A candid look at Camelot

The mob connections, the sexual dalliances, the sheer power and alarming health problems all make for a fascinating read. But when they're all ingredients of a U.S. president's life, the facts jump off the page and turn into substantial questions the public must answer. Author and history professor, Robert Dallek, was granted unrestricted access to key Kennedy family papers and produced, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 . The public will have an opportunity to explore those questions and issues when Dallek speaks in Grand Rapids on October 2.

Grand Valley State University's Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies and the Ford Foundation, Library and Museum are hosting the Boston University professor at the Gerald R. Ford Museum. Dallek will discuss the new ground broken in his JFK biography. Dallek is able to explore JFK's health, politics and personal recklessness. He can go a step further with information that reveals for the first time the full extent of the medical cover-up by the Kennedy family.

'Robert Dallek is one of the great presidential historians of our age,' said Gleaves Whitney, director of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. 'His book, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy , is provocative and changes the kinds of questions we ask about presidents. Are presidents and presidential candidates obligated to tell the public factors in his or her life that would keep them from being president?'

There will be a question and answer period following Dallek's speech at the Ford Museum. He will use his discoveries about Kennedy to illustrate the 'glorious burden' of the presidency. His appearance is in conjunction with the exhibit, 'The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden.' Those who attend the evening with Dallek will get a sneak preview of the 350-piece exhibit at the Ford Museum. It was created by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

The American President Carries the Burdens of the World
Robert Dallek, author, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
Thursday, October 2, 8 p.m.
Gerald R. Ford Museum Auditorium
lecture will be followed by book signing
sneak preview: Smithsonian Exhibit: The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden

The event is free and open to the public. Seating for the lecture is limited. Call the Hauenstein Center, 616-331-2770 to reserve a place.