The making of JFK 1906-1945 -- The senator from Massachusetts 1946-1959 -- The road to the White House 1960 -- The new frontier 1961 -- Toward a more perfect union 1962 -- Goodwill warrior 1963 -- An idea lives on.

Foreword / His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama ; Words Jack loved / Stephen Kennedy Smith ; Comedy as worldview / Conan O'Brien -- 1: THE MAKING OF JFK, 1906-1945. Citizen journalist / Maureen Dowd ; JFK the historian / David McCullough -- 2: THE SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS, 1946-1959. The politician and the intellectual / [JFK] ; A common cause / Drew Gilpin Faust ; The Vietnam problem / George Packer ; The war in Indochina / [JFK] ; In the eyes of the free world / Ted Widmer ; The challenge of imperialism / [JFK] -- 3: THE ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE, 1960. An existential president / Norman Mailer ; The rights of man / Jerry Brown ; The opening of a New Frontier / [JFK] ; New nations of Africa / [JFK] ; The death knell of empires / Kofi Annan ; The state, religion, and freedom / Tariq Ramadan ; Not the Catholic candidate / Rick Warren ; The refutation of bigotry / [JFK] ; Definition of a liberal / [JFK] ; An idealist without illusions / Jonathan Alter ; Nixon vs. Kennedy / Dick Cavett ; A damn fine speech / Chris Matthews ; The differences from 1928 / [JFK] ; Farewell to Boston / Richard Goodwin ; City upon a hill / [JFK] ; The American experiment / Elizabeth Warren -- 4: THE NEW FRONTIER, 1961. Call to duty / Robert Dallek ; Inaugural address / [JFK] ; An enlightened remedy / Paul Theroux ; The Peace Corps / [JFK] ; A plan for Latin America / Jorge I. Dominguez ; Alliance for Progress / [JFK] ; The art of diplomacy / John Kerry ; The role of negotiations / [JFK] ; A period of peril / E.J. Dionne Jr. ; Voices of extremism / [JFK] -- 5: TOWARD A MORE PERFECT UNION, 1962. To foster great art / Dave Eggers ; Liberation of the human mind / [JFK] ; The high road of recovery / Joseph E. Stiglitz ; Expansion of opportunity / [JFK] ; A public responsibility / Ron Suskind ; Preservation of price stability / [JFK] ; JFK and the deficit scolds / Paul Krugman ; Commencement at Yale / [JFK] ; The liberty of all / Joseph J. Ellis ; Address at Independence Hall / [JFK] ; An act of faith and vision / Walter Isaacson ; The great ocean of space / [JFK] ; The long view / Samantha Power ; Wave of the future / [JFK] ; A call to arms / John McCain ; The Cuban missile crisis / [JFK] ; JFK and the press / Kathleen Hall Jamieson -- 6: GOODWILL WARRIOR, 1963. A strategy of peace / [JFK] ; To the brink / David M. Kennedy ; Standing watch for freedom / Henry Kissinger ; Age of interdependence / [JFK] ; "Ich bin ein Berliner" / Michael Beschloss ; The proudest boast / [JFK] ; Igniting a national movement / Gloria Steinem ; Equal pay, equal opportunity / [JFK] ; The promise of America / John Lewis ; A moral mandate / Henry Louis Gates Jr. ; Report to the American people on civil rights / [JFK] ; A more diverse nation / Ted Widmer ; We are all immigrants / [JFK] ; The long labor of peace / Jimmy Carter ; The family of man / [JFK] ; The sea around us / Douglas Brinkley ; Preserving our natural resources / [JFK] ; Society's questioner / Robert Redford ; The power of the artist / [JFK] ; Containing multitudes / Colum McCann -- 7: AN IDEA LIVES ON. Where were you when / Don DeLillo ; The hope of the sixties / Václav Havel ; Epilogue / Stephen Kennedy Smith.