The Kennedy Obsession

by John Hellmann

John F. Kennedy was not only a president, but also a symbol for America's most cherished ideas. In The Kennedy Obsession, John Hellmann takes a thoroughly original approach to understanding Kennedy's star power and his carefully crafted public image. Tracing Kennedy's self-creation as diligent scholar, bashful hero, and sensitive rebel-cued by cultural figures such as Lord Byron, Ernest Hemingway, and Cary Grant-and the images of Kennedy in the aftermath of his assassination, Hellmann reveals the painstaking transformation of private life into public persona, of a man into perhaps the major American myth of our time.

Genres: American History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Alba · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terribly well-researched book offering a valuable insight into the times of John F. Kennedy and the cultural makeup that produced both the man and the myth.

The first five chapters explore (1) the possible origins of the Kennedy image in the literature that fascinated Jack in his youth; (2) the construction of Jack Kennedy as a war hero and the literary mechanisms behind this fiction; (3) the maturing of his image into that of a serious young man that slowly but surely legitimized itself through managing to link Kennedy to the likes of Hemingway in the public consciousness of the time; (4) the employment, be it conscious or unconscious, by Kennedy and his administration of popular Hollywood tropes in their management of public affairs and televised appearances, and how this culminated in the true establishment of John F. Kennedy as a sort of ultimate movie star; and (5) how Kennedy's seemingly natural 'charisma' and sex appeal, combined with the role he carefully set himself up to play as the nation's young, adventurous, courageous, and always vigorous leader, turned him into a sort of surrogate lover to the American citizenry, eliciting the kind of quasi-romantic obsession that has come to characterize, even after all these decades and harsh revelations about his personal life, the public perception of —and reaction to— the man-myth known as JFK. These are all very solid, revealing, and informative for those of us who may not be too familiar with the full sociocultural context of Kennedy's times.

The last chapter, which focuses on the continuation of the Kennedy myth throughout the decades after his death, could have been far better conceived and executed. It does indeed drag a bit and make for an anticlimactic ending, though it's still not fully without interest or merit. It just feels pointless in comparison to the rest of the book, turning what one gets the feeling could have been an illuminating look at the different fictions built around the Kennedy assassination into a series of analyses of three different works of fiction that, although related to some of the overarching themes of the book and centered on the topic of the assassination and its public perception and impact, feel somewhat out of place in the greater context of the book. The underwhelm isn't surprising, given that, where an entire book could probably be written on the topic of the continuous transformation that JFK's image has undergone from the moment of his death to the present day, this book dedicates only 34 pages to the task. This is disappointing but forgivable given the quality of previous chapters. If it weren't for this last chapter I'd probably have given this 5 stars, so I guess it's more like a 4.5 for me.

Strongly recommend to anyone interested in the gradual shaping of JFK's public image from a literary and occasionally psychoanalytic angle.

[judeiscariot · Rating 2 out of 5]

good until the last chapter. was expecting there to be some kind of conclusion tying together hellman’s many disjointed points, but instead got freudian psychoanalysis of fictional characters from historical fiction novels.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the more interesting history books I have read, if only because the style was so unique. The author is an English professor, so instead of restating facts and interviews, or doing investigative writing, Hellman analyzes Kennedy's life from a literary stand point. His main focus is the construction of Kennedy's image, including his pre-presidential years, his years in office, and the Camelot myth he left behind after death. It's an interesting take on history, one that illuminates the public relations aspect of public office.