After Camelot by J. Randy Taraborrelli
The Best Of Us And The Worst of Us
“This family, America’s family, at one time or another was
the best of us, and the worst of us,” according to J. Randy Taraborrelli. This comprehensive study of the Kennedy
family tells us why this is such a true statement. This highly entertaining and well-researched
book looks at the many tragedies of the Kennedy family, the troubles which they
share with many American families, and why millions of Americans regard them as
their First Family. This applies no
matter who is the President!
Taraborrelli looks at all of the members of the Kennedy family,
especially the younger generation and their failures and achievements. He has a section on William Kennedy Smith and
the Palm Beach scandal, for example, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s and Joe
Kennedy’s political achievements.
He certainly doesn’t neglect the past generations,
however. He gives the background of the
Kennedys and their wives in detail and includes new revelations. These include an in depth section on the
financial negotiations concerning Jackie’s marriage to Ari Onassis and whether
there was really anything wrong with Rosemary.
Toraborrelli also gives thorough accounts of the Kennedy’s
impressive achievements. These include
the great political success of Jack, Bobby, and Ted, of course. However, he also has large sections on the achievements of the wives, such as Eunice
Shriver’s founding of the Special Olympics.
The book also studies the Kennedy’s flaws. Especially noticeable is their rather
ruthless treatment of outsiders. This
didn’t just include the wives. Ted was
apparently not too pleased by Sergeant Shriver’s political ambitions. Most of
the Kennedys and Ted didn’t go out of their way to help Shriver achieve
political success.
Many people probably don’t think that we need yet another
book about the Kennedys. However, they’re
a fascinating family and some of us feel that there will never be enough good
books about them! This is an excellent
addition to Kennedy biographies, although it is very long.
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