Profiles in Courage : Decisive moments in the Lives of Celbrated Americans : Senator John F. Kennedy [US President, Manifesto, Politics, USA History, Government, biography]

Clean and Unmarked Text: Harper and Brothers publishers, 1955 / 1956 First Edition, Later Printing (Early reprint) Quality Hardback : hard cover edition in very good condition, some slight wear to edges, as normal for age of book; in Mylar protected Dust Jacket in fair to good condition, has edge and spine chipping, slight color mellowing Overall wonderfully nice copy of this early printing. Pages are warmed toned from age. No previous owner marks. Ideal for gift for presentation copy. Excellent reading on JFK. A good book to enjoy and keep on hand for yourself, or would make a GREAT GIFT for the fan / reader in your life. ---- About this book: Profiles in Courage is a 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States Senators throughout the Senate's history. The book profiles senators who crossed party lines and/or defied the opinion of their constituents to do what they felt was right and suffered severe criticism and losses in popularity because of their actions. It begins with a quote from Edmund Burke on the courage of the English Statesman, Charles James Fox, in his 1783 attack upon the tyranny of the East Indian Company in the House of Commons. The book was widely celebrated and became a best seller. John F. Kennedy is credited as its author, but there are credible allegations that most of it was the work of his speechwriter, Theodore Sorensen. Kennedy was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 for the state of Massachusetts. In 1953, he was elected the junior Senator from Massachusetts, and served in the Senate until he was elected president in 1960. It was a passage from Herbert Agar's book The Price of Union about an act of courage by an earlier senator from Massachusetts, John Quincy Adams, that gave Kennedy the idea of writing about senatorial courage. He showed the passage to Sorensen and asked him to see if he could find some more examples. This Sorensen did, and eventually they had enough not just for an article, as Kennedy had originally envisaged, but a book. With help from research assistants and the Library of Congress, Kennedy wrote the book while bedridden during 1954 and 1955, recovering from back surgery. ~ Additional photos available upon raquest.. First Edition Thus. Hard Back / Cloth Binding. Very Good/Yes. Illus. by Some b/w Illustrations. USA / America / Americana / United States. Presidential History USA.