Kennedy's Wars

John Fitzgerald Kennedy's thousand days as President of the United States was filled with crisis and incident. The Cold War was at its height, and Kennedy faced challenges over the future of West Berlin, Cuba and Vietnam. Deeply fearful of a third world war, yet conscious that he must not be seen to be losing ground to Communism, Kennedy picked his way through these crises, trying to maintain American interests while reducing the risk of nuclear confrontation. At the time of his assassination, relations with the Soviet Union had improved significantly with the easing of tensions over Berlin and the signing of the test ban treaty, but he had yet to find a definitive solution to the Cuba problem and the situation in Vietnam was deteriorating.

While recent biographies of Kennedy have addressed flaws in his character and private life, Freedman focuses on how he handled these big issues of war and peace. Drawing on a wealth of material, including newly released documents, and the best of Cold War scholarship, Freedman provides a compelling portrait of Kennedy. Particular attention is given to his views about international affairs and his conviction that the Third World was becoming the most important arena for Cold War competition. The book is full of drama as we watch Kennedy wrestling with a succession of major crises - taking advice, assessing situations, and forming judgements, coping with truculent allies as well as determined opponents.