John Kenneth Galbraith

Born and raised on a small Canadian farm, Galbraith began teaching at Harvard during the Depression. He was FDR"s "price czar" during the war and then a senior editor of Fortune before returning to Harvard and to fame as a bestselling writer. Parker shows how, from his early championing of Keynes to his acerbic analysis of America"s "private wealth and public squalor," Galbraith regularly challenged prevailing theories and policies. And his account of Galbraith"s remarkable friendship with John F. Kennedy, whom he served as a close advisor while ambassador to India, is especially relevant for its analysis of the intense, dynamic debates that economists and politicians can have over how America should manage its wealth and power. This masterful chronicle gives color, depth, and meaning to the record of an extraordinary life.