JFK Documentary Story aired: Thursday, November 20, 2003
No president has ever been filmed as intimately as John F. Kennedy, making decisions of historic importance.
In June of 1963, two black students were determined to integrate the University of Alabama. The state's governor, George Wallace, vowed to prevent it. Kennedy's decision-making process in the Oval Office, his struggle to decide how to confront the explosive, unfolding situation, was filmed by Robert Drew for his documentary "Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment." It was Drew's second landmark film with Kennedy.
His first followed the then Massachusetts senator and candidate for president in 1960, as Kennedy ran against Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey in the Wisconsin primary.
Both documentaries were revolutionary for their time: shot on the fly, on small cameras, with sound synched to what people were saying as events unfolded. Nothing like it had ever been seen before.
