JFK: Public, Private, Secret [9781250346407]

Overview

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF AMAZON'S BEST HISTORY BOOKS OF 2025

From the New York Times bestselling Kennedy historian and author of Jackie: Public, Private, Secret comes the other side of the story—her husband’s: JFK: Public, Private, Secret.

In this definitive portrait of John Fitzgerald Kennedy—one of America’s most consequential and enigmatic presidents—J. Randy Taraborrelli delivers a deeply researched and authoritative biography. More than the story of a presidency, this is an intimate study of a man whose public triumphs were shaped—and at times overshadowed—by the complex realities of his private life, from his legendary family to his marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy.

Drawing from hundreds of interviews conducted over twenty-five years, as well as candid, first-hand oral histories from the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Presidential Library, rare internal reports from the Secret Service, detailed files from the National Archives, and intelligence documents from both the CIA and FBI, this is JFK as never before captured by history: brilliant yet fallible, revered yet human—a figure whose legacy continues to shape America and the world.

Groundbreaking revelations include:
• A marriage defined by both devotion and distance—Jackie’s quiet but firm rules regarding her husband’s infidelities: "Show me some respect and don't you dare rub it in my face."
• The romance that posed a potential national security risk—JFK’s deep connection with Inga Arvad, a woman he considered his great love, brought to an abrupt end due to FBI concerns over her ties to Nazi intelligence.
• The long-awaited truth about Marilyn Monroe—uncovered at last through the firsthand account of one of her closest confidantes, shattering decades of speculation and exposing the reality of her deeply complicated connection to JFK.
• The woman who might have changed history—Joan Lundberg, the mistress JFK turned to during the darkest time in his marriage, whose clandestine relationship with him threatened to derail his entire political career.
• The Mafia’s role in his rise to power—a definitive account that separates fact from fiction and lays bare the extent of organized crime’s involvement in JFK’s election.
• A presidency tested by betrayal and crisis—why JFK felt undermined by his own cabinet during the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and how he ultimately seized control of his administration during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The JFK presented in Taraborrelli’s definitive biography is a complex and endlessly fascinating historical figure—despite, and perhaps even because of, his many flaws.