Lasky's book was a best-seller, at least by his standards. But he quickly pulled this book out of print in honor of JFK's sudden death in Dallas. Three years later, he was prompted by some friends to reprint it and added a bitter conclusion to all of the Kennedy years.
As hard-hitting as this book is, he is rather gentlemanly about it and leaves most of the criticisms on the practical and intellectual level. In fact the one he really berates in this book is Arthur Schlesinger in some very funny asides. Back to the point, Lasky ultimately concludes that JFK was an indecisive and feckless President who meant well but didn't do well. And, in spite of what others might say about him, he never amounted to much; only becoming a hero because of his death.
Lasky was the last of an old breed. He simply reports to you what JFK really said and did and leaves out his opinion until the end, in a brutal summation. Factual, but witty and lively, the book is a quick and damning summation that brushes away entirely the Kennedy myth and portrays all of the players, JFK, RFK, and Joseph P. Kennedy in realistic lights.
He could have gone much harsher with the book but he didn't, in fact, it was his other books RFK, The Man and the Myth, and It Didn't Start with Watergate, that reveal more brutal information on his tumultuous tenure in office.

This book should be required reading because of Jimmy Carter's screw-up with the North Korean peace treaty and the hollow mockery that was his reception of the Nobel Peace Prize. I did not think that Lasky could do any more damage to the Carter presidency or follow up his brilliant "It Didn't Start with Watergate", but he did. This book plays out like a sit-com. In fact Lasky even gives them catchy nicknames: Lillian Carter, "Miz Lillian", Zebaziegnew Brezinsky, "The Hungry Professor", and James Earl Carter, Jr., "Wee Jimmy" (Once again Lasky presents political intrigue in a palatable manner on the ultimate micromanager in American politics.)
But yet there is a sense of shock which is consistently undercut by Carter's gaffes. For example, it was an open secret that Carter's staff were habitual cocaine and heroin users, and Carter himself had his own "mini-Watergate", where he misappropriated state funds to fund a private political poll. He bungled things so much that he could have taught Clinton how to be even more corrupt. I now feel lucky that presidents can only serve 8 years in office. This man is a case in point about why people shouldn't vote Democratic. The readers shall feel the same way after reading about the man who "grew up in hard times, when things were difficult"--Carter's words, not mine---

The claim that "a good, fair impartial investigation" was to be held during the Watergate hearings on Nixon's role in the break-in and subsequent cover-up never materialized. Instead, the Senatorial committee provided TV melodrama. This well documented book permits comparisons of past political behavior with the tricky manuevering of todays D.C. Elite. Only the names change. In Washington one is not permitted to be above the fray. The techniques and methods of yesteryear are still with us.

Lasky describes the shoddy journalism of clearly biased news sources. The same agenda reporting is obvious in todays major media. The press has been, and still is, more likely to cover the failings of their ideological opponents. As Lasky continually illustrates, media favorites were seldom scrutinized and never were these miscreants taken to task.

Documented throughout with private testimony, Commitee testimony, news accounts and some government agency reports, Lasky's reportage dips far back into the vindictive actions of Franklin Roosevelt. We are led through the Truman administration into both the unethical and illegal acts of the Kennedys. Finally capping this accounting of dirty tricks with a near out of control LBJ. Many of the lesser participants are studied.

Vote fraud and wiretapping have always been with us. Illegal abuse of Presidential power has been exercised since at least as early as FDR's administration. N.Y. Congressman Hamilton Fish, an opponent of FDR's New Deal and a leader of the antiwar movement, was on FDR's enemies list. As such he had his telephones tapped and suffered five years of IRS audits that Fish contended cost him at least $50,000 to respond to and resulted in a refund of $80.

Lasky's intent was to show how Nixon's enemies, consumed with intense hatred, destroyed the presidency without ever proving the charges. The Watergate committee even said that they had no impeachable evidence. Nixon was tried by the press in the court of public opinion. In the proccess of developement this book paints a picture of abuse of power through the use of government agencies. Not excluded are known illegal contributions that went unpunished. And, of course, dirty tricks abound. Carefully watch current media coverage of politics. It may be happening again.

Although Lasky defends Nixon and several Republican players (including Bebe Rebozo) in these high stakes games, this book is not truly partisan. Lasky describes a meek, confused Republican Party that believes P to Q4 is an agressive move. Meanwhile Democrats kick, scratch and bite off ears in going after their prize of power.

Concientious Liberals will be shocked with the contents of this book. Republicans will say: "We always knew it." and return to contemplation of their navels. The publisher is to be commended for this reprint of a genuine classic on political behavior and corrupt practices in the seat of government.

This is Lasky's finest hour. He turns up the heat and scorches everyone who thought Nixon was guilty of Watergate. First reading off the jaw-dropping crimes of FDR, Harry Truman, JFK, and LBJ. He successfully points out that Watergate was a tea party compared to what they did. Also, he shows how their mistakes trickled down to the next president and then to Nixon.
Next, he shows how Watergate built up into a, to use one of Lasky's favorite terms, "pseudo-event" that a biased press and congress used to draw and quarter Nixon. After explaining their biases and why they had them, he exposes the fraudulence of the proceedings and the crushing verdict.
Finally, he delivers the pies de resistance--The Watergate fallout. Following the charge and an ever-apparent conviction in the Senate, Nixon now has no choice but to resign. Even the liberals will have to feel the pain as he gives full accounts of the last hours in the office. Coming to the conclusion that everyone gained nothing from all that hullaballoo, he ends very simply :

"Then he was gone."

Something of a follow-up to his monumental JFK, The Man and the Myth, the book's only fault is that Lasky dredges up many of the same details from his JFK book. However, he compensates with Bobby's impubic perspective on things. In the end the reader will feel, that although he mowed down in his prime, it was better that he didn't get a hold on the White House. As I said, though the details can be repetitive, Lasky adds thorough research, humor, and even points out other well-done books on Bobby Kennedy. It is to be commended. Sadly, though, this book is out of print, and it shall be out of print as long as our media continue to deify the Kennedy Bros..
(Bobby's assassination also marked the toppling of the Kennedy clan with first RFK'S death, followed by his father a year later, and then Chappaquidick, which was Teddy's downfall.)