Profiles In Courage.

KENNEDY, John F.

Item Number: 4627

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956.

First edition, later printing. Octavo, original half black cloth. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Mary Durkin- with appreciation and very best wishes- John Kennedy.” The recipient, worked in the West Wing office of Ted Sorenson, JFK’s special counsel and speechwriter. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with very light rubbing. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A nice association copy.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning book was written when Kennedy was the junior senator from Massachusetts, and it served as a clarion call to every American. The inspiring accounts of eight previous heroic acts by American patriots inspired the American public to remember the courage progress requires. Now, a half-century later, it remains a classic and a relevant testament to the national spirit that celebrates the most noble of human virtues. Kennedy relates these heroisms to sketches of American politicians who have risked their careers for principle. "A man does what he must," he wrote, "in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures-and that is the basis of all human morality."