PROFILES IN COURAGE

by John F. Kennedy ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 1955

Senator Kennedy's book on the courageous stands made by those who have stood their ground on the Senate floor from the day John Quincy Adams spoke for the Embargo Act to the days of Robert Taft is a stirring and effective tribute to the nature of office as well as character. Basic to the battle for principle is the concept of representative office -- of whether the elected man's duty is to represent by acquiescence to the desires of his constituency or by exercising his own Judgment, whether his first duty is to his electors or to his country. As we witness the battles waged and the men who faced the dissonant music of opposition and censure, we see the growth of the United States and its changing conception of unity. In the mid-19th century, we see the attempts of Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benton and Sam Houston to build a bridge, each in a differing way, across the widening chasm that ended in secession. Edmund Ross, the man who despite party pressure and a new constituency voted against Johnson's impeachment, was politically dead afterwards. Senator Kennedy hails other stalwart men and considers the problems that faced them in a book that will certainly give constituents and congressmen a greater sense of pride -- and understanding in their connections.

Pub Date: Jan. 2, 1955

ISBN: 0060854936

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1955

Categories: NONFICTION