president kennedy thought people like curtis lemay, who was head of the air force, general curtis lemay-mad. he said, "i don't even see this man in my -- you know, in my sight," because he was pushing for a nuclear confrontation with the soviet union. and even years later, curtis lemay, after years after kennedy is dead, in an interview that i quote from in the book, bitterly complains that kennedy didn't take this opportunity to go nuclear over cuba. so president kennedy basically, i think, saved my life -- i was 12 years old at the time -- saved a lot of our lives, because he did stand his ground. he took a hard line against the national security people and said, "no, we're going to peacefully resolve the cuban missile crisis." amy: and then president kennedy, on 1963, was assassinated. november 22, >> that's right. amy: david talbot on his new book, "the devil's chessboard: allen dulles, the cia, and the rise of america's secret government." back with him in a minute. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continue

and there is always an issue that curtis lemay claims that bobby kennedy was aa colored in space andwill have the sky. he was the chief of staff for the air force. once doit finished the pilot training program he applies to the astronaut corps. fourteen of about 138 applicants get picked. later on he is transferred, has a desk job in the air force, gets very frustrated. there is a bit of controversy over whether his treatment was because of race or qualification. there is a bit of an investigation into it, but eventually he resigns and frustration, reliant -- resigns his commission with the air force and is now in colorado as a sculptor. but the 1st african-american astronaut was an air force astronaut who is being transferred to nasa, and henasa, and he died in a plane crash without ever going in space. >> they get the feeling that space exploration was important for minorities to break the barrier. it is true that the international space station is helpless break national barriers. >> what a good question. i think there are still barriers to be broken. internationalbroken. internat