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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

Filming JFK

Sun, Nov 16, 2003

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.

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John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Hillary Clinton: Ameliorating and Eliminating Poverty

Sun, Mar 14, 2004

National Public Radio Senior Correspondent Juan Williams moderates a conversation with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Ellen Goodman: Common Sense in Uncommon Times

Sun, Feb 29, 2004

*Boston Globe* columnist James Carroll moderates a conversation with syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman about her new book, *Paper Trail: Common Sense in Uncommon Times*.

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Partner:

John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Presidency of Harry S. Truman: Part I

Sun, Apr 28, 2002

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.

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John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Presidency of Harry S. Truman: Part II

Sun, Apr 28, 2002

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.

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Partner:

John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Integrating the University of Alabama

Mon, Nov 17, 2003

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.

Civil Rights Movement Series

Partner:

John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Frank McCourt on Teaching in NYC

Mon, Apr 26, 2004

Frank McCourt, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, discusses his 45 year career as a high school English teacher in New York City with Scott Simon, the host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday.

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John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
2004 PEN Awards for Literature

Sun, Apr 4, 2004

The 2004 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and the L.L. Winship/PEN Awards are presented. Jennifer Haigh is honored as the 2004 recipient of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for a distinguished first book of fiction for Mrs. Kimble. Sean Hemingway, the grandson of Nobel Prize-winning writer Ernest Hemingway, will present the award. The ceremony also honors writers Carlo Rotella and Joan Leegant as cowinners of the 2004 L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award, given annually to an author from New England or to an author whose writing includes a New England setting. Mr. Rotella is being recognized for Cut Time: An Education at the Fights, and Ms. Leegant for An Hour in Paradise. The L.L. Winship/PEN Award honors long-time Boston Globe editor Laurence L. Winship and is sponsored by the Boston Globe and PEN/New England. Award-winning novelist Russell Banks, whose works Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter were made into movies and Continental Drift and Cloudsplitter were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, serves as the ceremony's keynote speaker.

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John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Celebrating America's National Pastime: Baseball

Tue, Mar 30, 2004

ABC *Good Morning America's* Charles Gibson moderates this discussion about baseball's enduring hold on our national imagination with Boston Red Sox CEO and President Larry Lucchino, *New Yorker* writer Roger Angell, Dan Shaughnessy from The Boston Globe, and NECN Red Sox announcer, Jerry Remy.

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John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
Evolution of Political Advertising

Mon, May 3, 2004

Washington Post columnist David Broder and others discuss the role of political advertising in presidential campaigns and review some of the most effective and notorious ads in recent times.

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John F. Kennedy Library Foundation