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Forty Ways to Look at JFK
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie–deliberate, contrived, and dishonest–but the myth–persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.”
–John F. Kennedy
Statesman and hero, opportunist and fraud. John F. Kennedy’s contradictions have inspired such fascination that the public’s interest in him has never dimmed. Now, with the same striking technique she used in the bestselling Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill, Gretchen Rubin has written an enthralling new work that captures the crucial elements of Kennedy’s story.
Rubin’s “forty ways” approach highlights JFK’s high ideals, trenchant wit, glamorous family, and unforgettable charisma; it also examines his astonishing sexual appetite, his lies to the public, his shrewd manipulation of the press, and his exploitation of imagery. By showing the many sides of JFK–ranked by the public, but not historians, as one of America’s greatest presidents–Rubin invites readers to decide whether Kennedy was a great statesman or a shallow charmer; whether his success was due to his own merits or to his ruthless father; whether he could be both an unfaithful husband and a good man.
Most important, this biography seeks to solve the enduring puzzle about JFK: What made Kennedy Kennedy? What made him such a dazzling, unforgettable figure? How did he become a secular saint and a political movie star? Rubin illuminates Kennedy’s provocative character and explains the source of his enduring magic as not even the most exhaustive JFK studies have managed to do.
Forty Ways to Look at JFK stands out among Kennedy biographies as a splendidly focused assessment of Kennedy’s life, presidency, and myth. It is for both Kennedy fans and anyone fascinated by the impact of his personality on American culture and politics. Crisp, vivid, and brilliantly readable, it is a significant addition to the author’s innovative approach to biography.
–John F. Kennedy
Statesman and hero, opportunist and fraud. John F. Kennedy’s contradictions have inspired such fascination that the public’s interest in him has never dimmed. Now, with the same striking technique she used in the bestselling Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill, Gretchen Rubin has written an enthralling new work that captures the crucial elements of Kennedy’s story.
Rubin’s “forty ways” approach highlights JFK’s high ideals, trenchant wit, glamorous family, and unforgettable charisma; it also examines his astonishing sexual appetite, his lies to the public, his shrewd manipulation of the press, and his exploitation of imagery. By showing the many sides of JFK–ranked by the public, but not historians, as one of America’s greatest presidents–Rubin invites readers to decide whether Kennedy was a great statesman or a shallow charmer; whether his success was due to his own merits or to his ruthless father; whether he could be both an unfaithful husband and a good man.
Most important, this biography seeks to solve the enduring puzzle about JFK: What made Kennedy Kennedy? What made him such a dazzling, unforgettable figure? How did he become a secular saint and a political movie star? Rubin illuminates Kennedy’s provocative character and explains the source of his enduring magic as not even the most exhaustive JFK studies have managed to do.
Forty Ways to Look at JFK stands out among Kennedy biographies as a splendidly focused assessment of Kennedy’s life, presidency, and myth. It is for both Kennedy fans and anyone fascinated by the impact of his personality on American culture and politics. Crisp, vivid, and brilliantly readable, it is a significant addition to the author’s innovative approach to biography.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
7 people are currently reading
938 people want to read
About the author
Gretchen Rubin
44 books139k followersOut now: "Secrets of Adulthood"
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before distills her key insights into simple truths for living with greater satisfaction, clarity, and happiness. Order your copy of "Secrets of Adulthood" today.
Author Bio
Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature.
She’s the author of many New York Times bestselling books, such as The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies, Life in Five Senses, and Secrets of Adulthood, which have sold millions of copies in more than thirty languages. Her next book Secrets of Adulthood comes out April 2025.
She’s the host of the popular, award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, where she and her co-host (and sister) Elizabeth Craft explore strategies and insights about how to make life happier. As the founder of The Happiness Project, she has helped create imaginative products for people to use in their own happiness projects.
She has been interviewed by Oprah, eaten dinner with Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman, walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama, had her work reported on in a medical journal, been written up in the New Yorker, and been an answer on Jeopardy!
Gretchen Rubin started her career in law, and she realized she wanted to be a writer while she was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her family.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before distills her key insights into simple truths for living with greater satisfaction, clarity, and happiness. Order your copy of "Secrets of Adulthood" today.
Author Bio
Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature.
She’s the author of many New York Times bestselling books, such as The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies, Life in Five Senses, and Secrets of Adulthood, which have sold millions of copies in more than thirty languages. Her next book Secrets of Adulthood comes out April 2025.
She’s the host of the popular, award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, where she and her co-host (and sister) Elizabeth Craft explore strategies and insights about how to make life happier. As the founder of The Happiness Project, she has helped create imaginative products for people to use in their own happiness projects.
She has been interviewed by Oprah, eaten dinner with Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman, walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama, had her work reported on in a medical journal, been written up in the New Yorker, and been an answer on Jeopardy!
Gretchen Rubin started her career in law, and she realized she wanted to be a writer while she was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 22, 2008
My interest in reading this book was to try and get a true picture of a man who has become a legend. The veneration JFK receives seemed to be incongruous with the few things I knew about him/his presidency: the Bay of Pigs which in most accounts was a disaster, the space race which I admire but is it really cause for legend hood, and civil rights which my recollection put more squarely on Johnson's shoulders, and of course his mysterious assasination. So what did Kennedy do that made him such a hero to my parents and amny others?
The book as its title implies is set up to approach Kennedies life from 40 different angles each explored in its own chapter. The picture that emerges is of an extraordinarily charismatic man who at heart was not a very good man. Philanderer is too kind a word for him, a master of projecting a fake persona to the world, wealthy in the worst kind of ways - using his wealth to buy his reputation and occasionally elections. He was not a man of strong convictions and high ideals but one of enormous ambition who desperately wanted to go down in history as a great man.
So why is he such a legend? His assasination is an easy answer but it is really rooted in his ability, despite the contrast with his true personage, to inspire. His eloquence and wit, the fact that he challenged the American people instead of coddling them while also making them feel proud and patriotic. Who doesn't know at least one of Kennedies quotes? One of the most interesting things to me is that while most of the important legislation for civil rights happened later, Kennedies rhetoric was an important brand in the fire. His ability to inspire was also credited with jumpstarting the feminist movement as well. It places an interesting focus on the importance of the ability to inspire in our politic leaders.
The book was an easy read and since much of the info was new to me I enjoyed it. It does at times seem to get repetitive. I have not previously read a biography of JFK so have no means of comparisom nut I'd say for a quick and dirt look at who he was this is a good book.
The book as its title implies is set up to approach Kennedies life from 40 different angles each explored in its own chapter. The picture that emerges is of an extraordinarily charismatic man who at heart was not a very good man. Philanderer is too kind a word for him, a master of projecting a fake persona to the world, wealthy in the worst kind of ways - using his wealth to buy his reputation and occasionally elections. He was not a man of strong convictions and high ideals but one of enormous ambition who desperately wanted to go down in history as a great man.
So why is he such a legend? His assasination is an easy answer but it is really rooted in his ability, despite the contrast with his true personage, to inspire. His eloquence and wit, the fact that he challenged the American people instead of coddling them while also making them feel proud and patriotic. Who doesn't know at least one of Kennedies quotes? One of the most interesting things to me is that while most of the important legislation for civil rights happened later, Kennedies rhetoric was an important brand in the fire. His ability to inspire was also credited with jumpstarting the feminist movement as well. It places an interesting focus on the importance of the ability to inspire in our politic leaders.
The book was an easy read and since much of the info was new to me I enjoyed it. It does at times seem to get repetitive. I have not previously read a biography of JFK so have no means of comparisom nut I'd say for a quick and dirt look at who he was this is a good book.
July 26, 2008
Gretchen's Rubin's tour de force on the life and presidency of John F. Kennedy, for which her excellent 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill now seems a warm up, presents a many-faceted view of both Kennedy's meteoric political career and his hidden personal life. As Rubin points out, borrowing Isaiah Berlin's famous comparison, if Churchill was a hedgehog guided by one great idea, Kennedy was a fox, whose perspective constantly shifts. While Kennedy may not have lived up to the stature of his hero Churchill (and after all, who could?), Rubin's multifaceted (often directly, deliberately contradictory) forty chapters paint a picture of a man who transcended his personal limitations -- debilitating illness, chronic pain, compulsive womanizing -- to inspire Americans in a way that they have seldom been inspired before and never since. For a flavor of this inspirational quality, one need only revisit some of Kennedy's old speeches -- on youtube or elsewhere -- to get a sense of his enormous power to lift people above themselves. Whatever the unfulfilled promise of the thousand days, Kennedy confronted Soviet aggression, calmed nuclear tensions, kept the peace, created the Peace Corps, and launched the most comprehensive civil rights legislation in a hundred years. In retrospect, even perhaps his greatest lapse, his constant affairs with the best known and most beautiful women in America, has an Olympian quality to it, unmatched by the furtive indiscretions of an Eisenhower or the tawdry sex play of a Clinton with his trailer babes and interns. Kennedy's enduring legacy is a promise that America can be smart but tough, strong but peaceful, cultivated but virile, inspirational but practical, high-minded but unpretentious, principled but tolerant, sophisticated but popular, American but international, prosperous but generous, and competitive but fair. Rubin's aptly chosen epigraph is a quote from Samuel Butler: "He is greatest who is most often in men's good thoughts." To John F. Kennedy, who died two years before I was born, I am grateful for the many good thoughts that he left behind.
March 2, 2016
The subject matter: fascinating. The execution: a little less interesting than Rubin's 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill.
Perhaps because I knew more about JFK than Churchill (thought I'd never read a biography of either), or perhaps because Kennedy's life was shorter and therefore provided less "ways" to look at him, but I found this volume to be a bit repetitive.
Still, worth a read, especially for Kennedy fans. And I sincerely hope Gretchen Rubin does more of these 40 Ways biographies.
If you want to get a quick overview, read chapter 35: Kennedy Alchemy.
Perhaps because I knew more about JFK than Churchill (thought I'd never read a biography of either), or perhaps because Kennedy's life was shorter and therefore provided less "ways" to look at him, but I found this volume to be a bit repetitive.
Still, worth a read, especially for Kennedy fans. And I sincerely hope Gretchen Rubin does more of these 40 Ways biographies.
If you want to get a quick overview, read chapter 35: Kennedy Alchemy.
March 6, 2023
Yes there are so many ways to look at JFK after reading this book. It is hard to say what you feel about him. He was an enigma. I really am not sure how to feel now after reading this book. It was interesting and enlightening.
March 13, 2016
It's been a few years since I read the author's 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill, but to the best of my recollection, that was the superior volume.
In that earlier work, a greater effort was placed into living up to the title. I recall their being several thesis about Churchill being thrown over the wall as it were, and then followed over that wall by the author in a mostly convincing, through provoking way. It made the whole experiment interesting.
This volume fails to achieve that depth.
I've been an admirer of JFK for years. That being said, I don't require hagiography; the man had flaws, and made some serious mistakes. But these 40 "essays" are not the even balance between hagiography and hit piece that the Churchill book was. This collection, in essence, veers quite frequently toward skepticism as to much of JFK's assigned value. (Despite a few momentary attempts to present him in a positive light, such as the barely two pages of, "Kennedy Was a Loving Husband," which of course was immediately counteracted by the opposite thesis on the next page.
Making the situation worse, however, is that this volume is repetitive. Most of the essays seem to circle the same flag pole over and over. Essays on JFK's image, on his control of that image, on how the public perceived him, on how he appeared in photographs...and more...all point to the exact same conclusion, many of them even using the same anecdotes to do so.
"Kennedy had a tightly controlled, powerful image that made people love him. Except those that hated him," is the message over and over again.
If that is the author's conclusion on her subject, so be it, but her presentation of same is not convincing, and certainly not interesting to read. Nor is the book especially adept at challenging the conventions of biography, as the author claims as one of its goals.
In that earlier work, a greater effort was placed into living up to the title. I recall their being several thesis about Churchill being thrown over the wall as it were, and then followed over that wall by the author in a mostly convincing, through provoking way. It made the whole experiment interesting.
This volume fails to achieve that depth.
I've been an admirer of JFK for years. That being said, I don't require hagiography; the man had flaws, and made some serious mistakes. But these 40 "essays" are not the even balance between hagiography and hit piece that the Churchill book was. This collection, in essence, veers quite frequently toward skepticism as to much of JFK's assigned value. (Despite a few momentary attempts to present him in a positive light, such as the barely two pages of, "Kennedy Was a Loving Husband," which of course was immediately counteracted by the opposite thesis on the next page.
Making the situation worse, however, is that this volume is repetitive. Most of the essays seem to circle the same flag pole over and over. Essays on JFK's image, on his control of that image, on how the public perceived him, on how he appeared in photographs...and more...all point to the exact same conclusion, many of them even using the same anecdotes to do so.
"Kennedy had a tightly controlled, powerful image that made people love him. Except those that hated him," is the message over and over again.
If that is the author's conclusion on her subject, so be it, but her presentation of same is not convincing, and certainly not interesting to read. Nor is the book especially adept at challenging the conventions of biography, as the author claims as one of its goals.
December 24, 2016
The reason I knew this book existed was reading the Ms. Rubin's happiness book. I am always interested in most things Kennedy (which is not my fault, Kennedy fascination was like fluoride in water during my upbringing, inescapable). I did not learn anything new about JFK, but that was kind of the point; the author wants to look at all the info and contrast and compare, as we did in high school English class.
So the idea has potential, I think, but the end product is limited. The format is like a ninth grader's essay taking one side or another.
Was JFK a good husband? Well, that would be up to his wife to say, but it seems like he was a horn dog and was not very discreet. Was Rose a good mother? The author is useless in discussing this, she throws out tidbits and moves on to the next chapter. For example, Rose shops a lot and leaves her kids for sustained amounts of time. Is that evidence she is an indifferent parent? It can be debated, but this book just jumps on to another thought. One good question I never tuned into before is: how that PT boat got rammed by a Japanese destroyer in the first place?
For a book framed as multiple ways of considering topics, I was surprised by the unequivocal acceptance of Oswald as a lone killer.
It reads well and I stuck with it, but by the end the book started to feel like a big cop out. Take a stand, for God's sake, there is nothing thought provoking about this book, it comes across as a very lazy intellectual pursuit.
I will check out the Churchill book, but do not recommend this one, nothing new.
So the idea has potential, I think, but the end product is limited. The format is like a ninth grader's essay taking one side or another.
Was JFK a good husband? Well, that would be up to his wife to say, but it seems like he was a horn dog and was not very discreet. Was Rose a good mother? The author is useless in discussing this, she throws out tidbits and moves on to the next chapter. For example, Rose shops a lot and leaves her kids for sustained amounts of time. Is that evidence she is an indifferent parent? It can be debated, but this book just jumps on to another thought. One good question I never tuned into before is: how that PT boat got rammed by a Japanese destroyer in the first place?
For a book framed as multiple ways of considering topics, I was surprised by the unequivocal acceptance of Oswald as a lone killer.
It reads well and I stuck with it, but by the end the book started to feel like a big cop out. Take a stand, for God's sake, there is nothing thought provoking about this book, it comes across as a very lazy intellectual pursuit.
I will check out the Churchill book, but do not recommend this one, nothing new.
February 7, 2016
Rubin calls the Kennedy story “the ‘beach book’ of presidential biographies,” and that’s the perfect summation of this book. The Forty Ways format got a little repetitive, but I knew almost nothing about JFK, so it was an enlightening read for me (though I wish I could scrub my mind of the details from that dude’s sexual exploits).
June 20, 2025
This was dull history book. But that's one way of looking at it. One could say its insightful. That's what Ms. Rubin has done. She has taken several themes and rotated them enough to create several ways of looking at one theme. It feels as if she doesn't take sides. In other words, she doesn't have convictions as to whether JFK was good or bad, right or wrong. I like an author to take a side. It's strange. Also, there is no chronological narrative. The book does suffer from repetitiveness. That being said, Ms. Rubin is a very studious writer. She is meticulous in her research. She also provides good analysis. But the book does not ever get off the ground. It's plain boring, and does not shine. It does not have enough excitement for the reader.
One chapter in particular did have great excitement, and Ms. Rubin is to be credited here. I have never heard that JFK was such an excessive womanizer. This book excels at exposing his "reckless" sex life. This part of his life seems to be hidden to this day; they disregard it in school history altogether, perhaps because it is wrong behavior. Right or wrong, it's true. Kennedy was leading a double life. It was building to scandal, by the way. His reckless sexuality was likely going to be exposed, and he would wind up as a disgraced figure, or at least a highly flawed one. Oswald, a sociopathic loser, as Rubin labels him, without knowing it helped JFK's image. In killing JFK before scandal, he martyred JFK as a fallen hero, in the nick of time.
Another thing I was surprised to learn was that JFK, like Nixon, taped people secretly in the oval office. But he never got caught! JFK was charmed; he seemed to evade all attack, except for his health. He was a life long sufferer of many illnesses and even said once he'd give up wealth and success to be free from pain. He was a radical. Radically optimistic, and motivational and was loved by the people like no other president. He was dramatic in style, and almost imbalanced. He was an excess of good and bad. JFK was a bad boy, no doubt about it; he lied, he cheated, he exaggerated, he broke the rules, but he also had a good heart, better than most presidents; one of the most significant US presidents.
One chapter in particular did have great excitement, and Ms. Rubin is to be credited here. I have never heard that JFK was such an excessive womanizer. This book excels at exposing his "reckless" sex life. This part of his life seems to be hidden to this day; they disregard it in school history altogether, perhaps because it is wrong behavior. Right or wrong, it's true. Kennedy was leading a double life. It was building to scandal, by the way. His reckless sexuality was likely going to be exposed, and he would wind up as a disgraced figure, or at least a highly flawed one. Oswald, a sociopathic loser, as Rubin labels him, without knowing it helped JFK's image. In killing JFK before scandal, he martyred JFK as a fallen hero, in the nick of time.
Another thing I was surprised to learn was that JFK, like Nixon, taped people secretly in the oval office. But he never got caught! JFK was charmed; he seemed to evade all attack, except for his health. He was a life long sufferer of many illnesses and even said once he'd give up wealth and success to be free from pain. He was a radical. Radically optimistic, and motivational and was loved by the people like no other president. He was dramatic in style, and almost imbalanced. He was an excess of good and bad. JFK was a bad boy, no doubt about it; he lied, he cheated, he exaggerated, he broke the rules, but he also had a good heart, better than most presidents; one of the most significant US presidents.
July 2, 2019
Different perspectives of JFK I hadn’t considered but made a lot of assumptions of previous knowledge with no real timeline.
December 24, 2020
She really shows us 40 different ways to look at JFK! Fascinating information.
May 22, 2016
I loved the format of this book- a refreshing approach to telling a life story.
But I must say that I disagree with Rubin. JFK was not a great man. I have no patience for his lies, adultery, opportunism, and general lack of integrity. As Rubin put it, he was "Fortune's favorite." He left a legacy of glamour and intrigue- due mostly to elements outside of his control. At the end of the day Kennedy was without any real goodness. I am convinced that has he not died in such a terrific and sensational manner- if he had not been made a martyr to public sentiment- he would soon have been undone by his many faults and lies.
But I must say that I disagree with Rubin. JFK was not a great man. I have no patience for his lies, adultery, opportunism, and general lack of integrity. As Rubin put it, he was "Fortune's favorite." He left a legacy of glamour and intrigue- due mostly to elements outside of his control. At the end of the day Kennedy was without any real goodness. I am convinced that has he not died in such a terrific and sensational manner- if he had not been made a martyr to public sentiment- he would soon have been undone by his many faults and lies.
October 9, 2013
A friend loaned this to me, as I love history, and I must say that I really enjoyed it. Gretchen Rubin uses a clever approach to examine the strengths and flaws of JFK, and while it becomes repetitive in spots, it is an enjoyable examination of one of our most compelling presidents. I appreciate the unique approach to examining Kennedy.
June 23, 2011
A very unique approach to a biography, this book goes through the life of JFK subject-by-subject. All sides of Kennedy's life are examined separately, giving you a good idea of the man and his presidency.
February 3, 2014
By far one of my favorite Kennedy books, and I have read many. A new look and take on the Kennedy legacy-the author looks to explain what made Kennedy-Kennedy, one of fortunes favored few with an enduring interest and love from the American people.
July 6, 2016
This is the only biography on JFK that I have read. It is a unique approach to writing a biography and I enjoyed it. There was a lot of information about JFK that I did not know and it makes you wonder about character and public image.
July 17, 2009
A quick read: harmless but rather superficial.
June 30, 2010
Gets repetitive as it goes on, but fascinating discussions at times, especially when trying to investigate his actively cultivated media presence.
June 19, 2014
Not as good as "Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill", but worth the read.
March 29, 2015
This was fascinating. I think Gretchen Rubin is such a terrific writer, and like most people, I'm pretty interested in JFK.
May 18, 2015
Interesting take on JFK and what has made him so beloved. Rubin shows how what biographers leave out can tell a whole other story.
December 27, 2016
Each chapter was very repetitive. I don't know if it is meant to be read through. You will definitely learn his life and see him in a new light after this book.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews