The death of a president by WIlliam Manchester

The Death of a President

The historical book The Death of a President was written in response to the assassination of former President John F . Kennedy and the long-lasting legacy his policies have left on America . As one of the most well-versed historians regarding John F . Kennedy , William Manchester brings to life the story of one of the nation 's most glorious presidents . In this essay , I will give a short summary of the book , as well as commenting on the strong points of the book , as well as in areas that

it lacked . This book was extremely well written and very interesting to read . Manchester is a fantastic writer . The book was never overly verbose , nor did it get sucked into historian ' style writing seemingly endlessly over off ideas

The book tells the tale of the 1963 assassination of John F . Kennedy As Kennedy and his family arrived in Dallas , Texas , a motorcade paraded him around downtown . In the open air car , riding alongside his wife the President was shot . Detailing the events that took place , including the subsequent funeral and plane trip back to Washington in which Mrs Kennedy wore the same blood-stained dress , Manchester provides a startling account of factual events that took place on that fateful day Unfortunately , it seems as though Manchester believes that Kennedy 's assassination was sparked from the deep right-wing conservative nature of Dallas , as well as for the city 's reputation of strong dislike for the president . However , Kenney 's killer , Lee Harvey Oswald , was an extreme leftist , having ties with both the socialist and communist parties

One of the strongest points of the book is that the author found a way to interest the reader in the differences in between the political parties . In our current times , political parties seem to only divide and encourage bitterness . Republicans and Democrats alike refuse to compromise and work together . This book makes the reader realize how partisan our government is at this point in time . In addition Manchester did not take the bait of going off on a tangent regarding conspiracy theories . He simply used the background of a grieving nation to show how well loved President Kennedy truly was . I also found it interesting that in the new foreword , Manchester wrote that several people had come to him over the years claiming to have new developments ' over the Kennedy assassination . In his opinion , however there were never any true new developments

However , the author made the book difficult to relate to . Because John F . Kennedy was such a relatively young and idealistic president , I believe that Manchester should have drawn out this idea more in to encourage young people to get involved in politics . It seemed as though he really missed out on this fantastic opportunity . That being said the book is still a great insight into one of the most influential presidents that has ever lived

Overall , this book was surprisingly interesting and fun to read . Few people realize...