JFK documents online...

• More than 200,000 pages of documents, photos, footage and audio recordings available

The records of John F Kennedy’s time in office have been put onto the Internet, making up the largest online presidential archive the United States has ever seen.

More than 200,000 pages of documents, audio recordings of all of Mr Kennedy's speeches, 72 reels of film and 1,500 photos are now freely available at the click of a mouse.

But even though the four-year project marks a milestone in access to presidential records, it is actually the fulfilment of a promise Kennedy himself made 50 years ago at his inauguration.

Private moments: This August 1962 photo shows then First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy with John F. Kennedy Jr in the west bedroom of the White House, Washington. It is one of more than 1,500 images released online

Work and play: The president watches his children John Jnr and Caroline in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington. Caroline was on hand today to unveil the online digital archive of Kennedy's records

At a press conference in 1962 he said: ‘I think that we can - and this will certainly be increased as time goes on - we will find it possible to so reproduce the key documents that they will be commonly available.

‘There are many other things of interest which I think are rather advantageous to have spread around the country, particularly as it stimulates the study of the Presidency.’

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Today Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter and president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, unveiled the foundation's massive digital library - which can be found at www.jfklibrary.org
The records, which cost $10million to pull together, include fascinating historical documents - like telegrams from civil rights leader Medgar Evers imploring Kennedy to get tougher on racial discrimination.

Personal passion: Mr Kennedy is seen taking an intense interest in 'Friendshitp 7', the first U.S. manned craft to orbit the earth. Astronaut John Glenn, who piloted the shi[p, is standing behind him

Looking ahead: It was Mr Kennedy's rousing speech about landing a man on the moon in the 1960s that led to Nasa doing just that in 1969. Online images show the president's keen interest in space exploration

There are also compelling recordings of conversations with former president Dwight Eisenhower about the Cuban missile crisis, and a possible invasion of Cuba.

In one Mr Kennedy can be heard asking: 'General, what about if the Soviet Union, Khrushchev, announces tomorrow - which I think he will - that if we attack Cuba that it's going to be nuclear war. What's your judgement as to the chances that they'll fire these things off if we invade Cuba?'

Mr Eisenhower responds: 'Oh, ah, I don't believe they will.'

Rest and relaxation: This photo, taken on August 12, 1962, shows Mr Kennedy as he sails aboard the Manitou off the coast of Maine. It clearly shows the president's charisma and seemingly effortless cool

High-profile tourists: This lovely family shot, from March 15, 1962, shows Jackie posing - as countless tourists have done before and since - in front of the Tag Mahal during a trip to India

Mr Kennedy says: 'In other words, you would take that risk if the situation seemed desirable?'

Mr Eisenhower replies: 'Well, as a matter of fact, what can you do? If this thing is such a serious thing, here on our flanks, that were going to be uneasy... we've got to use something.'

He then adds: 'Something may make these people shoot them off, I just don't believe this will.'

Despite the clear tension of the situation, Mr Kennedy begins to laugh.

Mr Eisenhower then adds: 'I any event, of course, I'll say this: I'd want to keep my own people very alert.'

Official business: Mr Kennedy in the Oval Office with, from left, Martin Luther King, John Lewis, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, Eugene Carson Blake, Vice President Johnson and Walter Ruether

Brink of oblivion: Mr Kennedy during the 1963 Cuban missile crisis with his younger brother and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The tense photo was taken on the West Wing Colonnade at the White House

Both men begin laughing and Kennedy signs off with: 'Hang on tight, thanks a lot general.'

Not all the archives relate to politics, however, and there are years worth of family photos from behind the doors of Camelot.

One image from 1934 shows a young Ted Kennedy dressed up in a pirate’s outfit, while elsewhere in the archive is a letter from the president to his wife Jackie about a summer vacation in Rhode Island.

48million pages of documents relating to Mr Kennedy's presidency and he hoped to put about eight million pages online.

News conference: JFK's surviving daughter Caroline Kennedy unveils the online archive today

There is also the bar tab from Mr Kennedy's bachelor party and doodles he did on paper while he was supposed to be carrying out official business.

The archive was unveiled by Mr Kennedy’s only surviving daughter Caroline at the National Archives in Washington DC.

She said: ‘President Kennedy is becoming part of history, not living memory, and we need to reach across the generations in new ways.
‘In our increasingly fragmented society young people are often disconnected and disillusioned with politics.

'President Kennedy's example, his words, his spirit, are more relevant than ever.'

Thomas Putnam, director of the library added: 'Until now, if people wanted to see the documents they had to come to Boston, go to our research room and we’d pull out boxes.

'Now anyone with access to a computer with an Internet connection could replicate that experience.'

He added that the library held some

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347383/JFKs-50-year-old-prophecy-comes-true-documents-life-presidency-online.html#ixzz1B6ffexJ4