Season 2009 · Episode 2

True Stories: A President to Remember

As Barack Obama takes office, More4 looks back to John F Kennedy and how acclaimed film-maker Robert Drew gained unprecedented access to his presidency. This intimate film takes a close look at Kennedy - from young campaigning Senator to a burdened President. "Now, more than ever it's important for us to look back at JFK and his legacy and learn what we can as we continue to create American history today," said Robert of his documentary. "I created A President To Remember from the realisation that young people today have never known what it's like to have a President who is celebrated both within the country and around the globe." Kennedy's decision to permit cameras to candidly record the action taking place within the White House and the inner sanctum of the Oval Office for the first time raised a storm of protest, but resulted in a journalistic breakthrough of historic proportions. The film travels in the company of Kennedy from his days as a young Senator campaigning for the Presidency; to his early days in the White House; through to his struggles grappling with major issues, from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the desegregation of the University of Alabama, vehemently opposed by Governor George Wallace, who physically barred the entry of the first two African-American students. At the close of the film, the shock and deeply-felt sorrow of Kennedy's assassination is captured in the faces of his compatriots. The result is an absorbing biopic of the much-loved leader, but in the true tradition of cinéma vérité, A President To Remember draws no conclusions from the events it bears witness to.