Rising Star, Setting Sun

March 1, 2018
A focused history of the period between Election Day 1960 and Inauguration Day 1961.Market News International congressional reporter Shaw (JFK in the Senate: A Pathway to the Presidency, 2013, etc.) examines the transfer of power between Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, "sharply contrasting political leaders" and "generational rivals." Although the orderly transfer of power is a hallmark of American democracy, the author deems this particular transition "a fascinating mix of dutiful cooperation, petty grievances, lofty sentiments, careful organization, ad hoc improvisations, hardball politics, poignant farewells, and elevated public statements." Eisenhower's closing down of his administration and Kennedy's scrambling to form a new one, though, seem not as remarkable as Shaw would have readers believe. Eisenhower was disappointed that his vice president, Richard Nixon, lost the election; he was insulted by Kennedy's criticism of his presidency and "doubted the senator was ready to be president." Predictably, Eisenhower felt "protective of his own legacy, ambivalent about retirement, and determined to get his affairs and those of the country in order." Despite his misgivings about Kennedy, he oversaw a well-organized transfer of power that included two meetings in which Eisenhower apprised Kennedy of problems in Cuba and Laos. Kennedy's transition period, on the other hand, was messy. Shuttling impetuously between his residences in Hyannis Port, Palm Beach, Washington, D.C., and Manhattan, he surrounded himself with advisers to help him select a Cabinet and huge White House staff (about 1,200 support jobs, in addition to top-level appointments), formulate a policy agenda, and write his inauguration speech. As evidence of the distinction between the two men, Shaw points to the contrast between Kennedy's inspirational inaugural message and Eisenhower's farewell speech, in which he warned Americans to be wary of the military-industrial complex. The author prefaces his chronicle of the transition with familiar biographical background of the protagonists and accounts of Nixon's failed campaign, election-night tensions, Eisenhower's achievements, and Kennedy's senatorial record.A detailed yet hardly groundbreaking rendering of a significant moment in political history.

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March 19, 2018
Shaw (JFK in the Senate) offers a gripping examination of the transfer of power between Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy at a critical moment in history. Shaw meticulously analyzes the aggressive campaign strategy Kennedy followed in 1960 after observing the Democrats’ defeat in the 1956 presidential election. Facing Richard Nixon, Eisenhower’s oft-overlooked vice-president, Kennedy blasted the Eisenhower administration for allowing America to lose much of its international status while stagnating domestically. Eisenhower, the first president barred from running for a third term by the 22nd amendment, bitterly resented these attacks on his leadership yet failed to strongly support the Republican candidate. Shaw shines in unearthing pithy quotes revealing Eisenhower’s lack of enthusiasm for Nixon—asked what major decisions Nixon had helped make, the departing president replied, “If you give me a week, I might think of one.” After recounting Nixon’s defeat by a razor-thin margin, the book describes how Eisenhower and Kennedy, despite deep political and generational differences, worked surprisingly harmoniously during the critical 10-week transition between their administrations. As Shaw successfully illustrates, that period has still-lingering implications for a country attracted both to Kennedy’s optimistic vision of an assertive, powerful America and Eisenhower’s more skeptical, cautious attitude toward governmental action, at home and abroad.