‘From Canada’s point of view, (Kennedy) was an absolute bully’

While there are few U.S. presidents as beloved by Canadians as John F. Kennedy, a new book claims that the 35th president detested the rising 1960s tide of Canadian nationalism and actively campaigned against it.

“From Canada’s point of view, (Kennedy) was an absolute bully,” said John Boyko, author of Cold Fire, an account of Canada’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Drawing from newly released documents from the Kennedy Presidential Library and the Canadian National Archives in Ottawa, the book portrays Canada as having played a much more direct role in the 1963 crisis than is generally assumed.