ad info




CNN.com
 MAIN PAGE
 WORLD
 ASIANOW
 U.S.
 LOCAL
 POLITICS
 WEATHER
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 TECHNOLOGY
 NATURE
 ENTERTAINMENT
 BOOKS
 TRAVEL
 FOOD
 HEALTH
 STYLE
 IN-DEPTH

 Headline News brief
 daily almanac
 CNN networks
 CNN programs
 on-air transcripts
 news quiz

  CNN WEB SITES:
CNN Websites
 TIME INC. SITES:
 MORE SERVICES:
 video on demand
 video archive
 audio on demand
 news email services
 free email accounts
 desktop headlines
 pointcast
 pagenet

 DISCUSSION:
 message boards
 chat
 feedback

 SITE GUIDES:
 help
 contents
 search

 FASTER ACCESS:
 europe
 japan

 WEB SERVICES:
US

Seeing the century through values and ambitions of Kennedys

President Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Robert Kennedy

VIDEO
Sr. Political Analyst Bill Schneider looks back at the Kennedys and their role in U.S. history
Windows Media 28K 80K
 

July 22, 1999
Web posted at: 8:53 p.m. EDT (0053 GMT)


In this story:

John F. Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy Jr.

RELATED STORIES, SITES icon



By Sr. Political Analyst William Schneider

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The death of John F. Kennedy Jr. has turned many minds to other Kennedys who have gone before. Each generation of the family demonstrated the values and ambitions of Americans at that time.

Like the immigrant generation that came to America early in this century, patriarch Joseph Kennedy was determined to take on the Establishment and beat them at their own game. And he did.

The grandson of Irish immigrants went to London as a U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.

He realized his dream of seeing a son become president, the first -- and so far, only -- Catholic president of the United States.

And when Joseph Kennedy finally had done it all, he was cut down by a stroke that left him speechless when two of his sons were slain by assassins.

John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy led the veterans' generation -- the men who fought a war and came home to transform a nation. They settled the suburban frontier and raised a bumper crop of children.

JFK gave voice to his generation's high ambitions: To get the country moving again.

"The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace," Kennedy said in his inaugural address.

But before he could accomplish all his plans, his life was cut short by an assassin's bullet.

Robert F. Kennedy

Though not himself a baby boomer, John's brother, Robert, won the trust and admiration of the baby boom generation. His father had beaten the Establishment, and his brother had become the Establishment.

But like the best and the brightest baby boomers, RFK confronted the Establishment from within.

"I think that all of us have an obligation, we have a responsibility," said Robert Kennedy in 1964. "If we don't do it, nobody's going to do it. If educated people don't do it, nobody's going to do it."

As attorney general, Robert Kennedy defied racism. As a senator, he took up the cause of the poor and dispossessed. And as a presidential contender, he stood up to his own party's Establishment, challenging the sitting Democratic president.

Robert Kennedy's ideals were the baby boomers' ideals.

"We have the capacity to make this the best generation in the history of mankind, or make it the last," he said in 1964.

And for many baby boomers, Robert Kennedy's assassination was the murder of those ideals.

John F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy
Kennedy's political magazine, George  

John F. Kennedy Jr. was Generation X's Kennedy. He became a magazine publisher, a Kennedy for the Information Age, and for a generation that was turned off by politics.

"My family ... sort of grew up around politics ... that it was a fascinating way to spend one's career," JFK Jr. told CNN's Larry King in September of 1995.

"And I've always been kind of interested in how you could get that idea out to more people, because as I grew older it became clear that not that many people share that view.''

John Jr. knew how to reach that audience -- with glitz and glamour, celebrity and buzz.

"People had always said, 'you can't do a fun magazine about politics, which combines the serious as well as the playful, which is about personalities.' Because that's what public life is about," JFK Jr. said.

At the heart of his venture was a serious purpose -- to show a cynical generation that politics could be cool -- and to bring them into public life. And maybe, eventually, himself, too. He was a Kennedy, after all.

"The old definition of politics is that you bring it, at the end of your life, when you really have something to sort of offer," said JFK Jr. "And maybe that's a good thing for me."

It might have been. We'll never know.

Four Kennedys, four tragedies. But also, men who embodied the values and aspirations of their times. Four generations, and four stories of America in our century.



RELATED STORIES:
NTSB: JFK Jr.'s plane shows no in-flight break-up or fire
July 30, 1999
At candlelight service for Lauren Bessette, mourners also pray for sister, Kennedy
July 25, 1999
Investigators to examine wreckage of Kennedy plane
July 26, 1999
Thousands turn out in Washington for Kennedy-Bessette memorial
July 25, 1999
Wreckage of Kennedy plane delivered to Cape Cod
July 24, 1999
Ted Kennedy pays tribute to his nephew
July 23, 1999
JFK Jr. remembered as legend with sense of humor
July 23, 1999
Memorial service attendees
July 23, 1999
Husband of '1,000 days' and 'perfect soul-mate' memorialized
July 23, 1999
Seeing the century through values and ambitions of Kennedys
July 22, 1999

RELATED SITES:
Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, MA, Cape Cod's Daily Newspaper
U.S. Navy assists in search for for JFK plane
U.S. Navy assists in search for for JFK plane
Federal Aviation Administration
National Transportation Safety Board
The New Piper Aircraft, Inc. "Saratoga II TC"
  • The New Piper Aircraft, Inc. "Piper Press Releases"
United States Coast Guard
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • NOAA ship Whiting joins the Rude in search for Kennedy plane
  • NOAA Ship RUDE
  • Side Scan Sonar and Multibeam Sonar
Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce
  • Martha's Vineyard Beaches
  • Aquinnah Town Government
Massachusetts Community Profiles - Gay Head (Aquinnah)
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

 LATEST HEADLINES:
SEARCH CNN.com
Enter keyword(s)   go    help

Back to the top   © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.