A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy by Thomas C. Reeves (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 335 eluded, may provide more information on the challenges and the change confronting the Church during these years. The collection also does not reveal the scope of Cardinal Mclntyre's confrontation with the well-established teaching order, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart ofMary,whose expulsion from diocesan schools resulted in a protest to the Vatican signed by 25,000 petitioners. Despite voluminous correspondence extending from 1952 to 1970, the calendar lists but one letter from the Order's Mother General. The absence of relevant material on a number of such key issues suggests that a significant number of documents still await the meticulous cataloguing reflected in these two volumes. Gloria Ricci Lothrop California State University, Northridge A Question ofCharacter:A Life ofJohn F.Kennedy. ByThomas C. Reeves. (New York:The Free Press. 1991. Pp. xvi, 510. $24.95.) Thomas Reeves's biography of Kennedy should be read twice—first, as expos é, and second, as a legitimate scholastic exercise—but retain a high degree of skepticism. The foundation upon which Reeves grounds his work, and title, is the identity ofcharacter with "a strong moral sense of right and wrong . . . derived from our Western heritage and deeply embedded in our culture" (p. 16). It is as well a reaction to the Camelot school of Kennedy studies exemplified by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., who, moreover, defined character as a"... combination of toughness of fiber and courage" (p. 5). Since Schlesinger chose to present Kennedy in this guise, and since we as an electorate have made character a basis of selecting our leaders at other times and places, and finally, since most people, according to Reeves, can still tell the difference between right and wrong, a study of the character of Kennedy and its effect upon his policies and actions is valid. The difficulty, however, is that Reeves is willing to accept the worst accounts of Kennedy's personal conduct when assessing his character. The sources used are extensive, relevant to the purpose and scholarly for the most part; there are also popular accounts and truly suspect ones and there is far too much reliance on such sources as Judith Exner's My Story and Anthony Summers ' Goddess: The Secret Lives ofMarilyn Monroe. The Kennedy Library Oral History portions are cited although some were still closed at the time Reeves was writing. Rarely, however, does Reeves distinguish relative values for these sources. 336 BOOK REVIEWS Fundamentally, Kennedy is presented as a political animal, yet within that context, he is further portrayed as evolving, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. The overall evaluation is that of a flawed character. The standard presentation—family background, war service, Congressional career, and presidency—are the natural parameters. In the early chapters the treatment necessarily is the more highly personal. Reeves maintains that Joseph Kennedy established the moral atmosphere— really amoral—in which John matured and that the son deviated little from the dictum of "win at all costs." Nevertheless, Reeves gives credit where due. The sinking of PT 109 is a case in point. Kennedy's handling of the vessel was incompetent , and yet his subsequent actions were heroic. He acknowledges, clearly with approval, that Kennedy's Senatorial votes were liberal (although Kennedy disavowed the term for himself), and quotes Kennedy to the effect that the national interest and his conscience directed his vote, only to conclude that "there was little indication of any abiding moral vision directing his conscience, much less his vote" (p. 141). Other examples exist. Is this an unfriendly work? Broadly, yes. Kennedy is seldom given the benefit of the doubt and too often situations are conveyed not in the best light. Still, the account of Kennedy's presidency is a valid one. The Berlin crisis of 1961, the Bay of Pigs misadventure, the confrontation with Roger Blough and U.S. Steel, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Civil Rights movement are all included . Yet consistently Kennedy is presented as façade. Thus Kennedy's CIA operation in Laos is described as a " . . . surreptitious war [which] was illegal, immoral, dangerous, and a far cry from the idealism so often expressed in the president's formal speeches. At least in part, this policy expressed the...