What matters to you.
0:00
0:00
NEXT UP:
 
Top

Forum Network

Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

Funding provided by:
jfk.png

John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is dedicated to the memory of our nation's thirty-fifth president and to all those who through the art of politics seek a new and better world. Our purpose is to advance the study and understanding of President Kennedy's life and career and the times in which he lived; and to promote a greater appreciation of America's political and cultural heritage, the process of governing and the importance of public service. We accomplish our mission by: preserving and making accessible the records of President Kennedy and his times; promoting open discourse on critical issues of our own time; and educating and encouraging citizens to contribute, through public and community service, to shaping our nation's future.break

http://www.jfklibrary.org

  • Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer engages in a discussion with NPR chief legal correspondent Nina Totenberg concerning the judicial issues facing the country today. Photo: By [Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States](http://www.supremecourthistory.org/02_history/subs_current/images_b/009.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1423056 ""), Steve Petteway
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  • This discussion centers around the screening of a film by Robert Drew, founder of cinema verite. The time was June 1963, when two black students tried to gain admission to the University of Alabama. The film, entitled *Crisis*, looks at the White House's handling of the event and simultaneously traces the actions of Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach. The film was controversial when first released. Although now recognized as a major piece of work, at the time, *The New York Times* editorialized against it claiming, "Under the circumstances in which this film was taken, the use of cameras could only denigrate the Office of the President. To eavesdrop on executive decisions of serious government matters while they are in progress is highly inappropriate. The White House isn't Macy's window." Today, because of this film, we have a remarkable historical record of what led to the integration of the University of Alabama.
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  • Thom Powers, documentary film professor at New York University, talks about the career of political documentarian Bob Drew. In the course of a long, distinguished career following his service in World War II as one of the first American jet fighter pilots, Bob Drew worked for *Life* magazine, and while working with *Life*, came up with the idea of doing documentaries. He produced a number of documentaries, including *Primary*, which follows JFK and Hubert Humphrey during the Wisconsin primary, about a week of campaigning leading up to the primary election night. **Thom Powers** teaches documentary filmmaking at New York University and is a freelance writer for *The Boston Globe* and other publications. He has been an editor for Fantagraphics books, as well as a researcher on a number of documentaries. He is currently writing a book about documentaries entitled, *Stranger than Fiction* that will be published by Farrar Strauss.
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  • National Public Radio Senior Correspondent Juan Williams moderates a conversation with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  • Alan Brinkley, professor of history at Columbia University; Melvyn Leffler, professor of history at the University of Virginia; and Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of Harry S. Truman, discuss the Truman presidency. This is the first in a two-part series. The death of Franklin Roosevelt catapulted Harry S. Truman, former farm boy, World War I soldier, failed haberdasher, and district judge turned US senator, into the 33rd president of the United States. With a candor that was to be his trademark, he shared with the world his own misgivings at the turn of events that made him president. "I pray to God," he quipped, "that I can measure up to the task." As the historian, Alan Nevins, wrote, "This mixture of modesty and confidence was part of Truman's great appeal." While he made his share of mistakes, "To err is Truman," carped one critic, he also faced a myriad of difficult issues in a distinctly clear-sighted and confident manner. The very fact that someone so seemingly like us could come to power in such extraordinary times helps explain in part the position President Truman continues to hold in our nation's memory.
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  • Alan Brinkley, professor of history at Columbia University; Melvyn Leffler, professor of history at the University of Virginia; and Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of Harry S. Truman, discuss the Truman presidency. This is the second in a two-part series. The death of Franklin Roosevelt catapulted Harry S. Truman, former farm boy, World War I soldier, failed haberdasher, and district judge turned US senator, into the 33rd president of the United States. With a candor that was to be his trademark, he shared with the world his own misgivings at the turn of events that made him president. "I pray to God," he quipped, "that I can measure up to the task." As the historian, Alan Nevins, wrote, "This mixture of modesty and confidence was part of Truman's great appeal." While he made his share of mistakes, "To err is Truman," carped one critic, he also faced a myriad of difficult issues in a distinctly clear-sighted and confident manner. The very fact that someone so seemingly like us could come to power in such extraordinary times helps explain in part the position President Truman continues to hold in our nation's memory.
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  • This special forum includes Ernest Green, the first student of color to graduate from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, and one of nine students of color, known as the Little Rock Nine, who broke the color barrier at that school in September 1957, following the Supreme Court ruling. May 17, 1954 marks the US Supreme Court ruling stating that racial segregation in the public schools is unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  • Former Senator Sam Nunn explores the topic, "Living in a World of Terrorism: Reducing the Threats from Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons."
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  • Veteran journalist Jack Newfield, who authored *Robert Kennedy: A Memoir* and *Newsweek*'s Evan Thomas, who wrote *Robert Kennedy: His Life*, discuss the life and legacy of Robert F. Kennedy. CNN's Jeff Greenfield, a former speechwriter for Robert F. Kennedy, moderates.
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  • Sean Hemingway, who has just edited a collection of his grandfather's writings titled *Hemingway on War*, shares his insights with Paul Fussell, author of *The Great War and Modern Memory*, and James Webb, author of the acclaimed Vietnam novel, *Fields of Fire*. Harvard Professor Susan Suleiman, who has recently written about World War II and memory, moderates the discussion. The Kennedy Library is the major repository of Ernest Hemingway's works.
    Partner:
    John F. Kennedy Library Foundation