Grace and Power Audiobook By Sally Bedell Smith cover art

Grace and Power

The Private World of the Kennedy White House

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Grace and Power

By: Sally Bedell Smith
Narrated by: Lee Adams
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In GRACE & POWER: THE PRIVATE WORLD OF THE KENNEDY WHITE HOUSE, New York Times bestselling author Sally Bedell Smith takes us inside the Kennedy White House with unparalleled access and insight. Having interviewed scores of Kennedy intimates, including many who have never spoken before, and drawing on letters and personal papers made available for the first time, Smith paints a richly detailed picture of the personal relationships behind the high purpose and poiltical drama of the twentieth century's most storied presidency.
At the dawn of the 1960s, a forty-three-year-old president and his thirty-one-year-old first lady – the youngest couple ever to occupy the White House – captivated the world with their easy elegance and their cool conviction that anything was possible. Jack and Jackie Kennedy gathered around them an intensely loyal and brillant coterie of intellectuals, journalists, diplomats, international jet-setters and artists. Perhaps as never before, Washington was sharply divided between the “ins” and the “outs.”
In his public life, JFK created a New Frontier, stared down the Soviets, and devoted himself to his wife and children. As first lady, Jackie mesmerized foreign leaders and the American people with her style and sophistication, creating a White House renowned for its beauty and culture. Smith brilliantly recreates the glamorous pageant of the Kennedy years, as well as the daily texture of the Kennedys’ marriage, friendships, political associations, and, in Jack’s case, multiple love affairs.
Smith’s striking revelations include new information about what drew Jack to his numerous mistresses – and what effects the relationships ultimately had on the women; about the rivalries and resentments among Kennedy’s advisers; and about the poignant days before and after Kennedy’s assassination.
Smith has fashioned a vivid and nuanced portrait not only of two extraordinary individuals but of a new age that sprang to life around them. Shimmering with intelligence and detail, GRACE AND POWER is history at its finest.©2004 Sally Bedell Smith; (P)2004 Books on Tape Presidents & Heads of State Politics & Activism United States Biographies & Memoirs First Lady Marriage & Long-Term Partnerships Politicians Americas Marriage Relationships Franklin D. Roosevelt Vietnam War Soviet Union Private Power

Critic reviews

“After all the hundreds of books written about JFK and Jackie, this is the one that really tells the truth, that gets behind the layers of gossip and conspiracy and innuendo to tell the reader what life was actually like in the White House of Jack and Jackie Kennedy. Sally Bedell Smith is a phenomenal reporter with a sure command of her subject and a keen eye for telling detail and personal nuance. This is it: the last – and true – word on the Kennedy White House.”
-EVAN THOMAS, author of Robert Kennedy: His Life
“GRACE AND POWER has the readability and texture of an absorbing novel of manners, but it is also a social history of an event-making president and first lady and their entourage at the center of a fateful time. Sally Bedell Smith has done an impressive job of revealing geological layers of the Kennedy world that, despite hundreds of previous books, have remained unseen until now.”
-- MICHAEL BESCHLOSS, author of The Conquerors
“Sally Bedell Smith has produced a mesmerizing account of the Kennedy years that is filled with rich reporting, sophisticated insights, and riveting tales all put into historical perspective. Both Jack and Jackie come into vivid focus. We see the complex relations they had with their court of friends and advisers, and we feel the poignancy of such moments as the death of their son Patrick.
It’s a fascinating book written with grace and intelligence.”
-WALTER ISAACSON, author of Benjamin Franklin: an American Life
“The Kennedys and their crowd always seemed just out of earshot. In GRACE AND POWER,
we at last hear what they were saying.”
-JOSEPH J. ELLIS, author of Founding Brothers
“Sally Bedell Smith has not just come up with new information and fresh insights – she has made the story itself seem new and fresh and more compelling than ever. For those of us who remember the Kennedys, this book helps us better understand an episode that shaped our lives. For younger readers, GRACE AND POWER brilliantly captures a moment in history that shaped their world.”
-- STROBE TALBOTT, author of The Russia Hand
Rich Details • Comprehensive Coverage • Masterful Presentation • Fascinating Stories • Balanced Perspective

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If you are interested in the detailed human interest side of JFK and Jackie, just be aware the book is also heavy on political detail surrounding world events.

Just ok

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Your producer should make sure that pronunciation of French rooted words is correct - many times the narrator was ignorant of correct pronunciation. Amazing that Caroline Kennedy’s name was consistently mis pronounced. Other than that it was a well researched account and easy to listen to. Positively shocking that Kennedy was a serial womanizer- He spawned a morally decadent cabal and they all paid dearly for it in the end. But they had style!

Very interesting behind the scenes book

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Many in the Kennedy family lived eventful, exciting and salacious lives. Learned so much more than what I have previously read. Man, this family was messed up!

Drama, Drama, Drama

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If you could sum up Grace and Power in three words, what would they be?

I would say the three aspects I would use are "history, the value of education and the value of connections".

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the details provided by Smith--she really gets down the day-to-day information.

Detailed view into the Kennedy world

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Great info but was focused on Jacks bed partners far to much ...the interest in who, where, when Jack slept with made me crazy but with that exception was a good read.

Tons of information....but...

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