The Dark Side of Camelot is a book by Seymour M. Hersh, published by Little, Brown in 1997.
Author Edward Jay Epstein stated that the book argues that John F. Kennedy's image was presented in too pristine of a way, and sought to show "a far more sinister vision" of the president.
Thomas Powers wrote that, as the work is based so much on Hersh's statements and assertions, the work "is a reporter's book, not a historian's."
Content
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According to Powers, the book generally assumes that Kennedy acted in bad faith and/or was "wrong".
The book includes information on sexual liaisons involving Kennedy.
Reception
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It was controversial and heavily criticized. Shortly before publication, it emerged in the press that Hersh had removed claims at the last minute which were based on forged documents provided to him by fraudster Lex Cusack, including a fake hush money contract between Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. An article about the controversy in The Washington Post said: "The strange and twisted saga of the JFK file is part cautionary tale, part slapstick farce, a story of deception and self-delusion in the service of commerce and journalism". Hersh and a one-time co-author had received a $800,000 advance for the project. Other aspects of the book also came under criticism, including its prying into Kennedy's alleged sexual escapades based on interviews with his Secret Service guards, and its claim that Kennedy used Judith Exner as a courier to deliver cash to mobster Sam Giancana, made by a source who later recanted it before the Assassination Records Review Board.
Powers stated that Hersh "has done his legwork". According to Powers, the book accurately showed how Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy were extremely focused on Cuba and Fidel Castro, while he criticized the book's ascription of bad faith motives to Kennedy. Powers stated that people criticizing the book and/or supporting Kennedy used the fake documents scandal to paint the information in the work "as trifling gossip and unsupported hearsay."
Epstein criticized how the book's "idiosyncratic interpretations" meant that it always assumed that fear of exposure of negative information instead of "conventional political considerations" were reasons behind Kennedy's actions. He also criticized how the forgeries colored the book's interpretations, even though the forgeries themselves were not referenced in the final book, and he argued that the book contrived information not supported by known recorded sources. Epstein concluded that the work is "alas, more about the deficiencies of investigative journalism than about the deficiencies of John F. Kennedy."
See also
References
- ^ Epstein, Edward Jay (1997-12-28). "THE DARK SIDE OF CAMELOT. By Seymour M. Hersh. Little, Brown: 498 pp., $26.95". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Powers, Thomas (1997-11-30). "The Sins of a President". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Sherman, Scott (July–August 2003). "The avenger: Sy Hersh, then and now". Columbia Journalism Review. 42 (2): 34. Archived from the original on December 28, 2005.
