CNN Political Ticker

Obama reflects on Kennedy family legacy, own security

(CNN) - Five decades after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, President Barack Obama reflected Friday on the Kennedy family legacy.

And as the nation remembered the tragic day, Obama said "thankfully" his own safety does not weigh heavily on his mind.

"It's not something I think about," Obama told ABC's Barbara Walters in an interview set to air in full next Friday. "Mainly, because we've got a Secret Service that does such an outstanding job every single day."

"Obviously, tragedy reshaped the Secret Service in many ways, but they do an outstanding job, and it's, thankfully, not something that I spend a lot of time thinking about."

Obama spent the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death in quiet commemoration at the White House, observing a moment of silence at 2 p.m. ET and meeting with volunteers for Peace Corps - the international service organization established by Kennedy in 1961.

"When you think about the legacy of the Kennedy family, it has been part of all of modern American history, and it's been an incredible legacy, but JFK in particular, I think, captured the idealism, the ability to imagine and remake America to meets its ideals, in a way we haven't seen before or since," Obama said.

The President, joined by members of the Kennedy family and former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, laid a wreath Wednesday on the late President's gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

A CNN/ORC International survey indicates that 90% of all Americans approve of how Kennedy handled his job as President - an approval rating higher than any other president of the last half century.

But the country remain at odds as to whether a greater conspiracy surrounds the murder of the 35th president. One-third of Americans believe the CIA was part of a plot to kill JFK and 30% believe the Mafia had its hand in Kennedy’s death.