Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963)

On a hot day in June there was a standoff between the governor of Alabama, arch-segregationist, rabid racist, George Wallace, and the POTUS, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. What about? The right for Vivian Malone and James Hood to enter the University of Alabama. They were already accepted by the university, but George Wallace saw it as his religious and public duty to physically bar them from entering. JFK had a decision to make: federalize the Alabama National Guard and risk crucial southern votes for his civil rights legislation, or back off and stall the inevitable just to keep southern support.

This one-hour documentary is real-time footage of the strategizing by JFK, his brother and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and others from the Kennedy administration. This footage is historical and priceless, especially with the knowledge of who was on the right side of history and who was on the wrong side. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing history being made and hearing JFK make a monumental speech about freedom and equality.