The NBC Universal Archives YouTube channel is a treasure trove of footage from days past, and their mashup of appearances John F. Kennedy made on NBC News over the years does not disappoint. It kicks off with a 1951 appearance on Meet the Press when Kennedy was still a Congressman and ends with with a Sept. 9, 1963 appearance on The Huntley – Brinkley Report — a little more than a month before he was assassinated in Dallas.
He covers a range of topics — economic prosperity, the Soviet Union, Vietnam, civil rights, and more — but his appearance in 1957 on the daytime talk show Home, hosted by a practically fawning Arlene Francis with a young Hugh Downs serving as announcer and co-host, was particularly interesting. Then Senator Kennedy fielded questions by several young people on a panel and spoke at length about the differences between Republicans and Democrats, the role of women in politics and the spread of communism, vis a vis the Soviet block.
