Incomparable Grace

JFK in the Presidency

By: Mark K. Updegrove

Narrated by: Robin Miles, Mark K. Updegrove

An illuminating account of John F. Kennedy’s brief but transformative tenure in the White House, from acclaimed author and historian Mark K. Updegrove, head of the LBJ Foundation and presidential historian for ABC News

“Tremendously absorbing and inviting… An important book.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin • “Elegant, concise, [and] knowing.”—Michael Beschloss • “Rescues JFK from Camelot mythology.”—Richard Norton Smith

Nearly sixty years after his death, JFK still holds an outsize place in the American imagination. While Baby Boomers remember his dazzling presence as president, millennials more likely know him from advertisements for Omega watches or Ray Ban sunglasses. Yet his years in office were marked by more than his style and elegance. His presidency is a story of a fledgling leader forced to meet unprecedented challenges, and to rise above missteps to lead his nation into a new and hopeful era.

Kennedy entered office inexperienced but alluring, his reputation more given by an enamored public than earned through achievement. In this gripping new assessment of his time in the Oval Office, Updegrove reveals how JFK’s first months were marred by setbacks: the botched Bay of Pigs invasions, a disastrous summit with the Soviet premier, and a mismanaged approach to the Civil Rights movement. But the young president soon proved that behind the glamour was a leader of uncommon fortitude and vision.

A humbled Kennedy conceded his mistakes, and, importantly for our times, drew important lessons from his failures that he used to right wrongs and move forward undaunted. Indeed, Kennedy grew as president, radiating greater possibility as he coolly faced a steady stream of crises before his tragic end.

Incomparable Grace compellingly reexamines the dramatic, consequential White House years of a flawed but gifted leader too often defined by the Camelot myth that came after his untimely death.

©2022 Mark K. Updegrove (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Updegrove limns Kennedy’s ascent from overshadowed, somewhat sickly second son to war hero... Updegrove doesn’t lose his way in excessive detail, penning a biography that brings JFK into living perspective for a younger generation who might know him only from their parents’ tales.”—Booklist (starred review)

"Absorbing…Updegrove provides a balanced look at Kennedy's personal and political failings while offering a look at why a man who served just 1,036 days in office continues to rank so high by historians among the nation's presidents.”—Associated Press

“Updegrove’s skillful portrait reveals a president who learned on the job and did so with humility, ‘calling forth the best in all of us,’ which helps account for the widely shared enshrinement of Kennedy’s memory today… A well-rendered portrait showing that presidential politics can be both effective and a force for the good.”—Kirkus

Even though we all know the story and have heard it 100 times it never gets old

This presentation although not exposing any new revelations about the Kennedy presidency it does again paint the picture of the uniqueness of the man and certainly races numerous questions when we think of the potential “what if“

Well written

I liked that this account was not so focused on the assassination , but more on the accomplishments and failures of his short a presidency .

Solid account of an amazing President

Insightful and thoughtful storytelling without being mawkish. Well done and great production, with superb narration

Nothing new

I bought this book after reading reviews that said it contained information that wasn’t in previous biographies. Given that I was fourteen in 1963 and, like most Americans, was deeply affected by Kennedy’s murder, I’ve had time to read virtually every book about JFK that was well-reviewed. I’m not at all sure why the author undertook to write yet another Kennedy bio. Some details were just wrong, such as a reference to Jackie removing her husband’s wedding ring and replacing it with her own. He didn’t wear a wedding ring. Very few men did then. Jackie removed a gold band with emerald chips that JFK gave her after the death of Patrick and put it on one of his fingers. She later removed it. Just an example that prompted my wondering why this book was written since it only covered old ground and not always factually.