Did John F. Kennedy really write “Profiles in Courage?
Dear Cecil: Did John F. Kennedy really write Profiles in Courage? I read that there were rumors at the time of its publication that it had been ghostwritten, and that the Kennedy family later conceded as much. Recently I visited Amazon.com and was surprised to see online reviews posted by readers praising the president for his fine writing. Is there any consensus about Profiles in Courage and who the real author is? — Kevin West, Los Angeles Dear Kevin: Yes, there’s a consensus about Profiles in Courage (1956), which established JFK’s intellectual credentials and helped make him a credible presidential candidate. We’ll get to that. Yes, we know who did most of the heavy lifting for the book — we’ll get to that too. The principal controversy, apparently, has been what to call the curious process by which the book came to be. Even Garry Wills, a Kennedy critic, writes that JFK was the author of the book in the sense that he “authorized” it. Come now. Kennedy conceived the book and superv
