Grance and Power : The Private World/The Kennedy White House (H)

    At The Dawn of The 1960's, a forty-three-year-old president and his thirty-one-year-old first lady--the youngest couple ever to occupy the White House--captivated the world with their easy elegance and their cool conviction that anything was possible. Jack and Jackie Kennedy gathered around them an intensely loyal and brilliant coteries of intellectuals, journalists, diplomats, jet-setters, and artists. Their three remarkable years at center stage trasformed the politics and style of America.

    With unparalleled access and insight, Sally Bedell Smith shows what it was really like to be inside the Kennedy White House. Drawing on interviews with scores of Kennedy intimates, including former lovers who have never spoken publicly before, and on private letters and personal papers, Smith sheds new light on the intricate relationships behind the hight purpose and political drama of the twentieth century's most storied presidency.

    In his public life, JFK blazed a New Frontier at home, stared down the Soviet Union, and cultivated an image as a devoted husband and family man. As first lady, Jackie mesmeriezed foreign leaders and the American people with her style and sophistication, creating a White House renowed for its bearty and culture. Smith brilliantly re--creates the glamorous pageant of the Kennedy years, as well as the daily texture of the Kennedys' marriage, friendships, political associations, and, in Jack's case, multiple love affairs.

    Smith's striking revelations include new information about what drew Jack to his numerous mistresses and what effects the relationships ultimately had o the women; about the rivaries and resentments among Kennedy's advisers; and about the poignant days before adn after Kennedy's assassination.

    Sally Bedell Smith has fashioned a vivid and nuanced portrait not only of two extraordinary individuals but of a new age that sprang to life around them. Shimmering with intelligence and rich detail, Grance and power is history at its finest.