John F. Kennedy entered politics at the same time the world entered the Cold War. Kennedy made his first bid for public office in 1946, the year Winston Churchill declared an “iron curtain” had descended on Europe. Kennedy, starting with his very first campaign for Congress, made foreign affairs, world politics, the centerpiece of his political philosophy. As President, he would take the United States to the very brink of war with the Soviet Union.
Today the myth of John F. Kennedy focuses on the glamour and the tragedy, the sex and the sizzle of his story. But Robert Dallek, author of a big new biography, says that to understand the man, you must see how the Cold War shaped him and America. Kennedy’s world view.
Guests:
Robert Dallek, Professor of History, Boston University, author of “An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963″.