Icon, Libertine, Leader: The Life and Presidency of John. F. Kennedy

This new biography of JFK offers a comprehensive analysis of the man, the leader, and the cultural icon. Mark White, the leading authority in Britain on JFK, draws on more than 30 years of research to provide a nuanced portrait of one of the most iconic figures in American and world history.

John F. Kennedy was a president like no other, with a movie star’s public image and an extraordinary private life. He was no less remarkable politically, with his achievements including the resolution of the 1961 Berlin crisis and the Cuban missile crisis, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and a strong commitment to civil rights.

This book provides what no previous biography has: an in-depth analysis of not only JFK’s political life, particularly his record as a policymaker in the White House, but also his private life, his role as a cultural icon, and what might have happened to a Kennedy presidency had he not been assassinated.

This sophisticated, multi-dimensional biography sheds new light on JFK’s life and legacy, and makes a compelling case for why he was the finest president of his generation.

Mark White is a Professor of History at Queen Mary University of London and director of the London POTUS Group, the leading seminar series in the UK on the American presidency. He has published eight books on the modern US presidency and was shortlisted for the Neustadt Prize for Against the President (2008).