corruption. He was very good at using the media to further his own political career. He helped get LBJ on the ticket with his brother. However the two hated each other. As Attorney General he was JFK’s right hand advisor on all topics. The failure of the Bay of Pigs was seen as a personal loss and consequently pushed to assassinate Castro and invade Cuba. RFK opposed the injustice of segregation and racism in the US. He became involved in the government’s attempts to slow down the Civil Rights movement but was the front man for JFK’s actions with MLK and others. RFK also approved wiretapping Civil Rights leaders thinking they were involved with Communist advisors. RFK also played a key role in the Cuban Missile Crisis using back channels to negotiate with the Soviets. Being involved personally in many issues was wearing on him as 1963 came along. After JFK’s assassination, RFK called all government agencies to see if they were involved in they knew anything about the killing. He believed it was related to Cuba and took it very personally.
Teddy was the baby of the family. Maybe not as smart as his brothers but physically stronger and an excellent speaker. In football he was slow but strong and supported by the entire Kennedy clan at games. He was less ambitious than his brothers but probably the happiest. Caught cheating in school he was suspended and later spent two years in the army in Europe. He went to Virginia Law school, got married, and helped run his brother’s campaigns. He actually wanted to move to Arizona but was persuaded to run for Senator of Mass. The author says that Teddy was probably the better politician of the three brothers. Teddy had to confront the Harvard Law School cheating scandal, which he did and won the senate race easily.
So finally, all Kennedy brothers had a sense of duty to the country which drove them and in some cases to a sad ending. All learned from their father who was always behind the scenes furthering their careers. Joe gave up eventually three sons for his country. A very revealing and at times sad read.

[Christina Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read, mostly focused on JFK and his father so the title was deceiving. Learned some new things though!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

" "Truth is the ultimate weapon in democracy, but truth does not work has quickly as deception." Leamer, p 488
"Truth is democracy's greatest weapon. It is a painful, difficult weapon that often seems to turn on those who use it, and is is terribly tempting to jettison it in dangerous times." Leamer, p. 499
These statements are as true today as in 1961. We see it amplified even more so in the current election cycle (2024); deception has a way of quickly spreading with the help of news reporting and echo chambers, while truth can barely gain a foothold. Loud and boisterous repetition of lies and deceptions spread faster and faster with each rally. Thirty second political adds spue deception and fear with no rebuttal. Has all truth been jettisoned from our political discourse?

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly, this family was a dynasty, men of extraordinary charisma, power, and sense of destiny. A good addition for those who like to read about the Kennedys, this book is lengthy and detailed but reads like a novel as it summarizes with the perspective of time. The book represents a compilation of earlier writings about the Kennedys and newly released tapes and documents. Interspersed with Kennedy gossip is a lot of analysis of the political maneuvering surrounding the Bay of Pigs and Viet Nam and the Civil Rights Movement. Especially striking is the extensive coverage of JFK's physical condition. The book discusses the various marriages and names many of Kennedy's lovers; the author also points out the precarious position JFK was in but never recognized. The political bumbling, however, is more shocking even than the sexual liaisons. The book clearly explains personality weaknesses of all of the Kennedy men but also shows their strengths. What makes this so interesting, perhaps, is having lived through Camelot and now reading all that was hidden from the public at the time. So much we never knew ....

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging narrative detailing the lives of the Kennedy men is presented by Laurence Leamer, who begins with Joseph Kennedy's early years and concludes with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This account particularly sheds light on Jack's formative years and the numerous health challenges he faced throughout his lifetime.

The sections discussing the congressional, senatorial, and presidential campaigns are particularly interesting. The meticulous organisation within the Kennedy clan, where each parent, sibling, and in-law assumed specific roles that leveraged their unique strengths, was particularly interesting to read about.

The main focus was Jack and Joe, with a lesser focus on Bobby and Ted beyond how the events that they were involved in connected to Jack and his political career. Joe Jr's story came into play, too, particularly relating to his fierce (kind of one-sided) sibling rivalry with Jack.

[Lydia Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quite an epic, and I found it quite interesting, especially the first half of the book which focuses on the family history of Joe Kennedy, how he built his dynasty, and the children of Joe and Rose Kennedy. The second half concentrates primarily on JFK and goes into quite a lot of political detail of his presidency, and this could almost have been a book all by itself just on JFK.
It was interesting of course, but I got a bit lost on some of the in depth political stuff. The book ends with the assassination and funeral of JFK.

[Peggie Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times there was too much minutia while other topics were completely ignored......absolutely no mention of the space race or his speech which compelled NASA to the moon after his death. I found the Kennedy men to be rather self-absorbed and opinionated, moreso than I had known previously and not a particularly likable lot.

[~mad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll never see the Kennedys the same way again!

I recommend.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Kennedy men had their good and bad times to be sure. This was a very interesting book. I would recommend this one.

[Hb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite everything the author is in love with Jack Kennedy. I'm not sure if it's because the author worked in the Peace Corps and therefore sided with the Shriver family's dislike of Bobby Kennedy, but he absolutely hates RFK. When it comes to RFK, he completely loses all objectivity. He writes every bad thing that could possibly be said about Bobby Kennedy. According to him, RFK was physically unattractive, lacked the Kennedy charm or intelligence, was vindictive, ruthless, obsessed, married to a maniac (the only part I agree with :)), and was someone everyone hated as much as the author did The author even suggests that JFK was killed because of his brother. According to him, Castro might have had the right to go after JFK because of what Bobby did. It is like he solved the assasination and it was RFK's fault. It's a shocking level of hatred. I wonder why the author feels this way.

[Bud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is eye-opening, great explanations of chunks of history that I did not know.
It was a dysfunctional family, but normal for them. What if Joe jr. would have lived, that would be a different world.
I learned a lot about Bobby's obsession with communism and Cuba, and a lot of other things. There was so much going on, most of it before my childhood, but I experienced the changes made by the Kennedy presidency. How long are we going to endure the changes made by the president in 2025?
Good legacy will last. Hate legacy should fade quickly.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I did not read the author's much-renowned "The Kennedy Women", I think this book would be it's equal. I really enjoyed this book. It was balanced and not too much a Kennedy fan, but also not scathing to prove a political point. Gave me a very good understanding of how the four Kennedy boys grew up and a good mini-bio of each Joe, jack, Bob, & Teddy, as well as a good bit of detail on the early days of Joe, Sr.

[Gloria Creech · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I'd heard it all, but I learned quite a bit about the dark side of what really happened behind closed doors regarding Cuba and Vietnam. I have the book and the audiobook. The audiobook is heavily abridged, which made me unhappy, but it contains excerpts of President Kennedy's words in his own voice.

[Glen Chern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Laurence Leamer provides the reader with a brilliant, detailed and comprehensive history of the Kennedy men. This biographical epic provides valuable insights into each of them. Most valuable is Leamer’s description of the influence on and relationships with his four sons. This is a very long volume of work, but well worth the effort to read from beginning to send.

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long (of necessity) but good read. It gave me a fuller understanding of Joe Sr., who made a fortune but whose real ambition was power and influence, both directly and vicariously through his sons. It is also a reminder that the political forces in play today are not so different from those of the past I recommend the book.

[Everydayreader1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE KENNEDY MEN is likely the longest book I've read in 2021. Laurence Leemer traces the lives of the Kennedy Men, ending with President Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963. This book was informative, interesting and quite revealing about the Kennedy family. I definitely plan to read the author's book THE KENNEDY WOMEN also.

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is long but informative. I particularly enjoyed learning about Joe and Joe Jr. and their impact on Jack, Bobby, and Ted. The author makes no secret that’s he is enamored with the whole clan, but most readers who take on this epic tale would feel similarly.

[Gretchen Schreiber · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was fairly informative about the men that were covered, but this was hardly an overview of all of the Kennedy men. This was basically PJ, Joe Jr., JFK and a little bit of Bobby. Really wanted to learn more about Teddy, bobby (specifically the Chappaquiddick incident), and JFK Jr.

[Dionna Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting and very informative.

[Andre · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is packed with lots of detail. skipped certain sections.

[Shaland · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Christine Ingles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read showing the power of Joseph P and Rose Kennedy in shaping their boys who in turn, shaped the country.

[Kevin Hawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched and written book. If you are in to the details of the lives of the Kennedy men, I recommend that you read this book.

[Terry Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opens your eyes to the truth of JFK