In the summer of 1962, President John F. Kennedy asked the Secret Service to install a hidden taping system in the White House Oval Office and Cabinet Room. Reel-to-reel tape recorders were placed in the basement, connected to concealed microphones, and operated at the touch of an inconspicuous button at the President's side. Another recorder was connected to the President's telephone. Kennedy's secret recordings, most likely collected in preparation for a memoir of his years in office, provide an extraordinarily revealing and intimate view into the White House during some of the most...