American Presidents: Life Portraits

Now it is easier to find a short video clip for your classroom! Use the clip list below to search for short, relevant segments from the featured American Presidents: Life Portraits program.

Directions: Click on the streamed video links to the left and view the program online; use the start and end times in the list below to cue up and watch the segments of your choice.

Program Video Clip List
1	11:20	16:34	Biographical vignette
2	16:52	17:28	Tour of home of Joseph and Rose Kennedy; John F. Kennedy, who was born in this house, was the first American president born in the 20th century
3	17:38	18:33	JFK biographer, Robert Dallek, speaks of JFK's hold on the American public's imagination. Watch Clip 3 Back to Lesson
4	18:44	19:53	JFK grew up in a life of privilege but his upbringing emphasized public service.
5	21:35	22:35	JFK's reasons for getting into politics and his travels abroad in the 1930s;
6	22:39	23:38	How the Kennedys were treated in Boston in the 1920s and 1930s
7	24:03	27:38	Caller asks Dallek how JFK could bring the U.S. close to the brink of nuclear war and WWIII but still be revered in the public mindset today; JFK's speechwriting Watch Clip 7 Back to Lesson
8	27:38	29:14	Why did JFK move back to Boston from New York to run for political office?
9	29:20	30:55	Caller question re: rumors about Joseph Kennedy's involvement in securing votes for his son against Richard Nixon in 1960
10	30:56	35:04	JFK's Inaugural Address; discussion on his uplifting style and spontaneity; the New Frontier
11	35:10	36:41	Discussion of foreign policy as a chief concern
12	37:13	42:15	Account of PT-109 experience and JFK's heroism; discuss the repercussions that JFK's war fame had on his brother, Joe Kennedy, Jr.
13	42:37	46:17	Discussion of three great Kennedy speeches
14	46:20	48:36	If Kennedy had lived, would he have taken us out of Southeast Asia?
15	48:37	55:10	Virtual tour of Rose and Joe Kennedy's first home in Brookline, MA; discuss the early years of the Kennedy family and the first years of John's life; description of Joe and Rose's marriage, Rose as a wife and mother; description of the Brookline neighborhood
16	55:20	57:38	Was American involvement in Vietnam a reaction to JFK's relationship with Khrushchev?
17	57:39	59:18	Why did presidents from Wilson to Reagan make at least one blunder during their administrations?
18	1:00:24	1:03:10	How did people react to the assassination of JFK? What do people remember about that day when JFK was assassinated? Watch Clip 18 Back to Lesson
19	1:03:32	1:06:18	Did the anti-FDR opinions of Joseph Kennedy Jr. and Sr. influence JFK? the autonomy Joe Kennedy Sr. instilled in his sons
20	1:07:18	1:07:47	Mention of Doris Kearns Goodwin's book on the Kennedys and the Fitzgeralds
21	1:07:48	1:11:34	Tour of the Kennedy home in Brookline, MA as it was when JFK was an infant
22	1:11:46	1:13:26	Relationship between JFK and Richard Nixon; how JFK's background affected his outlook on life; LBJ's small-town background
23	1:13:34	1:15:01	JFK's cerebral approach to the presidency vs. that of other presidents
24	1:16:00	1:17:13	Dallek's opinion on conspiracy theories surrounding JFK's assassination Watch Clip 24 Back to Lesson
25	1:17:15	1:20:29	How did Joseph Kennedy Sr. get wealth and power?
26	1:20:30	1:21:25	As Joe and Rose Kennedy's family grew, they moved to another house in Brookline, MA
27	1:21:26	1:25:35	Interview with, Anna St. John, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, CT; If JFK were running for president today, would he still have been elected?
28	1:26:10	1:27:33	Tour of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, MA
29	1:27:44	1:30:58	How illness affected JFK's life
30	1:31:04	1:32:52	Comments on claim that the Kennedy family was dysfunctional
31	1:33:04	1:34:47	Dallek's doubts on conspiracy theories about JFK's assassination
32	1:35:24	1:38:51	Franklin D. Roosevelt as JFK's leadership model; had he lived, might JFK have dropped LBJ as his running mate on the 1964 ticket?
33	1:39:10	1:43:06	Why did JFK go into politics?; JFK's interests in history
34	1:43:08	1:44:23	How JFK handled Big Steel's price increase as it conflicted with his own efforts to keep inflation low; JFK and the business community
35	1:44:50	1:46:08	Discussion on assassin Lee Harvey Oswald Watch Clips 35 & 36 Back to Lesson
36	1:46:09	1:47:32	The speech that JFK was going to give in Dallas, Texas before assassinated
37	1:47:34	1:51:26	Reasons why conspiracy theories surrounding JFK's assassination continue Watch Clip 37 Back to Lesson
38	1:51:37	1:52:59	Dallek answers caller's question about President Kennedy's relationships with women
39	1:53:11	1:58:41	Discussion with David Kratz, Chief of Visitor Services at the John F. Kennedy National Historic Site: tour of JFK's nursery; Rosemary Kennedy, JFK's sister; members of the Kennedy family who visit the site; successive owners of the home
40	1:58:42	1:59:48	Dallek discusses Rosemary Kennedy's mental handicap and how it impacted the Kennedy family
41	1:59:52	2:01:47	How JFK coupled his liberal ideals with what was pragmatic for the nation
42	2:01:47	2:03:46	JFK's relationship with his father; a look into the backgrounds of Joe and Rose Kennedy
43	2:03:53	2:06:02	The lesson JFK took from the Bay of Pigs failure
44	2:06:05	2:08:06	JFK's interest in internationl politics prior to his election in 1960; relates JFK's characteristics of statesmanship to candidates of today Watch Clip 44
45	2:08:07	2:10:03	How presidential campaigns have changed since Kennedy ran for president in 1960?
46	2:11:25	2:12:56	Explanation on how to do research on JFK
47	2:13:00	2:13:43	The relationship between JFK and his brother, Robert Kennedy Watch Clip 47
48	2:13:47	2:14:45	The relationship between JFK and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy Watch Clip 48
49	2:15:19	2:17:31	Video clip of Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-MA) speaking during the 1960 presidential debate against V.P. Richard M. Nixon
50	2:24:31	2:27:31	Thomas Reeves, author of A Question of Character: The Life of John F. Kennedy, addresses why he wrote his book on JFK Watch Clip 50 Back to Lesson
51	2:27:59	2:30:10	Reeves characterizes JFK as having been a relatively ineffective congressman without vision
52	2:30:27	2:33:56	Reeves discusses his belief that JFK was a "manufactured politician"
53	2:34:34	2:37:38	How the story of the Kennedys, including JFK's assassination, has affected the American public Watch Clip 53
54	2:37:38	2:38:49	How JFK won the state of Illinois in 1960 by a small margin
55	2:38:56	2:42:31	Reeves describes JFK's character as being reckless and irresponsible
56	2:42:53	2:45:01	The accusation that JFK was a snobbish, "Ivy League" type?
57	2:45:05	2:46:13	Discussion of JFK's religion and his relationship with his mother
58	2:47:13	2:48:30	Video clip of JFK speaking in Houston, TX in 1962 on the space program
59	2:51:24	2:52:10	The missile gap between the U.S. and the Soviet Union
60	2:52:14	2:53:29	Reeves's assessment of the relationship between JFK and LBJ
61	2:53:47	2:55:36	Caller's question, "Is it fair of us to hold JFK to such a high standard of morality?"
62	2:55:39	2:57:42	Caller challenges Reeves's criticisms of JFK; Comments on the public's need for heroes
63	2:57:42	3:00:58	Video clip of JFK's trip to Ireland; Reeves describes the relationship between JFK and his brother, Robert Kennedy and how it changed during JFK's presidency
64	3:01:07	3:02:46	How JFK's character affected the Bay of Pigs invasion
65	3:02:55	3:04:57	JFK's love affair with Inga Arvad, speculation about there being a relationship with an East German spy, and discussion of JFK's conduct that could have led to his being court marshalled
66	3:05:49	3:07:10	JFK's relationship with Marilyn Monroe
67	3:07:11	3:08:26	JFK's relationship with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
68	3:09:32	3:10:32	Discussion about what Reeves has learned throughout his investigation of JFK's character


A Site to Complement C-SPAN's 20th Anniversary Television Series, American Presidents: Life Portraits March-December 1999