HBO's "Teddy: In His Own Words"

[pacalo]

I saw "Teddy: In His Own Words" last night on HBO On Demand, which was loaded with home videos & photographs that I’d never seen before. This 90-minute documentary is a jewel for anyone who loves & admires the Kennedys as much as I do.

I learned quite a bit from it, as well:

-- President Nixon told H.R. Haldeman during taped telephone conversations, which are played for the viewer, that he wanted Haldeman to find any dirt on Ted Kennedy that would hopefully lead to a scandal.

In another, Haldeman told Nixon that Ted had requested secret service protection (during one of his senatorial campaigns, I think?), & Nixon laughed about it & said that it was out of the question; if "they" want to kill the s.o.b., then let "them". John Dean revealed during his testimony during the Watergate investigation that it was one of Nixon's highest priorities to find something on Kennedy.

Even sleazier, one taped conversation in regard to the attempted assassination of George Wallace has a devious, lying Nixon telling Haldeman, "Let's say that Bremer (the shooter) was a supporter of Ted Kennedy."

-- Kennedy’s major disagreement with Jimmy Carter about universal health care seemed to be the major reason Kennedy wanted to run against Carter for the Democratic nomination for the 1980 election. Perhaps because I didn’t know much about Carter at that time, I didn’t know that he & Kennedy were antagonistic toward each other. Also, there was a very young Bill Clinton who introduced Kennedy at a rally, where Kennedy spoke briefly about universal health care.

This documentary was a good reminder of why I love the Kennedys so much. Please watch it if you get a chance. :)