JFK35

In 1963, President Kennedy would make decisions that would reflect on his lasting legacy. It would also be a year that he would never complete after becoming the fourth sitting U.S. President to be assassinated on November 22, 1963. In this special series, we will look at some of the President's key trips and policy decisions from 1963 and how the legacy of those decisions continue to live on today. 

Since the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established, Boston has been described as a “city on a hill” or a city to be looked to as an example for others. President Kennedy drew from the same material when he left for Washington D.C. In this episode, we look back at some of Boston's notable mayors who left their mark on the original “city on a hill” including President Kennedy's grandfather, John Fitzgerald. We also look ahead to Boston's future under new mayor Michelle Wu.

President John F. Kennedy was the first president to take live televised questions from the press on a regular basis and he would provide the model for what would become the modern television presidency. In this episode, we'll take a look at Kennedy's relationship with the media at news conferences and have a conversation with members of today's White House press corps about how different presidents have approached their relationships with the press once in office.  

It has been 60 years since President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. In this episode, we'll hear how far the United States has come since Kennedy signed the landmark legislation, and just how far it still has to go in guaranteeing equal pay for equal work.

Sixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. It was one of the first federal anti-discrimination laws that dealt with wage discrimination on the basis of sex. While Kennedy was the man who signed the bill into law, it was only because of a women-led movement that the act became a reality.

The JFK Library plays an important role as a place where original documents, photographs, audio, film, and other artifacts from John F. Kennedy's presidency are preserved. While the pandemic interrupted some of the Library's normal activities, archivists used the time to reduce a large digital backlog of materials waiting to be published online. Archivists Stacey Chandler and Abbey Malangone provide an update from the archives it returns to post-pandemic operations.

Presidents' Day is a day to celebrate past presidents and American history. In this episode, we speak with two “living history interpreters” who have spent years portraying historical figures to the public. Audrey Stuck-Girard portrays Abigail Adams and other 18th century figures and Bill Barker portrays President Thomas Jefferson.

President Kennedy faced several major environmental threats during his presidency from the widespread use of dangerous chemicals in farming to private developers buying up pristine natural habitats. Award-winning author Douglas Brinkley discusses his new book, Silent Spring Revolution, about the woman who led the modern environmental movement influencing the Kennedy administration and others that came after. This episode also revisits a conversation with Cape Cod National Seashore superintendent Brian Carlstrom.

Sixty years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, today's world leaders can apply lessons learned to potential future nuclear crises. Former Obama Administration Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, Executive Director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University Alexandra Vacroux, and former Pulitzer-prize winning reporter and author Jonathan Kaufman discuss potential crises ahead and how the Cuban Missile Crisis's legacy remains relevant.

After the United States and Soviet Union survived the Cuban Missile Crisis and its immediate aftermath, the next steps for the two superpowers would be critical. This episode looks at Kennedy's "strategy of peace" speech at American University and the limited test ban treaty negotiated between Khrushchev and Kennedy, that some say saved the world a second time. It looks ahead at the positive and negative steps made towards Kennedy's vision of a world with fewer nuclear weapons and what challenges today's leaders face involving the spread of nuclear weapons.

John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev reached an agreement about the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 28, but the crisis wouldn't end there. Fidel Castro, angered by Nikita Khrushchev's decision, threatened a serious setback in the negotiations to remove all offensive weapons - including tactical nuclear weapons - from his country.

October 27, 1962, also known as “Black Saturday," was the most dangerous day of the Cuban Missile Crisis as events began to spiral out of control. With two contrasting messages from Chairman Khrushchev, President Kennedy had to find a way to resolve the crisis or risk a nuclear war. Outside of the White House, the crisis took a fatal turn and war was expected to break out at any moment.

By October 22, 1962, after days of long discussions with his advisors, President John F. Kennedy was ready to go public about the Soviet missiles in Cuba. His address to the American people laid out his plan to initiate a naval quarantine to prevent more Soviet ships and weapons from reaching Cuba. He also stressed the uncertainty and danger that lay in the days and months ahead. In Moscow, this announcement stunned and angered Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who learned that his atomic gambit had failed. As the specter of a devastating nuclear war loomed larger than ever, the White House waited to see how the Soviets would react.

In the first few days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy and his advisors faced an extremely difficult choice on whether to attack Cuba, and how to do it without engulfing the world in a nuclear war. In this episode, you'll hear some of the conversations from the top secret meetings between Kennedy and his advisors as he considered his options. Meanwhile, the President would have to act in public as if nothing is going on to keep the Soviets from finding out what he knew until he was ready to make a decision. With the public still unaware, the President would face several challenges – including opposition from his top military advisors – as he decided what to do next.

From the moment President Kennedy took office, he warned the country about the dangers of nuclear weapons that could result in the deaths of millions. It would be his decisions and actions that would keep the country from the brink of total nuclear war. In the years leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy would face a number of embarrassing failures in both Cuba and on the world stage with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. It would be partly these failures and other escalations that would embolden Khrushchev to embark on his Atomic Gambit.

On October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy was told the Soviet Union was assembling nuclear warheads on the island of Cuba, just 90 miles from the Florida coastline. Over the course of the next 13 days and beyond, President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev would make decisions in a crisis that brought the world closer to all-out nuclear war than it has ever been. Today, we continue to live with the historic legacy of the Cuban Missile Crisis and its lessons of leadership, diplomacy, and ultimately, grace under pressure. Atomic Gambit, a JFK35 podcast special series, takes a deep dive into the history, the players, and the pivotal moments that made this episode a turning point in world history. First episode premieres on October 13, 2022.

We know much about the speeches President Kennedy gave during his time in office, but what about the ones he never gave. Speechwriter and author Jeff Nussbaum joins us to discuss his new book about how some undelivered speeches in the 1960s, including two by President Kennedy, could have changed history.

In the Kennedy Administration, Edward R. Murrow and a team of journalists and filmmakers produced stories about the United States' activities and ideals for international audiences. Hollywood producer George Stevens, Jr. led the Motion Picture Service which produced more than 300 mostly short-form films for the global audience. He joins the podcast to reflect on his time in the administration.

Both sides of JFK's family were at the forefront of the amateur photography movement, using the burgeoning field to document their lives over the course of many decades. Today, this collection of photographs gives us an insight into the lives of these lively families, and also presents some unique challenges to archivists. JFK Library Archivist Laura Kintz tells us about her work exploring the family photo collections.

More than 100 years before President John F. Kennedy would take up residence at the White House, his great-grandmother Bridget Murphy arrived on the shores of America. There she met Patrick Kennedy, another Irish immigrant, and they started a life together that would lead to one of America's most famous political families. We sit down with Neal Thompson to discuss his new book, “The First Kennedys.”

President Kennedy was the first sitting U.S. President to visit the nation of Ireland. The great-grandson of Irish immigrants, the visit was more than a homecoming for John F. Kennedy-- it was the beginning of a new stronger relationship between the two countries that continues today

Until John Glenn completed his orbital flight in 1962, the United States was trailing the Soviet Union when it came to spaceflight. Sixty years later, NASA continues to lead in space. We revisit Glenn's historic trip and speak with astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson about how far NASA has come since Glenn and where it hopes to go next.  

President Kennedy understood that advancing technologies would change American society forever and that strong leadership would be needed to protect workers by changes in technology. In this episode, Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA 17th) joins us to look at how technology has changed society since 1960, and what kind of leadership is still needed today to ensure equity in the digital age.

On December 15, 1961. John F. Kennedy became the first sitting president to visit the new Commonwealth of Puerto Rico where he met with Luis Muñoz Marín, the territory's first independently elected governor. We speak with Puerto Rico's Governor Pedro Pierluisi about how Kennedy's visit 60 years ago and his legacy still resonate with Puerto Ricans today.

Sixty years ago, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy founded the White House Historical Association to support her ongoing work to restore and maintain the White House. This week we spoke with White House Historical Association president Stewart McLaurin as they celebrate their 60 years and learn how the association carries on Mrs. Kennedy's legacy.

John F. Kennedy, born between two world wars, would see the rise of fascism in his youth and later serve on the front lines to stop it from spreading across the world. Those lived experiences would influence Senator and later President Kennedy as he navigated the country through the rise of another authoritarian movement in Soviet Communism.

While President Kennedy didn't live long enough to see Congress pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his brother Robert would pick up where JFK left off. Historian Patricia Sullivan discusses both Kennedys roles during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Georgia Representative John Lewis was a fixture in the civil rights movement and in Congress for 60 years until his death in 2020. In this episode, we look back at his early years during the Kennedy Administration and revisit the legacy of courage he left behind. Joining us in this podcast is longtime civil rights activist Ambassador Andrew Young and Kabir Sehgal who co-wrote the book “Carry On,” with Rep. John Lewis.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to grow up in the White House? The JFK Library has a new special exhibit, First Children: Caroline and John, Jr. in the Kennedy White House. In this episode, we discuss the exhibit with Museum Curator Janice Hodson and also travel back in time to look at an original song about the Kennedys with the original performer.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver may not be as well known as her brothers Jack, Bobby, and Ted, but during her lifetime, she worked tirelessly behind the scenes to influence public policy and serve the public good. In celebration of the centennial of her birth, we speak with biographer Eileen McNamara and her son Timothy Shriver, and hear from Eunice herself.

In this episode, Hemingway Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Hilary Justice gives us the background on the JFK Library's collaboration with PEN America and Ernest Hemingway family's support of the PEN/Hemingway Award, and we speak with the 2021 PEN/Hemingway winner, Kawai Strong Washburn.

Lauren Leander is an ICU nurse at the Banner University Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, who took care of the most critically ill patients in Phoenix and stood with colleagues in a counterprotest of stay-at-home-orders in the early days of the pandemic. As director of the Ohio State Health Department, Dr. Amy Action boldly proposed an aggressive shelter-in-place order to slow the spread of COVID-19 and became the target of protestors and legislators who sought to limit her power. Both women never wavered in their work even when faced with public opposition. They are being honored with a special JFK Profile in COVID Courage Award for their selfless actions to help others during the pandemic.

Darrell R. Marks has spent his career helping his indigenous students at Flagstaff High School find new opportunities after graduation. But when the pandemic hit, his job changed from helping not only his students with their futures, but their families deal with the effects of the pandemic from shortages in food, water, and other basic necessities. Marks is one of seven people being honored with a special JFK Profile in COVID Courage Award for his selfless actions to help others during the pandemic.

President John F. Kennedy felt a profound connection to the environment, particularly the sea. During his presidency, Kennedy would establish three national seashores including on Cape Cod. Learn about his environmental legacy from the Superintendent of the Cape Cod National Seashore and from his granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg.

Thanks to a twist of fate, the archives of Ernest Hemingway have been mostly preserved here at the JFK Library. Learn more about that story from the Library’s Hemingway scholar in residence and hear from two of the filmmakers about how the Ernest Hemingway Collection played a key role in the new documentary.

The United States saw the highest voter turnout in decades in the 2020 election. In many states, the increase in turn out was partly due to years of voter mobilization to bring in more historically disenfranchised voters to the polls. In this episode, we speak with one of the people who has been on the front lines of that movement - Stacey Abrams, founder of Fair Fight and Fair Count - and take a brief look at the state of voting in the Kennedy era.

John F. Kennedy ran for president as television was beginning to change the game of presidential politics. The importance and power of presidents' use of the bully pulpit was growing as they could reach vastly larger audiences in a single presidential address live on television. This episode looks closely at one of Kennedy’s most trusted aides and speechwriters, and also hears from Dr. Vanessa Beasley, an expert on presidential rhetoric at Vanderbilt University.

The long road to the White House in the 1960 campaign between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon comes to a dramatic end. In this final episode, we’ll look at the last days and hours before the election, the uncertainty of possible recounts afterward, and look ahead to how both candidates approached the future. We’ll also look at how lessons learned in 1960 still resonate today.

On October 4, 1957, the successful launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik sparked fear of Soviet Union dominance in technology and space. In this episode, we’ll look at how John F. Kennedy used American fears of the Soviet Union and creeping Communism to his political advantage in the 1960 campaign. We’ll also look at how 60 years later, threats from Russia -- this time in cyber space -- linger over our elections today.

As the Election of 1960 entered its final stage with the first presidential debate, who would benefit most-- Richard Nixon or John F. Kennedy? In this episode, we’ll tell you how that first debate changed the 1960 campaign and the many that followed.

In this episode, we take you on a journey that follows the 1960 campaign into millions of living rooms through television, and then explore how the Kennedy team used the new medium to connect with voters. We'll also look at Nixon's television strategy and how the 1960 campaign’s use of television would influence future presidential campaigns' use of the medium in the decades ahead.

What would it take to win the White House in 1960?  For the Kennedy campaign, it started with building a trusted team, and a readiness to try new campaign strategies and tactics. In this episode, we’ll look at how Kennedy and Nixon’s campaign decisions helped make or break the election, and how some of those innovative strategies would influence modern campaigns through today.

While John F. Kennedy was formally launching his run for president at the start of 1960, another movement was gathering steam. This week, we’ll find out how the emerging modern Civil Rights Movement affected Kennedy’s and Nixon’s campaign strategies, and see how Kennedy worked to win over Black voters who were skeptical of his commitment to civil rights. And we'll also discuss how racist Jim Crow laws in the South prevented Black citizens from voting, with a look to where we are today.

Despite clear victories over some of his opponents during the primary season, John F. Kennedy’s path to the presidency still wasn’t certain as he arrived in Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention. In this episode, we’ll hear about the young senator’s rise to the top, the challenges he faced in uniting a fractured party, and how he would turn one of his biggest opponents into one of his greatest assets.

In our first episode, we’ll look at the primary race that created the opportunity for John F. Kennedy's insurgent campaign to take the Democratic presidential nomination, and how it would blaze new trails for campaigns to come.

This special eight-part audio documentary, from the team who brings you the JFK35 podcast, will tell the story of the Kennedy campaign and how it has influenced American campaigns since. The series features historians, political operatives, journalists, and more as it covers the campaign from the primaries through Election Night, highlighting key moments and lesser-known stories in the race leading up to the final vote.

When President Kennedy became his party’s nominee in 1960, Eleanor Roosevelt would eventually endorse him from her role as the leading member of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. However, he wasn’t her first or even second choice. We talk with historian Barbara Perry, who’s working on a book about the political pair, and how Kennedy was able to get the New Dealer’s seal of approval.

While JFK was only a year old at the time of the 1918 Flu Pandemic, Ernest Hemingway, whose papers are housed at the JFK Library, was old enough to witness and record his thoughts throughout the pandemic. Hear from Hemingway scholar Susan Beegel to learn how the flu affected his family and loved ones while he was a young man overseas in World War I.

Live televised press conferences are a mainstay in politics today, but it was President John F. Kennedy who held the first one from the White House in 1961. On this episode, we’ll take a look at how and why President Kennedy continues to be a role model for presidential press conferences almost sixty years later.

After President Kennedy announced his plan for a Peace Corps,  he had one man in mind to run it, his brother-in-law Sargent Shriver. Our guests include Dr. Jamie Price, executive director of the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute, and also Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy III, President Kennedy’s great-nephew and an alumni of the Peace Corps.

JFK Library and JFK Library Foundation Directors Alan Price and Rachel Flor discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Library's and Foundation’s ongoing work, including sharing more of the Library and its resources to those at home.