A time for greatness: Norman Mailer s game-changing coverage of John F. Kennedy"s presidential campaign On the morning of September 26, 1960, John F. Kennedy was a relatively unknown senator from Massachusetts. He was young and Catholic . . . and facing off against an incumbent. But by the end of the evening, he was a star. Time magazine, on the first Kennedy-Nixon debate With his Hollywood good looks, boundless enthusiasm, and mesmeric media presence, John F. Kennedy was destined to capture the imaginations of over 70 million Americans who watched the nation s first televised presidential debate. Just days after winning the election by the narrowest margin in history, Kennedy himself said, It was the TV more than anything else that turned the tide. But one man begged to differ: writer Norman Mailer, who bragged that his pro-Kennedy treatise, Superman Comes to the Supermarket, had won the election for Kennedy. Whether or not that was the case, the article, published in Esquire magazine just weeks before polls opened, did redefine political reporting and journalism itself, spawning a form that would be called New Journalism. Mailer"s frank, first-person, irreverent voice reflected on Kennedy"s cult of personality, calling him the existential hero who could awaken the nation from its postwar slumber and staunchly conformist Eisenhower years. Now, 50 years after Kennedy s tragic death, TASCHEN has reimagined this no-holds-barred portrait of one of America s most revered presidents on his path to the White House, publishing Mailer s essay in book form with over 400 photographs that bring the campaign and the candidate s family to life. These images were captured by some of the great photojournalists of the day Cornell Capa, Jacques Lowe, Paul Schutzer, Mark Shaw, Stanley Tretick, Hank Walker and appear in this volume alongside many never-before-published photos by Garry Winogrand and Burton Berinsky as well as amateur photographers from across the country who sent their pictures to campaign headquarters. This XL edition also includes Kennedy memorabilia, vintage print media coverage, and documents from the Kennedy and Mailer archives, providing a fascinating look at the man (and myth) who declared the 60s a time for greatness.