Camelot's Court: Inside the Kennedy White House

Camelot's Court is an insider's look at the brain trust whose contributions to the successes and failures of Kennedy's administration were indelible, among them Attorney General Robert Kennedy, his "adviser-in-chief"; Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara; Secretary of State Dean Rusk; National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy; and trusted aides Ted Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger. Yet the very traits these men shared also created sharp divisions. Far from unified, JFK's administration was an uneasy band of rivals whose personal ambitions and clashing beliefs ignited fiery debates behind closed doors.

Robert Dallek details the contentious and critical issues of Kennedy's years in office, including the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, civil rights, and Vietnam. He illuminates a president who surrounded himself with the best and the brightest, yet who often found himself disappointed in their recommendations. The result is a striking portrait that offers a cautionary tale for our own time.