Past Kennedy Library Forums

March 16, 2008 marked the 40th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy's announcement to run for President of the United States.  Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Peter Edelman, Dolores Huerta, Rafer Johnson, Gerard Doherty, William vanden Heuvel, Haynes Johnson, Jules Witcover, Elaine Jones, Michael Sandel, and John Seigenthaler  shared share memories of the campaign and reflected on the legacy of RFK. Senator Edward M. Kennedy delivered the closing remarks.

Boston's new School Superintendent Carol Johnson discussed the challenges facing our public schools with David Boeri, host of WBUR's Radio Boston. Mayor Menino introduced the forum.

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Pulitzer Prize-winning author Samantha Power discussed her new book Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World.

Alice Hoffman delivered the keynote address at the PEN/Hemingway Awards ceremony hosted annually by the Kennedy Library.  Ms. Hoffman is one of our nation's most distinguished novelists. The Kennedy Library is the major repository of Ernest Hemingway's works.

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How have business, religious and community leaders raised the consciousness of citizens to become environmentally responsible? Gary Hirshberg, the founder and CEO of Stonyfield Farm; Richard Cizik, Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals; Robin Chase, Founder of ZipCar; and Mindy Lubber, President of Ceres, shared their innovative approaches. Renee Loth, Editor of the Editorial Page of The Boston Globe, moderated.

Congressman Barney Frank discussed the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society, with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

Former Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant moderated a discussion with Mr. Sorensen's former colleagues in the Kennedy administration -- Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense; Carl Kaysen, Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs; and, Lee C. White, Assistant Special Counsel to the President and a law school classmate of Mr. Sorensen's -- along with Adam Frankel, who assisted Mr. Sorensen in research on his autobiography, Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History, which was published in May. 

Muhammad Yunus discussed his book, Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism, which outlines a new business model to create a more humane world. Dr. Lincoln Chen, founder of Harvard University's Global Equity Initiative, moderated.

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Will Swift discussed his new book, The Kennedys Amidst the Gathering Storm: A Thousand Days in London, 1938 - 1940. During this brief but crucial period, the Kennedys emerged as the political dynasty we know today, setting the stage for all their future successes and tragedies. WBUR's political news reporter, Fred Thys, moderated.

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July 2, 2008 marked the centennial of Thurgood Marshall's birth.  Join Juan Williams, NPR Senior Correspondent and author of Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary; U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner; and, Harvard Law Professor Lani Guinier as they honored the first African American appointed to the United State Supreme Court.  Georgetown Law Professor Sheryll Cashin moderated.

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Jeff Roth -- writer, director, and producer -- discussed his new documentary about the Apollo Space missions and the astronauts who landed on the moon.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed her new autobiography, Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters, with Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

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What leadership qualities characterize presidents who transform history?  What kind of presidential leader does our country need now?  Harvard professor and author Joe Nye, (The Powers to Lead); columnist and author Robert Kuttner, (Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency); and, Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein discussed these questions with ABC News White House correspondent Martha Raddatz.

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Political reporters Matt Bai of The New York Times and Garrett Graff of Washingtonian Magazine (and the first blogger given a White House press pass); and, Joe Trippi, campaign advisor to Howard Dean (2004) and John Edwards (2008) examine how the internet has revolutionized politics with Tom Ashbrook, host of WBUR’s On Point.

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Veteran political reporters Jonathan Alter and Eleanor Clift of Newsweek and Mark Halperin of Time Magazine set this year's presidential election in an historical context and focus on the factors that will determine who will be the 44th President of the United States.

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George McGovern and Michael Dukakis, the 1972 and 1988 Democratic Presidential Nominees respectively, reflected on their own races and how presidential campaigns have evolved over time. Tom Oliphant, who covered both of their campaigns for The Boston Globe, moderated.

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On the centennial of John Kenneth Galbraith's birth and the opening of his papers at the Kennedy Library, Gloria Steinem, and Professors Alan Wolfe and Sean Wilentz of Boston College and Princeton University respectively pay tribute to the public intellectual -- particularly Galbraith and Arthur Schlesinger who served in the Kennedy Administration, and their intellectual nemesis yet personal friend, the late William F. Buckley.  Harvard University Professor and Galbraith biographer Richard Parker moderated.

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Dana Gioia, Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, argued for as prominent a role for the arts in presidential policies as exemplified by the Kennedy administration. Essayist and author Sven Birkerts (The Gutenberg Elegies) moderated.

Gellhorn's biographer Caroline Moorehead and war correspondent turned novelist Ward Just (2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist) paid tribute to the groundbreaking career of journalist and writer, Martha Gellhorn, with NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg. Gellhorn was the third wife of Ernest Hemingway, whose papers are archived at the Kennedy Library.

Psychiatrist and MacArthur Fellow Dr. Jonathan Shay explained his treatment of combat trauma by using the ancient accounts of battle described in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.  He was joined by former army captain James Meeks, who served two tours of duty in Iraq.  Radio host Christopher Lydon moderated.

On the 5th anniversary of the landmark Massachusetts Supreme Court decision on the case that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage, lead counsel Mary Bonauto, Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe and Senator Marian Walsh reflected on the progress that has been made and the challenges ahead for gay rights. Editorial Page Editor for The Boston Globe Renee Loth moderated.

Jane Mayer, New Yorker writer and author of The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror turned into a War on American Ideals; James McGovern, Chair of the Massachusetts Congressional Human Rights Caucus; Michael Posner, President, Human Rights First; and James Traub, New York Times Magazine writer and author of The Freedom Agenda, discussed future human rights challenges with John Shattuck, CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President Clinton.

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Ted Sorensen, Special Counsel to President Kennedy, reflected on the writing of President Kennedy's inaugural address and discussed what to look for during the January 20, 2009 inauguration with historian and former Clinton speechwriter Ted Widmer.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and civil rights leader Roger Wilkins reflected on the state of American race relations, the evolution of our electoral politics, and Barack Obama’s historic election with journalist Callie Crossley.

Gwen Ifill, host of PBS' Washington Week, discussed her new book, The Breakthrough: Politics in the Age of Obama, with New York Times columnist Bob Herbert.

James Fallows, National Corresondent for The Atlantic, who has been living in China for the last two years, discussed his book, Postcards from Tomorrow Square:  Reports from China, with the founder of Harvard University's Global Equity Initiative, Dr. Lincoln Chen. 

Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners In Health; actor and activist Matt Damon, who recently visited Haiti to assist victims devastated by hurricanes; Massachusetts State Representative and Haitian-American Linda Dorcena Forry; and Brian Concannon, Jr., director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, shared their stories of eradicating disease and injustice in one of the world's poorest nations, and discussed how changes in U.S. policy can help to build a stronger, more resilient, and prosperous Haiti.  Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, moderated.

Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund, and Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America, discussed the social, economic and educational challenges facing this country.  New York Times columnist, Bob Herbert moderated. 

Dan Wasserman of The Boston Globe; Mike Luckovich of the The Atlanta Journal Constitution; and Joel Pett of the Lexington Herald-Leader shared their favorite cartoons from the 2008 presidential campaign. Robin Young, host of WBUR's Here and Now, moderated.

Ambassador Nicholas R. Burns, former Undersecretary of State and Professor of International Politics at Harvard University, and Andrew Bacevich, Professor of  International Relations at Boston University, discussed the nation’s foreign policy challenges with Martha Raddatz, Chief Foreign Correspondent for ABC News. 

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick discussed current issues facing Massachusetts citizens in a televised Town Meeting format moderated by NECN Anchor R.D. Sahl.

Patrick Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's son, and author Richard Russo bestowed the annual PEN/Hemingway Award to Michael Dahlie for his first book of fiction, A Gentleman's Guide to Graceful Living.  Rebecca Goldstein introduced the ceremony's keynote speaker, Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize winning-author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb.  The Kennedy Library is the major repository of Ernest Hemingway's works.

Garrison Keillor discusses why humor is a fundamental in American life.

This forum was postponed.

Jonathan Alter, Senior Editor and columnist for Newsweek and author of The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, and Richard Parker, Lecturer in Public Policy and Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, offered observations regarding the early days of the Obama administration.  Ted Widmer, historian and former Clinton speechwriter, moderated.

Ali Allawi, former Minister of Defense and Minister of Finance in the Iraqi Transitional Government, discussed his new book, The Crisis of Islamic Civilization, with NPR correspondent Corey Flintoff.

Steven Ford, son of the President; Carla Hills, who served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Ford administration; Benton Becker, advisor to President Ford; and historian Richard Norton Smith discussed his legacy.  Bruce Schulman, professor of History at Boston University, moderated. This forum is part of the Library's series examining 20th-century presidents.

In honor of Memorial Day, Max Kennedy, son of Ethel and the late Robert F. Kennedy, discusseds his new book, Danger’s Hour:  The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her, with Brown University historian Ted Widmer.

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Authors Nicholson Baker, Samuel Shem (pen-name of Dr. Stephen Bergman) and Anne Bernays; editor and journalist Charles McGrath; critic and scholar William Pritchard; and family members paid tribute to John Updike, who passed away on January 27, 2009 at the age of 76.  Radio/internet host Christopher Lydon was Master of Ceremonies.  This program was presented in conjunction with PEN New England.

To mark the 110th anniversary of Hemingway’s birth, Lillian Ross reflected on her famous 1950 New Yorker profile of the Nobel-prize winning author and what she has learned about writing and writers throughout her career.  Ms. Ross was joined by her New Yorker editor Susan Morrison. 

Sean Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's grandson; Adam Gopnik, New Yorker writer and author of Paris to the Moon; and, Diane Johnson, author of Le Mariage and Le Divorce, discussed the restored edition of Hemingway's Parisian classic, A Moveable Feast, with Scott Simon, host of NPR's Saturday Weekend Edition.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discussed her new book, Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box, with former Governor of Vermont and author of Pearls, Politics and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead, Madeleine Kunin.

President George H.W. Bush made opening remarks (via video) at this one-day conference – sponsored by the nation’s 13 Presidential Libraries – that examined how the Presidency and U.S. foreign policy have been reshaped by the advent, use and spread of nuclear weapons.  The first panel, The Race to Build the Bomb and the Decision to Use It, featured Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb; Wilson D. Miscamble, Professor of History and University of Notre Dame; and Jennet Conant, author of 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos.

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The second panel, Cuban Missile Crisis and the First Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, featured Ted Sorensen, Special Counsel to President Kennedy; Carl Kaysen, Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs to President Kennedy; Graham Allison, Professor of Government at Harvard University; and moderated by Tim Naftali, Director, Richard Nixon Presidential Library.

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Caroline Kennedy introduced an address by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (via video), which was followed by the third panel, The Cold War and the Nuclear Arms Race, featuring Kenneth Adelman, Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in the Reagan Administration; Thomas Graham, Jr., Special Representative of the President for Arms Control, Non-Proliferation, and Disarmament in the Clinton Administration; Richard Rhodes, author of Arsenals of Folly; The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race; Nicholas Thompson, author of The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan and the History of the Cold War; and moderated by Marvin Kalb, veteran journalist and author.

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Following an address by President Bill Clinton (via video), the final panel, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism and the Presidency, featured Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard University; Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; Leslie Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations; Graham Allison, Professor of Government at Harvard University; and moderated by Tom Gjelten, NPR correcponsdent.

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To mark the 30th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, the Kennedy Library hosted a tribute to its architect and visionary, I.M. Pei.  Family, colleagues and critics reflected on his extraordinary career with PBS host, Charlie Rose.

Professor Michael Sandel discussed his new book, Justice: What's the Right Thing To Do? (based on his legendary and influential Harvard course), with Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne.

Journalists Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker; Lynn Sweet Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun-Times and columnist for Politics Daily; and, Richard Wolffe of Newsweek and author of Renegade: The Making of a President, analyzed the media's coverage of President Obama's first year in office.  Commentator Callie Crossley of WGBH's Beat the Press moderated. *Ryan Lizza was unable to participate due to illness.

Jorge Dominguez, Professor of Latin American Politics at Harvard University; Adriana Bosch, writer and director of the PBS documentary Fidel Castro; and Carlos Saladrigas, co-chair of the Miami based Cuban Study Group, talked about the history of Cuba-U.S. relations and what lies ahead. Tom Gjelten, NPR correspondent and author of Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause, moderated.