Kennedy in Berlin

Andreas W. Daum is a Professor of Modern History at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has taught at the University of Munich, where he earned his doctorate, and has been a Research Fellow at the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC, and a John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University. He is the author of Wissenschaftspopularisierung im 19. Jahrhundert and the coeditor of America, the Vietnam War, and the World, with Lloyd C. Gardner and Wilfried Mausbach, and, with Christof Mauch, of Berlin – Washington: Capital Cities, Cultural Representations, and National Identities, both published by Cambridge University Press.

• Introduction; 1. The emerging plot; 2. The script and the staging; 3. Dramatic climax; 4. After the final curtain; 5. The show goes on; 6. 'A comet of promise passing through our country'; Appendix: Ich bin ein Berliner: John F. Kennedy's speech at Schoneberg City Hall, June 26, 1963; Bibliography.

"Andreas W. Daum's study not only fills a gap in the historiography of German-American relations, but also constitutes a methodological innovation, for it is far more than just a history of John F. Kennedy’s legendary visit to Berlin. Although American scholars developed the notion of a cultural interpretation of politics, until now a cultural history of state visits was lacking and Daum convincingly shows how it is done… his research is both convincing and a pleasure to read. The book’s narrative style is fresh and unpretentious and Daum succeeds in giving his story the analytical depth that is needed. This is going to be the classic study of Kennedy’s visit to Berlin." - Norbert Finzsch, Professor of History and Director of the Institute for Anglo-American History, University of Cologne