**Drawn from the television program "Longines Chronoscope", a weekly public affairs interview program that ran on the CBS Television network from 1951-1955. The program was sponsored by Longines/Wittnauer, the makers of "the world's most trusted watch".
In the March 12, 1952 broadcast of the program, Congressman Kennedy was interviewed by William Bradford Huie, editor of the American Mercury Magazine, and Donald Rogers of the New York Herald Tribune. Mr. Huie poses the specific question excerpted.
JFK: Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. Mythology distracts us everywhere. For the great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie: deliberate, contrived, and dishonest. But the myth: persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. (Quotation from a speech at Yale University, June 11, 1962)
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JFK: I was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1917. We had five girls and four boys. I don't think you can have nine children in a house without there being some rigid authority, and I think my father supplied that. But not unnecessarily so, and I think it did us all good.
I think I was always interested in history and have spent a lot of time on it, and even at that time was particularly interested in it.
My father was then working for the government as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Roosevelt, and later as chairman of the Maritime Commission. And therefore, there was a great atmosphere of government and politics in my house, but I never thought of that time of going into it.
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Announcer: In 1938, Joseph Kennedy takes up a third and most challenging post in the service of his country. At the White House on a day in February, he is sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Stanley Reed as American Ambassador to Great Britain. Later that same month, Ambassador Kennedy is on his way bound for a restless, troubled, and apprehensive Europe.
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JFK: During the time I was in college, I had taken a half year off and worked at the American Embassy in Paris in the winter and spring of 1939.
In June of 1939, I went to Poland and stayed three weeks there, and I took a train to Moscow and got some impression of the Soviet Union. I didn't have a high opinion of them before I went...of the system...and much less after being there. It was massive inefficiency and the life was grim, dour, and windswept and dusty. It was a very depressing country.
After Russia, I came home through Berlin. It was a great chance to go because it was certainly Europe on the eve, and the tempo was heightened because of it. It was a great opportunity to see a period of history which is one of the most significant.
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Interviewer: At this time we are indeed pleased to have with us in our studios Mr. John F. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy is the author of the recently published book, Why England Slept. Tell me, Mr. Kennedy, where did you go to school?
JFK: Well, I attended Harvard. I just finished there this June.
Interviewer: What is this book about, Mr. Kennedy?
JFK: Well, this book is an attempt to analyze the reasons for Britain's failure to rearm in the face of a rearming Germany.
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Announcer: 600 German bombers and protecting fighters were used in raids against England today.
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JFK: I'd spent a lot of time in boats. Therefore, when it looked as if the war was coming, I was interested in joining the Navy. My brother was in the Navy, too. I think everyone who could headed in that direction, and I joined in September 1941.
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt: I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.
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JFK: Well, we were involved in the defense first of the Solomon Islands, generally, and the New Georgia, the Russell Islands, and the campaigns near Guada Canal in an attempt to prevent the Japanese from supplying there bases where they had units of troops on all these islands.
Well, our PT boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer. We drifted around for a day or so, and then we moved from island to island. And then finally, about nine or ten days later, we ran into a native and we gave him a coconut and he took it back to our base. They came finally and got us.
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Harry S. Truman: I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb. Having found the atomic bomb, we have used it. We shall continue to use it until we have completely destroyed Japan's power to make war.
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Announcer: Seven PM Eastern War Time. The Japanese have accepted our terms fully. That is the word we have just received from the White House in Washington. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of the Second World War.
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JFK: Well, after I came home and was released from the Navy, I went to work for a newspaper, the Chicago Herald American. And then I came home to Boston. I had an older brother who I thought would be a politician, but he was killed as a flyer in Europe. I never wanted to be in politics until really almost the time I ran. I was always interested in writing. I wanted to teach for awhile. So that really the war changed my life, and I suppose if it hadn't been for that and what happened then, I suppose I would have went on with my original plans.
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Kennedy Campaign Song: "Who can fight and fight 'til he wins? Kennedy can. Kennedy can."
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JFK: When I first went into Congress in 1946, I represented a district that was very poor in Massachusetts. We have many problems...housing (for example). Many families were in need of assistance. Therefore, my viewpoint on the necessity of social legislation came really pragmatically...through just observation.
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Interviewer**: Our distinguished guest for this evening is the Honorable John F. Kennedy, United States Representative from Massachusetts.
Mr. Kennedy, I believe you visited the Middle East on your trip. Now why is it that we Americans have so many enemies in the Middle East today?
JFK: Well, I think that there's two reasons. In the first place, all of these countries stretching from French North Africa to the South China Sea...French Indo-China...all of these countries have been or still are under the domination of western powers. The so-called "white powers." And there, therefore, is a heritage of animosity and hatred directed against the west. And as we are the strongest of the western powers, we fall heir to a great deal of that.
Secondly, these people live on a marginal level. Their standard of living is very low. Most of them are illiterate, and they have this past history of western exploitation. The Communists, or at least the Russians, have not had a comparable colonial experience in this area. They move among the people and they say: "How could you be worse off than you now are? Come with us and you may be better off." It's compounded by the fact that in some of these countries they have native oligarchies that are corrupt and are not concerned about the welfare of the people.
All these things compound in these difficult days and make for a fertile field for Communist infiltration and weakness for the West.
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Interviewer: Now our audience, of course, is particularly interested in your views because it has been mentioned that you are a possible or probable candidate for the United States Senate against Senator Lodge. Have you decided whether or not you are going to oppose Senator Lodge this year?
JFK: I plan to announce my plans for what I thought I might do at the end of April. And at that time I thought I'd make them definite, but I'm certainly considering it very strongly.
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Kennedy Campaign Song: "When we vote this November, let's all remember: Vote for Kennedy!"
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JFK: Well, I think that campaigns are terrible grinds. Some people say they enjoy them, but in addition to the routine that you have to undergo, there's the doubt always that you're going to be unsuccessful. The combination really makes it a very difficult period.
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Kennedy Campaign Song: "He's our kind of man, so do all you can: Vote for Kennedy!"
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Interviewer: Congressman Kennedy, how do you feel about your race for the Senate up here?
JFK: Well, I think it's going very well, and of course, have great expectations. I think the state's going Democratic and I think that the ticket's going to be successful.
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Announcer: Victory is here. After twenty years, the Republican Party is back in power. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected. His party has won control of Congress with the Senate pretty evenly divided.
In Massachusetts' Senate race, Representative John F. Kennedy scores one of the few major Democratic victories, decisively defeating in a tough battle the Republican incumbent, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
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JFK: Well, I guess you're glad it's over. Aren't you, Bobby?
RFK: I am, Jack.
JFK: Okay. (laughter and applause)
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JFK: I don't think that youth is any presumption of vitality, or old age any presumption of wisdom. It really, it once again, it seems to me depends on the confidence of the individual. We've had an extremely great number of talented younger men in the life of this country...from Jefferson and Hamilton and all the rest. And we've had a lot of very talented older men. I would think that once again it comes down to the quality of the individual.
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Interviewer: Are you simply swamped by invitations from Washington hostesses? I mean, you're a single man and a Senator. That must make you most eligible.
JFK: Well, you would think so, but nothing seems to have happened. Life goes on about the same as always.
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JFK: I met her three years ago at a dinner in Washington. She used to be the Inquiring Photographer for the Times Herald at the time.
Interviewer: Was it a case of love at first sight?
JFK: Well, I don't know. I don't know how you'd describe love anyway, but I was very interested.
Interviewer: Apparently!
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Announcer: The wedding of Senator John F. Kennedy recalls Newport's social grandeur. Former Ambassador and Mrs. Joseph Kennedy, parents of the groom, are among the personalities on hand to make this the top society wedding of the year. For the spectators outside the church, it's a real story book wedding: a radiant bride, the former Jacqueline Bouvier, and a handsome groom.
With a pretty wife and a politically rising star, the future seems bright for the junior Senator from Massachusetts.
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Edward R. Murrow: We're going up to Boston to meet Senator John Kennedy and his bride. Do you have a chance to do much reading?
JFK: Yes, I used to very much, and I try to do it as much as I can now.
Murrow: Have you found anything that has been particularly useful, or perhaps I could use the word inspirational, to you?
JFK: Well, I do have something here that was written by Alan Seeger who, as you'll remember, was born in New York and fought in the Foreign Legion and was killed in the First World War in 1916. He wrote that famous poem, "I Have a Rendezvous with Death." Just before he died, he wrote a letter home to his mother which I think has good advice for all of us: "Whether I am on the winning or the losing side is not the point with me. It is being on the side where my sympathies lie that matters. Success in life means doing that thing then which nothing else conceivable seems more noble or satisfactory or remunerative. And then being ready to see it through to the end."
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Interviewer: Senator, I know you recently underwent surgery for injuries received during World War II. I was wondering if during your period of convalescence you had any dominant thoughts?
JFK: Well, I think that probably sitting in bed for some months, which I did, is a trial I suppose to anybody. I think that the only sort of solution and salvation is to become interested in a particular project, and I became interested in writing the stories of eight United States Senators who at crucial periods in our country's history took a decision against the wishes of their constituents. In some cases, gave up their careers for the national interest. And so, I wrote that book (Profiles in Courage) during this period, and it was published this January.
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Announcer: Good evening once again, ladies and gentlemen, from Chicago's International Amphitheater, the site of the 1956 National Democratic Nominating Convention.
JFK: Fellow delegates, I give you the man from Libertyville. The next Democratic nominee and our next President of the United States: Adlai E. Stevenson.
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Interviewer: How would you like to be Vice President with him?
JFK: Well, I'd be honored, of course, if chosen. But I've always had my doubts whether I'd ever be chosen.
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JFK: I ran for the Vice Presidency in 1956 at the Democratic Convention, and I was beaten by Estes Kefauver by twenty votes.
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Announcer: Pennsylvania wishes to cast its entire 74 votes for Estes Kefauver.
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JFK: Someone once said that you really don't understand politics until you've been defeated, and then all the mysteries become apparent.
After the Democrats lost in '56, I began to think that maybe I would run in 1960. I began to work weekends traveling around the United States. I finally decided in '58 that I would run.
I was on the Rackets Committee for three years in the Senate. I think we made it uncomfortable for a good many racketeers. We made it uncomfortable for Jimmy Hoffa and some of the others.
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Jimmy Hoffa: We should be spending as much time as necessary to acquaint the American people to the fact that this is a strike breaking/union busting bill, in my opinion.
JFK: Mr. Hoffa, this bill is not a strike breaking/union busting bill. You're the best argument I know for it. Your testimony here this afternoon...your complete indifference to the fact that numerous people who hold responsible positions in your union come before this committee and take the Fifth Amendment because an honest answer might tend to incriminate them. Your complete indifference to it, I think, makes this bill essential.
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Announcer: Perhaps no man is rising faster on the nation's political scene than Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
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JFK: I am today announcing my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States.
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Announcer: The Kennedy campaign organization has named its battleground for the Presidential nomination: the primary. A substantial victory for Kennedy in Wisconsin and the experts say his bandwagon is on its way.
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JFK: And I can assure you that if I'm successful here, I shall go to Los Angeles in hopes of being nominated. And if I am nominated, I shall go to the American people discussing the great and serious business that faces the American people in this difficult period.
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Announcer: Pandemonium is literally reigning right now at the Los Angeles airport because Senator John Kennedy has just arrived here and said hello to about 5,000 supporters who turned out to greet him.
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Announcer: And the man who can lead us to meet that responsibility, to lead us to a fruitful America, to a peaceful world for mankind everywhere is the great Senator from the state of Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy.
Convention Delegate: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman Wyoming's vote will make majority for Senator Kennedy. I declare John F. Kennedy the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States, by the acclamation of this great convention.
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JFK: This is an important election. In many ways the most important election in the history of this country. All of us, all of us in this room and across the country are united together in our devotion to this country. We wish to keep it strong, and we wish to keep it free. It requires at this critical time the best of all of us. And I can assure all of you here who have reposed this confidence in me that I will be worthy of your trust. We will carry the fight to the people in the fall, and we shall win!
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