The Killing of Kennedy

After finishing the book, The Killing of Kennedy by Bill O’ Reilly and Martin Dugard, I am struggling with mixed feelings. I had been looking forward to reading this book because I read The Killing of Lincoln by the same authors and found that book fascinating. I am a history buff and after reading the Killing of Lincoln, I felt that it could be used in the classroom to teach history. The book made the subject matter come alive and reading the book was almost like a mystery book as well.

 

While reading the first book The Killing of Lincoln were laid out quite well, easy to understand, and the way the book was written kept my interest from page one, until I finished the book. I outlined fact after fact and stayed up long into the nights reading the book.

 

I started to read The Killing of Kennedy by the same authors, as soon as I purchased it. It was an easy read but written somewhat differently from the Lincoln book. As I read about what made Kennedy tick, I learned a lot about his sexual performance and escapades that I really didn’t want to know. These facts were not known to the public because the press kept it private. Maybe because of my age, I realized a lot more goes on in the White House then I care to know. Politicians are human and so is everyone around them. Power makes for a strange bed fellow if this book were to be used in a classroom; I would eliminate Kennedy’s affairs.

 

Maybe politicians could learn that they have to reach across the aisles and work with one another, and that includes the President of the United States. Besides a history book it should be read by politicians as well. They will come to see that some politicians use others and also think that they are more important than others.

 

The book laid out the facts of Kennedy’s presidency and Lee Harvey’s life as well. I knew most of what was written and it did jog my memory of facts that I had learned once and had forgotten over time. Lee Harvey Oswald was unbalanced and looking for fame. There really was nothing personal in his killing of Kennedy. Oswald wanted to do something big that would make him famous for eternity and Kennedy just happened to be in Dallas, Texas when Oswald was ready to kill someone big. As far as the conspiracy theory, that is up to the reader to interpret.

 

When I finished the book, I realized it was historically interesting. I also realized that most of the people during that time period are now dead and in the past as well.

 

The book was ok. Would I recommend it – sort of? But I know I wouldn’t re-read it but I would definitely re-read The Killing of Lincoln.