The Documentary: From Truman To Trump

The final interview with the veteran American politician and former Senator Joe Tydings, with his vivid memories of working with the Kennedy dynasty - and his unhappy relationship with Donald Trump.

The Tydings family are the nearest you get to political aristocracy in America. His diplomat grandfather knew Truman, Stalin and Churchill, and helped to broker the post-war map of Germany at the Potsdam Conference. His heiress grandmother built the lavish Florida mansion – Mar A Lago – which is now one of President Trump’s favourite homes.

Tydings insisted on joining up and, in 1946, he served in war-ravaged Germany as a corporal in the last horse cavalry unit of the US Army. On his return home, he fell in with the Kennedy clan – attracted by their youth and glamour, as well as their vision for a new America.

He helped run JFK’s presidential campaign in Maryland; was a marshal in the Kennedy inauguration parade and became best friends with Bobby Kennedy as a newly elected US senator. Unfortunately, in this era of assassinations, he watched two of his good friends die tragically young.

Senator Tydings died in October but in the months before his death the BBC secured the 90 year old’s final broadcast interview. We’ll learn about one of the most exciting periods in US history – including his memories of the protests, assassinations and political upheaval which marked the 1960s. And we’ll find out why Senator Tydings never forgave Donald Trump for pinching the family crest.

• Produced by Bob Howard for BBC World Service

Publicity contact: EM3