The hundreds of photographs and documents included here have been gleaned from such sources as the John F. Kennedy Library, the Library of Congress, the Associated Press, Life magazine, and more. The photos capture private meetings with the president, the Bay of Pigs, the Civil Rights movement, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, as well as official White House memoranda, public speeches, social occasions, and private moments with the Kennedy family. These powerful images add a new dimension to the award-winning text and introduce a new generation to some of the most important and visually iconic moments in our recent past.
Originally published in 1965, the abridged version appeared in 2005.
Background Information
John F. Kennedy was a hero in World War II, a Senator from Massachusetts, and became the first Catholic President in 1960. The White House is the official residence in Washington DC of the President of the United States. Conducted early in the presidency of John F. Kennedy, the CIA-sponsored invasion of Cuba in 1961 was a military setback and a diplomatic disaster for the United States. When the Soviet Union was caught trying to bring nuclear missiles into Cuba in 1961, the world was brought to the brink of World War III.