The Fourth K

The Fourth K

U.S. first edition cover
Author	Mario Puzo
Country	United States
Language	English
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	1990
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages	479 pp.
ISBN	0-394-56996-2
OCLC	23286701
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 20
LC Class	PS3566.U9 F68 1990
Preceded by	The Sicilian
Followed by	The Last Don

The Fourth K is a novel by Mario Puzo, published in 1990. It is set during the Presidency of fictional "Francis Xavier Kennedy," nephew of John F., Robert F. and Ted Kennedy.

Plot summary[]

President Francis Xavier Kennedy is elected to office, in large part, thanks to the legacy of his forebears–good looks, privilege, wealth–and is the very embodiment of youthful optimism. Too soon, however, he is beaten down by the political process and, disabused of his ideals, becomes a leader totally unlike what he has been before.

When his daughter becomes a pawn in a brutal terrorist plot, Kennedy, who has obsessively kept alive the memory of his uncles’ assassinations, activates all his power to retaliate in a series of violent measures. As the explosive events unfold, the world and those closest to him look on with both awe and horror.

Mario Puzo has stated: "The Fourth K was a [commercial] failure—but it was my most ambitious book."^[1]

See also[]

• Kennedy family

References[]