Edward Kennedy: An Intimate Biography

by Burton Hersh

Overview

In this groundbreaking biography of Edward Kennedy, historian and journalist Burton Hersh combines a lifetime of research and reporting with a lively mixture of never–before–told anecdotes (including the definitive version of the incident at Chappaquiddick, the details of which Kennedy himself filled in for Hersh shortly after it occurred) to create a broad yet unfailingly intimate portrait of the politician who would be universally acknowledged as one of the twentieth century's greatest American legislators.



Hersh was acquainted with Kennedy since his college days, and the result here is a unique series of revelations that serve to reinterpret the senator's public and private personas. Conditioned by deep–seated fears that he was an afterthought within his own powerful family, Kennedy developed a genius for conciliation and strategizing that made him a dramatically more effective political figure than either of his older brothers. In addition to this biography's account of the Chappaquiddick incident, Hersh also delivers the first full report of the vendetta between Kennedy and Richard Nixon, exposing the behind–the–scenes manipulations to which Kennedy resorted to drive Nixon from office during the Watergate scandal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781582438511
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	08/10/2010
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	496
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Burton Hersh has long been regarded as Edward Kennedy's principal biographer and is the author of such widely respected nonfiction as Bobby and J. Edgar, The Shadow President, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, and The Mellon Family. A veteran journalist, he has contributed to such publications as Esquire, The Washingtonian, and The New York Times.

Editorial Reviews

A vivid protagonist who never quite escapes the pull of family and fate anchors this novelistic portrait of the late Massachusetts senator. Journalist Hersh (Bobby and J. Edgar) makes Kennedy his own statesman--a born politician and authentic liberal who combined a capacity for conciliation with a talent for ruthless maneuvering. But Kennedy never entirely shook off the hold of Kennedyness: the shadow of his domineering father, who he feared might have him lobotomized like his sister Rosemary if he didn’t measure up; the ghosts of his dead brothers; the dread of assassination; the “predatory” sense of entitlement, especially to booze and women; the clan’s epic bad luck. The author meticulously recounts Kennedy’s political wrangles and legislative initiatives, but his approach is literary rather than wonkish; drawing on Hersh’s decades-long acquaintance with the family, the prose brims with sardonic humor and indelible sketches of, say, Bobby’s “misery-wrinkled little hawk’s face” or Jackie’s uncomfortable campaign appearances as a “remote Vogue cutout before... seemingly endless files of scrubwomen.” The result is an entertaining, psychologically acute rendition of a man and a mystique. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Edward Kennedy

"In the end it was Ted Kennedy, the scapegrace kid brother, who stood for something, passed important laws, defended liberal principles, and had the most substantial career. No one has known Teddy longer, followed that career more closely, or written more seriously or at greater length about the last Kennedy than Burton Hersh. His new book on Teddy draws on all its predecessors and adds substantial new material to create a magisterial political biography of the Kennedy who added real substance to the fleeting promise of his brothers." --Thomas Powers

"I think your readers will enjoy the trip. As a would-be historian, I was much impressed by the extent and depth of your research, by its specificity of detail, and by your skill in presenting a scene and pinpointing the Dramatis Personae . . . I think you are admirably even-handed. You have written a warts-and-all biography, not a hagiography, although you aren't disloyal to your man. In the end, the hero eclipses the slob, but you don't slight his moral infirmity and you present him without tears . . . let me commend the biography's structure and thoroughness, its solidity and pace. I hope it gets the attention it deserves." --Daniel Aaron, from a letter to the author

From the Publisher

Ted Kennedy admirers remember him as the senator most skilled in garnering bipartisan support for many bills passed during his 47 years in the Upper House, while his detractors revile him for scandals that they believe showed a flawed character. Hersh (Bobby and J. Edgar), a longtime acquaintance of Kennedy's—they graduated from Harvard together—has written a "unified biography," which combines parts of Hersh's previous three books on the Kennedys, refers to interviews with Kennedy's advisors and to conversations with Kennedy himself, and draws on Kennedy's own memoir, True Compass. The resulting detailed account of interesting insights into Kennedy's personal and political life is frequently bogged down by wordiness. Especially insightful are Hersh's take on Chappaquiddick, which mentions phone calls that a distraught Kennedy made to his mistress, and how Kennedy worked with his friend House Speaker Tip O' Neill to make President Nixon's resignation inevitable during Watergate.Verdict If readers persevere over Hersh's rambling style, they will find a book that casts light on the glamour, triumphs, and tragedies of the late senator's life and on the Kennedy family. Primarily for Kennedy enthusiasts and historians of the era.—Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

Library Journal