Dangerous World: The Kennedy Years

Whooo-eee, and you thought Bill Clinton was a naughty boy. He's a choirboy next to John F. Kennedy, who was closely involved with organized crime, had an amphetamine habit, and--of course--women, women, women: secretaries, steady mistresses, Marilyn Monroe, streetwalkers, and an East German spy, all during his short Presidency. Professional historians cry when they read (as in a November 1998 survey for the History Channel) that Americans rate Kennedy as the best President of this century. It wasn't his moral failings, but the blunders on the national and international stage that ought to place him further down the list. This ABC News Special offers a contemporary look at the Kennedy administration, albeit one which spends more time on mob connections and sexual exploits than on issues like the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the extra-legal assassination attempts on Fidel Castro and the Cuban Missile Crisis. For people who are sick of conspiracy theories about the assassination, there are blessedly no new conjectures in this tape. Host Peter Jennings notes that following the assassination, "In one long, sad weekend, John Kennedy was elevated to a place where faults and frailties did not intrude." Hopefully, Americans are now ready to give up the myth of "Camelot" and look at the historical reality of the Kennedy administration. Impressive research on this tape includes notable witness interviews and a myriad of archival resources. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)