Dear Commons Community,

The NY Times has a preview of a new book due to be published on Wednesday entitled Jacqueline Kennedy:  Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy complied by her daughter Caroline Kennedy and Michael Beschloss.  The book is based on a seven-part interview conducted in early 1964 — one of only three that Mrs. Kennedy gave after Mr. Kennedy’s assassination.  In it, Mrs. Kennedy speaks with the late Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., historian, Kennedy aide, and a member of the CUNY Graduate Center’s faculty, about her husband’s presidency, their marriage and her role in his political life.  The NY Times article revealed some of the candid comments in the book about world events such as the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis.   Perhaps the most provocative exchanges are quotes from Mrs. Kennedy of the political titans of the era:

“Charles DeGaulle, the French president, is ‘that egomaniac.’ Indira Gandhi, the future prime minister of India, is ‘a real prune — bitter, kind of pushy, horrible woman.’…Lyndon B. Johnson, then vice president, ‘Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon was president?’

It sounds to me like this book is going to be a best-seller especially among the baby boomers who grew up during the Kennedy presidency and remember well his assassination.

Tony