JFK: The Last Speech

Of President John F. Kennedy, many stories have been told. Few are less known or more revealing than the story of his friendship with Robert Frost, America’s most celebrated poet. Yet it was Robert Frost that Kennedy made the subject of one of his most famous speeches, delivered just 27 days before his assassination. JFK: The Last Speech explores the relationship between these two Americans, one that reached its tragic climax after an encounter between Frost and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the height of the Cold War, resulting in a break in Frost's relationship with the President. Then Frost died. Reconciliation occurred nine months later at Amherst College, where President Kennedy delivered what has been called "the most majestic" speech of his career. At the film’s center is this extraordinary speech that inspired a group of college classmates to alter the course of their lives. The President spoke of the relationship between poetry and power and of a view shared with Frost that power must be exercised, but wisely—tempered by a moral restraint inspired by the arts and a liberal education. Pointing out that "There is inherited wealth in this country and also inherited poverty," he spoke of the obligation of those “given a running start in life” to serve the public interest.