Battling Wall Street: The Kennedy Presidency: The Kennedy Presidency (with an Epilogue on the Legacy of RFK) - Softcover

Was JFK the tool of the Eastern Establishment, or was he its bitterest enemy? Don Gibson challenges the conventional wisdom and asserts, with powerful support from Kennedy’s own words and actions -- and those of his enemies -- that Kennedy was always on the side of economic, political and social progress. To achieve his goals of government for the people, JFK crossed swords courageously and vigorously with the real centers of power. They punished him with the ultimate sacrifice -- his own life, and fifty years of crushing defeats of our American ideals. In this intriguing and penetrating analysis, Gibson looks at what JFK himself said, wrote, and did, contrasting that with the words and actions of his enemies -- the Wall Street Journal, Fortune magazine, and the corporate and banking magnates themselves, who, as this book shows, truly despised the President. Conventional wisdom depicts Kennedy as a cautious president committed to the status quo and to the Establishment. This book makes a compelling case to the contrary, showing that President Kennedy was always willing to do battle for his progressive policies, even in the face of vicious attacks. With its clear and lively style, this book is a revelation to the general reader and to the specialist, opening the way to a new understanding of the meaning of Kennedy’s legacy. This new edition includes a tribute to Robert F. Kennedy, who followed in his brother's footsteps, and made the same supreme sacrifice for the ideals they shared. RFK courageously carried forward the activist struggle, against oligarchy and for a better world: for dignity, equality, justice and progress for all people and nations. Fifty years ago, on June 6, 1968, he was cut down before he could take office, after winning the primary elections for president.

Professor Gibson’s research on social power and on U.S. economic problems led him to writing on the administration of John F. Kennedy and related topics around the struggle between economic democracy and elitist oligarchy. Donald Gibson is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his PhD from the University of Delaware and taught there and at Middlebury and Oberlin Colleges. Don was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. He served as a communications analyst in the United States Air Force during the 1960s. He is also the author of four other books: The Kennedy Assassination Cover-up; Environmentalism: Ideology and Power; Communication, Power and the Media; and Wealth, Power, and The Crisis of Laissez Faire Capitalism.