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Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus
Original language
English

RISING STAR, SETTING SUN

John T. Shaw

Eisenhower, Kennedy and Presidential Transition That Shaped America

A monumental new history reveals how the transition of power from Eisenhower to Kennedy marked more than a succession of presidents?it was the culmination of a generational shift in American politics, policy, and culture.

After winning the presidency by a razor-thin victory on November 8, 1960 over Richard Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower's former vice president, John F. Kennedy became the thirty-fifth president of the United States. But beneath the stately veneers of both Ike and JFK, there was a complex and consequential rivalry.

In RISING STAR, SETTING SUN, John T. Shaw focuses on the intense ten-week transition between JFK's electoral victory and his inauguration on January 20, 1961. In just over two months, America would transition into a new age, and nowhere was it more marked that in the generational and personal difference between these two men and their dueling visions for the country they led. The former general espoused frugality, prudence, and stewardship. The young political wuenderkid embodied dramatic themes and sweeping social change.

Extensively researched and eloquently written, Shaw paints a vivid picture of what Time called a "turning point in the twentieth century" as Americans today find themselves poised on the cusp of another watershed moment in our nation's history.

John T. Shaw is the author of four previous books, including most recently JFK IN THE SENATE: A Pathway to the Presidency. He's covered Congress for Market News International for nearly twenty-five years, and has also been a contributing writer for the Washington Diplomat and has been a guest on PBS NewsHour and C-SPAN.
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Published 2018-05-01 by Pegasus Books

Comments

A gripping examination of the transfer of power between Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy at a critical moment in history. Shaw shines. As Shaw successfully illustrates, that period has still-lingering implications for a country attracted both to Kennedy's optimistic vision of an assertive, powerful America and Eisenhower's more skeptical, cautious attitude toward governmental action, at home and abroad. Read more...