robert kennedy's quote. we're going for broke, their expense accounts, where they'd been, i told the fbi to interview them, march into their offices-subpoena their company records. we can't lose this. later jack kennedy said about clark clifford's role, can't you see clifford outrunning the possible course office action the government can take? you know what you're doing when you screw around with the power of the president? i don't think u.s. steel or any other companies want internal rev enough agents checking expense accounts. want government to go back to he tell bills to fine out who was with you? these are real quotes. now, if the kens were prepared to do this to stop a steel price hike, what they do to keep the presidency in their hands? some of you know i worked for robert kennedy. no public figure i admired more. but this this dark side. they get away with it but people know that something is up. one of those underground things that know. it's all kind of underground. last, 1968. what happens? so he

kennedy. since that tragedy, since that inexplicable loss brought about changes, changes in the way we govern, changes in the party, changes in how we cover the american presidency. we'll get to that this morning, we'll try with a remarkable mix of panelists, people who have worked with president kennedy, people who are eyewitnesses to history. people who covered president kennedy, have studied president kennedy, are related to president kennedy. we're excited about all that we have planned for today and we begin today in dallas, 50 years ago, this friday. john fitzgerald kennedy, the president of the united states, was on a political visit to texas to mend fences in an intrapart feud among state democrats. first lady jacquelineccompanyin first of many trips as her president prepared to seek a second term. it was the middle of the day when the motorcade reached daley plaza in downtown dallas. >> it is approaching 12:30 p.m. dallas time. the crowds and the tall business district are overfilling

kennedy had that sad day. trip to paris or later visit to gettysburg. either way, author robert poole says the first lady knew it had to be here. >> she wanted arlington so that president kennedy would belong to the nation. >> reporter: arlington's section 45 wasn't meant as a presidential resting place. after all, the hill is pretty steep. but that hill mattered. it was a favorite spot for the president. he had visited arlington house-- that old mansion atop that hill-- just eight months before dallas. and while admiring the view from up here, he said something that day that was chillingly prophetic. >> kennedy just sort of drunk in the scene, he said "i could stay here forever." >> reporter: really. >> here's here now. >> reporter: so much about that weekend was unexpected. but less than 24 hours before the barrier the superintendent of arlington got a call that surprised everyone. >> and somebody from the military district of washington saying "mrs. kennedy wants an eternal flame." and he basically said "wh

for the first three years of kennedy's presidency, three years of kennedy's presidency, robert kennedy did everything he could to humiliate lyndon johnson. johnson couldn't use a plane unless robert kennedy's aides signed off on it. johnson calls robert kennedy from the president's bedroom on "air force one." robert kennedy that just learned a few minutes before that his brother died. he was sitting by at a swimming pool -- he lived at this house in mclane, virginia, old house. >> hickory hill. >> hickory hill, andrea, correct. long lawn sloping down to a swimming pool. robert kennedy is having lunch there with his wife ethel and robert morgenthor. he said two things happened simultaneously. he looked up at the house where painters. one has a transister. he has a lock of shock, grabs it and runs down the lawn. at the same time the telephone rings at the other side of the pool. ethel goes to answer it and tells robert it's j. edgar hoover. hoover is saying to robert kennedy, your brother has been shot and perhaps killed. just a few minutes later, the man robert kennedy hates, lyndon joh

or the memory of kennedy. and what are your thoughts on sort of how lyndon johnson factors into how we view kennedy today? >> well, i'm not a johnson expert, but there's a couple of interesting bits in the book about johnson. the first is that when he was picked as vice president, the liberals were outraged. they saw him as a southerner and a gradualist on civil rights. so some of the union guys, the head of the united autoworkers, there was a mini rebellion against kennedy. a lot of those guys would have preferred stephenson anyway. so at the convention when johnson was picked, there's this famous saying where kennedy almost had to uninvite, uninvite johnson to be vice president. part of that was because of this uproar among the liberals. but later on i think you see johnson emerging as more of a liberal figure, at least on domestic policy. and there's another scene in book where johnson after kennedy had been shot meets with walter heller who's a liberal kennedy economic adviser and tells heller, you know --

kennedy hyannis museum. we're very happy to have you here this evening, and we're happy to have c-span with us as well for the author, martin sandler and rob sennett, who's a past chairman of the board of trustees of the jfk hyannis museum foundation. my name is dick neats, and i'm happy to have you with us, and we're looking forward to a wonderful program, and we thank you all again. i would give you a couple of reminders, if you would. please turn your cell phones off, since we are being recorded, i understand c-span will broadcast it within the next couple of weeks, maybe on the weekend within a couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for that, and if you would -- what was the other thing i was supposed to remind -- >> when they ask you -- >> oh, yes. the microphones you see here are not for distribution throughout our museum, but they are for c-span. so if you have a question, don't talk from the back of the room and expect to be heard on c-span. we'd like to have you -- >> don't be intimidated, because we n

halls of kennedy? that's great. you know it's quite unlike any of the other portraits. it was painted by the estranged wife of -- the story behind how the portrait happened to be there i think is a kind of interesting one and, in fact, i opened my book with it. i'd like to share it with you just briefly. she was supposed to paint one portrait for the truman library in independence, missouri, and she was chosen because everybody knew that john f. kennedy was too restless to sit for portrait painter. so william weldon thought let's get elaine it was not as the fastest brush in the east. she was supposed to spend one day. she came to palm beach over christmas, spend one day, take some charticle, take some drawings, to the portrait. that's not what happened. she stayed for four days and i shall explain she mesmerized by kennedy's appearance them by his variety of expressions, his graceful positions of the college athlete, his incredible eyes, and finally she admitted ifalpa teen ebay in love with him. well

kennedy 50 years later. >> president kennedy has been assassinated. it's official now. the president is dead. >> a half century later the nation pauses to remember one of its darkest hours. the death of a beloved president. it is the first official ceremony to mark the event in dallas. the memorial set to coincide with the time and day that kennedy's motorcade traveled through the city of dallas 50 years ago. this is arlington national ceremony. it is the most popular cite visited there. bill and hillary clinton joining president obama on friday, laying a wreath there. we want to take you now to dallas. heidi zhou castro joins us from dealey plaza to tell us about the events scheduled there, and it is a huge event there as thousands are expected to attend. >> that's right. dell. as the ceremony is about to start, so is the sleet. a very cold and windy day for dallas. nothing like the bright sun shown over dallas in 1963, but as you can see this is not keeping the crowd at home. 14,000 wanted to be here today, they applied to be here, and only 5,000 were picked in a lott

kennedy. november 22nd, 1963 forever changed us and whale we remember tonight what jack kennedy achieved in his lifetime we mark too the role of his brothers robert and edward kennedy. >>> the kennedy brothers. they stirred the country's blood and maddened their rivals. bill safire, richard nixon's speechwriter put it this way -- when you beat a kennedy, you beat the best. the trouble was, nobody did. here is the "hardball" political story of how these extraordinary brothers sought the american presidency. >>> let the word go forth from this time -- >> we have the capacity to make this the best generation. >> let us offer new hope. >>> in the 1950s, politics meant men in gray flannel suits, guys like dwight eisenhower, robert taft, adlai stevenson, and richard nixon. they were dull, stodgy and sexless. then in 1956 someone new appeared on the political radar. at the democratic convention in chicago that summer, a young politician battled the old guard for the vice presidential nomination and i

kennedy. they're gentle reminder of president kennedy's 36 days in the white house. why do so many people have questions about what happened during those six seconds in dallas? you're about to see why. >>> i first met -- >> ruth payne invited a russian immigrant, marina oswald to live with her while her husband looked for a job. lee harvey oswald. >> basically he was saying he didn't like the u.s., and they went to the soviet union thinking it would be better, but tfrtn't better. >> ruth thinks oswald was the lone assassin. >> it's not that i had known the assassin, but that we lost a really wonderful president. and all the things that he might have been able to do. >> my fellow americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. >> he gave people hope, optimism. >> a presidential historian's latest book called "camelot court." it's a shining moment in history. the idea that he was something special. >> november 22, 1963, the day give begins with an excit

barack obama loves the kennedy family. ted kennedy was his closest ally. if it wasn't for ted kennedy, it's not clear barack obama would have won in 2008 when he backed obama over hillary clinton. now you get the specter of the two titans of the democratic party, bill clinton and barack obama after being at an awards ceremony for the presidential medal now going there to together to pay respects. it's going to be a poignant moment and important moment. i think it's important i think to remember arlington and remember the flame, not just dallas and conspiracy theories on this 50th anniversary. >> and let me bring ennor clift into this part of the conversation. eleanor, as you take a look at this somber ceremony we're about to see, the laying of the wreath, playing of taps, no one's going to talk. they're just going to remember and reflect. what goes through your mind as you think about the 50 years later, if you will? >> this is a powerful democratic small d and big "d" tradition. you have jack kennedy which i think woke the country up and showed us all wha

kennedy. the book is a five-year project. that is why it's 600 pages. if you give an academic another year he will add another 100 pages that we are doing a massive on line course that is free to anyone who wants to sign up to the corsair.org platform. we are doing a special mobile app that's going to have all of the new information and data we have compiled about the assassination on there and that's going to be --. >> host: just about the assassination or a slight? >> guest: the whole presidency, the assassination and the legacy through nine presidents. that is what we try to do is traced john f. kennedy through his nine successors and legacy is kind of a life after death. >> host: how long have you been teaching? >> guest: i've been at uva as a teacher since 1978 and i went there as an undergraduate. i used to have lunch with thomas jefferson. that is what my students think. >> host: outside of present company accepted who is your favorite historian? >> guest: oh my god there are so many of

kennedy hyannis museum. we're very happy to have you here this evening, and we're happy to have c-span with us as well for the author, martin >> of the us jfk intelsat lookid museum i am happy to haveyou all fou here with us we are cole o looking forward to run thiss, iu program and we thank you again i want to give you a couple of reminders to please turn yourself phones c-s off since he are being maybe on recorded by industry indices van will broadcast within th the next couple of weeks may be on the weekend so keep an eye out for that.have a the microphones the you seerom e are not for a distribution hear , roughout the museum so if iimd you have a question don't you cn expect to be heard spee buty hankeed good question. t >> the author is very shy. no [laughter] they should be a lively discussion and we look forward to that. thank you for coming welco saramaccan though women and no hotel room keys strode up here. [laughter] >> i would extend my welcomesaim to those that were justs offered and martin sand

all the other kennedys -- not necessarily bobby kennedy.nedys down through the subsequent generations go left, more left and even more left. what the hell happened, michael? why did they disown the president's real legacy in. >> well, as practicing politicians, they have to evolve with their party or leave it. they weren't willing to leave it. they've got to evolve to address its constituencies. if kennedy himself had lived, he would have faced the changing composition of the democratic party, the changing nature of his constituents' ideas, too. >> brian, it was odd to me, it's hard to figure this stuff. but the democratic party has never been the same. after kennedy, the democratic party moves left, left, left and more left. ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. brian, that is completely antithetical to what the democratic party does today and has for decades stood for. >> i don't know why, larry, the democratic party doesn't come back to its true roots, which is standing in the face of sluggishness

robert kennedy's quote. we're going for broke, their expense accounts, where they'd been, i told the fbi to interview them, march into their offices-subpoena their company records. we can't lose this. later jack kennedy said about clark clifford's role, can't you see clifford outrunning the possible course office action the government can take? you know what you're doing when you screw around with the power of the president? i don't think u.s. steel or any other companies

robert kennedy's quote. we're going for broke, their expense accounts, where they'd been, i told the fbi to interview them, march into their offices-subpoena their company records. we can't lose this. later jack kennedy said about clark clifford's role, can't you see clifford outrunning the possible course office action the government can take? you know what you're doing when you screw around with the power of the president? i don't think u.s. steel or any other companies want internal rev enough agents checking expense accounts. want government to go back to he tell bills to fine out who was with you? these are real quotes. now, if the kens were prepared to do this to stop a steel price hike, what they do to keep the presidency in their hands? some of you know i worked for robert kennedy. no public figure i admired more. but this this dark side. they get away with it but people know that something is up. one of those underground things that know. it's all kind of underground. last, 1968. what happens? so he

bobby kennedy showed up.in the spring of 64 now a historian who studies the actual record would say, on. it could have been accomplished. 1,038 days. but what was interesting to me is that is the judgment of the american people. we entitled the chapter of the people's president. i think the readers will be interested to see how can this be viewed and why if the assassination is a big piece of it but so was kennedy public image was the rhetoric which was still stirring the self-deprecating humor and a glamorous nature. >> host: i have the record album of the inaugural address and i can recite it right now for you. i put it on a couple of times and it gives me goosebumps when i hear it. you mentioned the president following. although having written about ronald reagan i came across a phrase that said reagan was the first president not to be haunted by the ghost of john kennedy. do you agree with that? >> guest: ronald reagan knew himself. he had a center to himself. he wasn't in the democratic party or the repu

kennedy?> very well and mrs. kennedy talked about how grateful she was for president johnson. though it sometimes caught in her throat to have to say president johnson. unlike the president's mother, who when she was called a couple hours after the assassination by air force one slipped into calling him is to president. he is very grateful to both mrs. johnson -- she was very grateful to mrs. johnson and president johnson that they were so gracious to her and let her stay in the white house until december 6. she was able to stay there with her children until she got the sense of where she was going to go. she had no home to go to. in the carnage in dallas, she lost her husband, her home and her job. she literally had no place to go until the home was opened to her in georgetown. caroline was going to nursery school and kindergarten. she was very grateful to the president for that. >> you have listened to a lot of jacqueline kennedy indicates project. control ofso in herself, 10 days after the

kennedy. but also to step away. let's be honest, from his political problems of the moment. 37% approval rating. anderson, sometimes you talk to bill clinton, you talk to george w. bush, the low moments in office, it's good to have the ceremonial events when you get to step up and give a big picture speech. this is not a political statement. but just reset the clock a little bit. >> it's remarkable seeing. i don't recall ever seeing the current president, a former president and a potential future presidential candidate, all together honoring the memory of a former president. >> it is a fascinating moment. and to go there to this site, this historic site, where you have the former president. you also have bobby kennedy. senator ted kennedy, and jackie kennedy, the former first lady, buried at this beautiful site. >> and also, ethel kennedy, also. >> you see ethel there, as they go up the stairs. and bill clinton has the iconic photo, the brief meeting with john f. kennedy, when bill clinton was

kennedy who was a hyper liberal, john f kennedy does look conservative, and bobby kennedy was quite conservative in '62. he changes and by '68 he's fighting the war on poverty and meeting cesar chavez. it comes from ted and bob kennedy. he's a prague mat tick cold warier but somebody who had liberal instincts when he needed to. >> john, what do you make of this debate? >> it's a debate you have because our times changed so much and when bill clinton was the democratic president after walter monodell lost 49 states, he said he wanted to be a different democrat. the conservative movement has gone and now you see the tea party. there are things ronald reagan did the tea party members would call liberal. as the times change and as movements become ascending, you put them into the context and language of today and today's politics are messy. i don't think it's fair to anybody, anybody in history to take from today's mess and look back and try to find them a place. >> doug, what do you think is the league see? do you think he will be most remembered for in another 50 years? >> well, i like to think of

kennedy. that is followed by president obama honoring veterans at the tomb of the unknown. ♪ >> i think every first lady should do something in this tradition to help the thing that she cares about. i just think that everything in the white house should be the best. the entertainment that is given here. children are the same the world over and so is our feeling for children. world, it is good in the there is quite enough to divide people, so we should cherish the language and the emotion that unites us. >> jacqueline kennedy's 1000 days as first lady was defined by images, young mother, advocate for the arts, fashion icon. the assassination of president kennedy and his funeral cemented her in the public consciousness. welcome to the c-span series, first ladies, influence and image. table, two guests at the to tell you more about her story. he has a special focus on the cold war era and the kennedy administration. robert parry is a political scientist and as part of the modern first ladies seri

kennedy. that's one reason i did the book. i've always had it in the back of my mind that i wanted to write about this once i have the resources. we were doing a big project. you gave an academic another year and he's going to have another 100 pages. but we are doing an online course that is free to anyone that wants to sign up on the platform. we are giving exposure special mobile app that's going to have the new information and data that we have compiled about the assassination and that's going to be available. >> host: just about the assassination or his entire life -- >> guest: go. the whole presidency, the assassination and the legacy. that's what we try to do is trace john f. kennedy through his nine successors. legacy is a kind of life after death. >> host: sure. how long have you been teaching at uva? >> guest: as a teacher since 78 and i went as an undergraduate. i used to have lunch with thomas jefferson. [laughter] that's what my students think. >> host: outside of presidency is com

kennedy. he acted nervous because he had never been trained with crowds. police forces are. i think that we have talked before about mrs. kennedy and the incredible grace with which she meets this terrible hour. she brings dignity to it. casketl walk behind the when the proceedings begin. --i thought it was terrible the moving story that congressman boggs told. the three-year-old son was taken away by one of the police guards. the youngster that small could not realize or comprehend what was going on. he became restless. he took a few steps away from the rotunda to the speaker's office. he walked in there -- there were two american flags. they were decorations on the desks. they youngster looks at them and they gave him one. he held it and said, can i have the other one for my father? terribly -- >> one of the most moving things. the merciful innocence of a small child. it is like the lion in the play. -- all remember the name the way home, the boy said, even after being told, he said i wanted

kennedy. let me begin with jill abramson because she wrote a piece that captured my attention and set out to talk about 50 years of books being written about this man. give me a sense of what we know and what these books tell us and whether-- because i'm fascinated by the fact-- that you think a great biography remains to be written. >> i think a truly great book about john f. kennedy remains to be written. >> rose: even though there's been 40,000 written. >> i know. more than almost anyone except for lincoln. i think his story is the quintessential great american life story and the material is surely there and there have been many very, very good books including ones written by all fellow guests here on your show tonight. (laughter) so i don't want to carry -- overstate the point. >> rose: of which these books were mentioned in your piece. let's begin by -- give your your sense of what it was about this man, this presidency and then we'll get into the varying opinions. i'll start with you, je

kennedy. jfk's legacy as an inspirational leader is as large as the day he was hit by the assassin's bullets. ten years ago on the 40th anniversary, msnbc asked prominent americans where were you on that fateful day when time stood still? we talked to a variety of people from public figures to eyewitnesss to folks from jfk's inner circle about what his loss meant to them and to the country. sadly with the passing of another decade, some of those closest to him have died, making their perspective offered in this documentary ever more valuable. so joining me now for this special encore presentation of jfk: the day that changed america. >> there was a bag, was that a shot? >> the anonsment came on the radio the president, in fact had died. president kennedy was assassinated today in downtown dallas. >> it can't be true. >> i fear for the future of the nation. >> dismay, anger. >> with that panic and upset. it was everywhere. >> the nation changed in a cataclysmic way. >> gee. it was from here the

kennedy. i talked to her because i knew the press would be there in a minute. i wanted to know what happened. i wanted to report what occurred. she was calm, even under the stress. and knew he was inside in hands to save him, hopefully. >> and he did, thankfully. >> he did. >> he did survive. >> the president obviously did not survive. he was read the last rites i think by two catholic priests that came into the room. the moment when he was pronounced dead, i mean, that's a chilling moment, isn't it for you? >> yes, i -- we knew he was dead after we had performed the chest tubes and had an ekg heart machine brought in -- >> what are you thinking? there you are. you got your president there fighting for his life. what is going through your mind at age 31? >> you're thinking how did i get here? odds of me taking care of a president must be one in -- >> did you manage to stay calm? were you -- how would you describe your state? >> i think we kicked into a routine management of a trama patient and

kennedy and mrs. connolly disappeared into the emergency section of parkland hospital to await news of their husbands. outside of the emergency room in a hallway, anxious members of the white house staff gathered including the military aide to the president, and brigadier president godfrey mchew, the air force aide. the president's secretary, the press secretary to mrs. keptdy and other members of the staff were shown to a special waiting room not far from the emergency room area where the president was lying. frank mcgee has reported on direct word. outside parkland hospital in dallas. >> there's no indication that any charges placed against him. there's no indication he is directly involved in this attempt on president kennedy and texas governor john connolly. >> i think we have the picture of the president and mrs. kennedy as they arrive in dallas this morning. i have some copy on the first speech which the president delivered in dallas. this is the picture of the president and mrs. kennedy. >> i t

kennedy. president obama did joke about that when he was giving an award to a noted psychologist earlier in the ceremony. >> all of us have moments when we look back and wonder what the heck was i thinking? i have that quite a bit. >> no specific medication of the healthcare.gov website, but -- >> self-deprecating humor, that's the road back. he can laugh at himself. >> kennedy trait, right? >> what did you read into that? >> i think it's a tough time. no question about it. i think about two years ago in the fall of 2011, up with year before the election, the president's job approval rating dipped. everyone was worried about his re-election prospects, and he came through with over 50% of the vote. i mean, when you think about c.t. vivian, and bayard rusten, he can straw strength from those who can march on. this was a good day for him to go in with so many heroes and sheroes. >> bill clinton no, sir something about being a comeback kid. he had some comebacks during his time in the white house.

kennedy's lap. the right side of his face was up, and i could see his eyes were fixed, and i could see through a hole in his skull that most of the brain matter in that area had been destroyed. and so i assumed immediately that it was a fatal wound, and that he was dead. >> there have been reports that you gave a thumbs down sign to the limousine behind you with other secret service. is that correct? >> that is true. i did that to make sure that they understood how serious the situation was. >> it took eight minutes to get to the parkland hospital in dallas. it must have been one of the longest eight minutes of your entire life. talk to me about what was going on in that car? how was jackie kennedy? obviously the governor was hit as well and his wife was there. what was it like to be in that limousine for those eight minutes? >> when the president was shot with the shot that hit him in the head, mrs. kennedy immediately went into shock. so she tried to retrieve the material. when i got in the seat,

kennedy.he flag at the u.s. capitol is half-staff. a tribute to our president who died in dallas a half-century ago. this is the scene at arlington national cemetery. the final resting place for president kennedy and members of his family. we are focusing on both of these stories. we want to begin on the issue of the nuclear option. the senate action -- we want to hear from you. the numbers are on your screen. join us on facebook, send us an e-mail come a or send us a tweet. let's take a look at some of the headlines from the l.a. times. here in washington is the front page. the senate curbs the filibuster. that is the story above the fold. there is this from the dallas morning news. his courage still inspires us. the kids of 1963. this is available online at their website. story might imagine, the in the u.s. senate -- it eliminates filibusters on most nominees. here are the details. dramatic step the of eliminating filibusters for most nominations by presidents. they say this was necessary t

kennedy, however. she appeared to be in a state of shock and was herded away by white house personnel. kennedy, however. she appeared to be in a state of shock and was herded away by white house personnel. the hospital staff appear to be preparing a blood transfusion. for both the president and governor connally. bob is telling me that the latest he knows at the moment is that the president's condition is serious and uncertain. we do not know exactly where he was struck, nor how many times. was struck, nor how many times. >> but he was carried into the hospital. >> but he was carried into the hospital unconscious and bleeding. and last rites of the church had been administered. that is all for the moment, frank. they did not specifically mentions senator goldwater by name. in a world of complex and continuing problems in a world full of frustrations, america's leadership must be guided by the likes of learning and reason or else those who might confuse rhetoric with reality will gain ascendancy with he

kennedy was talking about the heroism of kennedy.y ted sorenson building up kennedy and other books came out of a different generation very critical of his personal life. but now on the 50th anniversary, not only is he coming off as a sustainable hero, the amount of love, the outpouring from love from all over america, its bipartisan and spirit. david reading those words reminds you kennedy was the greatest orator of the 20th century. you could chisel so many speeches into marble and monuments. now there's another new monument in dallas as of today. >> gerald posner, as you reflect and we get ready for the flyover to recall and to honor the memory of the president of the united states, president john f. kennedy, this is a special moment for the city of dallas itself where this terrible tragedy occurred 50 years ago this hour. >> yeah, absolutely, wolf. dallas did it self very proud today with some serenity, a sober ceremony that was distinguished and dignified. and that's really what they wanted. this was a city that was in turmoil a

kennedy.e encourage you to take part once again tonight, there are three ways to do this, you can tweet us, at first ladies, or on our facebook page, or you can call us. our numbers are -- mountan/pacific -- we will get to your calls in just a bit. i start with a phone conversation with president johnson. i want to ask about why we have them, before we listen very >> he takes his telephone conversations, as eisenhower and roosevelt -- with johnson this was about 650 hours over five years. and in most cases this was without the knowledge that would include jacqueline kennedy. at that point, there was a very good relationship with lbj. >> this is the phone conversation was just 10 days after the death of her husband. this is a phone conversation with lyndon johnson. >> you just have to give me strength. >> i wasn't going to come over. >> you just come over and put your arm around me, let's walk around the backyard. let me tell you how much you mean to all of us, and how we can carry on, -- >> i

new rose kennedy and the kennedy family. in the early 70s, felicia went down to palm beach and stayed with rose a day or two and interviewed her for a book she was doing call doers and dowagers. about great matriarchs in america. she asked -- felicia asked arose about rosemary and said you don't talk much about her in rose burst into tears and became choked up. this would have been 30 years after the procedure at which point rosemary did have to be institutionalized because the lobotomy went terribly wrong. we should say two things. one is this was thought to be in 1941 the procedure that try to minimize anxiety and depression, which rosemary also suffered from. so joe, who was always up on the medical procedures and the kennedys can always go and get the best medical procedures. they always talk to the best people in the field. the people in the field were telling them at the time they thought a lobotomy might be appropriate for rosemary. we know now of course it was not. it was disastrous. the other thing is the kennedys,

kennedy. i passed out literature in my neighborhood about a. i remember a woman slamming the door and saying, i don't support papistry that it not know what that was. i had to ask my father, but it was a big deal, and there was a lot of anti-catholic prejudice. >> i have a very vivid memory of our principal walking into our second grade classroom than telling us. and the two things that i remember after that when i got home standing at the coffee table and my father all the me while i was trying and in the drums. and then on sunday coming home from church and tournament tv and watching live cause wall being shot. what got you interested in politics? >> guest: honestly, john f. kennedy did. that is one reason why did the book. i always had in the back of my mind that i wanted to write about this. and we tried. we are doing a big project on kennedy. the book is a 5-year project. that is why it is 600 pages. you given academic another year and he will have another hundred pages. we are doing a ma

kennedy. she is buried here at the kennedy gravesite, was buried in 1994.will take boston next and the john f. kennedy presidential library and museum, will for the ceremony that has just wrapped up there. ♪ >> a man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea is all. ♪ >> the new frontier of which i speak is not a set of promises. it is a set of challenges. it sums up not what i intend to offer the mecca people, but what i intend to ask of them. pride, notto their their pocketbooks. it holds out the promise of more sacrifice instead of insecurity. i tell you the new frontier is here, whether we think it or not. beyond that frontier, are the uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. i believe the time is demand -- the times demand new invention, imagination, decision. i am asking each of you to be pioneers on that new frontier. >> ♪ america america grace on thee o beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain purple mounta

kennedy. you ask why people wonder, i interviewed gerald ford once for a book i was asking him about nato, the fall of saigon he said, come here. look at this, there was a little stack like, this is my incoming about my presidency. now you see this stack, it was like towering, he said that was about me and the warren commission why i invented a magic bullet. get some of the warn commission report i think it was at times sloppy, it was rushed, it was right in the end. maybe on this anniversary we need to thank people, the legacy of gerald ford and john mccloy and people that worked so hard on those multiple volumes because they i think nailed the story. >> schieffer: what do you think that john kennedy's real legacy is? >> first of all that he was the first catholic elected president. he kicked open the door after him came whole bunch of other minorities. he appointed the first polish american to his cabinet. he wrote a book about immigration called a nation of immigrants, very important to him

kennedy continues. coming up next, jeff greenfield imagines how a second kennedy administration would have governed had the president not been shot. the author presents his thoughts on how kennedy would have run his 1964 presidential campaign and deliberated upon vietnam, the war and civil rights. the program is 45 minutes. >> good evening, it's nice to be back. it's really nice to have c-span back as well. and that often say that as a kid i had two passions, one which was based on the other one was politics. and that they would've had c-span and espn when i was a kid, i never would've left the house. [laughter] so they may run this and i want to apologize in advance for taking a huge chunk of the audience in this happens. but i like to start by reading you something from this book because it sets down my notion of why history is even done. a lot of historians have said that in sunday's "washington post", a pretty prominent historians as what i would regard as taking my book seriously and he doesn't agr

kennedy had come up on the trunk. she was trying to retrieve some of the material that came off the president's head. i grabbed her and put her in the backseat. unfortunately i wasn't able to get there quicker than i did. i could see the president's face. his eyes were fixed, there was a hole in the upper right rear of the skull. i screamed at tt driver, get us to the hospital. >> we thought the shots had come from over our heads, behind us, at the grassy knoll towards the concrete embankment. >> incredibly as close to the murder scene as the newmans were, they like some others were never interviewed by the fbi. their statements to the media and police did not support the government's conclusion of the lone gunman. >> a fatal head shot came from the left rear. >> former department of justice attorney john orr felt the case had too many loose ends. as a skilled prosecutor he examines and gathers all evidence. >> my research of the archives had been one of the few private citizens to be given access to the bullet, the p

obama are greeting of course ethel kennedy and we saw caroline kennedy's son and now bobby kennedy'shildren and grandchildren. this moment -- because, of course, bobby kennedy is also buried there alongside his brother at that grave site. and jacqueline kennedy onassas. >> extraordinary set of circumstances, and it's what they call the ultimate domino effect. the first assassination was that of john f. kennedy 50 years ago, and it was kind of the beginning of tragedy in america, the innocent america after world war ii. >> exactly. >> then became the assassination, of course, of bobby kennedy, assassination of martin luther king, then vietnam and watergate and 9/11 and all kinds of things since then. >> and, you know, robin mcneil in new york, as we watch this ceremony, as jim was just saying, all of us of a certain generation felt john f. kennedy's assassination so profoundly, and then as a young journalist, i was covering and experiencing dr. martin luther king jr.'s slaying and bobby kennedy, but it was the loss of innocence, wasn't it, of this first horrific day in dallas reck ele

kennedy jr. cand kerr kennedy.art with you, you were four years old and don't have memory of that day but in terms of the legacy, what do you think it should be in family? >> he was a man who really loved our country and tried to make our policy both domestically and internationally reflective of the greatest values, da memocde making sure everyone in our country had a vote and was able to go to the polls and vote. i think that's why we remember him as a great leader, and as somebody who is fun and vigor. >> robert, you wrote a fascinating piece for the issue of "rolling stone" magazine. paints him as a man of peace, despite the conflict raging domestically and on the foreign stage, was seeking all the time to avoid conflict. >> yeah, he -- he told his friends that he was basically a peace president despite the cold war blabber that he used during his campaign. privately, he was a war hero. he was a war veteran. he seen the capriceness, the war. there was a consensus shows among the star who were world war veterans

kennedy. a live look at the kennedy gravesite, the eternal flame in our little -- in arlington, across from the nation's capital. we will take you live to dallas in a sort -- a short bit. it is scheduled to start at 12:30 eastern. we will have that live. afternoon we will bring you this germany from the john f. kennedy memorial library in boston. the library and museum. as well we will give you the opportunity to weigh in with your thoughts by twitter them on the phone, all of that coming up just a bit later on here on c- span. the funeral was held three days after the assassination, november 25, 1963 them and among the dignitaries that attended that sermon included prince philip of the united kingdom, charles de gaulle of france, the president of france, and the emperor haile selassie of ethiopia. f kennedy, one of only two presidents buried at arlington, and you are looking at the gravesite in arlington while we wait for the ceremony in dallas.laza we are waiting for that to get underway. we

you know, kennedy, kennedy said sometimes it's not the labels that matter, and i go back and forth about whether he was right about that. i think the labels in some ways are useful lenses for helping us remember what actually happened. and that's, you know, that's really what i hope people will take away here. >> well, thank you very much. >> we'd like to hear from you. tweet us your feedback, twitter.com/booktv. >> november 22, 2013, is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of president john f. kennedy, and there are several books that have been published this season to mark the event. throughout the month join other readers to discuss the kennedy books published this year. simply go to booktv.org and click on book club. once there, you can check out some of the book club resources we have posted including book reviews and videos from the booktv archives, and you can log in as a guest or through your facebook or twitter account to post your thoughts on the kennedy books you're reading. then join booktv on saturday, november 30th, at 31 a.m. eastern -- 11 a.m. eastern to discuss live

kennedy.h lincoln there was a sense his work was completed and with kennedy, it was his work was just starting. suddenly, we were firsted with a world that was much more grizzly and meaner. it was jungle-like. and of course, that was the dawn of years that came of when we have numerous assassinations and demonstrations and difficult times in the world, and i think that whole period represented the loss of innocence for the united states. we were more scenical, skeptical, suspicious nation. >> for you, the legacy means what? >> what could have been. imagine 58,000 killed in vietnam, would kennedy would have gotten us in vietnam. if you lost somebody there you love, that's a big question and the idea of putting the word with the peace corps, peace, barack obama today was talking about the peace corps. that sort of lives on as his legacy and finally, i think the space pace for kennedy is big. he represented can do is m and that's what the country needs. he didn't say we'll have a space flight pro