Cold Fire

February 1, 2016

The United States has long sought to exert influence on its northern neighbor. While American interference in Canada has not been as extreme as it has been in other countries, it is still significant. Nowhere is this more evident than during the short presidency of John F. Kennedy as highlighted in this latest offering from Boyko (Blood and Daring). An adept researcher, the author brings to light some surprising key elements of Kennedy's policies as well as documents from former Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and his political rival and eventual successor in Ottawa, the Nobel Prize-winning diplomat Lester Pearson. Boyko concludes that the United States and Canada took different paths after sharing a common past. Diefenbaker was a nation-builder intent on bolstering Canada's autonomy, which frustrated U.S. policymakers as they needed Canada's cooperation in order to set up detection systems and weapons to protect themselves from the Soviet Union. The author discovers that Kennedy's administration actually assisted Pearson in defeating Diefenbaker in the 1963 election by sending knowledgeable members of Kennedy's own staff to bolster Pearson's campaign. VERDICT A useful addition to any modern North American history collection, Boyko's well-researched account will appeal to those curious about lesser-known aspects of Kennedy's time in office.--Brian Renvall, Mesalands Community Coll., Tucumcari, NM

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