The other DrC and I have been watching The Kennedys on TV the last few nights, and thanking our lucky stars we have a DVR so we can fast forward through the many commercials. In a word, we think it is good.
I am old enough to remember much of what is portrayed, and I believe it to be largely accurate, at least in terms of political history. Joe, Sr. was somewhat enthused about the Third Reich. The Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban missile crisis went down about the way they are shown. The speeches JFK gave on TV are history.
There are other things about which less is known definitively, like what was said in cabinet meetings leading up to those crises. Various members of the inner circle have written memoirs reporting their recollections of who said what. I doubt they've always agreed.
One thing that isn't portrayed in a manner believable to me is the bluster of the chairman of the joint chiefs. Military leaders are not often anxious to go to war, as they know better than most how nasty war is. The general's dialog sounds like it was written by an anti-war liberal and represents what such a person believes a general sounds like.
On the other side of the ledger are the interpersonal interactions of the family and their retainers and friends. Was Joe Sr. as much of a bully as portrayed? Probably. Were he and Jack the womanizers they are shown to be? Likely. Did their women agonize over it? Also likely. Did the Kennedy men love the wives they cheated on? I suspect they did. Was Bobby as tough as he is shown? I believe so.
Much is known about the semi-private lives of these highly visible people. Surrounded by aides, political functionaries, accountants, nannies, chauffeurs, secretaries, gardeners, cooks, and the like, it was hard to keep secrets. It will be interesting to see the concluding episodes of this mini-series.
