Cspan3 continues next with the presidency focusing on the legacy of john f. Kennedy. The Smithsonian American Art Museum hosted this 90 minute event. Good evening. Did you know that john f. Kennedy was the most photographed leader of his day . This may not surprise you since he used photography strategically to share his values and his vision for america. It was also the golden age of photography in america and that is why this subject is of interest to us at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and hopefully you. Here at the museum we focus on telling the stories of the American Experience from folk art to photography as well as painting and sculpture and crafts and media arts. Our exhibition, american visionary, john f. Kennedys life and times, which you can view on the second floor in the graphic arts gallery is a premier event among many organized by the kennedy president ial library in this centennial year. I am stephanie stevish, the director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and saam is what we call ourselves for short. Youre in for a special treat this evening. Were debating the Kennedy Administration and its legacy. Many of you likely remember the Kennedy Administration and the arc of historic. We also have several members of congress in the room with us and i want to pause for a moment and acknowledge them and thank them along with their staff for their work in doing the peoples business. Please join me in recognizing congressman jim banks representing indianas third district, congressman david siliani representing rhode island First District and also a member of the congressional art caucus which i appreciate and finally congressman stenny history representing marylands fifth district. Weve asked [ applause ] weve asked representative history whos also serves as the House Minority whip to graciously introduce our moderator this evening, steven emrothstein who is the head of the Kennedy Library foundation. In closing, i want to note that tonights program is being live stream and also recorded by cspan. So kindly turn off your digital devices so that we may all enjoy the program tonight. Thank you and i appreciate your being here tonight with us. [ applause ] thank you very much, stephanie for the work that you do. Steven, i was told to introduce you. They didnt say graciously introduce you. But i will try to be that. David sciliani, he represents rhode island, former mayor of providence, david, thank you for all you do. [ applause ] let the word go forth from this time and this place to friend and foe alike that the torch has been passed to new generation of americans born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. [ applause ] i am a part of the inspired generation who listened to those words, who listened to john kennedy and whos life was changed. We are here to celebrate the life and legacy of a man who promoted political courage, not only by writing about it, but by living it. The life of our 35th president was in many ways to reappropriate the title of robert frost poem a gift outright. He was to my generation and to many generations a gift outright. For he gave of himself at every turn from his bravery in the South Pacific during the war to his steadfastness in our nation and worlds most dangerous hour during the cuban missile crisis. For those of us who remember him and his presidency, it was a time of promise, renewal, progress. For those who do not, his legacy has nonetheless shaped our National Understanding of what Public Service means. In my office at the capital as you will not be surprised sits a bust of john f. Kennedy. It is a miniature of the bust that is in the kennedy center. It was given to me by my mother in 1973. I was then a member of the Maryland State Senate and she gave it to me for my birthday because she knew what an extraordinary impact john kennedy made on my life. The courage for which he stood for them. And for me personally, its a reminder of what drove me to enter Public Service as a young man. John kennedy came to the campus of the university of maryland the spring of 1959 and he spoke as im sure he spoke to hundreds of thousands of young people, a lot of young people in this audience and he spoke about what we could do to make a difference and further what we ought to do to make a difference. In short ask not what our country can do for us but what we can do for our country. When president kennedy went to college nokt 1963 to youll apologize robert frost he observed that a nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors. And im sure we all would add by the women we honor. So as we honor the essential ten yal of the birth of John Fitzgerald kennedy let us reveal in our tributes the vision of america that he espoused a positive vision. A hopeful vision. A vision of partnership and mutual responsibility. An americas secure in its sense of purpose. An america competent enough in itself in the cold war to say to our adversaries and our quote, let both sides join in a new endeavor, not a new balance of power but a new world of law where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved. This evening we engage in our ongoing work of honoring president kennedy and his legacy. The man im about to introduce, graciously, has been charged with leading the institution whos mission it is the preservation of that legacy. Steven rothstein serves as executive director of the Library Foundation which supports the work of the kennedy president ial library in boston. When he arrived at the Kennedy Library foundation in august, he brought with him a wealth of experience successfully leading academic, private sector and government institutions. Like others inspired by president kennedys call to give back to their communities and their country, steven has pursued Public Service in many different forms. At the start of his career, he partnered with president kennedys nephew, joseph p. Kennedy the second with whom i served in the congress of the United States to found Citizens Energy corporation. The first ever Nonprofit Energy Company Helping lowincome families afford heating oil, gas and electricity. Steve why didnt he let you get in the ads . As a massachusetts state official in the late 1980s, steven oversaw programs sempg the mentally ill. John kennedy had something to say about disabled children. He said that all though these children may be the victims of fate, they shall not be the victims of our neglect. Steven, thank you for your work with the mentally ill of which Patrick Kennedy of course has been such a great leader. He launched the private sector firm focused on promoting and expanding green energy technologies. For decade he served as president of the per kin school for the blind, expanding its programs to 30 countries and the number of students served in person and online from 30,000 to nearly 1 million. He did gods work. Thanks in large part to his leadership, perkins is now the largest trainer of teachers and parents of the kbliend. Between his departure from perkins in 2014 and his arrive at the Kennedy Foundation last year, steven led citizen schools, a National Nonprofit helping middle schools provide low income students with opportunities to learn in demand science, technology, engineering and math skills and certainly we would call it steam in this institution because arts are so important. He continues to serve on the board of directors of the Brady Campaign and the brady center for prevention of gun violence. Working to promote Safer Communities and safer schools. President kennedy, stiefel and i have no doubt would have been deeply proud that his Memorial Library is being led by a man whose life has been spent in service to those in need and to building a better america for us all. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Steven Rothstein to the podium. [ applause ] lets hear it again for congressman stenni history for the leadership. [ applause ] our country is better off today each and every day because the work that you and your colleagues do on the hill and the challenging times but knowing that youre there fighting the fight on big issues and small issues and helping to move us forward lets us sleep at night so thank you for your service each and every day. Really, we really appreciate it. Again for our distinguished leaders. Thank you. Stephanie, thank you so much. Everything except for having to follow steny hoyer. If you havent had a chance to see photographs upstairs, take a look, ive had a chance to see them before, theyre a remarkable collection of some fascinating views. Public and private views of john kennedy and his family. And from an artistic perspective, well worthwhile. Encourage you to do that. When stephanie started off, she said there are academics and scholars. Im going to be very quick so we can get to our distinguished guests in a minute. Eye few things to keep in mind. Since today in the United States, 80 of the people alive today were born after the Kennedy Administration. 80 . One of the questions were going to talk about in a little while, why is the centennial important . And why is he still every year there are surveys done of president s, hes always in the top three, four, five. Why is that . He was only there for 1,336 days. It was cut short obviously. Pew does an annual survey of trust in government. In 1962 when john kennedy was there, he did, as you know, the first televised press conferences and over threeyear period he had 64 press conferences. 64 live televised press conferences. Im not going to compare that to anybody else, i wouldnt do that. But he did an on average, every 16 days, and in the first five press conferences, were collectively watched by 60 million americans. They got to see someone making decisions. He believed in transition in government, when pew did their survey in 1962, people had trust in the government, a year ago, before the elections, that 75 had gone to 19 . One of the questions for all of us is what do we do about that . Im going to introduce our two speakers, before they come up, were going to show a 30 second video. Ted whidmer at the library of congress. Before that, he taught at brown university, he was director of the John Carter Brown library. The founding director of the cv star center. Before that, he worked as an adviser to president clinton. He has been the editor, author of nearly a dozen books and in 2012 worked on with caroline kennedy, listening in, the secret white house recordings. President kennedy recorded over 200 hours. Theyre all transparent, all available. Ted went through and prepared a book, really a marvelous piece. If you havent had a chance to get that, i encourage you to get that. Professor of law at harvard. To get one appointment is amazing, to have a joint appo t appointment is nothing less than remarkable. His most recent book, embers of war, the fall of the empire, will have won a pulitzer prize, as well as the park man prize. Its really, if you want to learn more about vietnam, if you havent read embers of war, i encourage you to do that. His essays have appeared in many newspapers and journals, hes the past president of the society of historians for American Foreign relations, and currently writes a biography on john kennedy. Ive read a lot, im excited. Before they come up, theres a 30 second video weve been playing, i think we can watch now and then well kick off the program. Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment to end thirst and hunger, end illiteracy. We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world. Come on up. [ applause ] were here as part of the centennial activities, weve done with partners like the smithsonian, keandy center and many others. All over the country and a few internationally. Why is celebrating the centennial important . I think we part of the answer it seems to me is that commemorations are important this is my own view, are important for the civic health of a nation, one of the reasons we do this, not just with john f. Kennedy, but other leaders, it helps bind us together. I also think in this particular case. Its an extraordinary story. And, you know, president kennedy had a marvelous sense of humor, i suspect that if he were with us today, if he lived to be 100, he would make some remark about having overstayed his welcome. But we recognize this extraordinary day, 100 years ago, that he was born in brookline in 1917. Because of some of the things congressman hoyer said, and some of the things you referenced in the film. I think he inspired us. He reminds americans it seems to me of an age when it was possible to believe. This is powerful to me, especially as a recent citizen of this country. Reminds americans of an age when it was possible to believe that politics could speak to our highest moral yearnings. Could be harnessed to our highest aspirations, thats important. Thats one of the reasons why i think we celebrate him. History is a kind of civic glue. Anniversaries give us a chance to remember this one is a little disorienting, its hard to imagine john f. Kennedy at 100 years old, he always looks young, he looks unbelievably charismatic and theres a presence to john f. Kennedy thats unusual. When congressman hoyer read the lines from the opening sentences from the inaugural. The guests si s sitting behind said thank you. Theres an immediacy to the words of john f. Kennedy. They still live with us. He was a student of history himself. Both in school and preparing for the profiles in courage. If we dont learn from history, we are going to repeat some of nose. In my research for this book, that dimension is so powerful, and comes out even when he is a sickly young guy. In those days there were no cell phones, ipads or anything else. He had one thing he could do, and that was to read much i think very early on. That historical sensibility was manifest. And its there now. We remember him as one of the most natural politicians anyone had seen. He said, this is really hard, i would rather read a book on an airplane, fan have to talk to the person next to me. That wasnt arrogance, that was genuine shyness. He was smaller than his youolde brother, his older brother was supposed to go into politics. We cant escape media, especially on days like yesterday and this week. There was something very cerebral about him. He said what he wanted you to hear and not more. Hes one of the popular president s. Why is that when he had so little time there, and clearly others, johnson, got more legislation passed . Why s do you think that is . Thats a great question. We cant ever escape the haunting end of the Kennedy Administration. Everything was utopian and perfect. Our politics have disintegrated. We had Serious Problems in the early 60s, and deep political hatreds that his presidency stemmed from. There was a lot achieved. Most of us feel that the cuban missile crisis was the greatest crisis of the last 60 years, and an existential crisis, if he had not led us as ably as he did, theres a pretty strong chance the world as we know it would have ended. It was kind of a high noon of american culture. There was a new liberalism coming out. A new conservatism coming out. He represented the hopes and aspirations of an important general that was just coming on to the world stage and hasnt left the world stage. Even if he was president for a little over 1,000 days, they were intense days and he was an intense leader during that time. I think the only thing i would add, as we were saying earlier, he inspired us. I dont mean just in america, but the world. Im from sweden. Part of your question, it seems to me it wasnt just americans who took something from what john f. Kennedy represented and what he said in his speeches. It wasnt just the assassination. Some of this was about what he did as president. I guess im suggesting if we had a global poll, he would still figure very highly. It seems to me barack obama brought some of that. Not just in the United States but abroad. In are interesting similarities between the two of them. The president ial speeches we reride, there are many outside of lincoln, roosevelt and kennedy. Thats a small number, its not just because he was handsome and young. There is great substance in those speeches. Lifes irony, brevity. One fact that historians have learned more about in the last 10 years, thanks to the Kennedy Library is that he had a very difficult lifelong struggle with health. He had serious life problems. I think he knew that a 100th birthday is out of the question. He would not have made it to his own 100th anniversary. He knew life was short and precious. That feeling was in those speeches. Theres a certain authenticity that is an elusive concept often. For me, it means fundamentally taking things seriously. And expanding empathy, he made his share of mistakes. There was an authenticity there. Maybe this is what ted is speaking to as well. That help explain those one of the things i admire about him if you take the bay of pigs, which was an enormous mistake. Between that and the cuban missile crisis, so much happened. In terms of five key things, we all see pictures in the situation room the hotline to russia. The green beret. The daily security briefings that selfreflection, i didnt make the best decision, how can i do better, how can our system be better. That is such a refreshing element that i have Great Respect for to learn from them. I think we want president s to change in office. Its an impossible job, and he really grew effectively, and i think without the bay of pigs, he would not have survived the cuban missile crisis. Mistakes are crucial to growth. And he grew beautifully in his thinking about the cold war and the cuban missile crisis. Allowed him to grow. He was always listening, and i think his second term would have been fascinating. What do you any are the top few accomplishments of those 1,000 days. I think his handling of the cold war was an accomplishment. There are interesting things that happened in the cold war, that he has a great deal of responsibility for. Kruschev helped. The two of them started what would later be known as detonte. American power, American Military power, geo political power was great, greater than any other nation except the soviet union. He had a deep conviction that the prospect of nuclear war. The prospect of superpower war in the nuclear age was an impossibility. I think he acted with that in mind. I would also suggest that though he was late, lamentably late in coming to the civil rights issue in a serious way. A remarkable speech on june 11th, 1963 i think i give him credit for making civil rights an issue. That was important in terms of what was going to happen later. Finally i think that Space Program, even if the fruits of that effort wouldnt be seen until later opinion. I agree with these three. He projected a sense of selfconfidence that people in different walks of life picked up on. James meredith was inspired to do that courageous thing. David mcauliffe, was inspired. I think we can trace a lot of the great governance later in the 60s and 70s. A lot of essays by historians, public figures about his significance at 100, i wrote an essay arguing that the immigration act that changed our country forever in 1965, can be directly linked to him. A country that was more uniform in color, and more boring than the wonderful Diverse Society we inhabit. Even with all our problems, he made it much more excite iing. You also have to include the peace corps. It seems that ted is speaking to the excitement about Public Service. And i worry a little bit weve lost this. We lost on some level our confidence in ourselves. So it seems to me that a success of this administration, john f. Kennedys administrat n administrations was extolling Public Service. I agree with everything you said. One of the ways was talking about the Space Program. Our country knew so little about the technology then. The freedom 7 capsule that went up has less than half of the Computing Power than a smart phone of anyone in the audience. When he says, in the Rice University speech, were going to go to the moon, the reality is, the Technology People werent sure. And so how do you think he had either the presumption or the confidence to rally a country and organize people. Clearly i know if he hadnt we wouldnt have made that. There would be so many advantages, from the start of gps, to literally dozens of advantages. How did he have the instinct to do that, and rally people at every level . He had a lot of confidence in himself. He was very accomplished even before he thought he would run for president. He was not afraid of ideas. I think thats one thing i personally honor about john f. Kennedy, is the confidence with which he walked across the stage of great thinking and great idea s. There was a pew poll in the last couple days, that shows i big intersection of our country thinks its a bad thing about i live in washington, i dont want to go there, whether youre republican william f. Buckley jr. Was a great champion of ideas on the right. The Space Program was an exciting idea, and he got the whole country behind it. It was an exciting scientific idea. I wish we could think of something similar it is the fight to save our planet, which is not so different from the space effort because it was those early photographs of the earth as a fragile blue marble in a dark universe. We need to look after this place. It would be great to see a bipartisan global effort on these issues. We recently interviewed three of kennedys grandchildren. And asked them about their grandfather. The only grandson said basically that, if my grandfather were alive today, i bet he would have taken this big idea concept and directed it to the environment. Today when someone has a big idea, they call it a moon shot. There have been lots of great examples, including the distinguished Public Officials who continue that effort. I think we need to do more of that, and saying set a goal at the time that seems unreachable as a way to rally the country. No, i think i completely agree, and i was not aware that his grandson articulated that in those ways. Research spins off other research. I think starting a moon shot is a great idea. The military, the government, but the whole earth catalog later in the 60s. Stewart brand and that group of people were instrumental in developing the california version of the internet in the late 60s. We dont claim that john f. Kennedy gave us the internet and he didnt. But moon shots lead to a lot of other planets out there. What do you think about in terms of the peace corps. How much of a risk was it at the time. A lot of the countries that others went to. They had just broken free from their colonial rule. There was a debate with the administrati administration, how big to make it. What do you think in terms of his Political Capital, where to spend time, what do you think about that . I dont know that it required a great deal of Political Capital on his part. This was a means of waging the cold war. It wasnt all born out of idealistic motives, if you will. I think there was uncertainty in the administration about whether it would succeed, and what kind of response you would get from americans. Would young people all over the country sign up for this thing . All of that was an unknown, i think my sense from my search to this point is that he had a faith. And advisers around him had a faith. That this was an idea they should pursue, they should do it right away. And broadly speaking at least, the results speak for themselves, i think. I think fred makes a great point when he says there were cold war elements to the peace corps. He was trying to win over the hearts and minds to use a phrase from that time. We love the celebration of art and poetry. There were cold war elements to all of that. There were attractive positions the peace corps was an extraordina extraordina extraordinary. Probably like a suit like the one im wearing in the middle of summer. He just made Foreign Policy. The library of congress. I was in your role. The welcomer. Elaine chao was involved with the peace corps earlier her life. People from all different partisan back roundses went into that and grew. We didnt know that at the time. And to send people out without any protection, and we saw that in some ways in our Foreign Policy with a tax on our embassies there was a naivety about it in the beginning. But there was congressman kennedy. He tells the story of he arrives in the rickety bus hes going to be stationed. Joe says, how did you know that. Kind of gringo red hair. The gentleman said, i want to thank you, 30 years ago. A peace corps volunteer was thanked for the water. Literally the ripples of hope. There are so many of them that have had distinguished careers. Impacted their lives. Whether its can we continue to galvanize that in todays environment. We think of the world in simple categories, there were a lot of people. A blue part of the world against the red part of the world, it was cold war. I think the peace corps helped him. He already was on his way in many ways to see the world in its great complexity. He really thought a lot about latin america, he started the lines for progress early. He thought a lot about africa, which not too many of our president s have done. State visits from the brand new president s of democratic african countries, just coming out of european colonialism. I thought a lot about asia and the way it fit in or it didnt fit in to the cold war, he was a real voice for people who didnt have a voice. People from small countries. Were a better country when we hear voices from smaller countries. The phrase, soft power. My colleague joe nigh basically coined that phrase. I think it has great power. In that it explains a great deal, why the United States and the west prevailed in the cold war, and the things were talking about now are excellent examples of the soft power, which is to say, not military power. Not economic power. Its really about american cultu culture, its the american way of life. Institutions, ideals. It seems to me here and in various other ways, john f. Kennedy in a way. Personified this, to a greater degree than we realized. I come back to my swedish relatives. Way up in the northern part of sweden. A police that this was a very special leader who was american. And were going to look up to the United States. And on some level maybe maybe emulate. His daughter just returned from vasser and japan, she said literally every sin el day who met people people who were born way after the administration, who said the same thing. What are some of the challenges, maybe they didnt accomplish or some of the thingsed unfilled part of it. I think its important not that we idolize him. Right, its. I think a challenge for me as i write this book. I think the cuban missile crisis was as often said, a shining moment for john f. Kennedy. Its cliche to say, its quite true, were all here today because of the wisdom that he showed. But i think we should also acknowledge or i want to suggest that john f. Kennedy bears some responsibility for the cuban missile crisis happening in the first place. Even after the bay of pigs he authorized, supported an effort by his government. That influenced khrushchevs decision to put missiles in cuba. The mixed message is vietnam. One that is again mixed. It seems to me on civil rights, the administration was very cautious for a good long while, so its again a sort of split, in a sense or not a particularly i wouldnt necessarily give it particularly high marks for the administration, there were challenges. Lets finally remember that the cold war in that first year of 1961, its a very tense time. I dont think john f. Kennedy or anyone else in his administration knew precisely how that was going to turn up. Thats a wonderful answer. We all want to hear from fred about vietnam, which is a tragedy that unfolds across about four president ial administrations. Thats a reckoning all historians have to come to terms wi with. You asked about challenges, i think i said earlier that we all feel today we live in a kind of fractured country. Politics is really tough, its tough whether youre a democrat or republican. Neither party is very united. In fact, and about the only thing theyre united on, they hate the other side. And i think the assassination is another reason that people as belief in life was shattered. How could something that horrible happen. In many ways we are trying to come to terms with our serial disappointment since that High Water Mark of his presidency. Had he lived. Its a pretty tall order to say he would have solved all of the problems of the 1960s. Because so many were coming. They came at everyone. Politics wasnt up to the challenge of handling all the problems of the 1960s. Had he lived he would have had a fighting chance. We would have been a more United Country in 1969 when he left office than we were. Never quite back to the idealism of his presidency. Its not his fault, its a challenge i link to his presidency. The combination of him and the assassinations of rev rands king, and his brother bobby, and many other leaders, changes the way people think in different ways. Lets go back to civil rights. He changed, talk about either one of you what triggered the change. He cleared by the end he made civil rights a moral issue. What he and his brother as attorney general did, when johnson came in a month after he said as a testament to kennedy, he passed a civil rights bill. Specific answer is the children who were getting pushed around, later killed, but in the spring of 1963 in birmingham, alabama there was a moral outrage over the fact that children were being tortured by an unfeeling Southern Society a bad mayor, Police Commissioner its growth. Growth was coming so fast. People who are outside of power a family with a lot of children in it. I think he saw as his vision improved and his soul deepened, he saw, these were people they wanted to be on their side. His brother was he writes the letter from the great theological statement. On the king jfk relationship, which has just come out, i think everything ted says is right, bobbys role. Robert f. Kennedy in a sense pushing his brother to do this, matters. I think youre right to credit bobby with a role in this. It does speak to something im trying to ponder, which is it seems to me, jfk had a capacity for empathetic understanding. I think this was important in the resolution of the cuban missile crisis. On some level as ted is suggesting, it also matters here. Both of them had that capacity. I think thats part of it. I think thats a wonderful point. We dont often ask for empathy, we ask for strength, charisma, the perfect sound bite, those are the things in the current political marketplace, that win. But empathy is really valuable. I think deep down we want that in our leaders. I agree. He had it. Talk about your experience listening to the tapes, and which ones you chose, and what did that teach you about john kennedy that you didnt know before . It was an incredible experience as a historian. When i tried to come up with something original to say, i couldnt come up with a lot. Throwing a pencil at the ceiling. We all would just start reading jfks speeches to get inspiration. Martin luther king, too, and Robert Kennedy too. To hear them talking is a different world they go into. They had just been released, the audiotapes, it was an incredible experience to listen to them. The cuban missile crisis unfolds in two weeks. Theyre also a lot of moments of humor and levity. Sometimes accidentally. One time i remember he, he thought it would look like bad pr, that the kennedys were asking the military to build a special expensive wing, he screamed at the officer responsible and threatened to send him to alaska, hearing him really let loose with his anger. At the end of the call he hangs up and you hear a little chuckle. It was play acting. There was an amazing auto buy graphical moment where a tape was not one of his tapes. James cannon conducted a long interview with him in 1960, just as hes deciding to run. Hes going to go for it. His wife bradley, and jeff kennedy and jackie kennedy. Its the first raw first draft of history you could imagine. Im tired of being one of 1100 senators. And eisenhower controls everything, these are the ways i want our country to change you really hear in his voice and his solar plexus. So much he wants america to change. Its one of my favorites, october 22nd, 1962, a week into the cuban missile crisis. I played this not too long ago at the Kennedy Library. This is a conversation between president kennedy and former president eisenhower. What you get in this tape as well is this sense of humor, even in this time of intense pressure. Hes very defid he everen shallo general eisenhower. He finishes by saying, there is this kind of kalg am this is something that the tapes, to think about it now theres a calmness in these tapes. It certainly comes through in the missile crisis. That suggests if i may use the hemingway line, its kind of grace under pressure. If i think of the tapes in totality. That calmness, that grace comes through on the tapes. I want to encourage, theres going to be a chance for everyone in the audience to ask questions in a few minutes. Think about them. Lets talk about vietnam based on his role and the impossible question of if he had lived, what would have happened. The mother of all counter factors. Ive grappled with this a lot. Theres a paradox here, the most controversial part of his legacy. Because of the timing of his death, which is november 63. Its not long before the key decisions Lyndon Johnson has to make. Theres a paradox because kennedy even when he goes into china in 1951, hes about to challenge henry cabot for a senate seat. He and bobby and patricia, their sister have a long extended tour of asia, and spent time in indochina, even there, we know this from the diary he kept he already grasped not only that the french were likely to lose, but that any western power, that tried to take on this vietnamese resolution is likely to lose as well. I dont think that skepticism goes away. When he takes off for dallas on that last trip, hes skeptical about any military solution. On his watch, in those thousand days, you have a marked increase in the american involvement i think partly for domestic political reasons, he felt vulnerable as all americans did. In part, it kind of natural politicians inclination, maybe human nature to pun the, to put off difficult decisions. Lets just escalate a little more, and see if we can turn things around. Theres some of that as well. There is this paradox, in terms of the what if. Im suggesting in an essay ive written for the book that accompanies the ken burns, and i recommend by the way, that ken burns series thats coming out in september. Theres a book that accompanies this, and i have an essay on th this. I think the best answer is, a surviving john f. Kennedy changes anything. He always drew the line at ground troops. Fascinating. I have more questions, lets see for the audience, there are microphones on either side, if you have questions, please go to them, i would encourage you to make sure its a question, meaning it should end with a question mark rather than a statement. Well start, i may jump in and ask more questions, let me start over here. Speak up a little. Dont you think kennedys presidency was more pragmatic and adaptive, he was a supply side economist, he did escalate the u. S. Involvement in vietnam. And it was Lindon Johnson that was more transformational. I think thats a fair question. There is a larger legislative achievement under Lindon Johnson, hes president for a long time, hes the master arm twister. Hes very good at it. He also has the great political advantage, he can talk a lot about the martyr dom of john f. Kennedy. John f. Kennedy is working in a difficult political world he has southern senators that are democrats, theyre not very liberal. He has a mixed house and senate. It was going to be tough to get huge legislation. He proposed civil rights and a lot of what johnson got through as i said, was based on what kennedy said he wanted to get through. I think the premise of your question is true, basic achievement in congress is larger in johnson. Its probably larger under kennedy. Its fair to consider them partners in a way. It was the Kennedy Johnson team that ran in 1960. We often talk about the Civil Rights Act in 1964. 1965 is the hallmark. The immigration act of 1965 is huge. And changed our country forever in really positive ways, i tried to argue that was not just linked to jfks memory. Jfk had been running on immigration since 1956. The transformational figure of the two of them is jfk. As i suggested earlier, even before he becomes president. If you go back and look at the speeches of the campaign, the speeches even early in the presidency. A speech in seattle in 1961. There are seeds there, there are arguments about a fundamentally changed superpower relationship that i think were cut short by the assassination. Johnsons problem is that he was a cold warrior. I think he believed on some level in the domino theory, he believed as he said in speeches, if we dont fight them in south vietnam, well be fighting them in the streets of san francisco. Theyre both complex in this regard, it seems to me on the Foreign Policy side, since you use the word transformational i would say it applies to jfk. Its a fascinating question of measure effectiveness as both of you said. You measure effectiveness by legislation. Lyndon johnson head and shoulders, long list of very impressive things. If you go a little further, Richard Nixon got a lot of great legislation through it. People dont remember that as much. Its a combination of the inspiration and spirit. One of the other areas i would ask both of you, and theyll get to the next question in the audience, one of the things and i particularly want to cover this because of where we are, john kennedy was known for his commitment to the arts. He and his wife, both what they did in the white house, and his belief, how it wasnt nice to have symbolic things, having robert frost at the inauguration. Other president s that you think have had the same level commitment to the arts in recent time . Suggesting youre on to something very important. Which is that john f. Kennedy believed and said, something to the effect that unfetterred access to the arts is a hallmark of a free society. Or absolutely imperative to a free society. He once said the only song he like likes is hail to the chief. Lbj, we dont think of him as the guy giving the speech with robert frost sitting there, the neh came into existence. That was linked to the memory of kennedy. It was achieved in 1965, and thats a very important institution. Im going to knock on wood. Its always in the budget and so far it has survived. I think the Obama Administration was impressive in its commitment to the arts. We had a lot of arts events opinion previous to the 1960s, there was hardly. You know, a few paintings in embassies and that was about it, there were great writers of history, including Woodrow Wilson and theodore roosevelt, John Quincy Adams to go way back. We began this with anniversaries, we got an email today saying we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of his celebration. He helped to conceive of the smithsonian institution, and wanted there to be a national observatory, George Washington wanted there to be a national university. In different ways, other president s have sketched it out. Maybe we already did, but the jackie. Is hugely important on this particular issue. She deserves enormous credit. Restoration from the white house, so much more. Thank you. You present the sequential aspects of kennedy and lbj. Im curious, how much influence did lbj have on kennedy, while kennedy was alive. Go ahead. Very little. Worst year of Lyndon Johnsons life. And robert says as much. Their relationship was really complicated even by washington standards, ive been reading the road to camelot, a very good new book. And it begins with in 1956 the patriarch, john f. Kennedys father, Joseph Kennedy urging Lyndon Johnson to start running for president. And he promises i will finance your Campaign Even four years before the race, on the condition you accept my son as your Vice President ial nominee. The drama of the selection of Lyndon Johnson. Is, you know, worthy of a big book by itself, at that convention in 1960, and the disagreements between jack and robert about how to do it, what do we want lyndon to say, what do we expect him to say. Its extraordinary. I suppose one could argue. And Robert Kennedy said this in later years, the selection of johnson was in fact crucial. That the success in the south was dependent upon having lbj on the ticket. Others have suggested if you have seemington on the ticket, you could pick up some other states they didnt get. Johnson wasnt crucial. In terms of the relationship in office, very fraught as you say. We began with all of john f. Kennedys words, and arguably one of the reasons he is in the hearts, is he did speak these phenomenal words which are very, very memorable, one of the contracts certainly with barack obama is, its very hard to remember lots and lots of to remember phrases from barack obama. So i ask you, how much of the great legacy of kennedy and the positive glow is really ted sorenson and the other speech writers who were behind those masterful words . Its a really good question. Sorenson is crucial. There is no question about it. You know, think about this image. 1957, hes already running for president h its n president , its not announced but the politicos know. And what it is, he gave 140 speeches all over the country in 1957. And very often its two people flying into some small place, speaking before an audience of 12, and its john f. Kennedy, ted sorenson. So sorenson is there, and again, brings this out powerfully. The only thing i would add is that, and this is something that ill talk about in my biography, is that john f. Kennedy has a bigger hand in the speeches than i anticipated when i started my research. Which is to say, you can see his distinctive scribbles on many of these speeches. Its also the case, and i think the library brings this out, that he quite often departed from his text for fairly long stretches. And there is still, you know, he still speaks in full paragraphs, but those are john f. Kennedys own words. So i think its really a partnership than maybe i anticipated when i started because i thought this is sorenson, to some extent tick goodwin, schlesinger has a role in some of the speeches, but i think kennedy himself was more involved. I got to do a couple of events with sorenson when he was alive and it was such an honor because he was a hero. And we all thought we mighty merge as the next sore snson, a it didnt happen, and never happened after that. I do think its important for a speech writer to give the principal the credit. You know their language and you write it with their thoughts in your mind. So its not like you are exactly the author. You are writing for a very specific person in a very specific cause. And ted sorenson once or twice had a little trouble with that concept but he basically had a life of unstinting loyalty to john f. Kennedy and wrote very important books about him. I always valued personally that there were ways he didnt really fit in. Hes this sort of odd liberal untarian from nebraska in a group of tough irish from boston, and loved those guys, and you dont hear those names as often. And they were really important to him. But i think ted sorenson create add nice balance in that mix of the idealist, i think he was probably driving very hard for that civil rights speech. I think he really heard the Martin Luther king theology language of civil rights. So something very important. Jfk wanted him there for a reason, and he made a different element, and thats what made it very successful. They didnt really socialize that much. I think it was a very close working relationship, like you suggest of a type we havent seen very often. But didnt because you said they are different people. Ted sorenson deserves enormous credit. But i encourage you if you come to boston, to go to the library with his speeches on them, including the last major speech he gave in massachusetts was at dartmouth college. And in 1963 when he dedicated frost there and youll see the marks on there. So very much for the partnership. And there was a few that were extem or ra extem rain us, you might have heard in berlin, john kennedy arrives in berlin, and was so moved by the crowd, and in a positive way, and so moved by the wall, that he actually threw out the speech. So only thing he had written down for the speech is the berlin phrase. Everything else there was extem rain us. So ted deserves a lot of brilliant and ted was brilliant in in finding out the connections. He does the famous german phrase, a couple of them, and the translator on the stage then translated his german into german so everyone could understand. And he thanked the translator for doing that. Yes. Humor was definitely one of his many, many elements that he was great at. Yes . Thanks. Excuse me. First i want to thank you for this lecture. Its been wonderful. My son was in the peace corp. And the dominican republic. But i know, as a latina, how much president kennedy was loved in the latino community. And i recently saw the screening of the movie, and she talks about what an impact kennedy, president kennedy and Robert Kennedy had with the latinos. Because there were pictures, you know, in homes, and entering the farm workers boycott. So i just wondered if there is any research that youve come across, how the impact of latinos had with the president kennedy . I havent done any on that topic, although im glad you mentioned, delores hur tee, with Robert Kennedy who worked a lot with Migrant Workers in 1968 and Caesar Chavez and got to know them in a very profound way that went beyond just politics. But, again, there was kind afof theological dimension, going mass together. And i think Robert Kennedy identified a lot with the liberal part of the catholic social justice movement. So there was something really important in that. And the alliance for progress was clearly a major initiative, its an announced at the beginning of the Kennedy Administration, i think its a great topic for more research. They also have their biggest headache is in latin america too. So its a pretty rich thing to go into. And we could have more scholarship on this. But, no, i agree completely. Thank you. Thank you for the question. Yes, sir . So president kennedy was not perfect in many shapes or forms. But specifically i would like to ask about his health and including other maybe flaws or imperfections he had. Do you think that helped or hindered him as a leader . And maybe you could say a few words about how other leaders of our time can use those kind of experiences to help them lead our country . Thats a very good question. I do think that pt healthe heale is an important one. His brother, president kennedy has been in pain every day of his life, and its going to shape anybody, and gave him arguably a certain fatalism. A sense as we were discussing earlier that he wasnt going to live all that long. I need to treasure each day, as we say, and live each day as he said, more than once, as though its going to be your last. The only thing i would say is that it may be possible to exaggerate its effect on him as a politician and as a political candidate. Because it strikes me in 1946, when he runs for congress, and is not feeling well. Comes back from the war. Some of his ailments havent been properly diagnosed yet, but he has them. He still gets up at the crack of the dawn in 11th district in massachusetts goes up the trip he c le deckers up and down day after day. When he runs for the senate he is all over massachusetts. The secret is he starts earlier and works harder. So somehow even with these ailments, and maybe somehow they are even connected, but he is intensely driven to overcome them. But there is a lot more to your question. That was news. It began to come out in the year 2,000. Bob dulles deals with this in his book. Right. Its surprising to learn a major new fact about something you think you know historically. And it was especially surprising because he seems so vigorous. You know, to use a word he loved, vigor. And hes always moving, looking good, not wearing a hat. There is that famous photo of him in his swimming trunks. No president had ever done that. Prafd photographed behind a beach in california. And hyped the physical fitness test. Which i said at a recent event with fred, my decision to become a historian stems from the fact that i could only do one pullup. So kennedy influenced you . My parents met college kids in washington met and had a direct impact on my life. But i think a couple specific things. I think we dont know, but there is very plauzabsible that he ran 1960. Everyone knew he was too young. He irritated everyone in his own party as well as the other side. And i think he felt he had to do it in 1960 because he might not have any other chance. He might get too sick. So i think thats a fact of his life that might be attributable to his health. He was just going for it as a young man. And then i remember reading the book, and there is incredible realization near the end, and most of us have seen these zapruder, and there is one moment he was unable to duck, and hes wearing a back brace, and you know that, with the knowledge that hes wearing a back brace, he actually cant even duck, because this brace is so strong on him. So i think the beginning of his presidency may have come from his health matters. In the end of it also did. So we have time for one final question. Miss . My name is sul owe van and migrate uncle is general rue seen, but part of kennedy end prices and basically wrote all the checks for kennedy 1960. So im wondering if you tk talk about the campaign and what was like running as an Irish Catholic and how that would end the catholic question . He determined and his aides determined that he had to enter the primaries, or at least the good number of them. Of course today we take this for granted. But it was a very different proposition in 1960. That was connected in part to his youth as ted suggested. It was also suggested as a function of his catholicism. And its really fascinating. Again, i think that we keep plugging wilkie, which i reviewed very favorably, i think its a terrific book, but they are quite good on this, not least with respect to West Virginia. And the important gamble, really, that the campaign took, also feeling confident that they could best humphrey, who had his own issues. But its one of those remarkably dramatic moments in a whole slew of them in this campaign that speak to the importance of organization, to the importance of financing. I do think sometimes we my sense is that he was the favorite, however, on the Democratic Party side. Sometimes we make a mistake in saying how did this guy sail into that convention in los angeles and win this thing. If you look at the news coverage, because of his campaigning in those years, i think the odds were with him more than with any of the others. And lbj took too long. Si sigh ming ton wasnt going to be the one. Humphrey, but there is no question West Virginia is dramatic. Do you have anything to add . His irishness was big part of the story. He was least likely politics, there was a kind of Irish American politics, everyone fknw what they were like. Older guy with reddish face and waving his arms all over the place and came out of urban ward politics from a big city. He was from a big city, but he was very different. And in some ways his grandfather on his mothers side. Right. Al smith was that kind of politician. But in some ways this Irish American was the prep i es politician we have seen. These challenged all our own categories. And in some ways very european. Spent significant time in europe and in asia in his life. He was living in london as london was going to war in the mid to late 30s. He was right there. So he challenges almost all of our assumptions. So, yes, being irish was incredibly important. And the opposition to that was real and hard for him to overcome. But he did it with the power of his lang and that great speech in houston. And i think each of these victories strengthened him and opened up who he was to more growth. So it was just one of the many things inside him that was deep then and still seems deep. And i think thats, just very quickly, what ted just mentioned is really important, that desire he had to look to the wider world which again is something we see in him even as a young man. And its going to be i think a theme in my biography is very important, this international sensibility, and continues as president. Because he cares about Foreign Policy. Other thing is to speculate did the catholic issue help or hurt him . Did the fact that he was catholic in 1960 cost him more votes than it gained him . I think historians disagree about this. I would probably say in the end it was a wash. Helped him in some states, hurt him in others, but probably maybe comes out even. John kennedy we scratched the surface. We could spend so much more time. So i want you to first lets thanks smithsonian again and stephanie for hosting this. We really appreciate it. [ applause ] and join me to thank ted and fred for all the work theyve done. So many other books. I also encourage you to look at a great book written in 1958. Called a nation of immigrants by young senator named john kennedy. And its 60th anniversary will be next year and his words about immigration as ted talked about in the 65 legislation are just as relevant, maybe more so today. Thank you all for being here. Thank you. [ applause ] youre watching American History tv. 48 hours of programming on American History every weekend on cspan 3. Follow us on twitter at cspan history and keep up with the latest history news. Cspan washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up thursday morning, american universitys Professor James thurber and the Brookings Institution Molly Reynolds on the political significance of the 115th congress so far. Also, Heritage Foundation Michael Sergeant looks at u. S. Infra structure policy and spending following this weeks amtrak derailment in washington state. Cspan wash journal beginning life thursday morning. Join the discussion. E thursday. Join the discussion. Ve thursday. Join the discussion. Former John Fitzgerald kennedy was born on may, 1917. They collected dozens of images that chronicled the life of the 35th president. My name is Larry Schiller and
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