I'm using Kennedy's life to tell the story of America's rise, first to great power status and then superpower status.A BETTER PEACE welcomes Pulitzer Prize winning author Fredrik Logevall to discuss his newest project, a two-volume biography of John F. Kennedy. Logevall joins Michael Neiberg in the studio as they discuss the complexity of writing a biography. They relate thoughts behind research efforts, organization and prioritization of themes and interests and just how much information can be covered in a mere 500,000 words.

Fredrik Logevall is a Swedish-American historian and educator at Harvard University, where he is the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and professor of history in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Michael Neiberg is the Chair of War Studies at the U.S. Army War College. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense.

Photo Description: John F. Kennedy poses at The Hague, Netherlands, during his tour of Europe.

Photo Credit: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston., Public Domain

Other releases in the "On Writing" series:

UNDERSTANDING RUSSIAN CULTURE: JADE McGLYNN(ON WRITING)CHINA’S SHIFTING HISTORY: STEPHEN PLATT (ON WRITING)UNDERSTANDING CHINA THROUGH ITS RECRAFTED PAST: RANA MITTER (ON WRITING)WRITING ON A DEADLINE: SHASHANK JOSHI (ON WRITING)REAGAN AS THE PEACEMAKER: WILL INBODEN(ON WRITING)W.E.B. DU BOIS IN THE WOUNDED WORLD: CHAD WILLIAMS (ON WRITING)RUSSIAN IMPERIAL HISTORY-THEN AND NOW: ALEXANDER MIKABERIDZE(ON WRITING)TAKING COMMAND: TAMI DAVIS BIDDLE(ON WRITING)HOW TO WRITE THE HISTORY THAT HASN’T ENDED: IAN ONA JOHNSON(ON WRITING)AS TIME GOES BY: UNDERSTANDING FREE & VICHY FRANCE (ON WRITING)SHIFTING MENTAL GEARS: PHILIP CAPUTO (ON WRITING)GENERAL HISTORY: H.R. McMASTER (ON WRITING)WHEN A GENERAL WRITES FOR THE GENERALIST (ON WRITING)THE VALUE OF WRITTEN THOUGHT: STEPHEN VOGEL (ON WRITING)TWO AUTHORS UNDER THE SAME ROOF (ON WRITING)THE MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION: ALEXANDRA RICHIE (ON WRITING)FACT AND FICTION: THE RECOUNTING OF WWII WITH JAMES HOLLAND (ON WRITING)THE U.S. ARMY IN THE 20TH CENTURY: AN INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN LINN (ON WRITING)LIBERATION FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE LIBERATED (ON WRITING)PARIS 1919: A CONVERSATION WITH MARGARET MACMILLAN (ON WRITING)FINDING “WOW” MOMENTS (AND OTHER WRITING TIPS FOR SENIOR LEADERS) (ON WRITING)THE ART OF WRITING HISTORY (ON WRITING)