A Young JFK Jr. Talks About His Father After Assassination in Never-Before-Heard Clip in New Doc

CNN’s new docuseries on John F. Kennedy Jr. premiered Saturday, chronicling the life of the celebrated first son of President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy through personal interviews, historical analysis, and rare archival material.

American Prince: JFK Jr. unfolds over three episodes. The debut, “The Boy Who Would Be King,” begins with John’s earliest days. As historian Steve Gillon points out, John was “the biggest celebrity in America when he was conceived,” making headlines across the nation on Nov. 25, 1960—just weeks after his father won the presidency.

John’s childhood unfolded in the spotlight of “Camelot,” even famously playing under JFK’s desk in the Oval Office. But the fairy-tale image was shattered on Nov. 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, just days before John’s third birthday and his sister Caroline’s sixth.

“John became not just a young son of an assassinated president, but almost like a nephew or a younger cousin, or even a son to the millions of people watching,” says psychologist Dr. Joseph G. Ponterotto, author of A Psychobiography of John F. Kennedy Jr.: Understanding His Inner Life, Achievements, Struggles, and Courage.

In a previously unheard recording featured in the series, a young John is asked what happened to his father. After hesitating, he softly replies, “He’s going to heaven.” When asked what he remembers, he cheerfully admits, “I don’t remember anything!”

From the start, the pressure to carry on his father’s legacy was immense. Commentators in the documentary note that JFK’s rise coincided with the advent of television, creating an unprecedented bond between the American public and the glamorous Kennedy family.

“The Kennedys are the epitome of the American dream—but also of everything we hold in ambition: politics, wealth, mystery. And then, in an instant, it’s cut off,” says CNN contributor Leah Wright Rigueur. “When we see his 3-year-old son saluting the casket, the American public immediately casts all those aspirations, myths, and understandings about John F. Kennedy’s unfinished legacy onto his son.”

For John Jr., the weight of expectation was impossible to escape—especially as his name directly tied him to his father. The press nicknamed him “John-John,” though Carole Radziwill notes in the film that no one in the family used the moniker.

From an early age, the documentary explains, John grappled with the challenge of living up to the myth of Camelot. Gillon describes how Jackie Kennedy worked to preserve her husband’s legacy, shaping a public narrative that made John appear destined to carry it forward. “When people saw John, they saw him as the one who was going to bring Camelot alive again,” Gillon says. “That became a burden for him.”

Family friend Gary Ginsberg recalls a telling moment when a young John told his uncle, Robert F. Kennedy, he might want to be a chef. “Bobby’s like, ‘Are you out of your f—— mind?’” Ginsberg laughs.

Subsequent episodes of American Prince will examine how John carved his own path—embracing a freer, more adventurous lifestyle, biking through New York City, cultivating a distinct fashion sense, and navigating high-profile relationships, including his marriage to Carolyn Bessette.

Their love story ended in tragedy in July 1999, when John, Carolyn, and her sister Lauren died in a plane crash en route from New Jersey to Martha’s Vineyard. John had been married for less than three years.

American Prince: JFK Jr. episode 2 premieres Saturday, Aug. 16, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CNN.