Bobby Kennedy
The Making of a Liberal Icon
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Bobby Kennedy
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Narrated by:
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Marc Cashman
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By:
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Larry Tye
About this listen
From the New York Times best-selling author of Satchel comes an in-depth, vibrant, and measured biography of the most complex and controversial member of the Kennedy family.
History remembers Robert F. Kennedy as a racial healer, a tribune for the poor, and the last progressive knight of a bygone era of American politics. But Kennedy's enshrinement in the liberal pantheon was actually the final stage of a journey that had its beginnings in the conservative 1950s. In Bobby Kennedy, Larry Tye peels away layers of myth and misconception to paint a complete portrait of this singularly fascinating figure.
To capture the full arc of his subject's life, Tye drew on unpublished memoirs, unreleased government files, and 58 boxes of papers that had been under lock and key for the past 40 years. He conducted hundreds of interviews with RFK intimates - including Bobby's widow, Ethel; his sister, Jean; and his aide, John Siegenthaler - many of whom have never spoken to another biographer. Tye's determination to sift through the tangle of often contradictory opinions means that Bobby Kennedy will stand as the definitive one-volume biography of a man much beloved - but just as often misunderstood.
Bobby Kennedy's transformation from cold warrior to fiery liberal is a profoundly moving personal story that also offers a lens onto two of the most chaotic and confounding decades of 20th-century American history. The first half of RFK's career underlines what the country was like in the era of Eisenhower while his last years as a champion of the underclass reflect the seismic shifts wrought by the 1960s. Nurtured on the rightist orthodoxies of his dynasty-building father, Bobby Kennedy began his public life as counsel to the red-baiting senator Joseph McCarthy. He ended it with a noble campaign to unite working-class Whites with poor Blacks and Latinos in an electoral coalition that seemed poised to redraw the face of presidential politics. Along the way he turned up at the center of every event that mattered, from the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis to race riots and Vietnam.
Bare-knuckle operative, cynical White House insider, romantic visionary - Bobby Kennedy was all of these things at one time or another, and each of these aspects of his personality emerges in this powerful and perceptive new biography.
©2016 Larry Tye (P)2016 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"This is not just another Bobby Kennedy book. It is the definitive biography of one of America's most compelling political figures. Larry Tye has given us the complete Bobby, from the Bad (Early) Kennedy, from Joe McCarthy's committee counsel to 'ruthless' political manager to gentle, softhearted presidential candidate. Tye's book rests on prodigious and original research including rare, on-the-record interviews with Bobby's widow, Ethel, who confesses that seeing Bobby for the first time was like meeting George Clooney." (Roger Mudd, winner of the Peabody Award and former coanchor of NBC Nightly News)
"Robert Kennedy led one of the great unfinished lives in American history. With skill and verve, Larry Tye has written a fascinating account of a transformative figure who continues to summon us to heed our better angels even all these years distant." (Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power)
What listeners say about Bobby Kennedy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AC
- 07-08-21
Modern Tragedy
This is a long listen, but it never gets bogged down or boring, such is the subject matter and the 100% perfect narration.
I'll declare an interest as a big fan of Bobby, however for anyone interested in modern history, this book is essential listening.
This is not a book that fawns over Bobby and his family, but it still manages to project the Kennedy Magic and the inevitable emotion attached.
How could a man such as Bobby, with all his faults and privilege, become such an enduring icon for people all over the world and from across the political spectrum, perhaps even surpassing his brother....get this book and find out. Unmissable.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-05-18
Wel researched
Well researched and written. Delivery of speaker is excellent.
A good balance of all areas of RFKs life covered .
Just wished they focused a little more on who the shooter was and his trial and subsequent outcome.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Gethin
- 21-11-24
Brilliant
What a life! This book takes you through the brilliance and sometimes bitterness of Bobby Kennedy. His life was one of purpose and this book shows that. A man who did not hold the office but was worthy of its majesty.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Crawford jamieson
- 14-10-18
A wonderful story of an important life
Highly engaging and very well researched biography. Deconstructs the complex background and political evolution of RFK whole including enough humour and first person detail to make you feel you know him. Great narration - I can not recommend this book too much to anyone interested in the 1960s world stage or looking for the definitive RFK biography.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 03-10-19
Superb
A thoroughly honest factual account written comprehensively and without bias. A must read for those of you who like me only knew Bobby in smatterings
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- Lex
- 22-06-24
A fly on the wall look at the real Bobby Kennedy-warts and all.
A must read for anyone who wants to know truth about this enigmatic man. One of the best I’ve read.
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- cormac russell
- 23-02-22
inspired
Beautiful book. I would highly recommend this to anyone for a comprehensive biography of RFK.
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- Paul
- 26-12-21
Make gentle the life of this world
After reading this book, some three years ago, I was drawn back, the Kennedy magic is still strong, and stronger still as the reader moves along with this narrative. RFK was a remarkable character and man, who I admire for facing up to his own faults, which might be summed up as the forming of Kennedy.
For the reader not familiar with RFK, give this narration and book a chance. Your life might actually be better for it, knowing that there are people like RFK who came before us, fought for their beliefs rather than their wallet.
His speech after the death of another icon shows how far he came in his development of person; "tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world"
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