LETTERS OF JOHN F KENNEDY
Edited by Martin W Sandler
Bloomsbury
384 pages; $30
Letters of John F Kennedy, edited by Martin W Sandler, will be disappointing to Indian readers since it contains not even one reference to India or to Kennedy's Indian contemporary, Jawaharlal Nehru. Going through the index, I looked in vain for the now infamous and desperate letter in which Nehru appealed to Kennedy for direct US military intervention in the wake of China's military assault across Indian borders in 1962. Surely, this should have found mention among letters written to Kennedy. But it does not and, if it is any consolation, China deserves only a brief mention in the context of the Vietnam War - nothing more. The compilation is heavily invested in Kennedy's role in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, in particular the Cuban missile and the Berlin crises. The letters from and to Kennedy during these crises have been carefully selected to reinforce the already charismatic image of a star-quality president.
Where Mr Sandler has made a valuable contribution is in compiling Kennedy's correspondence of early years, leading up to his successful presidency. What emerges from this correspondence is the influence Joe Kennedy, John Kennedy's patrician father, had on him and how carefully he was groomed for high office.
What also emerges from this pre-presidency correspondence is the strong sense of history this president demonstrated and the easy eloquence with which he articulated his ideas. His handling of the Cuban missile crisis reflected not only his courage but also his innate prudence in leaving an escape route open for his adversary.
This was also a president who instinctively understood the importance of connecting with people, and using the powerful medium of the now ubiquitous television by holding regular and interactive press conferences. His letters to a wide spectrum of American society, from a curious schoolchild to a venerable scholar, were also part of the effort to reach out to his vast constituency and win an army of charmed admirers. With contemporary world leaders, including the redoubtable Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, he remained engaged, exchanging letters that reflect a sensibility beyond the demands of geopolitical compulsions. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Kennedy as a statesman shines clearly through these letters, as much in handling a failure such as the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 as in successfully dealing with the blockade by the Soviets of West Berlin, a city that still remembers his famous words in his Brandenburg speech, "Ich bein Berliner" (I am a Berliner).
The dilemmas Kennedy faced in the domestic domain and the manner in which he dealt with them also mark him out as a great president - most significantly for his stand on civil rights and de-segregation in the South against fierce opposition. Kennedy's eloquence was matched - probably surpassed - by Martin Luther King Jr's legendary speech at the Washington Monument, "I have a dream". Perhaps Kennedy may have added another page to history books if he had decided to grace the massive rally himself, but he hesitated and an opportunity to make a powerful impact on American history was lost.
The book also brings out the difficult health problems with which Kennedy had to live, burying his pain with the extraordinary energy that he infused into his life and work. These health issues were kept out of public scrutiny in a manner that would be impossible today, when every aspect of a candidate's life history and medical record come under the most searching scrutiny. It was a different age - one in which privacy still meant something.
Mr Sandler has carefully skirted the many titillating stories about Kennedy's amorous liaisons and adulterous escapades. No, there is nothing to be found in these pages about Marilyn Monroe, though the author can claim there were no letters in this respect that he could use. The only romance that has epistolary evidence is Kennedy's attachment to Washington-based Danish journalist Inga Arvad. This did not survive Kennedy's wartime absence from the US.
The book is an adulatory tribute by a loyal admirer to mark the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's tragic assassination in 1963. The correspondence Mr Sandler has compiled will add to the Kennedy myth, but does not add much to the already well-documented history of the Kennedy era. We get a more rounded image of the president, but the book carefully avoids anything that might tarnish the hallowed image that succeeding generations have received and cherished. And yes, I am disappointed that India does not figure at all in these pages.
The reviewer, a former foreign secretary, is chairman of the National Security Advisory Board and of RIS as well as a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
