NEW YORK • The daughter and grandchildren of John F. Kennedy, the much beloved president of the United States who was assassinated in 1963, have appeared in a video to talk publicly about him ahead of the centennial of his birth on Monday.
His daughter Caroline reminisced about her time with her father as a young girl while his three grandchildren spoke about how he still makes an impact on their lives.
Ms Kennedy, 59, his only living child and a former US ambassador to Japan under the Obama administration, debuted the video on CNN on Wednesday.
"I miss him every day of my life. But, growing up without him was made easier thanks to all of the people who kept him in their hearts," she said in the video, where she shared childhood memories like hiding under the Oval Office desk.
She said she believes his legacy - having championed issues such as human rights, healthcare and immigration while in office - lives on.
"President Kennedy inspired a generation that transformed America," she said. "They marched for justice, they served in the Peace Corps, in the inner cities, in outer space."
The late president's grandchildren - Rose, Tatiana, and Jack Kennedy Schlossberg - reflected on his influence on their lives.
Rose, 28, who bears a close resemblance to her grandmother Jacqueline, said: "I'm inspired by my grandfather's sense of equality, his courage for naming the injustices in American society, and his call for action... My grandfather would be proud of how far we've come as a nation since 1963, but he'd have been the first to tell us that we have a long way to go."
Tatiana, 27, a climate change reporter for the New York Times, spoke of how she has studied her grandfather's legacy.
"While my grandfather had reverence for the past and the lessons it could impart, he also knew that America was a country where change was possible, where we aren't bound solely by tradition, if we understand the past with which we are breaking," she said.
Jack, 24, who some observers say is being groomed to enter politics in the future, said his generation will inherit a world with countless unsolved problems, including climate change.
"Great challenges are opportunities," he said. "I know that we're up to the task, but we have to demand action from our leaders, and we have to vote."
