20 Years Ago Today, the Death of JFK, Jr., Extinguished the Last Flames of Camelot

From the moment that Jackie Kennedy branded the Kennedy presidency as Camelot, in an interview with author and historian Theodore White, royalty was suddenly bestowed upon the survivors.

The recoil effect from that simple phrase on Ted and Bobby and the rest of the family was impactful. But at least they were able to understand and process it. For John F. Kennedy Jr. he would immediately become a prince without any say in the matter

As he came of age emotionally, physically and politically, he was permanently marked by the mythology. It shaped every aspect of his public and private life, right up until his untimely death.

Some men and women choose to live in the public eye. Others like royalty, like William and Harry, for example, are just born there and have to come to grips with it.

JFK Jr. was as close as we have gotten to royalty. He was to become an American Prince. How well it served him and his country is still an open question. One explored by Steve Gillon, a historian and long-time friend in his new book America's Reluctant Prince: The Life of John F. Kennedy Jr.

My conversation with Steven Gillon:

"Happy Birthday, Mr. President"

Today we mark the 100th birthday of John F. Kennedy. When we do that, our first instinct is to look for the single achievement that defines the man

In the case of Kennedy, there are many to choose from. But arguably one of the most profound and lasting impacts of JFK is the way in which he changed the culture, structure, technology, and perception of our politics.

In our modern era, there are very few times in which both the candidate, the times and the campaign would come together in ways that resulted in a tectonic shift in the way we do politics.

The 2008 Obama campaign might be such a time. Certainly the 1964 GOP primary campaign, that give us Barry Goldwater, is one.  But first among the modern list is the 1960 campaign
of JFK.

Started as modern campaigns now do, almost five years before the election, is was the prime example and perhaps the pinnacle of what the “best and the brightest” could accomplish. In a way, it may have been that campaign that made us think that anything was possible, in Camelot.

Now Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and Washington columnist for The Boston Globe, Thomas Oliphant takes us back there in The Road to Camelot: Inside JFK's Five-Year Campaign.

My conversation with Thomas Oliphant:

It was the Mafia....

Fifty years ago this week, the nation experienced one of the seminal moments of the 20th century. Along with two World Wars, the dawning of the nuclear age, and the landing of men on the moon, the assassination of JFK was one of the century’s tent poles.

As such, it never ceases to fascinate us. What other event of the 20th century still conjures up as many unanswered questions? Is there anyone who still believes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and that the Warren Commission is accurate? I’d say probably the same number that believes Elvis is still alive.

Author and legal analyst Mark Shaw postulates a new theory of case. One that has as it progenitor, the callus and politically expedient actions of the Kennedy patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy. He makes his case in The Poison Patriarch: How the Betrayals of Joseph P. Kennedy Caused the Assassination of JFK.

My conversation with Mark Shaw:

The last 100 days

Because there is no preparation for the burdens and responsibilities of the Presidency, it would take JFK, almost nine-hundred of his thousand days to reach his apogee. With the death of his infant son Patrick, as a catalyst, the final 100 days of the Kennedy Presidency, which began 50 years ago this month, would become the capstone of Camelot and the defining time of a promised unfulfilled.

Kennedy historian Thurston Clark, in JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President, takes us deep inside those final 100 days.

My conversation with Thurston Clarke: