If Kennedy Lived
The First and Second Terms of President John F. Kennedy: An Alternate History
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Tom Stechschulte
-
By:
-
Jeff Greenfield
About this listen
From one of the country's most brilliant political commentators, the best-selling author of Then Everything Changed, an extraordinary, thought-provoking look at Kennedy's presidency - after November 22, 1963.
November 22, 1963: JFK does not die. What would happen to his life, his presidency, his country, his world?
In Then Everything Changed, Jeff Greenfield created an "utterly compelling" (Joe Klein), "riveting" (The New York Times), "eye-opening" (Peggy Noonan), "captivating" (Doris Kearns Goodwin) exploration of three modern alternate histories, "with the kind of political insight and imagination only he possesses" (David Gregory).
Based on memoirs, histories, oral histories, fresh reporting, and his own knowledge of the players, the audiobook looked at the tiny hinges of history - and the extraordinary changes that would have resulted if they had gone another way.
Now he presents his most compelling narrative of all about the historical event that has riveted us for fifty years. What if Kennedy were not killed that fateful day? What would the 1964 campaign have looked like? Would changes have been made to the ticket? How would Kennedy, in his second term, have approached Vietnam, civil rights, the Cold War? With Hoover as an enemy, would his indiscreet private life finally have become public? Would his health issues have become so severe as to literally cripple his presidency? And what small turns of fate in the days and years before Dallas might have kept him from ever reaching the White House in the first place?
As with Then Everything Changed, the answers Greenfield provides and the scenarios he develops are startlingly realistic, rich in detail, shocking in their projections, but always deeply, remarkably plausible. It is a tour de force of American political history.
©2013 Jeff Greenfield (P)2013 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Then Everything Changed
- Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reagan
- By: Jeff Greenfield
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a tour de force of American politics from one of journalism's most acclaimed commentators. History turns on a dime. A missed meeting, a different choice of words, and the outcome changes dramatically. Nowhere is this truer than in American politics, and in three dramatic narratives based on memoirs, histories, oral histories, fresh reporting with journalists and key participants, and Jeff Greenfield's own knowledge of the principal players, he shows just how extraordinary those changes would have been.
-
-
The Power of Random Chance
- By Sara on 10-29-14
By: Jeff Greenfield
-
The Path to Power
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 40 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country. The Path to Power reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and ambition that set LBJ apart. It follows him from the Hill Country to New Deal Washington, from his boyhood through the years of the Depression to his debut as Congressman, his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, at age 31, of the national power for which he hungered.
-
-
The Best of all Biographies
- By David C. Daggett on 12-14-13
By: Robert A. Caro
-
The Kennedy Detail
- JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence
- By: Gerald Blaine, Lisa McCubbin
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even today, almost five decades after John F. Kennedy was slain, the public continues to be captivated by the "Kennedy Curse" and new theories about what really happened on that fateful day in 1963. For nearly 50 years former Secret Service agent Clint Hill has lived with the unimaginable guilt of losing a president on his watch and has obeyed an honor code of silence, refusing to contribute to any books about the assassination. Until now.
-
-
The Kennedy Detail
- By Jean on 12-18-10
By: Gerald Blaine, and others
-
The Final Witness
- By: Paul Landis
- Narrated by: Lane Hakel
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dallas, Texas. November 22, 1963. Shots ring out at Dealey Plaza. The president is struck in the head by a rifle bullet. Confusion reigns. Special Agent Paul Landis is in the follow-up car directly behind JFK’s and is at the president’s limo as soon as it stops at Parkland Memorial Hospital. He is inside Trauma Room #1, where the president is pronounced dead. He is on Air Force One with the president’s casket on the flight back to Washington, DC, an eyewitness to Lyndon Johnson taking the oath of office. What he saw is indelibly imprinted upon his psyche.
-
-
Unique Perspective
- By PL on 12-04-23
By: Paul Landis
-
Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy
- By: Caroline Kennedy - foreword, Michael Beschloss - introduction
- Narrated by: Jacqueline Kennedy, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (interviewer), Caroline Kennedy (foreword), and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy recorded seven historic interviews about her life with John F. Kennedy. Now, decades later, these conversations can be heard in this digitally remastered eight-and-a-half-hour audio program. This audiobook includes the foreword written and read by Caroline Kennedy; introduction written and read by historian Michael Beschloss and the photos from the hardcover book, as well as complete annotations from Michael Beschloss, both in downloadable PDF format.
-
-
Fascinating Listen
- By Tim on 01-03-12
By: Caroline Kennedy - foreword, and others
-
Why We Love Baseball
- A History in 50 Moments
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Joe Posnanski, Ellen Adair
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski is back with a masterful ode to the game: a countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments in baseball’s history, to make you fall in love with the sport all over again. Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’s catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot, and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters.
-
-
Narration
- By Peter on 01-10-24
By: Joe Posnanski
-
Then Everything Changed
- Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reagan
- By: Jeff Greenfield
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a tour de force of American politics from one of journalism's most acclaimed commentators. History turns on a dime. A missed meeting, a different choice of words, and the outcome changes dramatically. Nowhere is this truer than in American politics, and in three dramatic narratives based on memoirs, histories, oral histories, fresh reporting with journalists and key participants, and Jeff Greenfield's own knowledge of the principal players, he shows just how extraordinary those changes would have been.
-
-
The Power of Random Chance
- By Sara on 10-29-14
By: Jeff Greenfield
-
The Path to Power
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 40 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country. The Path to Power reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and ambition that set LBJ apart. It follows him from the Hill Country to New Deal Washington, from his boyhood through the years of the Depression to his debut as Congressman, his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, at age 31, of the national power for which he hungered.
-
-
The Best of all Biographies
- By David C. Daggett on 12-14-13
By: Robert A. Caro
-
The Kennedy Detail
- JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence
- By: Gerald Blaine, Lisa McCubbin
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even today, almost five decades after John F. Kennedy was slain, the public continues to be captivated by the "Kennedy Curse" and new theories about what really happened on that fateful day in 1963. For nearly 50 years former Secret Service agent Clint Hill has lived with the unimaginable guilt of losing a president on his watch and has obeyed an honor code of silence, refusing to contribute to any books about the assassination. Until now.
-
-
The Kennedy Detail
- By Jean on 12-18-10
By: Gerald Blaine, and others
-
The Final Witness
- By: Paul Landis
- Narrated by: Lane Hakel
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dallas, Texas. November 22, 1963. Shots ring out at Dealey Plaza. The president is struck in the head by a rifle bullet. Confusion reigns. Special Agent Paul Landis is in the follow-up car directly behind JFK’s and is at the president’s limo as soon as it stops at Parkland Memorial Hospital. He is inside Trauma Room #1, where the president is pronounced dead. He is on Air Force One with the president’s casket on the flight back to Washington, DC, an eyewitness to Lyndon Johnson taking the oath of office. What he saw is indelibly imprinted upon his psyche.
-
-
Unique Perspective
- By PL on 12-04-23
By: Paul Landis
-
Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy
- By: Caroline Kennedy - foreword, Michael Beschloss - introduction
- Narrated by: Jacqueline Kennedy, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (interviewer), Caroline Kennedy (foreword), and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy recorded seven historic interviews about her life with John F. Kennedy. Now, decades later, these conversations can be heard in this digitally remastered eight-and-a-half-hour audio program. This audiobook includes the foreword written and read by Caroline Kennedy; introduction written and read by historian Michael Beschloss and the photos from the hardcover book, as well as complete annotations from Michael Beschloss, both in downloadable PDF format.
-
-
Fascinating Listen
- By Tim on 01-03-12
By: Caroline Kennedy - foreword, and others
-
Why We Love Baseball
- A History in 50 Moments
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Joe Posnanski, Ellen Adair
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski is back with a masterful ode to the game: a countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments in baseball’s history, to make you fall in love with the sport all over again. Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’s catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot, and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters.
-
-
Narration
- By Peter on 01-10-24
By: Joe Posnanski
-
Destiny Betrayed, Second Edition
- JFK, Cuba, and the Garrison Case
- By: James DiEugenio
- Narrated by: Paul Neal Rohrer
- Length: 23 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you enjoyed the chilling experience of In Cold Blood and were at the edge of your seat while watching Oliver Stone’s JFK, you’ll love this investigative look into all the facets of one of the top conspiracies of the 20th century and beyond. DiEugenio, who has spent decades researching the Kennedy assassination, takes both an analytical and conversational approach to his fascinating exploration of the pivotal historical events and scandals surrounding that day.
-
-
Essential Book but Narration Almost Ruins it
- By Nathan D. Backlund on 09-20-16
By: James DiEugenio
-
Third Reich Victorious
- Alternate Histories of World War II
- By: Peter G. Tsouras
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book is a stimulating and entirely plausible insight into how Hitler and his generals might have defeated the Allies, and a convincing sideways look at the Third Reich's bid at world domination in World War II. What would have happened if, for example, the Germans captured the whole of the BEF at Dunkirk? Or if the RAF had been defeated in the Battle of Britain?
-
-
A fresh look at WW2 - false but makes one wonder.
- By Eggert Eggertsson on 09-05-15
By: Peter G. Tsouras
-
The House of Kennedy
- By: James Patterson
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kennedys have always been a family of charismatic adventurers, raised to take risks and excel, living by the dual family mottos: "To whom much is given, much is expected" and "Win at all costs". And they do - but at a price. Across decades and generations, the Kennedys have occupied a unique place in the American imagination: charmed, cursed, at once familiar and unknowable. The House of Kennedy is a revealing, fascinating account of America's most storied family, as told by America's most trusted storyteller.
-
-
Nothing New
- By Placeholder on 04-23-20
By: James Patterson
-
Bobby Kennedy
- A Raging Spirit
- By: Chris Matthews
- Narrated by: Chris Matthews
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on extensive research and interviews, Matthews pulls back the curtain on the public and private worlds of Robert Francis Kennedy. He shines a light on all the important moments of his life, from his early years and his start in politics to his crucial role as attorney general in his brother's administration and his tragic run for president. This definitive book brings Bobby Kennedy to life like never before and is destined to become a political classic.
-
-
Bobby how we need you
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-17
By: Chris Matthews
-
Mrs. Kennedy and Me
- An Intimate Memoir
- By: Clint Hill, Lisa McCubbin Hill
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For four years, from the election of John Fitzgerald Kennedy until after the election of Lyndon Johnson, Clint Hill was the Secret Service agent assigned to guard the glamorous and private Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. During those four years, he went from being a reluctant guardian to a fiercely loyal watchdog and friend. Looking back, Clint Hill tells his story for the first time, offering a tender and tragic portrayal of how a Secret Service agent who started life in an orphanage became the most trusted man in the life of the First Lady who captivated first the nation and then the world.
-
-
This Memoir is a Blessing!
- By Alexis on 04-08-12
By: Clint Hill, and others
-
And There Was Light
- Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Jon Meacham
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hated and hailed, excoriated and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity, and faith. In him we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. This book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination: his rise, his self-education, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end.
-
-
A Winner
- By Diane Moore on 10-31-22
By: Jon Meacham
-
The Kennedy Half Century
- The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy
- By: Larry J. Sabato
- Narrated by: Chris Kayser
- Length: 24 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John F. Kennedy died half a century ago - yet because of his extraordinary promise and untimely death, his star still resonates strongly. On the anniversary of his assassination, celebrated political scientist and analyst Larry J. Sabato - himself a teenager in the early 1960s and inspired by JFK and his presidency - explores the fascinating and powerful influence he has had over five decades on the media, the general public, and especially on each of his nine presidential successors.
-
-
Job Well Done
- By Kathy on 08-12-14
By: Larry J. Sabato
-
Five Presidents
- My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford
- By: Clint Hill, Lisa McCubbin Hill
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Secret Service agent Clint Hill brings history intimately and vividly to life as he reflects on his 17 years protecting the most powerful office in the nation. Hill walked alongside Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford, seeing them through a long, tumultuous era - the Cold War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; Watergate; and the resignations of Spiro Agnew and Richard M. Nixon.
-
-
Interesting, but....
- By Papa Charlie on 07-09-17
By: Clint Hill, and others
-
Killing Jesus
- A History
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of people have thrilled to best-selling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, works of nonfiction that have changed the way we view history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly 2,000 years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.
-
-
The Jesus story in context
- By Kimberly on 10-01-13
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
-
So Help Me God
- By: Mike Pence
- Narrated by: Mike Pence
- Length: 21 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mike Pence spent more hours in the Oval Office than any of his predecessors. On the surface, the affable evangelical Christian from a gas-station-owning family in Indiana wouldn’t seem to have much in common with a brash real estate mogul from New York. But the unlikely duo formed a tight bond. So Help Me God is the chronicle of the events and people who forged Mike Pence’s character. This is the inside story of the Trump administration by its second highest official—what he said to the president and how he was tested.
-
-
Struggled to finish this
- By L. Brown on 11-20-22
By: Mike Pence
-
The Plot Against America
- By: Philip Roth
- Narrated by: Ron Silver
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an astonishing feat of empathy and narrative invention, our most ambitious novelist imagines an alternate version of American history. In 1940 Charles A. Lindbergh, heroic aviator and rabid isolationist, is elected president. Shortly thereafter, he negotiates a cordial "understanding" with Adolf Hitler while the new government embarks on a program of folksy anti-Semitism.
-
-
Life is imitating Roth's art
- By Matthew on 08-04-16
By: Philip Roth
-
The Last Honest Man
- The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedys—and One Senator's Fight to Save Democracy
- By: James Risen, Thomas Risen - contributor
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Senator Frank Church of Idaho was an unlikely hero. He led congressional opposition to the Vietnam War and had become a scathing, radical critic of what he saw as American imperialism around the world. But he was still politically ambitious, privately yearning for acceptance from the foreign policy establishment that he hated and eager to run for president. Despite his flaws, Church would show historic strength in his greatest moment, when in the wake of Watergate he was suddenly tasked with investigating abuses of power in the intelligence community.
-
-
why do so many books have a liberal bias?
- By Doug Altrichter on 08-20-23
By: James Risen, and others
Related to this topic
-
Nixonland
- The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
- By: Rick Perlstein
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 36 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of America's most talented historians and winner of a LA Times Book Prize comes a brilliant new account of Richard Nixon that reveals the riveting backstory to the red state/blue state resentments that divide our nation today. Told with urgency and sharp political insight, Nixonland recaptures America's turbulent 1960s and early 1970s and reveals how Richard Nixon rose from the political grave to seize and hold the presidency.
-
-
A 5-Star Book Injured by the Narrator
- By Frank on 08-12-09
By: Rick Perlstein
-
The Greatest Comeback
- How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After suffering stinging defeats in the 1960 presidential election against John F. Kennedy, and in the 1962 California gubernatorial election, Nixon's career was declared dead by Washington press and politicians alike. Yet on January 20, 1969, just six years after he had said his political life was over, Nixon would stand taking the oath of office as 37th President of the United States. How did Richard Nixon resurrect a ruined career and reunite a shattered and fractured Republican Party to capture the White House?
-
-
The comeback kid
- By Jean on 07-23-14
-
Camelot's End
- Kennedy vs. Carter and the Fight That Broke the Democratic Party
- By: Jon Ward
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Carter presidency was on life support. The Democrats, desperate to keep power and yearning to resurrect former glory, turned to Ted Kennedy. Camelot's End details the incredible drama of Kennedy's challenge - what led to it, how it unfolded, and its lasting effects - with cinematic sweep. It is a story about what happened to the Democratic Party when the country's long string of successes, luck, and global dominance following World War II ran its course, and how, on a quest to recapture the magic of JFK, Democrats plunged themselves into an intra-party civil war.
-
-
Does character count in political office?
- By marwalk on 07-29-19
By: Jon Ward
-
Bobby Kennedy
- The Making of a Liberal Icon
- By: Larry Tye
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
History remembers Robert F. Kennedy 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 had its beginnings in the conservative 1950s. In Bobby Kennedy, Larry Tye peels away layers of myth and misconception to paint a complete portrait of this singularly fascinating figure.
-
-
Absorbing
- By Jean on 01-18-17
By: Larry Tye
-
Nixon's White House Wars
- The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Vietnam to the Southern Strategy, from the opening of China to the scandal of Watergate, Pat Buchanan - speechwriter and senior adviser to President Nixon - tells the untold story of Nixon's embattled White House, from its historic wins to it devastating defeats. In his inaugural address, Nixon held out a hand in friendship to Republicans and Democrats alike. But by the fall of 1969, massive demonstrations in Washington and around the country had been mounted to break his presidency.
-
-
Interesting
- By Jean on 06-15-17
-
The Kennedy Half Century
- The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy
- By: Larry J. Sabato
- Narrated by: Chris Kayser
- Length: 24 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John F. Kennedy died half a century ago - yet because of his extraordinary promise and untimely death, his star still resonates strongly. On the anniversary of his assassination, celebrated political scientist and analyst Larry J. Sabato - himself a teenager in the early 1960s and inspired by JFK and his presidency - explores the fascinating and powerful influence he has had over five decades on the media, the general public, and especially on each of his nine presidential successors.
-
-
Job Well Done
- By Kathy on 08-12-14
By: Larry J. Sabato
-
Nixonland
- The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
- By: Rick Perlstein
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 36 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of America's most talented historians and winner of a LA Times Book Prize comes a brilliant new account of Richard Nixon that reveals the riveting backstory to the red state/blue state resentments that divide our nation today. Told with urgency and sharp political insight, Nixonland recaptures America's turbulent 1960s and early 1970s and reveals how Richard Nixon rose from the political grave to seize and hold the presidency.
-
-
A 5-Star Book Injured by the Narrator
- By Frank on 08-12-09
By: Rick Perlstein
-
The Greatest Comeback
- How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After suffering stinging defeats in the 1960 presidential election against John F. Kennedy, and in the 1962 California gubernatorial election, Nixon's career was declared dead by Washington press and politicians alike. Yet on January 20, 1969, just six years after he had said his political life was over, Nixon would stand taking the oath of office as 37th President of the United States. How did Richard Nixon resurrect a ruined career and reunite a shattered and fractured Republican Party to capture the White House?
-
-
The comeback kid
- By Jean on 07-23-14
-
Camelot's End
- Kennedy vs. Carter and the Fight That Broke the Democratic Party
- By: Jon Ward
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Carter presidency was on life support. The Democrats, desperate to keep power and yearning to resurrect former glory, turned to Ted Kennedy. Camelot's End details the incredible drama of Kennedy's challenge - what led to it, how it unfolded, and its lasting effects - with cinematic sweep. It is a story about what happened to the Democratic Party when the country's long string of successes, luck, and global dominance following World War II ran its course, and how, on a quest to recapture the magic of JFK, Democrats plunged themselves into an intra-party civil war.
-
-
Does character count in political office?
- By marwalk on 07-29-19
By: Jon Ward
-
Bobby Kennedy
- The Making of a Liberal Icon
- By: Larry Tye
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
History remembers Robert F. Kennedy 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 had its beginnings in the conservative 1950s. In Bobby Kennedy, Larry Tye peels away layers of myth and misconception to paint a complete portrait of this singularly fascinating figure.
-
-
Absorbing
- By Jean on 01-18-17
By: Larry Tye
-
Nixon's White House Wars
- The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Vietnam to the Southern Strategy, from the opening of China to the scandal of Watergate, Pat Buchanan - speechwriter and senior adviser to President Nixon - tells the untold story of Nixon's embattled White House, from its historic wins to it devastating defeats. In his inaugural address, Nixon held out a hand in friendship to Republicans and Democrats alike. But by the fall of 1969, massive demonstrations in Washington and around the country had been mounted to break his presidency.
-
-
Interesting
- By Jean on 06-15-17
-
The Kennedy Half Century
- The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy
- By: Larry J. Sabato
- Narrated by: Chris Kayser
- Length: 24 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John F. Kennedy died half a century ago - yet because of his extraordinary promise and untimely death, his star still resonates strongly. On the anniversary of his assassination, celebrated political scientist and analyst Larry J. Sabato - himself a teenager in the early 1960s and inspired by JFK and his presidency - explores the fascinating and powerful influence he has had over five decades on the media, the general public, and especially on each of his nine presidential successors.
-
-
Job Well Done
- By Kathy on 08-12-14
By: Larry J. Sabato
-
Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero
- By: Chris Matthews
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Chris Matthews’ extraordinary biography, we see this most beloved president in the company of friends. We see and feel him close-up, having fun and giving off that restlessness of his. We watch him navigate his life from privileged, rebellious youth to gutsy American president. We witness his bravery in war and selfless rescue of his PT boat crew. We watch JFK as a young politician learning to play hardball and watch him grow into the leader who averts a nuclear war.
-
-
What Might Have Been?
- By Mel on 12-06-11
By: Chris Matthews
-
The Glory and the Dream
- A Narrative History of America, 1932 - 1972
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 57 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This great time capsule of a book captures the abundant popular history of the United States from 1932 to 1972. It encompasses politics, military history, economics, the lively arts, science, fashion, fads, social change, sexual mores, communications, graffiti...everything and anything indigenous that can be captured in print.
-
-
Fabulous book, good narration, bad recording
- By Paula on 07-10-08
-
Believer
- My Forty Years in Politics
- By: David Axelrod
- Narrated by: David Axelrod
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The man behind some of the greatest political changes of the last decade, David Axelrod has devoted a lifetime to questioning political certainties and daring to bring fresh thinking into the political landscape. Whether as a child hearing John F. Kennedy stump in New York or as a strategist guiding the first African American to the White House, Axelrod shows in Believer how his own life stands at the center of the tumultuous American century.
-
-
Love letter to Obama
- By DaWoolf on 03-15-15
By: David Axelrod
-
Whistlestop
- My Favorite Stories from Presidential Campaign History
- By: John Dickerson
- Narrated by: John Dickerson
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whistlestop tells the human story of nervous gambits hatched in first-floor hotel rooms, failures of will before the microphone, and the cross-country crack-ups of long-planned stratagems. At the bar at the end of a campaign day, these are the stories reporters rehash for themselves and embellish for newcomers. In addition to the familiar tales, Whistlestop also remembers the forgotten stories about the bruising and reckless campaigns of the 19th century.
-
-
Lovers of the podcast this is ultimate fix!
- By killerqueen on 09-06-16
By: John Dickerson
-
Tip and the Gipper
- When Politics Worked
- By: Chris Matthews
- Narrated by: Chris Matthews
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were the political odd couple - the two most powerful men in the country, a pair who "couldn't be more different or more the same." For six years, Matthews was on the inside, watching the evolving relationship between President Reagan and Speaker of the House O’Neill. Drawing not only on his own remarkable knowledge but on extensive interviews with those closest to his subjects, Matthews brings this unlikely friendship to life in his unique voice.
-
-
I didn't want it to end
- By Jim on 10-06-13
By: Chris Matthews
-
The Presidents Club
- Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity
- By: Nancy Gibbs, Michael Duffy
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Presidents Club was born at Eisenhower’s inauguration when Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover first conceived the idea. Over the years that followed - and to this day - the presidents relied on, misunderstood, sabotaged, and formed alliances with one another that changed history. The world’s most exclusive fraternity is a complicated place: its members are bound forever because they sat in the Oval Office and know its secrets, yet they are immortal rivals for history’s favor.
-
-
Engaging subject, but fact-checking needed
- By loix on 04-25-12
By: Nancy Gibbs, and others
-
The Path to Power
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 40 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country. The Path to Power reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and ambition that set LBJ apart. It follows him from the Hill Country to New Deal Washington, from his boyhood through the years of the Depression to his debut as Congressman, his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, at age 31, of the national power for which he hungered.
-
-
The Best of all Biographies
- By David C. Daggett on 12-14-13
By: Robert A. Caro
-
JFK's Last Hundred Days
- The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President
- By: Thurston Clarke
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revelatory, minute-by-minute account of JFK’s final days that asks what might have been. Fifty years after his assassination, President John F. Kennedy’s legend endures. Noted author and historian Thurston Clarke reexamines the last months of the president’s life to show a man in the midst of great change, both in his family and in the key issues of his day: The Cold War, Civil Rights, and Vietnam, finally on the cusp of making good on his extraordinary promise.
-
-
In Depth and Beautifully Written
- By grace on 06-03-23
By: Thurston Clarke
-
The Year That Broke America
- An Immigration Crisis, a Terrorist Conspiracy, the Summer of Survivor, a Ridiculous Fake Billionaire, a Fight for Florida, and the 537 Votes That Changed Everything
- By: Andrew Rice
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before there was Coronavirus, before there was the contentious 2020 election or the entire Trump presidency, there was a turning-point year that proved momentous and transformative for American politics and the fate of the nation.
By: Andrew Rice
-
Days of Fire
- Bush and Cheney in the White House
- By: Peter Baker
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 29 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Theirs was the most captivating American political partnership since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger: a bold and untested president and his seasoned, relentless vice president. Confronted by one crisis after another, they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way. In Days of Fire, Peter Baker chronicles the history of the most consequential presidency in modern times through the prism of its two most compelling characters, capturing the elusive and shifting alliance of George Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney as no historian has done before.
-
-
A balanced account of the W and Cheney White House
- By Scott on 11-15-13
By: Peter Baker
-
The Red and the Blue
- The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism
- By: Steve Kornacki
- Narrated by: Steve Kornacki, Ron Butler
- Length: 17 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Red and the Blue, cable news star and acclaimed journalist Steve Kornacki follows the twin paths of Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, two larger-than-life politicians who exploited the weakened structure of their respective parties to attain the highest offices. For Clinton, that meant contorting himself around the various factions of the Democratic party to win the presidency. Gingrich employed a scorched-earth strategy to upend the permanent Republican minority in the House, making him speaker.
-
-
Simply marvelous
- By Hector Gonzalez on 10-04-18
By: Steve Kornacki
-
Three Days in Moscow
- Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Empire
- By: Bret Baier, Catherine Whitney
- Narrated by: Bret Baier
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Three Days in Moscow, Baier explores the dramatic endgame of America’s long struggle with the Soviet Union and President Ronald Reagan’s central role in shaping the world we live in today. On May 31, 1988, Reagan stood on Russian soil and addressed a packed audience at Moscow State University, delivering a remarkable - yet now largely forgotten - speech that capped his first visit to the Soviet capital.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Brian W. Barton on 05-20-18
By: Bret Baier, and others
What listeners say about If Kennedy Lived
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- brian
- 01-27-15
Another great Alternate History pick.
What made the experience of listening to If Kennedy Lived the most enjoyable?
The narration. Not good with accents, but overall, impressive.
What did you like best about this story?
The overall plotline.
What about Tom Stechschulte’s performance did you like?
The narration is excellent, even if he's very bad with accents.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Some of it made me laugh, like the toast at RFK's birthday.
Any additional comments?
A must-have for any Alternate History fans.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RC Davis
- 05-26-20
An interesting look at what might have been
I appreciated all the research and detail that went into making this sharp, speculative retrospective. The plausibility of the events depicted draws you into what can only be described as a parallel universe of possibility.
Just imagine how different as a people we would be without Vietnam and Watergate. It is so compelling that one might want a follow up book, further exploring this alternate time line. We'll done.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jackie Houchin
- 11-08-21
Excellent Alternative Account
Very well done. In a way - especially with Vietnam - I wish it would have happened this way.
The author's research made for a totally believable story and the narrator's very slight accent changes were believable without being caricature.
And the very last scene with Jackie is priceless.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JK
- 09-10-20
Not My Usual
Ordinarily, I'd avoid this type of book like the plague. However, I came across an interview appearance with Michael Beschloss and Jeff Greenfield on YouTube, maybe at the JFK Library? As someone who was a child when JFK was murdered, I've always had some interest, beginning with Manchester's masterpiece in the sixties. Mr. Greenfield constructs a perfectly plausible account of 'what if'. I did like that he still had JFK getting shot in Dallas, just not dying or having to leave office. I'm an LBJ fan but feel certain he would've had to resign in scandal in '64 had he not become president. As Greenfield stated in the interview, RFK would've also had a far different take in life than what he had because of his brother's murder. I enjoyed this thoroughly--now back to REAL history.../
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ELIZABETH
- 11-09-15
Fascinating but Fanciful
Would you listen to If Kennedy Lived again? Why?
Yes - it repays close analysis
Would you be willing to try another book from Jeff Greenfield? Why or why not?
Yes
What does Tom Stechschulte bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
An intelligent reading but also a lightness of touch
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
How early Ronald Reagan entered the picture
Any additional comments?
It is quite kind to Kennedy and maybe some of that is wishful thinking
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Peter
- 11-03-13
Great imagination but abuse of history
What did you love best about If Kennedy Lived?
The blending of actual orations and writings and with speculative imagination.
Would you be willing to try another book from Jeff Greenfield? Why or why not?
Maybe--if he did not perpetuate long-discredited and fabricated (Warren Commission) lies.
What about Tom Stechschulte’s performance did you like?
It flowed okay. Nothing soectacular
If you could give If Kennedy Lived a new subtitle, what would it be?
Stuck in ancient mud, reaching for newness
Any additional comments?
The perpetuation of the lies from the Warren Commission is abominable. For Greenfield to use Posner's clumsy and selective regurgitation of the Warren Commission as a main reference, is an unreal disservice. As astute as he was in other areas, it is overy carelessness tonhave totally ignored the supremely well-documented works by Mark Lane, Harold Weissberg, Sylvia Meagher, Josiah Thompson, Howard Lifton, James Douglass, Abrahm Bolden, Jean Hill, JAMES TAGUE and others who, through their own witness accounts (unfettered by the likes of Arlen Specter) or through freedom of information lawsuits, have revealed and proven the conspiracy and its supporting evidence as did the House Select Committee on Assassinations nearly 30-years ago. Also, JFK was subverted by his own ambassador to Vietnam--Henry Cabott Lodge, who was responsible for the murders of the Diem brothers. Greenfield's work on the "future" was stellar. BUT he put a new ciat of whitewash on history, which is irresponsible (at best) and dastardly, at worst.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Mark Brown
- 08-01-20
fascinating!
an incredibly well- researched "guess on" as to what America 1968 would have become if Dallas in November of 1963 and had a different outcome
For those old enough to remember the shock of that day and the wound on our psyche that has never fully healed this book offers some surprising partial healing of that still festering wound.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- hugh Linthicum
- 04-30-20
Good story
Faceted based though the writer took some liberties . I thought it was well written. 5stars all the way round!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!