Drawing on letters, personal papers, and interviews with Kennedy intimates speaking for the first time, this sensitive portrait of the twentieth century's most storied presidency reveals how the Kennedys and their circle changed the political and social landscape of America - and how it, in turn, altered them. In the process, Smith reveals JFK for what he was: a politically progressive man who created a New Frontier and stood up to the Soviets; a family man who, though a devoted father, was entangled with scores of mistresses and women half his age; and an extraordinary leader with a streak of uncontrollable recklessness.