The Kennedy Half-Century    by Larry J. Sabato Order:  USA  Can Bloomsbury, 2013 (2013) Hardcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Tim Davis For any American born before the mid-1950s, there is an indelible memory: Friday, 22 November 1963. It was then that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. As for myself, I remember sitting in class as a college freshman when I heard the horrible news. Within that personal memory is an instructive irony: the course was American history, an academic subject that is always subject to revision with each successive generation. Mindful of that irony, I am pleased to announce that now, fifty years after that unforgettably dark day in modern American history, Professor Larry J. Sabato offers readers a brilliant analysis and historical revision of the rather brief political life, the horrific murder by Lee Harvey Oswald (always a controversial topic), and the remarkably mythic afterlife of President Kennedy. The three-year presidency (characterized as that brief, shining moment, Camelot, by Kennedy's perceptive widow) then featured in starring roles the seemingly perfect and universally admired Guinevere (a.k.a. Jacqueline Kennedy) and the idealistic and far-from perfect but mythically enhanced Arthur (a.k.a. John Fitzgerald Kennedy). All that happened politically prior to Kennedy's phenomenal ascent to the presidency, all that happened during his White House years, all that happened on the wretched day in Dallas, all that happened in Kennedy's posthumous apotheosis after 1963, and all the ways in which Kennedy has become the political touchstone for all subsequent presidents - all is meticulously researched and presented by Professor Sabato in this impressive 603-page study. Readers will be particularly surprised to learn that much they thought they knew about Kennedy is either wrong or incomplete; readers will also be surprised to learn how the public mind of the nation has been a participant in the arguably inappropriate beatification of a president who accomplished a great deal but far less than readers had imagined. Professor Sabato, the acclaimed political scientist at the University of Virginia, gives readers the whole story - the good, the bad, and the ugly. There are, indeed, within this highly recommended book, many intriguing episodes for each of those three categories. If you were to choose only one book to read about John F. Kennedy, this must be the one. You will find none better. Finally, I regret that I am limited to giving Professor Sabato's book only three-stars, which is the highest rating permitted for any book reviewed at BookLoons. This book deserves even higher praise. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more NonFiction books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews