In a poignant reflection, Katie Couric recalls her final TV interview with John F. Kennedy Jr., which took place just months before his tragic death in 1999. The interview, which aired on the TODAY Show, remains a significant moment in Couric’s career, offering a glimpse into the life of the charismatic and beloved public figure.
A couple of months before his July 1999 death, Katie Couric sat down with John F. Kennedy Jr. on the TODAY Show for what would turn out to be his last TV interview. Now that John and his wife Carolyn Bessette are the subjects of a splashy new TV series, Love Story on FX, Couric is recalling what it was like to sit down with him for a conversation so many years ago.
When they decided to try to interview him for the show, Couric was so excited — because, like so many others, she had a crush on him. She had followed his career and was so thrilled to be featured on the cover of his brash upstart politics magazine, George, in May 1997.
Growing up, “Camelot” had such a hold on the public’s imagination. The image of “John John” as a three-year-old saluting his father’s casket was seared into the American consciousness. After JFK’s assassination, everyone seemed to be looking for someone to recapture the spirit of the young, athletic, vibrant Kennedy family. To many, John seemed to be the embodiment of that potential and people couldn’t seem to get enough of him, especially as he grew into a handsome young man.
Couric always felt a lot of sympathy for him. Imagine the public humiliation he experienced when he was mercilessly mocked for not passing the bar exam — not once, but twice. The expectations that were thrust upon him just by virtue of his name were so enormous, but somehow he pulled it off so gracefully.
On the day of their interview, he rode his bike to the studio at 30 Rock, which was pretty typical for him. Speaking with John on camera, he was kind, self-effacing, and surprisingly open. When Couric had interviewed his sister Caroline, she seemed much more guarded and less relaxed. But John spoke freely about a lot of very personal things, from his relationship with his mother to whether he thought his father would be proud of his career.
Couric will never forget when, two months later, on a Saturday in July 1999, her late sister Emily called her to say that John had been in a plane crash. It reminded her of how she felt when Princess Diana was killed in that terrible accident just two years earlier — they were both global icons who we lost too soon.
Any time Couric goes to Nantucket, she thinks about him flying over the same waters and plunging into the Atlantic along with his young wife and her sister. Three lives ended that night — deeply heartbreaking for their families. But for the country at large, the hope and promise of Camelot seemed to be extinguished for good.
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