Edward Kennedy

August 2, 2010
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.

Starred review from August 1, 2010
For readers exhausted at the thought of another Ted Kennedy biography, this one is beautifully written and exquisitely detailed with plenty of new material drawn from investigation and interviews with Kennedy and his family, friends, and colleagues, as well as some impressions by historian Hersh, a friend of Kennedys since childhood. Theres the family history: driven Joe Kennedy, about whose philosophy of cutthroat competition, Hersh writes: Nothing here the Corleones wouldnt rubber-stamp. Ted was born last in a large brood of overambitious, outsize personalities, so he developed the skills for gregariousness and conciliation that would serve him well in politics. All the usual history is here: the dirty politics of each Kennedys career climb, the assassinations of John and Robert, Teds stoic taking up of the Kennedy mantle, Chappaquiddick, the drinking, the affairs, and redemption, but it is fleshed out with previously undisclosed ruminations by Kennedy and the people who knew him well. Hersh also offers new insights on the accident that nearly destroyed Kennedys political life, the drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne. Part 1 contains mesmerizing analysis of the personal dynamics between the famous Kennedy brothers and Teds self-doubts and eventual mastery of the political game. Part 2 focuses on Kennedys growth in the powerful position of shadow president, the man who, though he failed to achieve what at one time had been considered inevitable, nevertheless wielded enormous political power and influence. Totally riveting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)