Bobby Kennedy

The Making of a Liberal Icon

De: Larry Tye

Narrado por: Marc Cashman

“A multilayered, inspiring portrait of RFK . . . [the] most in-depth look at an extraordinary figure whose transformational story shaped America.”—Joe Scarborough, The Washington Post

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Soon to be a Hulu original series starring Chris Pine. Larry Tye appears on CNN’s American Dynasties: The Kennedys.

“We are in Larry Tye’s debt for bringing back to life the young presidential candidate who . . . almost half a century ago, instilled hope for the future in angry, fearful Americans.”—David Nasaw, The New York Times Book Review

Bare-knuckle operative, cynical White House insider, romantic visionary—Robert F. Kennedy was all of these things at one time or another, and each of these aspects of his personality emerges in the pages of this powerful and perceptive biography.

History remembers RFK as a racial healer, a tribune for the poor, and the last progressive knight of a bygone era of American politics. But Kennedy’s enshrinement in the liberal pantheon was actually the final stage of a journey that began with his service as counsel to the red-baiting senator Joseph McCarthy. In Bobby Kennedy, Larry Tye peels away layers of myth and misconception to capture the full arc of his subject’s life. Tye draws on unpublished memoirs, unreleased government files, and fifty-eight boxes of papers that had been under lock and key for forty years. He conducted hundreds of interviews with RFK intimates, many of whom have never spoken publicly, including Bobby’s widow, Ethel, and his sister, Jean. Tye’s determination to sift through the tangle of often contradictory opinions means that Bobby Kennedy will stand as the definitive biography about the most complex and controversial member of the Kennedy family.

Praise for Bobby Kennedy

“A compelling story of how idealism can be cultivated and liberalism learned . . . Tye does an exemplary job of capturing not just the chronology of Bobby’s life, but also the sense of him as a person.”—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Captures RFK’s rise and fall with straightforward prose bolstered by impressive research.”—USA Today

“[Tye] has a keen gift for narrative storytelling and an ability to depict his subject with almost novelistic emotional detail.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“Nuanced and thorough . . . [RFK’s] vision echoes through the decades.”—The Economist

Exceptional biography and performance!

This audible is one of the best I've listed to since The Bully Pulpit. Just an excellent audible experience!

Terrific biography

I’m not as drawn to biographies as others might be, but Larry Tye’s bio of Bobby Kennedy proved to be a wonderful choice. Even handed, shows aspects of Bobby that those from the left and those from the right sometimes sweep under the rug. Well done narration as well.

Absorbing

This book sat on my “to read list” as I tried to decide whether to read it or not. I just finish reading “Joseph McCarthy” by Arthur Herman and that triggered me to go ahead and read the book as Herman mentioned RFK frequently throughout the book.

Tye does a good job capturing the contradictions of RFK. Tye depicts Kennedy’s transformation from a ruthless, arrogant, hypocritical man to a loyal, compassionate, dedicated man who changed the country. Tye states that Bobby was a conservative and he wanted to show how he changed into a liberal. The author starts with RFK’s association with Joseph McCarthy and ends with the assassination. Tye goes into depth about the relationship with Lyndon Johnson and his pursuit of Jimmy Hoffa. He follows RFK’s commitment to civil rights and his interest in the problems of poverty. He covers the relationship with his brother, John F. Kennedy, and his role as Attorney General. He also goes into details about his campaign for president.

The book is well written and meticulously researched. Tye not only searched the usual archives but conducts countless interviews with colleagues, friends, family and his widow. Tye is a journalist and he writes with the style of a reporter. I enjoyed the book, learned some new information and refreshed old knowledge.

March Cashman did a good job narrating the book. Cashman is a voice-over artist and award winning audiobook narrator.

Fascinating

Captivating look into the life of RFK. I was just a grade school child during the times of JFK and RFK. Couldn't stop listening. It ended too soon.

An Excellent Political Biography

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

An excellent political biography from beginning to end. The author gets across the importance of RFK at the time and his influence that still exists today.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bobby Kennedy - clearly an important person in the history of America.

Which character – as performed by Marc Cashman – was your favorite?

Excellent performance from start to finish.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

What could have been if RFK made it to the White House.

Any additional comments?

One of the best political biographies I've ever read.

A book — and life — cut too short

The only thing bad about Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon is when you near the conclusion. Tye does a masterful job capturing RFK’s life and legacy that you don’t want to believe this book will end so abruptly and painfully.

For 11 brief shining hours Larry Tye brings RFK back to life with all warts and promise

This should be the hands-down definitive biography of Robert Kennedy. There are no glib smooth-overs of the RFK's early and ugly zeal and flaws. This is the story of a man who through terrible despair, grief and unusual determination becomes 100 times the man he started out being. The political reality of his time is rendered perfectly. The book resounds because it is a true rendering of human frailty, suffering and overcoming. Life's first card dealt Bobby Kennedy was filled with feisty competitiveness and intolerance. Turned over at the end of his his life, the card showed a depth of character found only in monks and profoundly selfless leaders. To be savored by conservatives and progressives alike. And brought this reader to tears 45 years after spending 19 hours in his funeral line, for what might have been.

Brought alive the Bobby Kennedy legend

I brought this audio book to understand the Kennedy legend from JFK's brother Bobby Kennedy's point of view, one whose news of death I had to convey to my grandfather, one of millions of Indians that admired the Kennedy's in India, while I was only 5.

The book, expertly narrated, not only brought alive the Kennedy legend but also the era at the time and the private and public victories and missteps of the father, brothers, and wives in a vivid manner.

I could not put this book down, sort of, as I only get about a half hour of free time to listen to it, but I heard them on contiguous days and thoroughly enjoyed every chapter of their challenges with Cuba, the Russians, the MLK led black rights movement, his devotion to his extended family especially his father, the JFK assassination, Bobby's ensuing dark period while still carrying on his familial responsibilities especially toward Jackie and her kids followed by his reappearance into the political world and his tussle with LBJ, and his love affair with the American public and tussle with Jimmy Hoffa and his political opponents while running for the Senate and finally succumbing himself to an assassins bullet while being an earshot of the Presidency himself.

Fabulous listen all round.

What a complicated man!

Any additional comments?

I learned a great deal about a man I was taught by my father to hate when I was growing up and grew to admire in my adulthood. RFK was too multi-dimensional to look at so simplistically. Well-written and narrated.

Thorough & Deeply Insigthful

Larry's writing captured both the brilliance and ruthlessness of Bobby Kennedy. Beginning early in his life, I was continually locked in learning all the complexities that made up RFK. Although we knew the ending, I learned much more intimately at the brilliance that made up this liberal icon.