The remarkable partnership that united the two great political dynasties of the twentieth century “Why doesn’t Mrs. Roosevelt like me?” asked the uncommonly likable John F. Kennedy. Since FDR’s passing in 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt had been the Democratic Party’s grande dame, and as he set his sights on the highest office in the land, Kennedy was determined to win her support. His famed youthful charm, however, had long failed to capture her. Into the late 1950s she had disparaged him as “my dear boy,” and she remained suspicious of his inexperience, opportunism, Catholicism, fragile health, and playboy reputation. Their legendary family dynasties had sometimes allied in the political arena but more often clashed. Would they bury their political hatchets in the bucolic grounds surrounding Eleanor’s home at Val-Kill―or in each other? Reconcilable Differences tells the remarkable story of how John F. Kennedy ultimately succeeded in bringing Eleanor Roosevelt into his camp―and how she, in turn, used his support to advance policies she had advocated her entire adult life, especially women’s rights. In the brief twenty-one months they had in which to partner in the White House―before Eleanor’s November 1962 death―these two American icons found common ground in her leadership of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women; the creation of the Peace Corps; real steps toward easing Cold War tensions; and the struggle to secure civil rights for Black Americans. To this day, theirs is a model for bridging generational, religious, gender, racial, and family chasms in a polarized world. With a political insider?s acumen, a novelist?s narrative aplomb, and the scholar?s diligence, Dr. Barbara A. Perry analyzes the quietly volatile relationship between two Democratic Party titans. Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy personified different generations and goals, and Perry adroitly tells the engrossing tale of the political and personal tussles which finally resolved in hard-won, mutual respect and admiration. Reconcilable Differences is a compelling illumination of two powerful Cold War American icons whose intellectual disagreements still reverberate through Democratic and national politics today. ? Stacy A. Cordery, Iowa State University, author of Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker The animosity that became an improbable partnership is brought to life in Barbara Perry's deeply researched and engaging exploration of the relationship between John F. Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt. Perry sheds new light not only on the legacies of two monumental political dynasties but on the ideological and political tensions of a pivot point in history. ? Karen Tumulty, Chief Political Correspondent, the Washington Post A fascinating political romance between an ambitious young senator and the grande dame of the Democratic Party. John F. Kennedy courted Eleanor Roosevelt, who was skeptical of his political moderation and the depth of his experience. The evolving alliance between the rising political dynasty and the ebbing one would affect JFK?s presidency and the nation?s course. With meticulous research and a writer?s flair, Barbara Perry uses their story to explore a critical time for the Democratic Party and its strains over human rights, women?s roles, and race relations ? debates that continue today. ? Susan Page, USA TODAY Washington Bureau chief and author of The Queen and Her Presidents With characteristic diligence and eloquence, Barbara Perry chronicles the often-fraught political relationship between the idealistic Eleanor Roosevelt and pragmatic John F. Kennedy, two towering figures of American history. Kennedy?s careful courtship of Mrs. Roosevelt in pursuit of her elusive approbation offers ?timeless lessons of political partnership and leadership? that apply as much today as they did in the middle of the last century. ? Mark K. Updegrove, Chairman and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and author of Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency With characteristic diligence and eloquence, Barbara Perry chronicles the often-fraught political relationship between the idealistic Eleanor Roosevelt and pragmatic John F. Kennedy, two towering figures of American history. Kennedy’s careful courtship of Mrs. Roosevelt in pursuit of her elusive approbation offers ’timeless lessons of political partnership and leadership’ that apply as much today as they did in the middle of the last century. ― Mark K. Updegrove, Chairman and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and author of Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency Barbara A. Perry is J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance and Co-Chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and the author and editor of numerous books, including Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch.