TheyoungpresidentwhobroughtvigorandglamourtotheWhiteHousewhileheconfrontedcoldwarcrisesabroadandcallsforsocialchangeathomeJohnFitzgeraldKennedywasanewkindofpresident.HeredefinedhowAmericanscametoseethenation'schiefexecutive.Hewasforty-threewhenhewasinauguratedin1961—theyoungestmaneverelectedtotheoffice—andhepersonifiedwhathecalledthe"NewFrontier"astheUnitedStatesenteredthe1960s.ButasAlanBrinkleyshowsinthisincisiveandlivelyassessment,therealityofKennedy'sachievementswasmuchmorecomplexthanthelegend.Hisbriefpresidencyencounteredsignificantfailures—amongthemtheBayofPigsfiasco,whichcastitsshadowonnearlyeverynational-securitydecisionthatfollowed.ButKennedyalsohadsuccesses,amongthemtheCubanMissileCrisisandhisbelatedbutpowerfulstandagainstsegregation.Kennedyseemedtoliveonaknife'sedge,movingfromonecrisistoanother—Cuba,Laos,Berlin,Vietnam,Mississippi,Georgia,andAlabama.Hiscontroversialpubliclifemirroredhishiddenprivatelife.Hetookrisksthatwouldseemrecklessandevenfoolhardywhentheyemergedfromsecrecyyearslater.Kennedy'slife,andhisviolentandsuddendeath,reshapedourviewofthepresidency.Brinkleygivesusafullpictureoftheman,histimes,andhisenduringlegacy.