Storytellers
To hear from those who crossed paths with JFK, click on the photos.
Joseph Alsop
Syndicated newspaper columnist, Washington political pundit and close friend of JFK. Kennedy’s sister Kathleen introduced the two when JFK was in his first term as a congressman.
Photos courtesy of Diana H. Walker; © Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop
Grace Kelly
This piece was produced by Blank On Blank, a multimedia non-profit that combines brilliant animation with archival audio to get something quite original and compelling.
Thomas ‘Tip’ O’Neill
Served 34 years as a U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts, the last ten as Speaker of the House. A longtime friend of Kennedy, he was elected to the congressional seat that JFK vacated in 1952 when he became a Senator.
Photos courtesy of Boston Herald
Laura Knebel
Journalist who became friends with Kennedy when she began writing about him for Look Magazine in the mid-fifties. She enjoyed special access to JFK and his family, and two years after his assassination, wrote a book entitled, “A Very Special President.”
Photos courtesy of ELCA/Glen Anderson
John Lewis
United States Congressman from Georgia since 1987, and iconic figure in the civil rights movement. At age 23 Lewis was the youngest member of the group of civil rights leaders that met with President Kennedy in the White House in 1963.
Photos courtesy of Library of Congress/Marion Trikosko; White House Photos
McGeorge Bundy
Served as U.S. National Security Advisor to JFK. He grew up in Boston and was a grade-school classmate of Kennedy.
Photos courtesy of US State Department; White House Photos
Barry Goldwater
A five term Republican U.S. Senator from Arizona who served on the Senate labor committee with JFK. He became the Republican party’s nominee for president the year after Kennedy was assassinated. He was defeated by Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1964 presidential election.
Photos courtesy of Library of Congress/Marion Trikosko; White House Photos
Charles Bartlett
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who became a close friend of JFK and is credited with introducing Jack and Jackie. He met Kennedy in Palm Beach the year JFK decided to run for congress.
Photos courtesy of JFK Library
Leonard Bernstein
Composer, conductor and music director of the New York Philharmonic. Performed at Kennedy’s inauguration, attended White House galas, and became a friend. He first met Kennedy in 1954 after being invited by JFK for lunch in the Senate lunchroom.
Photos courtesy of Library of Congress/Louis D’almeida; White House Photos