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Half a century after his assassination, John F. Kennedy continues to evoke widespread fascination, looming large in America's historical memory. Popular portrayals often show Kennedy as a mythic, heroic figure, but these depictions can obscure the details of the president's actual achievements and challenges. Despite the short length of his time in office, during his presidency, Kennedy dealt with many of the issues that would come to define the 1960s, including the burgeoning Cold War and the growing Civil Rights movement. In John F. Kennedy: The Spirit of Cold War Liberali.

Based on rare archival sources, this book chronicles anti-Catholic feeling in New York in the pre-Revolutionary and early national periods. Colonial New York, despite its reputation for pluralism and tolerance, was also marked by severe restrictions on religious and political liberty for Catholics

AbstractJohn F. Kennedy is remembered as the consummate American politician of his day, but he was also shaped by a distinct ethnic-religious tradition, that of Catholic Irish-Americans in the US. The often tragic history of Ireland is not easily reconciled with the power and glamour of the Kennedy family, but John Kennedy was closer to his immigrant roots than perhaps any other president. That heritage was often evident in his early political career and his rise to the White House. It was necessarily less obvious once he became president of a large and diverse nation. In the final months of his presidency, as he began to set a clearer direction for the nation both at home and abroad, he found time to visit Ireland. This seemingly sentimental journey had a more serious tone as well, as Kennedy recognized the origins of modern Irish nationalism.

Duncan reviews An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by Robert Dallak.

Duncan reviews 'The Lord Cornbury Scandal: The Politics of Reputation in British America' by Patricia U. Bonomi.