The Irish Brotherhood: John F. Kennedy, His Inner Circle, and the Improbable Rise to the Presidency

Working from extensive recordings left by her father, former political aide Kenneth “Kenny” O’Donnell Sr., Helen O’Donnell (A Common Good) produces an intimate, complex look at the years leading up to J.F.K.’s presidency, a span covering 1946–1961. Drawing from these personal recollections, she reconstructs pivotal scenes, setbacks, and challenges as Kennedy ascended the political ranks. However, this is more than a book about Kennedy; it focuses on the so-called Irish Brotherhood: his closest friends and advisors, “the group of men who gathered around John Kennedy as he made his dramatic rise.” As she notes, “this book is my father’s story of his Jack and Bobby Kennedy”—a story her father always wanted to tell but never did. Certain themes, of course, crop up with regularity: politics, religion, and the tight-knit bond of Irish-Americans that helped hold this circle together over the years. Though mainly channeling her father’s experiences, O’Donnell presents them in an accessible, engaging manner; the figures portrayed are full-fledged characters, and the story unfolds like a political drama. Nevertheless, it remains a narrow slice of the Kennedy legend, focused solely on his political career, ending as he enters the White House and treating him as a larger-than-life icon. [em](Mar.) [/em]