Robert Dallek – författare

Fifty years after John F. Kennedy's assassination, presidential historian Robert Dallek, whom The New York Times calls "Kennedy's leading biographer," delivers a riveting new portrait of this president and his inner circle of advisors-their rivalries, personality clashes, and political battles. In Camelot's Court, Dallek analyzes the brain trust whose contributions to the successes and failures of Kennedy's administration-including the Bay of Pigs, civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam-were indelible. Kennedy purposefully put together a dynamic team of advisors noted for their brilliance and acumen, including Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, and trusted aides Ted Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger. Yet the very traits these men shared also created sharp divisions. Far from being unified, this was an uneasy band of rivals whose ambitions and clashing beliefs ignited fiery internal debates. Robert Dallek illuminates a president deeply determined to surround himself with the best and the brightest, who often found himself disappointed with their recommendations.The result, Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House, is a striking portrait of a leader whose wise resistance to pressure and adherence to principle offers a cautionary tale for our own time.

In this epic and revelatory joint biography, one of America’s most distinguished historians probes the lives and times of two unlikely leaders whose partnership dominated the world stage and changed the course of history. Tapping into a wealth of recently declassified documents and tapes, Robert Dallek uncovers fascinating details about Nixon and Kissinger’s tumultuous personal relationship and the extent to which they struggled to outdo each other in the reach for foreign policy achievements. He also brilliantly analyzes their dealings with power brokers at home and abroad, while recognizing how both men were continually plotting to distract the American public’s attention from the growing scandal of Watergate. Authoritative, illuminating and deeply engrossing, Nixon and Kissinger provides a startling new portrait and a new understanding of the immense power and sway these two men held in affecting world history.

Robert Dallek's brilliant two-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson has received an avalanche of praise. Now Dallek has condensed his two-volume masterpiece into what is surely the finest one-volume biography of Johnson available.Based on years of research in over 450 manuscript collections and oral histories, as well as numerous personal interviews, this biography follows Johnson, the 'human dynamo', from the Texas hill country to the White House. In these pages, Johson emerges as a man of towering intensity and anguished insecurity, of grandiose ambition and grave self-doubt, a man who was brilliant, crude, intimidating, compassionate, overbearing, driven. Gracefully written and delicately balanced, this singular biography reveals both the greatness and the tangled complexities of one of the most extravagant characters ever to step onto the presidential stage.

Updated edition of the authoritative single-volume biography of John F. Kennedy. Drawing upon first-hand sources and never-before-opened archives, prize-winning historian Robert Dallek reveals more than we ever knew about Jack Kennedy, forever changing the way we think about his life, his presidency and his legacy.Dallek also discloses that, while labouring to present an image of robust good health, Kennedy was secretly in and out of hospitals throughout his life, soill that he was administered last rites on several occasions. He never shies away from Kennedy's weaknesses, but also brilliantly explores his strengths. The result is a full portrait of a bold, brave and truly human John F. Kennedy.

From the acclaimed author of John F. Kennedy: An Unfinished Life, the biography of one of America's greatest presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt.'Meticulously researched and authoritative, heroically objective and wide-angled ... Roosevelt is with us again in Dallek's outstanding cradle-to-grave study' Douglas Brinkley, Washington Post'Assuredly the best single-volume Roosevelt biography' Eric Rauchway, The Times Literary Supplement'Essential ... a master of the presidential biography captures Roosevelt's compassion and sense of solidarity' Greg Grandin, Guardian'An insightful, incisive and intelligent one-volume work - and a pointed primer on how things in Washington get done. In a period defined by division, Dallek crafts a pointillist portrait of the four-term president, who knew almost intuitively how to reach consensus' Peter M. Gianotti, Newsday

Previous studies of the rise of Lyndon B. Johnson have concentrated on his ruthless careerism without giving him due credit for his political brilliance, his genuine concern for minorities and the repressed, and his role in fully integrating the South into modern America. Beginning with his early days in Texas, his progress from Representatives to Senate, and his role as Majority Leader under Eisenhower, this first volume in Robert Dallek's biography ends with his nomination as Vice-President in 1960. This balanced account presents the LBJ esteemed by the likes of Roosevelt and Kennedy.

Lone Star Rising, the first volume in Robert Dallek's biography of LBJ, was hailed as `a triumphant portrait of Lyndon Johnson as rich and oversized and complex as the nation that shaped him'. Now, in the final volume, Dallek takes us through Johnson's tumultuous years in the White House, his unprecedented accomplishments there, and the tragic war that would be his downfall.In these pages Johnson emerges as a character of almost Shakespearean dimensions, a man riddled with contradictions, a man of towering intensity and anguished insecurity, of grandiose ambition and grave self-doubt, a man who was brilliant, crude, intimidating, compassionate, overbearing, driven: `A tornado in pants.' Drawing on hundreds of newly released tapes and extensive interviews with those closest to LBJ -- including fresh insights from Ladybird and his press secretary Bill Moyers -- Dallek takes us behind the scenes to give us a portrait of Johnson that is at once even-handed and completely engrossing. We see Johnson as the visionary leader who worked his will on Congress like no president before or since, enacting a range of crucial legislation, from Medicare, environmental protection, and the establishment of the National Endowment of the Arts and Humanities to the most significant advances in civil rights for black Americans ever achieved. And we see for the first time the depth of Johnson's private anguish as he became increasingly ensnared in Vietnam, a war he did not want to expand and which destroyed his hopes for The Great Society and a second term.Exhaustively researched and gracefully written, Flawed Giant reveals both the greatness and the tangled complexities of one of the most extravagant characters ever to step on to the presidential stage.

In Lone Star Rising, Robert Dallek offers a brilliant, definitive portrait of a great American politician. Based on seven years of research in over 450 manuscript collections and oral histories, as well as numerous personal interviews, this first of a two-volume biography follows Johnson's life from his childhood to his election as vice-president under Kennedy.

For this new edition, Dallek has added an Afterword to his classic, Bancroft Prize-winning study of Franklin Roosevelt's diplomacy, which was first published in 1981. He answers recent critics who have attacked Roosevelt for producing Pearl Harbor, for `giving away' Eastern Europe to Stalin at Yalta, and for abandoning European Jews during the Holocaust. Dallek reaffirms the strength and effectiveness of Roosevelt's diplomacy and wartime leadership.

Lone Star Rising, the first volume in Robert Dallek's biography of LBJ, was hailed as "a triumphant portrait of Lyndon Johnson as rich and oversized and complex as the nation that shaped him." Now, in the final volume, Dallek takes us through Johnson's tumultuous years in the White House, his unprecedented accomplishments there, and the tragic war that would be his downfall.In these pages Johnson emerges as a character of almost Shakespearean dimensions, a man riddled with contradictions, a man of towering intensity and anguished insecurity, of grandiose ambition and grave self-doubt, a man who was brilliant, crude, intimidating, compassionate, overbearing, driven: "A tornado in pants." Drawing on hundreds of newly released tapes and extensive interviews with those closest to LBJ--including fresh insights from Ladybird and his press secretary Bill Moyers--Dallek takes us behind the scenes to give us a portrait of Johnson that is at once even-handed and completely engrossing. We see Johnson as the visionary leader who worked his will on Congress like no president before or since, enacting a range of crucial legislation, from Medicare, environmental protection, and the establishment of the National Endowment of the Arts and Humanities to the most significant advances in civil rights for black Americans ever achieved. And we see for the first time the depth of Johnson's private anguish as he became increasingly ensnared in Vietnam, a war he did not want to expand and which destroyed his hopes for The Great Society and a second term.Exhaustively researched and gracefully written, Flawed Giant reveals both the greatness and the tangled complexities of one of the most extravagant characters ever to step onto the presidential stage.

The Presidency of the United States is our nation's most challenging position. It has subjected many men to public vilification, condemned numerous others to historical obscurity, and exalted a few to lofty positions in our nation's history. But what is it that separates the revered from the reviled? Now, in Hail to the Chief, Robert Dallek offers an engaging examination of presidential excellence and failure.For some of our chief executives, great crisis meant great opportunity, as can be seen in the lasting legacies of Washington, Lincoln, and FDR. But what of presidents such as Ronald Reagan, who succeeded despite having served during relatively benign times? And what of luck? Isn't it possible that the onset of The Great Depression doomed a competent and intelligent Herbert Hoover to failure? In answer to these questions, Robert Dallek investigates the five qualities--vision, pragmatism, consensus, charisma, and trust--that have defined our most effective presidents. The product of meticulous research, the book presents numerous examples of these qualities in action, and also details the failures that accompany their absence.From Washington's masterful efforts at nation building to Lincoln's leadership through the greatest crisis in the country's history; from the beneficent paternalism of FDR to Lyndon Johnson's tragic miscalculations in Vietnam and his achievements in advancing civil rights, Dallek offers a penetrating analysis of the presidency, the personalities who have defined it, and the strategies that led to their triumphs and defeats.

The definitive short biography of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, based on Robert Dallek's award-winning biographies.Robert Dallek is among the country's most prolific and authoritative presidential biographers. Lyndon Johnson is arguably the president to whom he has devoted his most intensive archival research. This short biography, an adaptation of his two-volume magisterial biography, traces this presidential life from the Texas Hill Country to the House and Senate to the White House. It narrates his passage of a range of crucial legislation, from Medicare and environmental protection to the most significant advances in civil rights for black Americans ever achieved, as well as his continuation of the war in Vietnam. This brief work conveys Johnson as a man of towering intensity and anguished insecurity, of grandiose ambition and grave self-doubt, a man who was brilliant, crude, intimidating, compassionate, overbearing, driven: "A tornado in pants." This volume is being timed to coordinate with the 50th anniversary of Johnson's death.

Robert Dallek's masterful John F. Kennedy: An Unfinished Life was a number one national bestseller, and it remains the most widely read one-volume biography of the 35th President. Now, in this marvelous short biography of John F. Kennedy, Dallek achieves a miracle of compression, capturing in a small space the essence of his renowned full-length masterpiece. Here readers will find the fascinating insights and groundbreaking revelations found in An Unfinished Life. The heart of the book focuses on Kennedy's political career, especially the presidency. The book sheds light on key foreign affairs issues such as the Bay of Pigs debacle, Khrushchev's misguided bullying of Kennedy in Vienna, the Cuban Missile crisis, the nuclear test ban, the race for space, and the initial dealings with Southeast Asia, especially Laos. It also highlights the difficulties Kennedy faced getting a domestic agenda passed, from a tax cut to spur the economy, to federal aid to education, Medicare, and civil rights. Dallek reveals the thinking behind Robert Kennedy's appointment as Attorney General and convincingly argues that Kennedy would never have expanded the war in Vietnam the way that Lyndon Johnson did. The book also addresses questions about Kennedy's assassination and concludes with his presidential legacy and why he remains so popular despite serving only a thousand days in office.

William Dodd was the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1933 to 1937, arriving in Berlin with his wife and daughter just as Hitler assumed the chancellorship. An unlikely candidate for the job--and not FDR's first choice-- Dodd quickly came to realize the situation in Germany was far grimmer than the U.S. understood. His original belief that Germany could hardly fail to realize the importance of friendly cooperation with the United States, and likewise that the U.S. would come to see value of social and economic cooperation with the land of Luther, Stein and Bismarck, was soon replaced by his dire reports on the treatment of Jewish citizens and his pessimism about the future of Germany and Europe. Finding unwilling listeners back in the U.S., Dodd clashed repeatedly with the State Department, as well as the Nazis government, during his time as ambassador. He eventually resigned and returned to America despairing and in ill-health. Robert Dallek, a luminary in the field of political biography and author of Pulitzer Prize-nominated Nixon and Kissinger, offers a comprehensive look at Dodd's life, focusing particularly on his ambassadorship and exploring why someone as perceptive about Nazism as Dodd had a reputation as a poor and ineffective diplomat. The paperback includes a new Preface by the author.

Robert Dallek, a luminary in the field of political biography--author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Nixon and Kissinger and the New York Times bestselling biography of John F. Kennedy--offers here a look at the life of William Dodd, an American diplomat stationed in Nazi Germany. An insightful historical account, Democrat and Diplomat exposes the dark underbelly of 1930s Germany and explores the terrible burden of those who realized the horror that was to come. Dodd was the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1933 to 1937, arriving in Berlin with his wife and daughter just as Hitler assumed the chancellorship. An unlikely candidate for the job--and not President Roosevelt's first choice--Dodd quickly came to realize that the situation in Germany was far grimmer than was understood in America. His early optimism was soon replaced by dire reports on the treatment of Jewish citizens and his pessimism about the future of Germany and Europe. Finding unwilling listeners back in the U.S., Dodd clashed repeatedly with the State Department, as well as the Nazi government, during his time as ambassador. He eventually resigned and returned to America, despairing and in ill-health. Dodd's story was brought into public prominence last year by Erik Larsen's New York Times bestseller The Garden of Beasts. Dallek's biography, first published in 1968 and now in paperback for the first time, tells the full story of the man and his doomed years in the darkness of pre-War Berlin.

Few American politicians have enjoyed greater popularity than Ronald Reagan. Humor, charm, good looks, an intuitive feel for national concerns, and an extraordinary ability to speak persuasively to millions of people were major assets. But his fundamental appeal went deeper: a blend of Catholic and Protestant, small-town boy and famous entertainer, Horatio Alger and P. T. Barnum, traditional moralist and media celebrity, Reagan spoke for old values in current accents.Robert Dallek presents a sharply drawn, richly detailed portrait of the man and his politics--from his childhood years through the California governorship to the first years of the presidency. It is an essential guide for all observers of the presidential election of 2000, and a starting point for anyone wanting to discover what the Reagan experience really meant.