John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography By The Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best - Hardcover

M. Kranish, B. C. Mooney, N. J. Easton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786268158 ISBN 13: 9780786268153

Publisher: Thorndike Press, 2004

Synopsis

Who is the man now on track to become the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, and what kind of political leader is he? Based on a highly regarded Boston Globe series plus years of additional reporting, this is the first full and in-depth book on John Kerry's life. Exploring his background, his military service, his early legal and political career, and his legislative record, this incisive, frank look at Kerry's strengths and liabilities is an election year must-read.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Kranish, has worked for The Boston Globe for 20 years, including the last 16 in the newspaper's Washington Bureau. He was the White House reporter during the last two years of the presidency of George H.W. Bush and the first two years of Bill Clinton. He was the paper's national political reporter during the 1996 and 2000 campaigns. During the 2004 cycle, his work included a series of biographical stories about the candidates, including one on the life of Senator John F. Kerry. His other assignments with the Globe have included congressional reporter, New England reporter, and business writer. He previously worked for The Miami Herald and The Lakeland Ledger. A graduate of Syracuse University, he lives in Silver Spring, Md., with his wife, Sylvia, and two daughters, Jessica and Laura.

Brian C. Mooney has been a reporter for newspapers in and around Boston for the past thirty-one years, the last sixteen at The Boston Globe. Prior to that, he wrote for The Boston Herald, The Sun of Lowell, and The Medford Daily Mercury. At the Globe, he has been city hall bureau chief, a member of the newspaper's award-winning Spotlight Team, and a political columnist. A graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, he resides with his wife, Rosemary Lappin, a local television news producer, in Andover, Mass., with their daughter.

Nina J. Easton, deputy chief of the Boston Globe's Washington bureau, is author of the critically acclaimed Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Ascendancy, which chronicles the rise to power of today's conservative movement. The Washington Post praised the book for telling the story of post-Reagan conservatism "more inventively, exhaustively, and entertainingly than anyone else." Easton's career also includes a decade at the Los Angeles Times, where her Sunday Magazine stories on issues ranging from poverty to politics earned a number of national awards. In addition, she is co-author of the 1982 best-selling book Reagan's Ruling Class: Portraits of the President's Top 100 Officials.

From Publishers Weekly:

Last year, Boston Globe reporters working on a multipart series uncovered the stunning news that John Kerry's paternal grandfather was Jewish. This book, an expansion of that series, doesn't find any smoking guns about the presumptive Democratic candidate for president. But it does offer a detailed and at times critical biography of the Massachusetts senator. Relying on years of reporting, the authors trace Kerry's itinerant boyhood as the son of a Foreign Service officer and his later years at prestigious St. Paul's, where early on he demonstrated intellectual seriousness and ambition. This ambition is one of the themes of Kerry's life as presented here. The biography shows Kerry's somewhat bumpy ride as a politician and his strength more as an investigator-on Iran-Contra-than as a legislator. The book, written in the lucid, straightforward prose one expects from a newspaper writing team, is especially strong on Kerry's college and Vietnam years, detailing the sense of service felt by Kerry and his fellow Skull-and-Bonesmen at Yale, and Kerry's doubts about the Vietnam War even before he went over to serve. The authors take critical issues head-on: they explore questions over Kerry's first Purple Heart and his leaving Vietnam before his service was over, as well as the Nixon administration's targeting him as an enemy. Kerry supporters may find the tone a bit harsh, but all who are interested in the 2004 election will benefit from this major serious examination of a man who would be president. 27 photos.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Thorndike Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0786268158
• ISBN 13: 9780786268153
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 640