American Experience

Program Summary

John F. Kennedy -- the first president born in the twentieth century, scion of a family who rose from obscurity to wealth, power and political prominence -- was a leader for a new generation. He was also the first and only Catholic chief executive, the youngest president to be elected, and the youngest to die in office. Much like Teddy Roosevelt, JFK projected an image of glamour, intellectualism, and physical vigor. Kennedy inspired an entire generation of young people with his idealism and his concept of public service. His assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963, was a national tragedy, and made Kennedy into a legend. As the years have passed, however, historians have come to re-evaluate his presidency. Many feel that it was, at most, unfulfilled; some have even deemed it mediocre. Despite this reassessment and the countless exposés of his life and family, JFK remains one of our most admired presidents.

Program Segments: The program has been produced for home video use on video cassette and DVD. The total viewing time is 4 hours. For your convenience, we have described the program in segments. You may want to use specific segments to focus classroom discussion and activities.

Tape One (Hour One)

Segment 1 (begins at: David McCullough appears on screen)
Length: approximately 5 minutes
Starting image: David McCullough

David McCullough introduces the program, provides an overview of the Kennedy family and how they're viewed by the American public

The Father

Segment 2 (begins at: 5 minutes, 23 seconds)
Length: approximately 10 minutes
Starting image: family photograph

Joseph Kennedy Sr.'s early career in banking; marriage to Rose Fitzgerald (daughter of Boston Mayor John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald); five children in six years (Joe Jr., John, Rosemary, Kathleen, and Eunice); Joe's second fortune made in the unregulated stock market of the 1920s; a third fortune made in Hollywood; three more children are born (Patricia, Robert, and Jean); Joe pulls his investments out before the Stock Market Crash of 1929

I'm for Roosevelt

Segment 3 (begins at: 15 minutes, 44 seconds)
Length: approximately 10 minutes
Starting image: film of women riding a float in a parade

Joe is appointed chairman of the new Securities and Exchange Commission; publishes the book I'm for Roosevelt; Joe emphasizes competitive drive and quest for excellence in his children; Joe Jr. a likely candidate for future public office; John (known as Jack. later JFK) is sickly, also the class clown in high school and a mediocre student; Jack goes to Harvard in Joe Jr.'s shadow; Joe Sr. becomes the first Irish Catholic U.S. Ambassador to Britain

The Ambassador

Segment 4 (begins at: 25 minutes, 28 seconds)
Length: approximately 10 minutes
Starting image: newsreel of Joe Sr. arriving in England

The British are fascinated by the Kennedy family; the eldest children (Joe Jr., Jack, and Kathleen) become the toast of London; Joe Sr. recommends appeasing Hitler rather than resisting him, ruining his political career; Winston Churchill despises Joe Sr. and tries to discredit him; FDR makes Joe resign the ambassadorship in 1941

Tell My Dad I Love Him Very Much

Segment 5 (begins at: 35 minutes, 35 seconds)
Length: approximately 7 minutes
Starting image: Jack and Joe Jr. at the pool

Joe Sr. and Rose are rarely together; Joe focuses on grooming Joe Jr. to be a political candidate; arranges for Jack's undergraduate thesis to be published as Why England Slept; Joe Jr. and Jack enlist in the Navy after Pearl Harbor; Joe Jr. becomes a pilot while Jack takes a desk job due to poor health; JFK's affair with Inga Arvad begins a pattern of promiscuous behavior that continues throughout his life; Jack sees active duty as the commander of PT109; becomes a hero when the boat is destroyed by the Japanese; Joe Jr. is killed while on a secret mission

The Second Son

Segment 6 (begins at: 42 minutes, 57 seconds)
Length: approximately 13 minutes
Starting image: JFK in a sailboat

Jack's congressional campaign is overseen by Joe Sr.; JFK becomes a member of congress at age 29; JFK diagnosed with Addison's Disease, a failure of the adrenal glands, nine months into his largely undistinguished term; beloved older sister Kathleen dies in a plane crash

The Senator

Segment 7 (begins at: 54 minutes, 57 seconds)
Length: approximately 5 minutes
Starting image: Hyannisport house

JFK's Cold War position differs from Joe Sr.'s policy of isolationism; JFK runs for Senate against Henry Cabot Lodge; JFK uses TV as a campaign tool; 26-year-old Robert (RFK) runs JFK's campaign; JFK wins Senate seat; JFK meets Jacqueline Bouvier

Tape One (Hour Two)

A National Figure

Segment 1 (begins at: 0 minutes, 0 seconds)
Length: approximately 7 minutes
Starting image: JFK and Jacqueline's wedding

Overview of Jackie's privileged background; Jack & Jackie marry in 1953; JFK undergoes unsuccessful back surgery; JFK uses his illness as an excuse not to vote to censure Senator Joe McCarthy, a family friend; JFK publishes Profiles in Courage and wins Pulitzer Prize; JFK speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1956 establishes him as a national figure

He Cannot Say No

Segment 2 (begins at: 7 minutes, 38 seconds)
Length: approximately 3 minutes
Starting image: JFK holding a cigar

Jack runs for re-election in 1956; Joe Sr. sues ABC television for rumors that JFK did not write Profiles in Courage and wins a retraction and apology; JFK re-elected to the Senate; begins association with "Rat Pack"

High Hopes

Segment 3 (begins at: 10 minutes, 2 seconds)
Length: approximately 16 minutes
Starting image: JFK campaigning for president

JFK runs for president in 1960 with RFK as his campaign manager; savvy use of the media; religion becomes the key issue; the debate against Nixon is a turning point in the campaign; JFK picks Lyndon Johnson as his running mate; JFK wins the election by the narrowest margin in history; RFK is appointed Attorney General

The Magic Touch

Segment 4 (begins at: 26 minutes, 07 seconds)
Length: approximately 15 minutes
Starting image: Washington, D.C. on the eve of the inauguration

JFK's inauguration speech inspires the nation, especially the youth; the "Bay of Pigs" incident occurs; the administration continues efforts to overthrow Castro (Operation Mongoose); CIA uses organized crime to try to assassinate Castro; RFK demands action on voting rights for African Americans in the South

A Very Mean Year

Segment 5 (begins at: 40 minutes, 52 seconds)
Length: approximately 4 minutes
Starting image: JFK digging up dirt at a tree planting in Ottawa, Canada

JFK meets with Khruschev in 1961, but the summit goes badly; Khruschev builds the Berlin Wall; Kennedy sends more military advisers to Vietnam; U.S. troops go on alert in Berlin

Dynasty

Segment 6 (begins at: 44 minutes, 18 seconds)
Length: approximately 5 minutes
Starting image: Joe Sr. with his grandchildren

Teddy prepares to run for the U.S. Senate; Joe Sr. has a stroke

Tape Two (Hour One)

Segment 1 (begins at: 0 minutes, 0 seconds)
Length: approximately 3 minutes
Starting image: family photograph

David McCullough introduces the second part of the program

Part II: The Sons

Segment 2 (begins at: 3 minutes, 37 seconds)
Length: approximately 5 minutes
Starting image: JFK in tuxedo

The Kennedy glamour and mystique; Jack and Jackie's marriage; birth of Caroline and John Jr.; popular first lady Jackie gives a televised tour of the renovated White House

Making Their Own Rules

Segment 3 (begins at: 8 minutes, 2 seconds)
Length: approximately 3 minutes
Starting image: photograph of JFK, RFK, and Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy's bid for the Senate; televised debate against McCormack helps Ted's popularity

Private Lives

Segment 4 (begins at: 11 minutes, 18 seconds)
Length: approximately 5 minutes
Starting image: Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday"

Press does not report rumors of JFK's affairs; J. Edgar Hoover threatens to expose JFK's affair with Judith Campbell; JFK cuts ties with Sinatra and other friends linked to organized crime

We Are All Mortal

Segment 5 (begins at: 16 minutes, 5 seconds)
Length: approximately 8 minutes
Starting image: Rose playing the piano

Ted's Senate campaign continues; the Cuban Missile Crisis occurs; JFK negotiates the first arms agreement of the nuclear age; calls for an attitude of tolerance toward the Soviets in 1963

As Old as the Scriptures

Segment 6 (begins at: 23 minutes, 50 seconds)
Length: approximately 16 minutes
Starting image: a crowd scene

JFK's Berlin visit in 1963; liberals and African Americans are disappointed in JFK's lack of support for civil rights; Birmingham Riots motivate JFK to send a broad civil rights bill to Congress; JFK is shot and killed in Texas on November 22, 1963

In Love with Night

Segment 7 (begins at: 40 minutes, 11 seconds)
Length: approximately 11 minutes
Starting image: Jackie Kennedy, Caroline, and John Jr. during JFK's funeral

JFK's funeral; beginning of the "Camelot" myth; RFK and Lyndon Johnson despise each other, but RFK stays on in the administration; Ted is injured in a plane crash; the Civil Rights Act is passed; RFK's speech at 1964 Democratic National Convention elicits a 22-minute standing ovation

The Carpetbagger

Segment 8 (begins at: 51 minutes, 40 seconds)
Length: approximately 7 minutes
Starting image: RFK getting out of a car

RFK runs for Senator of New York; dubbed a "carpetbagger" because he was not even a resident of New York at the time; RFK wins; LBJ is elected president in his own right

Tape Two (Hour Two)

The Heir

Segment 1 (begins at: 0:0)
Length: approximately 8 minutes
Starting image: film of peasant women greeting RFK

National Geographic documentary of RFK's climb up Mt. Kennedy; RFK becomes representative of "the forgotten constituency"; campaigns for laborers and brings attention to the poverty in America

The Shadow Government

Segment 2 (begins at: 8 minutes, 18 seconds)
Length: approximately 6 minutes
Starting image: Vietnam War protest

LBJ supports the war in Vietnam while RFK and Ted oppose it; RFK publicly criticizes LBJ about the war; RFK decides to run for president in 1968

"On to Chicago"

Segment 3 (begins at: 13 minutes, 55 seconds)
Length: approximately 17 minutes
Starting image: cameraman

RFK's presidential campaign begins; Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated; RFK becomes strongly involved in and vocal about civil rights and poverty; having just won the Democratic primary, RFK is assassinated on June 5, 1968, in California at the Ambassador Hotel

The Ninth Child

Segment 4 (begins at: 31 minutes, 5 seconds)
Length: approximately 21 minutes
Starting image: flag at half-mast

Nixon's presidency begins; Ted's trip to Alaska creates backlash due to Ted's indecorous behavior; the "Chappaquiddick" incident occurs; Joe Sr. dies; Ted becomes a powerful liberal senator; runs unsuccessfully for president in 1980, but gives an eloquent speech at Democratic National Convention