Book Reviews : President John F. Kennedy: The Burden and the Glory. Edited by ALLAN NEVINS. (New York: Harper and Row, 1964. Pp. xvii, 293. $4.95.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591296401700454
• Published date: 01 December 1964
• Author: Hugh A. Bone
• Date: 01 December 1964
• Subject Matter: Articles

843
sion by men who are leading scholars in their fields. In this instance we are treated
to nine essays born out of a series of lectures delivered at the Rice University Semi-
centennial in 1962.
Of the contributors, five are historians and four are political scientists -
Hans
Morgenthau, Benjamin F. Wright, Lawrence H. Chamberlain and Alpheus T. Ma-
son. Their purpose is to inquire into the theory and practice of American politics.
Their focus is upon key problems which either presently or persistently trouble our
political community.
Necessarily any volume of this sort must touch upon familiar issues, e.g., federal-
ism, executive-legislative relationships, the role of public opinion in the formulation
of American foreign policy, and so forth. Predictably, moreover, in their treatment
of these issues the essayists sometime pursue well-known themes, e.g., Professor Ma-
son’s analysis of the courts’ use of Judicial Review. Nevertheless, the essays which
compose this work are invariably fresh and frequently original.
One of the strengths of this work is that its contents are what they purport to
be, essays. In the classical tradition of the essay, each writer has a position on the
issue to which he addresses himself. Moreover, he makes his position abundantly
clear. Beyond this, however, each man marshals his evidence into the form of an
argument with which he attempts to demonstrate the merit of his position. Thus
while one may disagree with the writer(s) position ( s ) and/or the argument(s)
designed as support, the fact remains that these are well-executed pieces of scholar-
ship.
The consequences of these efforts is a first-rate set of essays which deserves to be
widely read.
HAROLD V. RHODES
Wake Forest College
President John F. Kennedy: The Burden and the Glory. Edited by ALLAN NEVINS.
(New York: Harper and Row, 1964. Pp. xvii, 293. $4.95.)
Within six months after the Kennedy assassination this and twenty other vol-
umes about the late President had made...