KENNEDY, John F.

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Why England Slept. First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the future 35th President to his former headmaster on the front free endpaper: "To Mr. and Mrs. St. John with the sincere regards of an old Choate boy. Jack Kennedy". This was Kennedy's first book, an indictment of Britain's appeasement policy.Kennedy attended Choate in Wallingford, Connecticut, from 1931 to 1935, entering at the age of 14. George Clair St John (1877-1966) was headmaster from 1908 to 1947; his wife, Clara, was closely involved in the school's administration. Choate educated the sons of many of America's most influential families and should have been ideal for Kennedy. Yet his time there was troubled by ill health, while his elder brother, Joe Jr., overshadowed him as a model pupil. His grades were respectable but uneven. His mother recalled that "Choate had a highly 'structured' set of rules, traditions, and expectations into which a boy was supposed to fit; and if he didn't, there was little or no 'permissiveness'. Joe Jr. had no trouble at all operating within this system; it suited his temperament. But Jack couldn't or wouldn't conform. He did pretty much what he wanted, rather than what the school wanted of him" (cited in Dallek, p. 38).George Clair St. John assessment of Kennedy was mixed but perceptive. He recalled that Kennedy's knowledge of contemporary affairs made him "the best informed boy of his year", although he "conspicuously failed to open his schoolbooks". He reflected, "In any

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