0:00:02 > 0:00:06Gee, it must be great riding with him. Is he picking you up after school today?
0:00:06 > 0:00:09- Mm-mm. - By the way, where'd you meet him?
0:00:09 > 0:00:11# I met him at the candy store
0:00:11 > 0:00:15# He turned around and smiled at me You get the picture?
0:00:15 > 0:00:16Yes, we see.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19# That's when I fell for the leader of the pack
0:00:19 > 0:00:21REVVING
0:00:25 > 0:00:29# My folks were always putting him down
0:00:29 > 0:00:31# Down, down
0:00:31 > 0:00:35# They said he came from the wrong side of town
0:00:35 > 0:00:39# What do you mean when you say that he came from the wrong side of town?
0:00:39 > 0:00:43# They told me he was bad
0:00:43 > 0:00:47# But I know he was sad
0:00:47 > 0:00:51# That's why I fell for the leader of the pack
0:00:51 > 0:00:53REVVING
0:00:53 > 0:00:56# The leader of the pack Now he's gone
0:00:56 > 0:01:00# The leader of the pack Now he's gone... #
0:01:08 > 0:01:11John F Kennedy,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15part of a dynasty his father had planned would go on for generations.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22But as tragedy struck again and again,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26the children would have to cope with death and disaster.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30Based on home movies and the memoirs of those who looked after them,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34this is the inside story
0:01:34 > 0:01:37of growing up in one of America's most powerful families.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Some of my happiest memories are when the children were small.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00We'd all play together -
0:02:00 > 0:02:02nannies, brothers, sisters and cousins.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07But only rarely would we be joined by their parents.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Of course you won't see any of us in the family albums,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14but we were the ones who watched over and guided the young Kennedys
0:02:14 > 0:02:16as they grew up.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19And though they didn't realise it, the children were being moulded
0:02:19 > 0:02:23to play their parts in the great Kennedy story.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25A story of ambition,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27power and wealth.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33I often wondered what the children made of it all,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37this strange existence - always in the limelight,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40yet always overshadowed by their famous parents.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46But when a child is only five, eight or 10 years old,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and his parents seem to live on another planet, surrounded by guards
0:02:49 > 0:02:51and monitored minute-by-minute,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55how could they possibly understand what was expected of them?
0:02:58 > 0:03:02And yet they always played the parts they'd been given.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05They were small parts, of course,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08but, like extras in a film, they played them to perfection,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10as their parents had before them.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17The entire Kennedy clan's destiny
0:03:17 > 0:03:20was part of a master plan conceived years earlier
0:03:20 > 0:03:22by their grandfather.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27"Look out there," JFK would say to his children.
0:03:27 > 0:03:32"On a fine day, you can see Ireland, the land of our forefathers."
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Grandpa Joe, as the children called him,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42believed himself to be the best of fathers
0:03:42 > 0:03:44and yet, in pursuit of his dreams,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48he would control his children's lives down to the last detail.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55Joe was appointed the United States ambassador in London.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57He saw his posting as the first stage of his plan.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03His wife, Rose, and their nine children came out to join him.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Joe Junior, the eldest, was 23.
0:04:06 > 0:04:12John Fitzgerald, the future President, 21, and Bobby, 13.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Even Teddy, the youngest, had his part to play.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19But when their father's career didn't work out,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23it was the children who would feel the weight of his unfulfilled ambitions.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28And that's when the Kennedy curse began.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32The first life it cost was his eldest son, Joe Junior.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39He died serving as a pilot with the United States Air Force in Britain.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43So John suddenly became the eldest.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46# The tears were beginning to show... #
0:04:46 > 0:04:49John, high-spirited and a bit rebellious,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52was more interested in writing than running the world.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55# I knew he was sad
0:04:55 > 0:04:59# That's why I fell for the leader of the pack... #
0:04:59 > 0:05:05He said to a friend, "I'm sure the old man is planning something for me.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08"I won't be able to get out of it, so I'd better get on with it."
0:05:08 > 0:05:12# He stood there and asked me why... #
0:05:12 > 0:05:18In 1960, John - or JFK, as he was known - began his campaign for President.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20# ..The leader of the pack. #
0:05:23 > 0:05:27Now it was the next generation's turn to play out their parts.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Caroline, JFK's youngest daughter, repeated the words
0:05:31 > 0:05:34her nanny had taught her to say on the morning of his election.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38"Good morning, Mr President," she sang out with a curtsy.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44'And I can assure you that...
0:05:44 > 0:05:47'every degree of mind and spirit that I possess
0:05:47 > 0:05:52'will be devoted to the long-range interest of the United States'
0:05:52 > 0:05:56and to the cause of freedom around the world.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00So now my wife and I prepare for a new administration
0:06:00 > 0:06:02and for a new baby.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10In those first heady days, our charges were so very young.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Joseph and Kathleen, Bobby's eldest, were eight and nine.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Robert, Eunice's son, was six.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22Christopher, Patricia's son, was five, and little Caroline barely three.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27Little John-John, JFK and Jackie's second child, had only just been born.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33But already their parents seemed concerned only with how their children could support them.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Preoccupied with their own image,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43they simply didn't have time or make the time.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Neither of their parents were there the first time Robert and David rode a bike,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50or around to discipline them when they were naughty.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54Our little Kennedys had to have substitute parents -
0:06:54 > 0:06:58their bodyguards and us, their nannies.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02And the TV that was switched on from morning till night.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09They went through childhood without anyone seeming to answer their questions.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28That spring was hectic.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Jackie and John went off on diplomatic visits all over the world.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38Each time the President went away, he came back loaded with presents.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42An Eiffel Tower snow dome for Caroline.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45A Scottish kilt for Kathleen, Bobby's first born.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Or a Russian babushka for their niece, Maria Shriver.
0:07:51 > 0:07:57When they were away on their long trips, Caroline and John-John felt abandoned.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02Of course, the President went away to secure the happiness of all little Americans like them,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06but how could they be expected to understand?
0:08:06 > 0:08:11JFK's health was fragile, and he was in constant agony from back pain.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17But the President was the most powerful man in the world,
0:08:17 > 0:08:22and the children couldn't imagine him ill or twisted with pain on his bed,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25which was the reality of his life.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28So he put them off the scent.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Just for the length of a television appearance,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35he would be without crutches, as the children queued up to greet him.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40The main thing was to keep the image America had of them intact.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16But then, on Christmas Eve,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20tragedy struck the Kennedy family once again.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25During a game of golf, the President's father, Joe Senior, collapsed.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30He'd had a stroke.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32We tried to comfort our charges.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Even though their grandfather frightened them a bit,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37they had wonderful memories of him.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46Half paralysed, Joe could no longer speak,
0:09:46 > 0:09:51and our children would never play with Grandpa Joe again.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54The President was devastated.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59He was shaken to the core at having lost both his source of inspiration and his master.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08But he quickly found comfort in his younger brother, Bobby.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Bobby already had seven children
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and seemed to lead a stable life with his wife, Ethel.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22John turned to him as to an older brother.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34For us, daily life continued as normal -
0:10:34 > 0:10:38if being surround by endless bodyguards could be considered normal.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43So as not to frighten the children,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46they were introduced as caring uncles,
0:10:46 > 0:10:51although, from time to time, I would be asked, "Why does Uncle Jim always carry a gun?"
0:10:51 > 0:10:56And I would answer, "Because he likes playing cowboys and Indians, of course."
0:10:57 > 0:11:02I don't think they believed me for a minute, but it kept up appearances,
0:11:02 > 0:11:05and at the White House, appearances were everything.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12So when the President received his nephew, Robert, aged just eight,
0:11:12 > 0:11:13at the White House,
0:11:13 > 0:11:18he wrote this dedication, "To a Kennedy visiting his future home."
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Robert was Bobby's son,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28and John would never have written the same dedication to his sister's sons.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33His sisters had married a Shriver, a Lawford and a Smith.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37And even if their children still had Kennedy as part of their name,
0:11:37 > 0:11:42in everyone's mind, there were the real Kennedys and the false ones.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48The idea that girls and boys had equal value was not something
0:11:48 > 0:11:53that Joe Kennedy had installed as a belief system in his offspring.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04But, boy or girl, they still had their roles to play,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06though as they grew up,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10they soon realised that they would never be able to live up to the hopes invested in them.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16John and Jackie did not think themselves bad parents.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19They were informal and unpredictable,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and were pleased that their children were playing their part
0:12:22 > 0:12:24in the grand story of the Kennedy dynasty.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38At Hyannis Port, the family's summer home,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40the President often brought back presents.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45A photo of a summit meeting, or the pen with which he had signed a treaty,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48and he distributed souvenirs like kisses.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Come the evening, I would watch the children jealously guard such spoils
0:12:54 > 0:12:58of the Presidential feast as they had managed to get their hands on.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01# Twas so good to be young then
0:13:01 > 0:13:04# In the season... #
0:13:04 > 0:13:06And as Attorney General,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10Bobby Kennedy even had his speeches bound before solemnly handing them
0:13:10 > 0:13:13over to his son David or to the other children.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17So year on year,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21the young Kennedys were drawn into the great Kennedy vision.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23And whenever the family circle grew,
0:13:23 > 0:13:28they would welcome the new baby as a new representative of the clan.
0:13:28 > 0:13:34At Christopher's baptism, as holy water was sprinkled onto the baby's forehead,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Bobby said, "We are branches of the same tree,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41"growing proudly on American soil, which must be watered."
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Perhaps that's why the Kennedys had such a passion for the sea,
0:13:49 > 0:13:54as if to purify their children in its vast baptismal waters.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05Yet how could they forget that baptism signifies both life and death?
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Jackie's third child was due in October.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15If it was a boy,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18he would be given the second name of his grandfather, Patrick.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26And if it was a girl, Caroline wanted to call her Susan.
0:14:34 > 0:14:35One day,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Maude, the children's nanny,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41noticed that Jackie seemed pale and tired.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45It was her day off, but Maude said to Jackie, "I'm going to stay,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48"you don't look well, and the children will need their nanny."
0:14:48 > 0:14:50But Jackie refused,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54and that evening, having spent the day with a friend,
0:14:54 > 0:14:55Maude heard on the radio
0:14:55 > 0:14:59that she had been rushed to hospital, for a premature birth.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04The President left Washington immediately to be with her.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08The Kennedy curse had struck again.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Patrick Kennedy died at 4.04am.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17The strain... of the baby's attempts to breathe,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20with the problems with his lung, caused his heart to expire.
0:15:20 > 0:15:26The President and his brother, the Attorney General, and Dave Powers
0:15:26 > 0:15:29were with the baby when he died.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34The President plans to fly tomorrow morning to the Otis Air Force Base to see Mrs Kennedy.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41Caroline was told that she wouldn't have a little brother after all.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Just as she had been taught, she didn't cry,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47although I could see tears glistening in her eyes.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53That evening, Caroline, John-John and Nanny Maude
0:15:53 > 0:15:57said a special prayer for Patrick, Mummy and Daddy.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04The next day, they asked to go with their father to the hospital,
0:16:04 > 0:16:07where their mother would stay for the next 11 days.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17Jackie was too weak to go to her baby's funeral.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27Shortly after the ceremony, Cardinal Cushing told us how the President,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30crushed by back pain, couldn't let go of the little coffin
0:16:30 > 0:16:35into which he'd slipped the St Christopher medallion Jackie had given him.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Then it was back to Hyannis Port, where Jackie returned to convalesce.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00Back to the water, the sea and the boats.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09In the weeks that followed Patrick's death,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12I noticed that the President paid more attention to his children,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15as if he were determined not to miss out on them any more.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20They often took the boat out, and when he was at the White House,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23he telephoned them several times a day.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29When they celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary at sea,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Jackie gave John a St Christopher medallion,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35identical to the one he'd placed in their child's coffin.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43A few weeks later, he too would be buried with his medallion.
0:17:56 > 0:17:57Jackie had told the children,
0:17:57 > 0:18:01"Don't worry, we'll only be away a couple of days.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04"We'll be back before you even notice we've gone."
0:18:04 > 0:18:11When they got back, they planned to celebrate John-John's third and Caroline's sixth birthdays.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17But it was not to be.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Before the day was out, the 56th President of the United States of America
0:18:21 > 0:18:23would have joined his brother, Joe Junior,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27into whose shoes he had stepped so unwillingly 19 years earlier.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29'I was on Stemmons Freeway earlier,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32'and even the freeway was jam-packed with spectators
0:18:32 > 0:18:33'waiting their chance
0:18:33 > 0:18:36'to see the President as he made his way toward the Trade Mart.'
0:18:37 > 0:18:41'It...it appears as though something has happened in the motorcade...'
0:18:41 > 0:18:43SCREAMING AND SHOUTING
0:18:51 > 0:18:53'..We don't know, perhaps there was...'
0:18:53 > 0:18:55SIREN BLARES
0:18:55 > 0:18:59'President Kennedy has been given a blood transfusion in an effort to save his life,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02'after he and Governor John Connally of Texas were shot
0:19:02 > 0:19:06'in an assassination attempt in downtown Dallas...'
0:19:10 > 0:19:14'The President of the United States is dead.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21'It is official now - the President is dead.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26'There's only one word to describe the picture here and that's grief.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28'And much of it.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30'It's official, as of just a few moments ago,
0:19:30 > 0:19:34'the President of the United States is dead.'
0:19:37 > 0:19:40That day, like every other day,
0:19:40 > 0:19:46Caroline and John-John got up at 7 o'clock to a silent White House.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50It wasn't until it was time for their afternoon nap
0:19:50 > 0:19:54that Nanny Maude was told of the President's death.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00After breakfast, the little boy played with the security guard in the garden
0:20:00 > 0:20:04while Caroline had a riding lesson.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08In the hours that followed, all the other little Kennedys were told
0:20:08 > 0:20:12that Uncle John was dead and that Aunt Jackie would need them.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18But who was going to tell Caroline and John-John?
0:20:18 > 0:20:20No-one wanted to.
0:20:20 > 0:20:27Not Ethel, Bobby's wife, nor Jackie's mother, nor any of John's sisters.
0:20:27 > 0:20:28No-one.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33So it was left to Maude to tell them that their little brother, Patrick,
0:20:33 > 0:20:37was lonely up in heaven and that Daddy had gone there to join him.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42As she went to sleep that night,
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Caroline remembered a story their father used to tell them
0:20:44 > 0:20:46when they went out on their boat.
0:20:46 > 0:20:52It was the story of a white whale who loved eating socks.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56The whale followed the boat, hoping they would throw some to him.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02One day, the President told Caroline that the whale was hungry
0:21:02 > 0:21:03and that they should feed him.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07So Caroline begged a guest to give her his socks.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11But it was the President himself who threw them overboard to the whale.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21To Caroline,
0:21:21 > 0:21:26it was as though the whale had taken more than just the socks.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Caroline, along with her brother and cousins,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43would grow used to coffins draped in flags
0:21:43 > 0:21:48and graves where those who were left came to pay their respects.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54The little Kennedys had spent their childhood
0:21:54 > 0:21:59burying their family and honouring the dead in endless ceremonies.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03And shutting their eyes
0:22:03 > 0:22:06so as not to see the pain and suffering of their uncles and aunts.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15But the President's death left the whole family reeling.
0:22:30 > 0:22:36# Domine deus... #
0:22:48 > 0:22:53Rose Kennedy, JFK's mother, left for the funeral alone.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Her husband, half paralysed from his stroke, dressed ready to go
0:23:01 > 0:23:06with her, but when he got to the airport, the plane had already left.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13So he went home to watch his son's funeral on television.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Joe Senior saw, like the rest of America, his grandson,
0:23:21 > 0:23:27a little boy of just three, let go of his mother's hand
0:23:27 > 0:23:29and salute the body of his father.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Of course, with the Kennedys, keeping up appearances was vital.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55And, as always, the Kennedy children were expected to play their part.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03Like the little actors they had become, preparation was the key.
0:24:03 > 0:24:10So that even saluting a coffin was something that had been carefully rehearsed beforehand by Mother.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Christmas that year was a miserable affair.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30We were all at Palm Springs.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Bobby gave Jackie an Egyptian statue,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38the present that John had been planning to give to her.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43But as the holiday dragged on,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47no-one could bring themselves to talk about what had happened.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54So, once again, the children were abandoned to our care...
0:24:56 > 0:24:57..their questions unanswered.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Just like his brother, Bobby liked to gaze out to sea,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15trying, as their father had taught them, to see Ireland,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19the land of their ancestors.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24Now his father's hopes and expectations weighed heavily on him.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29He knew only too well that it was now his turn to take over the reins.
0:25:33 > 0:25:38At Hickory Hill, the home Bobby had bought off his brother,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41he became like a father to all the Kennedy children.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51The house soon became the focus of life for our young Kennedys.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55There was an enormous cinema, a pool, even a zoo.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00But there was no discipline, and the children ran wild.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04It was all we could do to keep even a semblance of order.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18Bobby was now head of the dynasty, as his father had been before him.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23He believed it was his duty now
0:26:23 > 0:26:28to produce the next generation of Kennedys and future Presidents,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31with his wife, Ethel, by his side.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Bobby and Ethel had met at the end of the '40s,
0:26:41 > 0:26:43and it was love at first sight.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52He was the first of Joe's children to get married, and,
0:26:52 > 0:26:57as devout Catholics, the couple went on to have no less than 11 children.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04In fact, Ethel would produce more potential future Presidents than any of her sisters-in-law.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15With Ethel's help, Bobby turned his home into a fantasy playground
0:27:15 > 0:27:18for all the little Kennedy children,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22a place JFK's children could at last call home.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43But Ethel wasn't without ambitions of her own.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Someone once told me that after John's assassination,
0:27:46 > 0:27:51she said of the White House, "Now, it's our turn."
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Personally, I'm not sure she would have ever said such a thing.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57She never struck me as that cynical.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02But I do know that she wasn't at all pleased when Jackie took centre stage once again.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08And she would soon have good reason.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13With Ted Kennedy, Jackie went to the memorial mass for her husband.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38But it was at Bobby's side, in his Minister's office,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41that she addressed the American people and thanked them for their support.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45May I thank you again on behalf of my children
0:28:45 > 0:28:48and of the President's family
0:28:48 > 0:28:51for the comfort that your letters have brought to us all?
0:28:52 > 0:28:55Bobby and Ted were always there to support her.
0:28:56 > 0:29:01So when Jackie moved to Georgetown, the fashionable part of Washington,
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Bobby made sure all the family pitched in to help her move.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10It was a fantastic place.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15Bobby had negotiated the purchase for her and he'd even made sure the children's bedroom
0:29:15 > 0:29:18was just like the one they'd left behind at the White House.
0:29:37 > 0:29:43But little by little, Bobby found himself spending more time with Jackie than with his own family.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48It all seemed innocent enough at first. He spent a lot of time
0:29:48 > 0:29:52with Caroline and John-John, teaching them how to swim and ski.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57On Father's Day, he even stood in for his brother.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01The children began to think of HIM as their father.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Later on, when he thought about leaving politics altogether,
0:30:04 > 0:30:08Jackie wrote to him, "The children need you.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11"It's time to honour John's memory and stop mourning him."
0:30:24 > 0:30:29In June 1964, Bobby had had enough of the Attorney General's office
0:30:29 > 0:30:32and decided to run for Senator in New York State.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37As he set out in his brother's footsteps,
0:30:37 > 0:30:41the Kennedy children felt a shiver run down their spines.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47The beginning of his campaign was difficult,
0:30:47 > 0:30:51haunted by John's ghost, but less eloquent, less witty, less sharp.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55He worried that he wouldn't stand up to the comparison.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Then the Kennedy curse struck again.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05During the campaign, his brother, Ted,
0:31:05 > 0:31:09who was also running for office, was in a plane crash.
0:31:14 > 0:31:21Ted survived the crash, but I heard Bobby mutter, "Someone up there doesn't like us."
0:31:21 > 0:31:26True or not, down here, he was proving popular -
0:31:26 > 0:31:27very popular.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Hello, Mrs Kennedy, can you hold up for a minute?
0:31:33 > 0:31:35How are you?
0:31:37 > 0:31:38Uncle Bobby's office...
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Where is Uncle Bobby?
0:31:43 > 0:31:45With Jackie's support, he dared to hope
0:31:45 > 0:31:49that America might take the Kennedys into their hearts once again.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58Jackie put in an appearance at the Democrats' convention at Atlanta.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Bobby got a standing ovation.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06And now, it is my privilege and honour
0:32:06 > 0:32:11to introduce the man who stood closest to him
0:32:11 > 0:32:14in times of crisis than anyone else,
0:32:14 > 0:32:18his brother, Robert Kennedy.
0:32:19 > 0:32:25His speech was peppered with references to his brother and the values he'd stood for.
0:32:25 > 0:32:30I know that this is a difficult campaign, so I come to you to ask,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32just as President Kennedy asked, for your help,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35and which you gave so generously to him in 1960.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39He appealed to the nation's conscience, the plight of the poor,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42the elderly and black civil rights,
0:32:42 > 0:32:45but his strongest card was his family
0:32:45 > 0:32:47and especially his children.
0:32:50 > 0:32:57Jackie had always discouraged John from using their children, John-John and Caroline, in his campaigns.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00But Ethel and Bobby had no such scruples.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02Here's my son...
0:33:03 > 0:33:05..David.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07David, Michael.
0:33:07 > 0:33:08The kids try...
0:33:10 > 0:33:13They were applauded like stars,
0:33:13 > 0:33:17babbled into the microphones, and when they were too small
0:33:17 > 0:33:20for the crowd to see, lifted into the air like little gods.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24How happy I am to be with all of you. One of my favourite...
0:33:24 > 0:33:25No, no.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28..my fav...my favourite...
0:33:28 > 0:33:32one of my three favourite children, David Kennedy.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34CHEERING
0:33:34 > 0:33:39David, timid and fragile, tried in vain to hold his father's hand.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45This is...
0:33:45 > 0:33:48- Michael Kennedy. - CHEERING
0:33:48 > 0:33:53At nine years old, David was old enough to realise what had happened to Uncle John...
0:33:55 > 0:33:58..and now he feared for his father.
0:33:59 > 0:34:04He always said, "I'm going with Daddy to protect him."
0:34:04 > 0:34:09Crowds, who seemed to surround him like a pack of wolves, worried him deeply.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Bobby's campaign for Senator was successful,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16but he could never stop wondering why.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21"Sure, I won," he said to me, "but did they vote for me or for him?"
0:35:33 > 0:35:38After Bobby's election, Jackie moved to New York, on Fifth Avenue.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45For her, there were many advantages to living there,
0:35:45 > 0:35:48not least being nearer to the rest of the Kennedy family.
0:35:51 > 0:35:57And, following his election victory, Bobby had just moved to New York too.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07And it wasn't long before tongues started wagging.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10Bobby seemed to be spending an awful lot of time with Jackie.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20At the house-warming party they threw in Jackie's apartment,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22Bobby, who was there without his wife,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25could have been mistaken as master of the house.
0:36:33 > 0:36:39After that, Bobby was often seen taking Jackie home late at night.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42Neighbours claimed to have seen them together the next morning.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50It wasn't long before Jackie discreetly asked the secret service
0:36:50 > 0:36:52to release her bodyguard after 11 at night.
0:36:57 > 0:37:02Soon, New York was buzzing with rumours, but the children didn't take much notice.
0:37:03 > 0:37:09Uncle Bobby was loved by them all, and, in their eyes, Jackie still needed his friendship.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16Anyway, Bobby honoured his brother's memory,
0:37:16 > 0:37:19and John's children were too young and needed him too much
0:37:19 > 0:37:23to wonder about what sort of relationship he had with their mother.
0:37:25 > 0:37:30If they even understood what was going on, there wasn't much they could do.
0:37:30 > 0:37:36At seven, ten and 13, how can you say to a father, an uncle, that you've begun to doubt him?
0:37:38 > 0:37:42I want to introduce some of my family to you.
0:37:42 > 0:37:43This is my son, David.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45CHEERING
0:37:45 > 0:37:48- My son, Michael. - CHEERING
0:37:48 > 0:37:50- Kerry. - CHEERING
0:37:50 > 0:37:52Kathleen.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55CHEERING
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Bobby made sure his children were never out of the public eye,
0:37:58 > 0:38:01dragging them from meeting to meeting.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03# Jingle bells, jingle bells... #
0:38:03 > 0:38:07He had trained them well, just as his father had trained him.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11A Kennedy child didn't complain, didn't cry.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16A Kennedy child obeyed his father. If he was told to sing, then sing he did.
0:38:16 > 0:38:22# ..Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. #
0:38:23 > 0:38:29Whatever the children thought, Bobby was too wrapped up in his own future to care much about them now.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35His fate, and that of his children, was sealed
0:38:35 > 0:38:39from the moment he stepped into his brother's shoes.
0:38:46 > 0:38:51Jackie was afraid, but she encouraged him on all the same.
0:38:54 > 0:39:00She knew that Bobby's political ambitions put her own children in danger,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03so she left America and went to London.
0:39:07 > 0:39:13She told me, "I hate America and I don't want my children to live there.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18"If they start killing all the Kennedys, they'll be the first on the list. I just want to leave."
0:39:35 > 0:39:40Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to be here to start my campaign to run for President.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42CHEERING
0:39:42 > 0:39:45We can return government to the people...
0:39:45 > 0:39:47But Bobby couldn't leave.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51In the spring of 1968, he decided to run for President.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54# My baby says he wants me Oh, yeah
0:39:54 > 0:39:56# And my baby says he needs me... #
0:39:56 > 0:40:02Bobby had been a role model for all our little Kennedys, an example they could follow.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04# ..Now I know he's in love... #
0:40:04 > 0:40:07They were too young whilst JFK was alive,
0:40:07 > 0:40:13and the three men the Kennedy girls had married seemed to have no moral authority over any of them.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17Only Bobby had that.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19He was the one who could have helped them grow up,
0:40:19 > 0:40:24helped them to cope with the crazy world of the Kennedys.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26But he had other things on his mind.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29# He loves me all the time
0:40:30 > 0:40:33# He loves me all the time
0:40:33 > 0:40:37# He loves me all the time. #
0:40:39 > 0:40:44As they watched him set his sights on the White House, they were filled with foreboding.
0:40:44 > 0:40:50For as long as they could remember, Bobby had always been there for them.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53He was the one who had encouraged them, brought them on
0:40:53 > 0:40:56and showed them how they could make something of themselves.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02And now he was about to abandon them.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08But they were still Kennedys.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15When David was asked what it meant to be a Kennedy, he said,
0:41:15 > 0:41:19"It means we're exactly like everyone else...but better."
0:41:23 > 0:41:27But without their moral anchor, the children became unbearable.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33It started with insolent jokes and childish rebellion,
0:41:33 > 0:41:38and a finally developed sense of rivalry as to who was more Kennedy than whom.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49In the midst of all the enthusiasm for Bobby's campaign,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52a gang of delinquents was being formed.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54We called them the Hyannis Port Horrors.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58They were led by Chris, David and Robert.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07At first, we all thought it was quite funny to see the children
0:42:07 > 0:42:11selling little bags of Kennedy sand they'd scooped up from Hyannis Port's beach.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20And then there was the time one of them cruelly made his driver think he'd run over his brother
0:42:20 > 0:42:24by shouting, "Another Kennedy has been killed!"
0:42:29 > 0:42:32But it was only when they started throwing stones at windows
0:42:32 > 0:42:38and vandalising boats in the harbour that we realised what was happening.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47Without Bobby as their moral compass, they thought
0:42:47 > 0:42:51that they were superior beings and that they could get away with anything.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02It's not surprising really that, after Bobby's assassination,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06with no-one left to turn to, they took to alcohol and drugs.
0:43:11 > 0:43:16But despite everything, we continued to love them and did our best.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20Whatever they did, they didn't deserve what had been done to them.
0:43:22 > 0:43:27No child deserves to be handed over to a nanny, like Robin Elizabeth was at only one month old,
0:43:27 > 0:43:31just because her parents fancied going off on a cruise.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35No child deserves to hear his daddy yell, "Get out of here!"
0:43:35 > 0:43:37when he comes in for a cuddle.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41And no child should have her own self-confidence so destroyed,
0:43:41 > 0:43:45like Kara did, that she constantly ran away from home.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51..relied chiefly and primarily on government...
0:43:51 > 0:43:54Bobby could talk day and night about the future of United States
0:43:54 > 0:43:59but very soon, he would no longer be there to witness his own children's future.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04He would never know that his son, Robert Junior, would become a drug addict
0:44:04 > 0:44:08or that William would be accused of rape.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11That Michael would die in a skiing accident.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14That John-John would crash his plane.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18Or that David, his favourite, would die from an overdose.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22..Not lawlessness, not disorder, but compassion and love and peace.
0:44:22 > 0:44:27That's what this country should stand for and that's what I intend to do if I'm elected President.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36But now the end is near.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Martin Luther King has already been assassinated,
0:44:39 > 0:44:43and Bobby is about to join him.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45Ethel thinks she's about to become First Lady.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49She's laughing now, but in a few hours, she'll be a widow.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Just time for one last walk along the beach.
0:44:59 > 0:45:00A few minutes, but no more.
0:45:05 > 0:45:10And out there, across the sea, Ireland, where the Kennedy dream had begun.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17Who would look after Bobby and Ethel's children?
0:45:17 > 0:45:22Ten of them and one yet to be born, who would never know his father.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26We would, of course.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29We're the invisible ones.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31You never see our faces.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33No-one filmed us with our precious charges.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40Now it's time to go.
0:45:40 > 0:45:45A few more smiles, a few more handshakes, a couple of words to the Tribune.
0:45:45 > 0:45:46The usual routine.
0:45:46 > 0:45:52We CAN work together. We are a great country, an unselfish country and a compassionate country,
0:45:52 > 0:45:56and I intend to make that my basis for running over the period of the next few months.
0:45:56 > 0:46:02And a last triumph. Bobby has just won the first round in the California primaries.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13GUNSHOT
0:46:18 > 0:46:20Is there a doctor in the house?
0:46:28 > 0:46:30Bobby had only light security.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34"Why bother," he said? "If they want me, they'll get me."
0:46:36 > 0:46:38And get him they did.
0:46:41 > 0:46:46I don't know. Maybe he was too good-looking, too rich,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48too sure of himself, too lucky.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51SHOUTING
0:46:51 > 0:46:52But not now.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02Jackie immediately chartered a jet and left New York.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07Soon, America would have two Kennedy widows.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18Rose arrived.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23Three of her four sons were now dead.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40Jackie arrived.
0:47:40 > 0:47:47It's said that she was the one who asks the doctors to unplug the machines and let Bobby go.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55Bobby was fighting for his life...
0:47:57 > 0:47:59..as though he was saying, "Are you sure?
0:47:59 > 0:48:04"Can't we have a bit more time? Because if I go, there will be no-one there for the children."
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Afterwards, Eunice's son, Robert, told me,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26"It was so different from the President's death.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28"Then we stood together.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30"Bobby made sure of that.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34"Somehow we felt more Kennedy than ever.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36"But when Bobby died,
0:48:36 > 0:48:38"we just seemed to fall apart."
0:48:51 > 0:48:54All that was left was to bring the body back
0:48:54 > 0:48:58and gather the children around a coffin one more time.
0:49:06 > 0:49:13When Bobby was laid to rest, it was as if the Kennedys had learned nothing from their tragedies.
0:49:13 > 0:49:19Once again, it was up to the eldest of each generation to carry on the Kennedy flame -
0:49:19 > 0:49:23first of all, Ted, Rose and Joe's youngest son.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29But with shattered nerves, he trembled throughout his life every time he heard a explosion.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33Those of us who loved him, and who take him to his rest today,
0:49:33 > 0:49:38pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others
0:49:38 > 0:49:41will someday come to pass for all the world.
0:49:41 > 0:49:47As he said many times, some men see things as they are and say "why?"
0:49:48 > 0:49:51I dream things that never were and say "why not?"
0:49:58 > 0:50:02So it was Joseph Junior, Bobby's eldest son,
0:50:02 > 0:50:06who now, at only 16, carried the weight of the whole dynasty.
0:50:06 > 0:50:12Bobby had once written to him, "You are the eldest male of your generation.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16"A great responsibility falls on you, and I know that you will carry it."
0:50:23 > 0:50:25There he is, centre stage,
0:50:25 > 0:50:29shaking everyone's hand and saying over and over,
0:50:29 > 0:50:31"I'm Joe Kennedy. Thank you for coming."
0:50:43 > 0:50:47He'll sit at his father's place at table, wear his suits
0:50:47 > 0:50:51and discipline the young ones as his father would have done.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02But his father's death was his only moment of glory
0:51:02 > 0:51:05before he too began his own troubled life,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08expelled from schools and dropping out of college.
0:51:39 > 0:51:44The train that transported Bobby Kennedy's coffin back to Washington took eight hours.
0:51:44 > 0:51:50Hundreds of thousands of Americans lined the tracks to pay their last respects.
0:51:56 > 0:52:02When Bobby's children found their mother in tears, it was the first time they had seen a Kennedy cry.
0:52:06 > 0:52:12Among the epitaphs written by our little Kennedys were these words written by Michael.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14"Daddy helped the Indians and the blacks.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18"He did everything he could for his country.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20"He liked sport. He loved his family.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23"We will miss him."
0:52:23 > 0:52:28And from David, "Daddy was very funny at church.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31"He sang very loudly but not in tune.
0:52:31 > 0:52:37"Now there'll be no more football together or sailing or horse-riding.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39"He was a good father,
0:52:39 > 0:52:42"and I wouldn't have changed him for anything in the world."
0:52:55 > 0:52:58Come in and see her often.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03The last of Bobby's children was Rory Elizabeth Kennedy, born posthumously.
0:53:05 > 0:53:11As soon as she got out of maternity, Ethel took her baby to see her father's grave.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15Only after that did she meet her brothers and sisters.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Bobby's death hit Ethel hard.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26In her grief, she treated her children badly.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29The whole household was in chaos.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33But it was her sons she found hardest to control.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36She let them run wild and to ruin.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45Maybe the girls could have saved this generation,
0:53:45 > 0:53:49but girls had never counted for much in the Kennedy family.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51And there wasn't much WE could do either.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55We'd watched over the little Kennedys day and night,
0:53:55 > 0:53:59but there was nothing we could change in this tragic story.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06Somehow, it had been written that all the heaven-sent Kennedy children
0:54:06 > 0:54:11would inhabit the White House, yet live with misery and suffering.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17But can it really have been written that,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20while they would give the world a legend that will go down in history,
0:54:20 > 0:54:26fate would ask each one of them to pay his pound of flesh?
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:55:01 > 0:55:04E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk