In a wide-ranging, warm, but probing interview July 31, 1996, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and John F. Kennedy Jr. discussed politics, the views of the Nation of Islam and the future of race relations in America at the home of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad where Min. Farrakhan now resides on Chicago’s southside. The interview appeared in Mr. Kennedy’s then-newly-launched George magazine.

Mr. Kennedy, who died in a plane that went down late July 16, 1999 off the coast of New York, along with his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette, opened the interview on the receiving end of the questions, answering the Minister’s queries about his future and whether he would follow in his father’s footsteps.

On the latter question, Mr. Kennedy, known affectionately to the American public as "John-John," told Min. Farrakhan, "Well, it’s a complicated question. I think, when you grow up in any environment, it’s obviously what you know, what you’re trained as. It’s what I knew, but, if you can imagine, it’s (politics) a loaded profession for me.

"It would be hard to carve out a separate identity if I, all of a sudden, said I’m going to run for office," he said, seemingly searching for the right words. "I never wanted to rule it out, but I kind of wanted to do something that was my own first because it’s sort of a prison of a life, in a way. Once you start you can’t really do anything else.

"A lot of my cousins are in it (politics). I’ll let them do it for the time being and who knows, I figure I have a few years left before I make the decision," he said, as they both shared a laugh.

"Let us hope," Min. Farrakhan responded.

As the nearly three-hour interview officially began, Min. Farrakhan put Mr. Kennedy at ease, telling him that there was no question he could ask that would be considered inappropriate.

"As one who was alive during the time of your father’s work and one who watched and studied him as best I could, I am very pleased to be interviewed by you and pleased to know that you, the son of such an illustrious mother and father, are here in the home of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. I want you to feel at home and welcome here," Min. Farrakhan said, referring to the late President John F. Kennedy and his wife, the late Jackie Kennedy-Onnasis.

"So, my friend, I thank you very, very much," Min. Farrakhan said at the conclusion of the interview. "The earth and the world, Mr. Kennedy, await visionaries, people who won’t just go along with the status quo, but who live to make a change, especially when change is so vitally necessary.

"Give your family my warm regards," he said.