After milking the audience for their views and opinions, Donahue turned to the members of the panel to address the same questions about Kennedy’s identity and legacy.
“I don’t think Kennedy would have escalated the war [in Vietnam] as Johnson did,” said Dallek, adding that he believed the next president to reintroduce the kind of “moral fervor” exemplified by Kennedy was likely to be a woman. This comment met a long round of applause from the audience.
“I’m not sure Kennedy would be elected today,” Gillon said. “We are too cynical to see his optimism through a haze of other issues concerning his private life.”
Towards the end of the session, Sorensen rose from his private booth above the audience.
“This has been extraordinary,” he said. “I am impressed with the number of students whose knowledge of Kennedy is dead on.” But he added that some on stage and in the audience didn’t “have it quite right.”
Sorensen went on to describe Kennedy’s achievements in the area of civil rights and in quelling the threat of Communism on the international stage.
The audience, he said, wasn’t as familiar with the context of the Kennedy presidency as those who lived it.
“The audience [can’t] understand that 40 years ago, the world lived on the brink of nuclear destruction. We experienced 13 of the most dangerous days in the history of the world,” said Sorensen. “Kennedy stood cool and calm, and because of him, we’re still here to talk about it.”
Sorensen also took the opportunity to blast the Bush administration, contrasting Bush’s use of power with Kennedy’s diplomacy.
“Kennedy was a firm believer in the U.N.,” said Sorensen. “With the help of Muslim, Catholic and secular countries, the United States would be much further along in this war on terrorism.”
After the panel wrapped up and the red “on air” light shut off, students lined up to get their photo taken with Donahue.
“It’s not every day that you have the chance to argue in front of Phil Donahue,” said Steve Kohart, a first-year at Babson College who heard about the session through his school’s Republican club.
For some though, the draw was less Donahue than the topic.
May, who said he wasn’t sure if he had ever watched Donahue’s daytime talk show but has appeared on the History Channel before, said the discussion was informative.
“I have a stronger sense now of the extent to which Kennedy has been an icon for our generation as well as yours,” May said.
“The Kennedy Presidency: History or Hype?” will air on the History Channel on Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. as part of a series of programs leading up to the Nov. 22 anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination.