All language subtitles for American.Prince.JFK.Jr.S01E02.540p.X265.AAC.[9jaRocks.Com]_track3_[eng]

♪

Radziwill: It was a very simple
wedding, you know?

It wasn't --
it wasn't fancy at all.

It's like buckets of roses
on the table

With some votive candles.

Rather:
John f. Kennedy jr. Confirmed

That he indeed married
carolyn bessette

Over the weekend.

The couple managed to outfox and
evade the entire tabloid press.

Like, he was pretty much
the most famous guy

In the world.

As a couple,
they were sought after.

They got married
on a tiny island.

There was not
a single photographer,

Except for the wedding
photographer, there.

The wedding was kept
a secret from the public

And indeed from many of their
family members, as well.

Radziwill: Just wanted
to keep it a little private

For a little bit longer --

Just a little bit.

That's the church.

Look there.

There's pig shit
and horse manure everywhere.

She came from fashion,

And he was passionate
about magazines.

It's funny 'cause his sister
got them a t-shirt

For their wedding,
and it said --

It was so cute --

"politics plus fashion
equals passion."

And that's what they were.

♪

South: I think physically,
they complemented each other.

She made john more attractive,

And john made her
more attractive,

And given how attractive
they both were to begin with,

That's a tall order.

Ginsberg: She's beautiful.

She's charming,
incredibly loving.

You'd look at her
and you'd say, "yeah,

Who wouldn't want to marry
carolyn bessette?"

Radziwill: Carolyn

Was definitely not
a "yes" person to john.

She did not want john
to be used in this, like,

Dog-and-pony-show way.

She made him feel
he could be his own person.

He didn't have to follow

What people expected of him.

Carolyn's mother
really loved john,

But when she made a toast,

I'll never forget the end of it.

She said, "I hope my daughter
has the strength for this."

Everyone just sort of stopped
for a moment.

♪

I think even carolyn,
in her way,

Underestimated the impact
of marrying john

And marrying into the family.

But her mom understood it
in a way that all of us

Would then come
to understand it later.

♪

♪

♪

I don't even think that
the pictures circulating around

Really do her justice.

She had a presence.

They were matched
'cause he was super charming,

Really funny.

[ indistinct conversations ]

Well, everybody was interested
in john's relationship

With anybody he might be dating.

Back then it was
sarah jessica parker

And then daryl hannah,
of course,

So that was a big deal,

And then carolyn bessette.

But you really,
over the course of his time,

Didn't see him with a lot
of different young women.

So, with carolyn,
everybody was really interested

Because it just seemed
like it was going somewhere.

♪

Radziwill:
Carolyn never met jackie,

But they shared an irreverent
sense of humor about things.

Jackie was kind of not naughty,

But, like,
she loved to gossip a little.

She wasn't, like,
super serious all the time.

[ laughter ]

There was a really, like,
fun side,

And I know that also because
she would write anthony letters,

And they would always be
so charming and funny

And, "oh, did you hear this
and that?"

And, in that way, I think
carolyn was very similar.

She would love to get down
and go through magazines

And talk about that person
or that person.

She could read a room
like nobody I've ever met,

And jackie had that quality,
too, having had to do that.

I'm sure
they would have gotten along.

And she wasn't an actress.

It's a big family,
and like all big families,

There's a lot of politics
and quirks

That you just have to learn --

Maybe john's family
more than other families.

There was a higher expectation,
and she didn't play the game.

She didn't, like, suck up
to anyone --

No one in his family.

She was just like, "hi."
[ laughs ] you know?

Carolyn and I came from
a very similar background.

I grew up
very humble beginnings,

Like, working-class
upstate new york.

Her mom was a single mom
raising three daughters

In a very working-class
neighborhood.

I think we felt like
a real sisterhood because of it.

We were like
the ultimate outsiders.

[ indistinct conversations ]

South: It's funny.
So many people

Felt like they got to know them

Through black tie

Or going into
kind of fancy things

Where there were photographers,

But their life
really was not fancy.

Where they lived
was definitely not fancy.

The more basic things could be,
the better.

[ dog pants, barks ]

They were not
a particularly domestic couple.

They had this guy named efi
who worked for them,

And sometimes efi would cook,

But if he didn't and
carolyn was making a big effort,

She would make her chicken.

Their going out was always
from point "a" to point "b."

There wasn't a lot
of wandering around

Because it could turn into
such a mess quickly.

Photographer: John,
can we get a picture of you

Real quick before you leave?

Oprah: Do you think that
you have that -- that right?

Kennedy: A right to privacy?

Mm-hmm.

I understand that
there's interest,

And, certainly,
that interest has --

It's not interest.
It's obsession, john.

Well, is that what it is?

Yeah.

Anthony: I would say that
john kennedy jr. Was at the top,

Especially here
in new york city.

He was john kennedy jr.
[ laughs ]

Who wouldn't be interested
in him?

Man: How you doing, john?

Kennedy: Good. How are you?

Pretty good.

Ginsberg: And john would give
them little bits of it.

We always knew
the paparazzi were hanging out

Wherever we were,

But he wouldn't,
you know, hide himself.

Anthony: But carolyn bessette
became a target.

Please don't get
so close to me.

Radziwill: You know,
they also lived in an apartment

With no doorman, no security.

Like, I think celebrities now --

They travel
with a lot of security.

They didn't ever have security.

There was no one.

The way john grew up,

He wanted to be
as normal as possible.

♪

Glass:
The last thing you want to do

Is have a blowout
with your girlfriend in public,

But that is
exactly what happened

Between john and his girlfriend,
carolyn bessette.

I remember when carolyn bessette
and kennedy

Had a fight outside my dorm.

Anthony: It was on the cover
of every newspaper

And on every tabloid

Because there's always
somebody photographing them.

It started out verbally,
but it got physical.

You know, whatever he said
just really pissed her off,

And there was no holding back.

She didn't care that she was
in the middle of a park.

This is obviously a lady
who just doesn't take anything

That the prince of camelot
hands out.

♪

Radziwill:
She also was very confident

And very strong-willed,

And I think when carolyn
came into his life,

It ruffled some feathers.

Like any fiancée, then wife,

You come
with a different perspective,

And I think she weeded
his social garden a little bit.

She was
very fiercely protective.

She knew immediately
if somebody was bad news.

He didn't want to see that.

He wanted to see the good
in people.

Carolyn had all the guile
that he lacked --

Guile in a good way.

Many titles have been bestowed
on john f. Kennedy jr. --

Sexiest man alive,

Most eligible bachelor.

Radziwill: The times
when I did go out with john

In more public events,
we were mobbed.

It was a circus.

[ paparazzi clamoring ]

He was like the number-one
pinup of the world,

And I guess
only princess diana comes close

In terms of the star power
that he carried around with him.

♪

Princess diana: I seem to be
on the front of a newspaper

Every single day,
which is isolating experience,

And the higher
the media place you

Is the bigger the drop.

Brown: I remember when I had
lunch with princess diana,

She said,
"I'm hoping that william

Can turn out to be
as smart about the press

As john kennedy jr."

Diana understood

That there was no shucking off
of this celebrity.

They were the
most famous people in the world,

So they were very much parallel.

He was a nepo baby
before there was such a thing.

[ cheers and applause ]
thank you. Thank you.

He had to do something
substantive

That people could point to
and say, "yeah,

That guy deserves it."

Soren: The handful of times

That I was in a social situation
with john f. Kennedy jr.,

When he walked in,
the room went to a hush.

He could sense
that they were uncomfortable

Because he was such
a famous person,

But it was also a little awkward

Because until george magazine,

He wasn't famous for
actually having done anything.

Ladies and gentlemen,
meet george.

♪

♪

Ginsberg: So, federal hall
is where george washington

Was first inaugurated.

It was the perfect place
to launch

George magazine.

Ladies and gentlemen,
john kennedy.

[ applause ]

Kennedy: I don't think that I've
seen as many of you in one place

Since they announced the results
of my first bar exam,

So it's nice to see you all
again.

This was before the era
of social media.

You know,
magazines drove culture.

We want our readers
to be on a first-name basis

With the people and the powers
that drive american politics.

Ginsberg: Who's gonna be on
the cover of vogue, vanity fair?

Who was on the cover,
what was inside

Was something
that people talked about.

Magazines were what
social media is today.

Ladies and gentlemen,
meet george.

[ applause ]

Me as george washington
on the cover --

I think that was
really refreshing.

It was such a new idea.

But seeing john kennedy jr.

Turn that cover around
like that, I think,

Is the thing that sticks
in people's mind

More than just the cover.

We'll talk about fashion,
television, and art

All as they relate
to the political process.

Kennedy
was harnessing his celebrity

Into something meaningful,

And most people don't bother
to do that.

Politics is much too important

To be left
only to the politicians.

Thank you.

[ applause ]

De niro: He was a young,
good-looking kid,

And, being from that world,

Obviously, he had
some thoughts about it.

It would seem logical
that he would want to do

Something like that
with the magazine.

♪

But it is also an understanding

That his popularity

And his celebrity

Is incredibly important

To his success.

He needs that.

Oh, hi. I'm murphy brown.
You must be my new secretary.

Oh, murphy, hi!
[ audience cheers wildly ]

It was one of those moments,
I say,

Like, when 1 plus 1 plus 1
equals 1,000.

Everything amplified each other.

[ kennedy chuckles ]

"murphy": What
the hell is this?

Kennedy: It's a
copy of george.

It's the new political
magazine I'm editing.

I had the, uh, guys
in the art department

Mock up a cover
with you on it.

It's pretty great, huh?

Brown: There was a kind of gusto
to it that I liked.

I mean, he went full on to try
to do this vision that he had,

And I think where he was clever

Was he did understand
the melding that had begun

Between politics
and entertainment.

Walters: Half a million copies
of this hip political magazine

Flew off newsstands
nationwide in just four days,

Making it the most successful
debut in magazine history.

Kennedy: You have to catch
people's attention,

And what we wanted to do
is george washington is an icon

And he's an american icon,

And we wanted to use
other american icons

To kind of play
with that iconography.

The first cover was very iconic

In that it was
a very clever idea,

And it sort of said in one image

It was not to be
the new republic or the nation.

He wanted to popularize
political discourse,

And I thought that one cover
went a long ways towards that.

Radziwill: Make it entertaining.
Make it pop culture.

That was unheard of
in politics in the '90s.

Like, cindy crawford

Dressed up as george washington

On the cover
of a glossy magazine --

That was, like, scandalous.

Woman: Do you remember
that it was carolyn's idea?

Radziwill: It was
her idea to do cindy.

I will say that I think a lot of
the covers were carolyn's ideas.

South: She was friends with
herb ritts, the photographer.

She had worked around herb
quite a bit because of calvin.

In order for a startup magazine
to get somebody like herb ritts,

There would had to have been
the relationship,

And the relationship was
very much carolyn, for sure.

He photographs women
the way they want to look.

It may be one
of the most iconic images of me

Because it wasn't just, like,

A beautiful picture of me
in a swimsuit.

I've never done a shoot
like that before,

And I have never done
a shoot like that afterwards.

I believe my midriff's showing.

There was a lot of discussion

About
"should we stuff the pants?"

At one point,
I had a sock in my pants.

It's funny --
like, a "supermodel"

As a sexy george washington.

Carter: Arie kopelman,
who was head of chanel --

He thought john was gonna eat
our lunch at vanity fair,

And I thought, "well, okay.
We'll see how that goes."

♪

I mean, that's what
we really aspired to be,

Was the vanity fair of politics.

Some pundits once said my
grandfather was a great ad man.

They said that he sold my father
like a box of soap flakes.

[ laughter ]

My grandfather
took great offense,

Claimed it wasn't true.

He said, "no!
I sold jack like a cadillac.

Nixon was the box
of soap flakes."

[ laughter ]

John's grandfather
joseph p. Kennedy

Was determined
to have one of his children

Become president
of the united states.

It was originally joe jr.,

Who was killed in a tragic
mission during world war ii,

And then once joe was gone,
he transferred all that

To john's dad.

He runs for president in 1960,

And television is born
on the first debate

Between kennedy and nixon.

Kennedy, in that first debate,

Held his own with nixon,

And kennedy came across
as dynamic

And energetic and charismatic,

And, you know,
the public loved him.

Only you can decide
what you want,

What you want this country
to be.

Ginsberg: He was fascinated
by that debate,

And it was this moment in time

That ultimately is
what george aspired to create,

Which is that convergence
of politics and popular culture.

We strive to produce a magazine

Uncolored by a single partisan
perspective, even mine.

Please welcome john kennedy!

Andersen:
So it was mythically perfect

That junior
would begin a magazine

About fun celebrities

Who were interested in politics!

Do you think that you
being who you are

Is the reason why george
is now so successful?

Readers might have
bought the first one

And maybe even
the second one.

But, you know, we're now
doing our seventh issue.

And I don't think people
would stick with us

If we weren't somehow
delivering what --

What do you keep looking at?

I'm looking at the...

If you look at who is reading
political magazines,

It was 98% white males.

So he said,
"I'm gonna just break it up.

I'm gonna be a disrupter.

I want this readership
to be half women.

I want people not just on the
coasts to read this magazine.

I want people in the middle
of the country to read it."

And so that was the magazine
that he envisioned.

He needs a broad base of women

To be invested in his love life.

He needs a broad swath
of men saying,

"how do I become cool
like this guy?"

King: John f. Kennedy jr. --
He is the mastermind

Of this extraordinary magazine,
george, which is a hoot.

How's it selling?

It's selling very well.

Yeah?

Yeah.

There are so many people
who wanted john to fail.

You know, george --
it's an entertainment magazine.

I mean, it's not highbrow --
highbrow journalism.

Who are these guardians
of political purity

And what political journalism
should be?

And we were a real threat
to that.

It's a magazine
that started with a theory

That there was a way
of covering politics

Largely as women's magazines
cover the world of fashion.

It indulges in gossip.

I don't think it has
a great deal of depth right now.

I think the media never
really took george seriously,

But I think it had a kind
of gaiety to it in the old sense

That I find rather appealing.

You know, people were,
"ugh. John kennedy's magazine."

I think there was a lot
of jealousy in the business,

And there was a lot of
"who does he think he is?"

♪

♪

Mr. President, marilyn monroe!

[ applause ]

♪ happy birthday ♪

♪ mr. President ♪

Ginsberg: I think biz mitchell,
an editor at the time,

Went to john and said,

"it's bill clinton's
50th birthday."

And I think that gave
john the idea

Of having somebody dress up
like marilyn monroe.

That was just john's
mischievousness,

For good or for bad.

♪

Brown: When he did
the marilyn monroe cover

With drew barrymore,
that was an intake of breath

Where you thought,
"wait a minute," you know?

"she was having an affair
with your father.

Are we now going there?
Is this is what we're gonna do?"

Carmody: David pecker, being
the dealmaker that he is --

One thing he agreed to,

Which I think he
maybe later came to regret,

Is that he gave john
complete editorial control.

We're already seeing
an immediate return.

George has captured
the imaginations of advertisers

Like no other magazine launch
in the history of publishing.

No one editor has
complete editorial control --

Even anna wintour.

Winfrey: Can we talk about
that current cover

With drew barrymore?

I'm wondering how the rest
of the family reacted to that.

I think in the grand
scheme of things,

It probably didn't register
too high on the --

On the richter scale.

Yeah?

Depaulo: Keep in mind,

He also once wanted to do
a cover of his mother,

And he asked his ex-girlfriend
madonna to do it,

And she said,

"johnny boy,
I'm not gonna play mommy"

Or something like that.

♪

Radziwill: John is always
pushing the boundaries

And he's testing the limits.

It must have been hard
for him to grow up with a father

Who was mythical.

The only things
he remembered from his father

Were the memories
that people told him.

He has none of his own memories.

His dad was a trailblazer --

The first catholic president
of the united states.

He was pushing boundaries
all over the place,

So I think of john
as having a little of that.

[ crowd cheering ]

Ginsberg:
I think part of the desire

To do a political magazine

Was to be able to learn
about his father's presidency

In the first person

And understand it
on his own terms.

♪

His search was "in search
of my father, finding myself,"

And george gave him
the material or the tools

To further engage that search
in a different way.

Ginsberg: So part of that
exploration in our first issue

Was going down to alabama
to meet george wallace,

Who had physically stood
in the doorway

Of the university of alabama

To prevent students
from desegregating.

John's father went
on national tv...

We face, therefore,
a moral crisis

As a country and a people.

Ginsberg:
...And, for the first time,

Committed to passing
a civil rights bill,

Which ultimately became
the civil rights bill of 1964.

So, john wanted to understand
that moment in time,

But a secondary purpose was
that in the late '70s,

George wallace decided

That he was no longer
gonna be a racist,

And he embraced integration.

Man [british accent]: Governor,
may we have a few words

For british
television, sir?

Yes, sir. What you want to ask?

Tell me. You are still
remembered in britain, sir,

As a segregationalist.
Has that all changed?

Oh, that's been 20 years ago.
That's not an issue.

I don't even talk about it.

Ginsberg: There was something
that appealed to john

About people
who were flexible enough

To reconsider hardened views,

And I think he looked
at somebody like george wallace

And saw a lot
of political courage

In being able to see the sins
of his past and repent for it.

John's always having this
ongoing dialogue with his family

And his relationship
with his father,

So he wants to go back
and interview these people

Who had been
his father's adversaries,

So he goes to cuba

To interview fidel castro.

Man: In cuba, 300,000 militiamen
have been mobilized.

The invasion was successful
in its early hours,

With castro, of course,
blaming the u.S.

Gillon:
One of the biggest blunders

Of president kennedy's
administration --

When he launched
the bay of pigs invasion

To try to overthrow castro.

But castro's army
was waiting on the beaches,

Which leads to
the famous cuban missile crisis,

And we're in the verge
of nuclear holocaust.

So, castro seemed like an odd
person for john to interview,

But john goes to cuba,
and they wait for the word

When they're gonna have
the interview,

And it goes on
for day after day.

John was about to leave cuba

Because castro kept delaying
the meeting,

And carolyn told him,
"get on that phone

And say you're john kennedy

And you're not leaving
till you get an interview."

Carmody: They waited three days
to see castro,

Who was supposedly a jerk.

They finally had this dinner
that lasted well into the night,

And the one thing
that john hated

Was dinners
that went on and on and on.

You know, john had
a really short attention span,

So castro gets his knife

And he puts it in a shrimp,

And he goes on for two hours.

He was, like, going like this

And then pointing the shrimp
at john.

John said to me,
"all I could think is,

'eat the fucking shrimp!'"

[ laughs ]

And castro leaned in to him
and said,

"I could never have allowed
oswald to go back to cuba."

What he was telling john
was he had nothing to do

With his father's assassination.

No one else could have had
that conversation with john.

Depaulo: I think he definitely
wanted to know more

About his dad.

He was interviewing castro --
okay? --

Who a lot of people think
killed his father.

I think castro maybe saddened
and frustrated and angered john,

And he was an editor,

And he decided in that moment
not to write about that.

Carmody: He came back, and he's
like, "we're not running it."

And I had sold advertising
against it

'cause it was gonna be
this historical thing

On the anniversary
of the bay of pigs.

It was sort of
this renewed enthusiasm,

And it was like,
"no. We're not doing that."

♪

So, the advertisers
were putting pressure

On michael berman
to reveal more of john.

Hachette always wanted george
to be

Essentially a celebrity fan club

With john as the main celebrity.

He should have had a great
number two who would say,

"no, this is not the best idea"
or "this is a good idea,"

'cause he was probably
just too much in charge.

You want people around you

Who will fold their arms
and come into your office

And say,
"this is a terrible idea,"

And then you realize,
"okay, it's a bad idea."

♪

♪

[ helicopter blades whirring ]

Ginsberg: I remember
he went to do an interview

With oliver stone.

That was a big deal --
right? --

'cause he had done the movie
about his dad,

About the assassination.

He had gone out with all
these wild conspiracy theories.

There was a small conspiracy.

It could involved
5 to 10 people, maybe 11, 12,

To kill the president.

Oliver stone had a big movie
coming out about richard nixon,

Which was right
in their wheelhouse, right?

I mean, it's a president,

And it's gonna be
a big hollywood production.

And john said, "I'm gonna go
do this dinner with him,

Gonna ask him
to do the magazine --

You know, participate --

But he can't bring up
the assassination."

Gillon: Stone promised he
wouldn't say anything to john

About his father's
assassination.

Of course, they sit down, and
not long into the conversation,

He brings it up,

And john gets up, and he --
he leaves on -- on cue.

♪

John was so furious
that stone would do that,

Especially after he was told
not to and had agreed not to,

That he cut
the whole stone feature.

And, again, we had the cover
shot and everything else.

Came back --
"we're not doing the story."

♪

Michael berman was --
he actually believed this,

But he was also channeling
some of the complaints

He was getting
from hachette themselves,

Who just were constantly
pushing john to do more.

There was something very
personal about it for him, too.

Gillon: He said,
"I don't understand

Why people are so fascinated
by my father's death."

He mentioned something
about the oliver stone movie,

And he, like, paused,
and he was like, "yeah,

Bobby knew everything."

Ginsberg:
He said it to me, too.

He said, "the only person
who really knows what happened

With my father's assassination

Was my uncle bobby."

I was eager
to try something different,

To see another part of life.

Carmody: If this was
a normal magazine,

The issue doesn't just disappear

Because somebody
is personally offended by it.

He had the power to do it

Because hachette gave john
complete editorial control.

That is unheard of
in a magazine company.

It was -- it was a problem...

For michael.

The experts early on advised us
of just one other key point --

Never go into business
with a friend.

♪

Man:
Ladies and gentlemen,

The president
of the united states,

William jefferson clinton.

[ cheers and applause ]

My fellow americans,
thank you for your nomination.

I don't know if I can find
a fancy way to say this, but...

I accept.

[ cheers and applause ]

[ los del rio's "macarena"
plays ]

Rigueur: The thing
that symbolizes, to me,

The celebrity moment of the '96
democratic national convention

Is the moment that the entire
room is doing the macarena.

[ song continues ]

It is the most popular song
in america.

It involves line dancing.

And we see all
of these delegations

Break out in a round robin
of macarena,

Including hillary clinton
and al gore.

Very famously,
al gore is very stiff.

[ cheers and applause ]

Would you like to see it again?

Rigueur: It's like this cultural
moment where it's like,

These are people that are cool,

That have their pulse
on the nation,

And we have the president

Who is one
with the american people.

Celebrities --
they're just like us.

The president --
he's just like us.

But the other part of it
is you have the reign

Of the kennedy family,

And it is all of the kennedys.

They are basking in,
essentially,

Their political dynasty.

Ginsberg: In 1996,

When I was in chicago with john,

Tom brokaw invited him
to be on prime time.

Brokaw: You have, whether
you're in politics or not,

One of the most public lives
anywhere in the world.

You can't go anywhere --

Kennedy: Seems
that way, yeah.

Brokaw: You can't go
anywhere without being noticed.

Is that part
of the resistance

To get involved in
elective politics?

No. I mean, one of them
doesn't really have

A lot to do
with the other,

But I think,
certainly in politics,

Once you begin,

You better be in it
for the long haul.

Um, and for me,
you know,

It's important to have
a few life experiences

Before you do that.

That's what john adams
thought politicians should do,

And maybe it's, you know,
what will happen to me.

In the lead-up to
the launch of george magazine,

There is an intense amount
of scrutiny around

What is john f. Kennedy jr.'s
thing going to be?

Is he going to go into politics
and policy

Like the rest of his family?

Is he going to be a lawyer?

Is he going to be a failure?

And so it moves
from a conversation

Around "what is he gonna do?"

To "this is his
big crowning achievement."

When we walked out --
I'm not exaggerating --

There were probably 2,000
screaming democratic delegates

Who thought that jesus christ
was walking out of that box.

They were grabbing him.
They chased us to the car.

♪

Repoorter: I gotta ask you
about the party tonight.

Kennedy: Yes.
I hope you'll come.

[ chuckles ] well,
who's gonna be there?

I don't know.

How exciting is
this going to be?

It's gonna be
very exciting.

I'm not sure
who's gonna be there,

But, apparently,
a lot of folks.

[ cheers and applause ]
woman: John! Cnn! John!

Rigueur:
It's the 1996 convention

Where he throws a rager
of a party.

It's the kind of party

That people are clamoring
to get in on

On the guest list.

Man: John, a lot's
being said this week

About the connection
between entertainment

And politics.

Is that what this
party is about?

Kennedy: Well, we'll
see who shows up,

But, uh, hopefully

It makes for a good
party, anyway.

Man: What is
that connection?

Ginsberg:
There was just one event

That everybody needed
to get into,

And that was the george party,

And we held it
at the largest venue we could.

They had to close it down

Because they had been
so overwhelmed.

We had everybody
from kevin costner

To maria shriver to who's who.

I mean, they were all there.

Soren:
Movie critic roger ebert

And comedian chris rock.

Rock: Democrats have much
more fun than republicans.

John f. Kennedy jr.
Was really great

At figuring out the zeitgeist,

Wanting to be part
of something new and exciting.

Rigueur:
So, while you have the clintons,

It's also really about john,
as well.

He can't step foot on the floor
without being mobbed by people.

People are asking
for his autograph.

This is a political convention.
[ laughs ]

John had tremendous charisma
and tremendous presence.

He was a natural.

Everybody just assumed
that, one day,

He was gonna be
in the running to be president.

♪

♪

[ cheers and applause ]

O'donnell: Pretty amazing.

Kennedy:
I got married.

O'donnell: How'd you do it?

How did I, uh --
how did I do it?

You just literally
didn't tell anyone?

It was important for us
just to, uh, be able to do it

In a private and --
and personal way,

And it wouldn't have
been able to --

We wouldn't have been
able to do it had we --

Had we told everybody.

♪

Think about it.
In the two years

After his mom died,

He started a magazine
and he got married.

This was like -- sort of like
a-a rebirth for him, in a way.

Of course, he had started
working on the magazine

Years earlier.

♪

But it all came together
after his mom passed away.

♪

The expectation when they went
public was excruciating.

Carolyn and john wanted
to stave that off, I think,

As long as possible.

And it also felt pretty
good to be able to do it

And then leave and
sort of know that --

That in about two hours,

There was gonna be --

A big bomb was gonna go off.

Right.

♪

Gillon: There was always
this pressure on john

To reveal more of himself.

He would give a piece
of himself here and there

Through his letters
from the editor.

♪

Brown:
The editor's letter is a way

To communicate with readers
in a way that makes --

Tries to create a dialogue
between you and them.

Well, here's a great example.

Sometimes the letters could
reflect where his head was at.

The letter from a month
after he got married

Certainly does that.

"it's true that political life
can be a strain on a marriage.

The husband usually gets
all the attention,

While the wife is expected
not only to give up her career

But gaze adoringly
during every photo opportunity."

"they have little privacy
and even less time together.

But in another respect,

The crisis and isolation
of a public life

Create a sense of shared burden
that can bring a couple closer."

Really just in maybe a little
bubble of friendship, family.

Like, we were just protected
in a way that just disappeared

Once they officially were
husband and wife.

♪

Ginsberg:
John's sister, caroline,

Had a very big wedding
in hyannis port,

And I don't think
he wanted that wedding.

He wanted it super small
and super private.

Radziwill:
They decided cumberland island

'cause his friend gogo ferguson

Owned a bed and breakfast there.

♪

There were only like
10 people living there,

So they could keep it quiet
for as long as possible.

♪

But no one believed
that they could pull it off.

They are real talkers,
those kennedys.

So john decided
not to tell any of them

Until, like, the weekend before.

I think john ended up inviting
like one cousin

From each arm of his family.

Like, it was one representative
from each.

And then, of course,
senator kennedy and his wife.

His wife's brother
was a wedding photographer.

They were able
to really keep it quiet.

They kept it so private
and prayerful,

They didn't tell
half of his family.

His cousin patrick kennedy
told somebody,

Even though he was not invited
to the wedding,

That his cousin john
got married yesterday.

My cousin john
did tie the knot yesterday.

[ applause ]

And that's how we found out
they did get married.

♪

I think in her mind,
she wanted to be able

To go on her honeymoon
and still be private.

Everyone benefited
from proximity with john,

Even his cousins.

I think she wasn't happy
about that.

It's a sad day if it's true
for all the women out there.

Anthony:
Everyone just went crazy.

The media attention
for john and carolyn

Got a lot worse
when they got married

Because then everybody
wanted to know,

"what about this chick
that landed john kennedy jr.?"

Because then it wasn't
just one person,

It was two people

That everybody
was really interested in.

♪

[ horn honks ]

♪

Woman: 64 degrees.
Beautiful day.

Sunny skies in new york.

Anthony:
They went on a honeymoon,

But you're gonna have to see
pictures of them

'cause they got to come back
to new york and to tribeca,

Where they live, eventually.

Man: Hold it, please, for us.
Look this way.

Ohh!

I can see,
but we're not getting it.

No one knew
that they were getting married.

They get married secretly.

They come back
from their honeymoon,

And, suddenly, you know,
they come home to an apartment

That's being staked out
by 30 paparazzi

Whose livelihood depends
upon getting a shot.

So, we're just asking any,
you know, privacy...

Ginsberg: Guys,
can you back up?

...And room you can give her
as she makes that adjustment...

Ginsberg: Please.
Back up.

...We'd really
appreciate it.

Depaulo: There are stories
that he would say to her,

"once we get married,
this will stop."

♪

And it didn't stop.

It got worse.

Man: Come on, john.

Kennedy:
She's on the beach alone,

And you start taking
[bleep] photographs!

♪

♪

Man #1: We're not getting it...
We're not getting it, john.

Man #2: Are there any
little johns on the way?

Man #1: John, we're
not getting it.

Can you look at the lens?

Back up and look
this way, carolyn.

Carolyn, look
this way.

John... John
whoooaaa!

Rigueur:
When they emerge as a couple

And their wedding photos

Are in every major magazine
across the country,

Newspapers treat it
as, like, front-page news

That little john has grown up
and is getting married.

[ paparazzi chatter ]

There's a kind of frenzy
around this

Because everybody wants to be
in on the details.

They want to know the secrets.

Man: Kennedy confronted
a pair of photographers.

In the end, they got no privacy.

They had a lot of hostile
engagements with paparazzi,

But it was more her than him.

♪

And, you know, I wish that she
would have handled that better

Because marrying
john kennedy jr.,

They're gonna want your picture.

Ginsberg: John understood
the role of the paparazzi,

Which was, I think,
why it was so hard

When carolyn had such
a visceral reaction to it.

He didn't like it,
but he understood

It was part and parcel
of being john kennedy.

Woman: John! John!
John! Over here!

South: John had had
a lifetime of training.

For carolyn,
she worked in a p.R. Department,

And what she did was
control the optics

Around the calvin klein brand.

And I think the struggle was

She realized she had
absolutely no control over this

As it related to her,

And I think that
was most difficult.

You guys got enough.
Why don't you leave now?

There's certainly
a gendered element to this.

They treat her poorly,

In part because she is a woman.

♪

Radziwill: Yeah, sure.
She was an ice queen.

What? 'cause she didn't sit down
and give interviews?

Too fuckin' bad.

She didn't want to.

That was her choice.

She's a grown woman.

♪

Here's carolyn bessette,
who's like,

"I don't want to be a celebrity.

Therefore, I do not want
to give you access,"

And so the press
and the tabloids say,

"well, we have no choice
but to provoke you."

Ma'am, please.

[ camera shutters clicking ]

Ginsberg: Princess diana
was living that struggle

So publicly --

Her fights with the paparazzi
during that period.

I'm sure carolyn was watching it

And feeling like she was
the american version of it,

And it probably just
heightened her sense

Of isolation and frustration.

♪

Brown:
Diana and carolyn bessette

Lived very, very parallel paths.

The actual reality
of living with that

Was something that had came
with so much pressure

And so much ugliness.

♪

Ginsberg:
And then diana dies,

Which really
kind of set things off.

♪

Young:
The people's princess is dead.

Across the country,
across the world,

Millions are trying
to come to terms

With the awful tragedy
of diana's untimely death.

♪

Radziwill: I was in aspen
when diana's car crashed,

And carolyn was in new york.

And I remember being
on the phone with her

During the funeral.

I don't know.
It was, like, very profound.

I mean, princess diana was --

You know, she was our age,

Pretty much.

♪

And the underlying way
in which she died,

Which was being literally
hounded to death by paparazzi.

And that lesson was
definitely not lost on carolyn.

Depaulo: I just remember crying
the whole way home,

Thinking of john,

Like, "please be safe.

Be safe."

The only time we've seen
a mass mourning

In any way to touch diana

Really was the death of jfk.

[ drum beating rhythmically ]

It was a shock
because now this is proof.

This is li-- like...

This is what could happen
if things get out of hand.

I'm not, but you started it.

Radziwill:
You know, they were --

They were looking for houses
outside new york

Because they were talking
about family and having kids,

And carolyn just couldn't see
raising kids in the city,

And she wanted privacy.

♪

Princess diana was trying
to get away from the paparazzi.

John was always trying
to get away from the paparazzi,

And he -- you know...

That's why he loved to fly.

♪