Rating: 5 out of 5
‘1960’ was an interesting title given that we have been told for so long how good of a person Kennedy was. To see him as part of this campaign made for a completely different picture. What made this so interesting in that case? I think there’s a few things here that are really worth everyone’s attention.
One is that already in 1960 what made the American presidency available for a person was the availability of easy money. In this the stories we see portrayed by Kennedy and Kennedy’s side make for very interesting lessons which have clearly only become much more relevant towards today compared to what they were 65 years ago.
The second. Even despite the, let’s say, easy money, how difficult of a campaign 1960 was. How much – or how little depending on your point of view – was enabled by access to what could be termed ‘easy votes’, votes that could essentially be purchased. The same question survives today with open – and much more open than they were then – attempts to buy votes taking place during recent elections as well.
Thirdly, I think I can’t get over the fact how much of a person that you’ll probably wouldn’t like John F Kennedy actually was, based on this book at least. All the dirty tricks, all the sneakiness, all the ways around values that someone who is in a position of moral leadership should have… These are something that JFK did not have. Which doesn’t mean that Johnson or Nixon would have been better. Some aspects of Nixon definitely look more appreciable, while almost the entirety of Johnson sounds like a person who a normal human couldn’t really get along with.
Overall, this was a really good history even if the contents are perhaps wholly cringeworthy. Yet, it’s a good look into what winning the presidency entailed three score years ago, and as such I recommend it.
