American Dynasties: The Kennedys Review: A Striving in the Blood, on CNN
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Nonetheless, the story of Joseph Kennedy Sr. ’s rise to wealth and power and of his famous children is richly illuminating, not least because it plays out, decade after decade, against the backdrop of momentous history brought to life here with powerfully evocative footage. Appointed U.S. Ambassador to Britain in 1938, Joe Kennedy Sr. immediately made news as a tireless proponent of the faith that both Britain and the U.S. must do all that was necessary to accommodate Adolf Hitler in order to avoid a war with Germany that the British, certainly, were doomed to lose. Kennedy’s pronouncements on the prospects for Britain’s survival, his highly public support of efforts to appease Hitler, would, as he later recognized, rule out any possibility he might obtain the office he wanted most—namely, the presidency. He would transfer that ambition into efforts to ensure that one of his sons won the office.
The one who ended up chosen, John Kennedy, had, initially, no great interest in pursuing a political career. A young man just back from the war, he was more inclined to a life of parties and women. There would always be women—ever more of them during his presidency. Strangely, given the encyclopedic coverage here of JFK’s affairs, there’s no mention of his father’s extramarital adventures. True, next to his history as an appeaser prepared to do all to accommodate the Nazis, the charge of marital infidelity may seem a bit trifling.
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As the series progresses the portraits deepen. Particularly that of Jackie, whose adjustment to the family—especially to the senior Kennedy’s unquestioned authority to decide everything—doesn’t come easily. She was unhappy at her wedding not only because the reception was packed with hordes of people she didn’t know—invited by Joe—but also because she disliked her wedding dress, which she said made her look like a lampshade. The dress had been Joe’s choice.
Her unhappiness increases with her husband’s affairs. We see film of Marilyn Monroe, and her immortal rendering of “Happy Birthday” at the notorious 1962 celebration of JFK’s birthday—an event Mrs. Kennedy, aware of rumors of her husband’s dalliance with the actress, refused to attend. About this Diahann Carroll says “smart girl”—only two words, but in their knifelike dispatch they’re a highly potent commentary.
The Kennedy years of this series abound in memorable crises—JFK shaken by the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, the terrifying standoff with the Russians over the Cuban missiles, the fires of the civil-rights battles. Among the pictures, footage of Gov. George Wallace trying to keep his promise to block black students from entering the University of Alabama while he faces down the emissary sent by Justice Department head Robert Kennedy, the leading force in the administration’s efforts to achieve integration. Wallace has to make an awkward retreat.
Of all the Kennedy family members, none is portrayed more compellingly than Robert Kennedy. The raw power of the pictures here of a mourning nation—of the immense crowds of Americans waiting for his funeral train so they can say goodbye to him with their homemade signs and their flags, is unforgettable.
The series consists of six episodes—hours well spent.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/american-dynasties-the-kennedys-review-a-striving-in-the-blood-1520546565
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I was not planning on watching but after reading this I think that I will.
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