Talk show host PHIL DONAHUE joined a collection of historians and students to try to pin down the legacy of John F. Kennedy ’40 during a taping for the History Channel.

An unusual assembly of historians, college students and talk show host Phil Donahue tried to tease out the lasting legacy of John F. Kennedy ’40 at a History Channel taping at Harvard Saturday.

Forty years after Kennedy’s death, a motley audience filled the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum for the televised discussion, which will air later this month as a special program, “The Kennedy Presidency: History or Hype?”

Donahue led a panel consisting of Warren Professor of American History Ernest R. May, Kennedy biographer Robert Dallek and Steve Gillon, the History Channel’s resident historian.

Ted Sorensen—who advised Kennedy for 11 years, both during his senatorship and his presidency—viewed the open-floor discussion from his seat perched above the forum.

The show seemed caught in its title’s own conundrum, one part serious intellectual debate, the other part made-for-TV testimony.

After an audience warm-up and a last-minute nose powdering, the cameras began to roll and Donahue slipped into his talk-show routine.

He encouraged the audience to jump in and share their views of Kennedy.

“You’re not a wax museum,” Donahue said. “Let’s not make this look like church.”

Members of the audience lauded the 35th president, enumerating the many instances which showed Kennedy’s capacity as a leader, including the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Civil Rights Movement.

Several spoke of Kennedy’s seemingly boundless optimism, an image of youth and heroism which they said he carefully cultivated with the help of television and the media.

Others described Kennedy as a social crusader, including two African students, who separately described the almost godly stature he has achieved in their native countries. Some members of the audience also characterized Kennedy as a war hero who applied the same compassion in foreign affairs as he dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement.

Few if any of the student’s remarks were critical, and most praised Kennedy’s ability to set a positive, uplifting tone for the entire nation.

The specter of Vietnam arose in a number of audience members’ comments, but criticism on that count was muted as well.

Anna Holt, a junior from MIT, argued that there was a shift in Kennedy as his presidency progressed, describing him as a “politician who made the transition to a statesman.”

Many members of the audience said that Kennedy has come to symbolize an image of glamour, so that he’s more admired now for his inspiring, idealistic speeches than for specific policies.