CARTHAGE — A speech on John F. Kennedy was transformed into a Kennedy press conference and the famous televised debates that led up to his election when Kennedy expert Dr. Charles Taylor gave excerpts from the former president's speeches with an East Coast accent.

"He had a kind of style that no one else had ever had," Taylor said. "He is a mythic figure and an inspiration for young people."

Taylor is a professor of history and government at Panola College and the author of "President Kennedy's Image in Popular Culture and the Classroom."

Zeny Jett, director of library services, organized the event and plans to enter the presentation in a contest through the History Channel.

"We are doing this in conjunction with the History Channel," Jett said. "We are continuously looking for projects that will enrich our institution, and I felt like this was a perfect opportunity."

Taylor said most Americans think Kennedy was the best president America ever had because so many different groups could identify with him and respected his style. He tackled problems head-on and won, he said.

During his election campaign, Kennedy met with Baptist leaders and convinced them that he would not be a puppet for the Roman Catholic church.

Before the first televised presidential debate, Nixon was ahead in the polls, but the two were tied by election time. Kennedy's mannerisms and attitude on TV seemed relaxed and calm, while Nixon appeared sick and shifty. Bobby Kennedy told Nixon he needed more makeup, and "when Nixon came out there, he looked like Casper the Friendly Ghost," Taylor said.

After the election, Kennedy held the first televised new conferences. He would joke with reporters and "worked the press" with his sense of humor and self-deprecating wit, Taylor said.

The press liked him so much that they ignored the affairs he had with more than 400 women, Taylor said. He added that the Kennedy family would threaten to buy and take over any paper that tried to publish stories about his affairs.

When Kennedy was having trouble pushing a civil rights bill through Congress, he staged pictures of himself with civil rights leaders so it would appear he was making progress. He gave a speech declaring a moral war against racism to get the American people behind him even if Congress would not budge, Taylor said.

"He gave that speech and African-Americans said 'I cannot believe that a white man got on national television and said segregation was wrong,' ” Taylor said.

The president did not live to see all his hard work fulfilled. He was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

"Kennedy romanticized politics," Taylor said. "He clearly made a marriage of TV and politics, between Hollywood and Washington."