Author(s): Thomas Maier

Biography & Memoir

A portrait of the country's favorite political dynasty as the ultimate Irish Catholic family-and a revelatory look at how the American immigrant experience shaped both their stunning success and spectacular tragedies. . "Be more Irish than Harvard," inscribed Robert Frost in the book of poetry he gave to John F. Kennedy at the 1961 presidential inauguration. With these simple words, Frost hit upon the experience that defined America's favorite political dynasty for over five generations: their Irish Catholicism. Drawing on groundbreaking research both here and abroad, acclaimed journalist Thomas Maier shows how their cultural background molded the Kennedy family to the core-both bolstering stunning successes and coloring spectacular tragedies. Casting new light on the Kennedys' struggles with race, anti-Semitism, the sexual mores of the Catholic Church, and even on John F. Kennedy's A Nation of Immigrants , the result is a revelatory glimpse at a remarkable intersection of private beliefs and public politics-and a spellbinding, uniquely American epic.