Politics Prof. Larry Sabato’s latest book, “The Kennedy Half Century” is now available as an extended, paperback version. A New York Times Best Seller and an inspiration for a 2014 Emmy Award-winning PBS documentary, the book will be accompanied by a new version of the online class available on iTunes U and Coursera.
Produced by the Center for Politics in partnership with PBS, "The Kennedy Half Century" received an Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary. The award will be presented to Sabato at the Virginia Film Festival.
The online lectures — 45 lessons lasting from 10 to 20 minutes — cover the early years of John F. Kennedy’s political career until his assassination. The lessons speak to Kennedy’s influence on his successors, from Lyndon B. Johnson to Barack Obama. More than 150,000 students have downloaded the lectures.
“The lessons complement the book and vice versa,” said Ken Stroupe, chief of staff of the Center for Politics. “The online format of the class does not allow us to cover all the extensive information in the book, but we touch on nearly every topic, including all the new material in the new, expanded edition.”
The paperback version covers more topics, including a CIA employee’s take on what happened inside agency headquarters the day Kennedy was assassinated. Analysis and evidence in this portion attempts to prove the unreliability of the police Dictabelt audio evidence the House Select Committee on Assassinations used to prove the shooters were present at the scene of the crime.
The first edition of the book took five years of interviewing “long-forgotten assassination witnesses and behind-the-scenes players who shared interesting stories that add some additional details about November 22, 1963,” Sabato said in an email.
After the publication of the first edition, many people contacted Sabato claiming they had more information regarding the assassination. Sabato mentioned the difficulty in separating fact from fiction, especially 50 years after the incident.
Sabato emphasized the importance of a book that honors Kennedy's legacy rather than focusing on his assassination.
“[H]is presidential saga, tragic assassination and evolutionary image coincided with my coming of age, influenced the career path I chose and defined the political world I analyze for a living,” Sabato said.
"The Kennedy Half Century" is ultimately a small portion of a larger project. The Center for Politics established the six-year-long Kennedy Legacy Project, aimed to explore Kennedy's life and legacy.
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