The Kennedys of Boston, while rich, powerful, and politically accomplished, were unlike any other family that ever put a son into the White House in one important regard: they were Catholic.  John Kennedy's razor-thin victory over Vice President Richard Nixon was a vindication for America's Irish Catholics.  Charming and witty, JFK grew into the presidency and earned international respect during the cliff-hanging showdown over Soviet missiles in Cuba.  He also took steps that led to greater American involvement in Vietnam.  His presidency was cut short by his assassination November 1963.

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THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT
Program 1: "Family Ties"

The last thing that the Founding Fathers envisioned was a hereditary chief executive.  After all, they had fought a war in part to rid themselves of a king.  Yet power inevitably passes from generation to generation, and several families have returned to the White House as though born to it.  The stories of the four men profiled in this hour reveal both the blessings and the curses of inherited power.  Two of them were ill-at-ease with their lofty legacies and struggled as president while the remaining two flourished in the exercise of power.

A word about this show from the producers. 

For lesson plans developed for this program, go to Lessons on the Series.
For discussion questions on the featured presidents in this program, go to Issues to Ponder.

John Quincy Adams was raised to be president.  His father, John Adams, prodded his son into a glittering diplomatic and electoral career that included serving as: ambassador to five nations, United States senator, and secretary of state.  Placed in the White House by a wildly controversial election, John Quincy Adams displayed some of his father's less fortunate traits—irascibility and inflexibility among them—and won few hearts.  In 1828 he lost to Andrew Jackson (who many thought had actually won four years earlier), but enjoyed a lengthy and distinguished post-presidential career in the House of Representatives.

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Benjamin Harrison's grandfather, William Henry Harrison, had been president—but the younger Harrison refused to use the fact for political advantage.  It soon became obvious that he didn't really want to be president, either.  Unnerved by the legions of political favor-seekers lined up at the White House door, Harrison—never a gregarious man—became so reclusive and aloof that people mockingly referred to him as "The Icebox."  Political scientist Richard Neustadt calls him, "Probably the coldest fish we have ever had in the presidency."  His refusal to delegate power and to trust his advisors undermined his effectiveness, and he headed one of the least activist administrations on record.

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"The man," says narrator Hugh Sidey, "who, more than any other person, saved democracy in the 20th century" was born into a family of wealth and social prominence.  His cousin, after all, was Teddy Roosevelt.  Given his family background, however, Franklin Roosevelt possessed the determination to succeed of one who had fought his way up from dire poverty.  He also possessed a bottomless empathy for those who were less well-off than he, and these qualities were sorely needed as he battled the Great Depression and defeated the greatest peril of the century in World War II.  Sunny, debonair, and dictatorial, FDR was elected to unprecedented third and fourth terms; the American public effectively made him President for Life.  His death, early in his fourth term, plunged the world into mourning.

Brief Biography                        Campaign and Election Information

John Quincy Adams (1825–9):  His Father's Son

Benjamin Harrison (1889–93):  "Nobody's Grandson"

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–45):  Possession by Right

John F. Kennedy (1961–3):  Vindicating the Irish