Chapter 15 Summary and Analysis

Kay confesses that it is difficult to appraise how good a president JFK might have been had he lived longer. He and Phil enjoy an easy friendship, and most of JFK's lieutenants become family friends, particularly Robert McNamara and Bill Walton. Kay recalls being thrilled that their contemporaries rather than their parents are now in charge. Phil seems to be enjoying himself in March 1961, but today Kay sees a dangerous frenetic tendency in his purchase of Newsweek. The twenty-eight-year-old newsmagazine for businesspeople is only marginally profitable and lags far behind Time in circulation. Phil twice rejects the idea of purchasing it, but Bradlee puts him together with Newsweek's managing editor, Oz Elliott. The rapport is instantaneous. Post lawyers and advisers approve, and negotiations take place at breakneck speed. Kay is ambivalent about the magazine, but she appreciates Phil's need to be...