Murray Kempton

Though it is barely off the presses, William Manchester’s THE DEATH OF A PRESIDENT has already lived a full and storied life — conceived as a book, delivered prematurely as a political event, christened amid protestations of sacrifice and talk of six-figure deals, turned out by its progenitors, and sentenced to fend for itself in a world made turbulent by claims and counterclaims, publicity, gossip, and high-level backbiting. Many who were involved in the events it re-creates will find it flawed by inaccuracies and misjudgments; others will find if inadequate (see Oscar Handlin’s review on page 131). But once the furor dies, how will it stand as a report of a moment that beat and shook the world with its angry wings? Murray Kempton, author and political columnist for the New York POST, tells in this essay why he believes it will stand very well.

BOOKS and MEN Author of many articles and books (including AMERICA COMES OF MIDDLE AGE)on the American scene, Mr. Kempton was born in Baltimore and studied at Johns Hopkins. He lives in New York and is a columnist for the New York WORLD TELEGRAM AND SUN. He here gives his appraisal of Theodore Sorensen’s KENNEDY.