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Tonight...
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WOMAN:
He loved being president.
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MAN:
Kennedy set so much in motion
in such a short time.
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MAN:
Everybody went to bed
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wondering what was going
to happen the next day.
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MAN:
We're talking about nuclear war.
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WOMAN:
Jackie had never accompanied
Jack on a domestic trip.
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This was her first one.
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Part two of "JFK,"
on American Experience.
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Exclusive corporate funding
for American Experience
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00:01:04,931 --> 00:01:06,031
is provided by:
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And by contributions
to your PBS station from:
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Previously on JFK...
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KENNEDY (on tape):
Like many decisions in life,
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a combination of factors
pressed on me,
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which directed me
into my present profession.
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EVAN THOMAS:
There stirred in him
a little quiet,
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and maybe even more than
quiet, rebellion.
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ROBERT CARO:
There was something
in Jack Kennedy,
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sick as he was,
in pain as he was,
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that made men want to follow him
into battle.
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ROBERT DALLEK:
He's seen as a kind
of carpetbagger.
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He didn't live in Boston.
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His opponents attack him
for being a rich boy.
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You can never defeat the
Communist movement in Indochina
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until you get the support
of the natives.
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TIMOTHY NAFTALI:
He sent the signals
of the kind of person
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who suspected that his time
on earth was limited.
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If elected to the United States
Senate...
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THOMAS HUGHES:
Lyndon Johnson looked at Jack
as a person who picked and chose
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what he would like to do
in the Senate.
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Kennedy was the troubadour who
came to play before the banquet
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and left
before the dishwashing began.
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SALLY BEDELL-SMITH:
They were so beautiful
and they were so young.
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She wrote in her diary
that she had an intimation
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that Jack would have a profound
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and possibly disturbing effect
on her life.
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She was going to be
marrying a man
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who was known
for his womanizing,
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and that it was unlikely
that he would stop.
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I am introducing
a resolution...
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NAFTALI:
He was willing to take a risk.
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"Are we going to be
on the right side
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or the wrong side of history?"
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HUGHES:
His independence
meant a lot to him.
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Kennedy would keep people
guessing.
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CARO:
Jack Kennedy could learn
on the run.
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He's learning that politics
is changing.
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DALLEK:
He's only 43 years old
and a woman says to him,
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"Young man, it's too soon,"
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and he says, "No, ma'am,
this is my time."
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I am today
announcing my candidacy
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for the presidency
of the United States.
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DAVID NASAW:
He was the representative of the
new, young, vibrant generation,
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and Jack ran on that theme
and ran hard.
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The United States looks tired!
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NEWS ANCHOR:
There he is, the next president
of the United States.
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Now my wife and I prepare
for a new administration
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and for a new baby.
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NARRATOR:
The biggest day of John
Kennedy's life to date,
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Inauguration Day, 1961,
dawned gray and frigid.
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700 trucks were already
out on the streets,
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clearing eight inches
of new-fallen snow
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from the east front
of the Capitol.
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As the skies began to clear,
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20,000 spectators crowded in
to await Kennedy's arrival,
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and the news professionals
hauled a bouquet of cameras
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onto a temporary structure
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rising high above
the other onlookers.
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EARL WARREN:
You, John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
do solemnly swear.
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I, John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
do solemnly swear.
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That you will
faithfully execute
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the office of president
of the United States.
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That I will
faithfully execute
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the office of president
of the United States.
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It was bitterly cold,
and Kennedy made sure,
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even though nobody knew he was
wearing thermal underwear,
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he made sure that he would
take off his topcoat.
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He could show somebody
who was vital and young.
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So help you God.
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So help me God.
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(crowd applauds)
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ROBERT DALLEK:
When Eisenhower left,
at that juncture
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he was the oldest man
in the country's history
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to have served
in the White House.
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Kennedy coming in
was the youngest man
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to ever have been elected.
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And so Kennedy wants
to underscore that.
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He wants to emphasize
the new, the innovative.
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Let the word go forth
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from this time and place,
to friend and foe alike,
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that the torch has been passed
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to a new generation
of Americans,
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born in this century.
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RICHARD REEVES:
Kennedy understood something
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that is not so obvious,
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and that is that words
are more important than deeds.
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You can't govern
300 million people,
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or 180 million when Kennedy
was president, by doing things.
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You can only do it by rhetoric.
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NARRATOR:
President Kennedy was talking
to Americans that day,
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and to the world.
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He meant to reassure
historic allies
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and to exalt the virtues
of democracy
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for new governments emerging in
Africa, Asia and the Americas.
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He also had a direct
and pointed message
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for Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev.
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(crowd applauds)
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Let every nation know,
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whether it wishes us well
or ill,
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that we shall pay any price,
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bear any burden,
meet any hardship,
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support any friend,
oppose any foe,
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to assure the survival
and the success of liberty.
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JULIAN BOND:
There was enormous optimism.
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He was young, personable,
attractive.
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He appeared to be friendly and
disposed toward people of color.
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And so there's great hopes
that new things would happen.
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KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND:
His inaugural speech was
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how we as a nation
are going to be great.
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The New Frontier.
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He was willing
to challenge people.
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And I think each one of us
wants to be challenged.
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We want to think that
our life has a mission.
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And he understood that
and reached out to it.
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And so, my fellow Americans,
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ask not what your country
can do for you,
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ask what you can do
for your country.
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(crowd applauds)
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(lively big band music playing)
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NARRATOR:
The new first couple
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glided through
a half-dozen ceremonials,
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including a gala produced
by the president's friend
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Frank Sinatra
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showcasing the brilliant sparkle
of American celebrity.
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Jacqueline Kennedy wore white
gowns to almost every event:
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her choice.
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¶ A cottage small
is all I'm after ¶
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¶ Not one that's spacious
and wide... ¶
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NARRATOR:
Inside the gala and the balls,
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among the colorful
and garish gowns,
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Mrs. Kennedy stood apart.
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¶ Some like the high road,
I like the low road... ¶
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BEDELL SMITH:
Jackie once said that she would
like to envision herself
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as a sort of art director
of the 20th century,
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suspended in a chair
over everything else
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and orchestrating
how everything would look.
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Everything was a scene
to be staged.
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REEVES:
People suddenly see
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this glamorous young couple
from the upper class,
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who are almost impeccable
in everything they do in public,
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and we want to be like them.
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This is the new America.
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¶ When the saints
come marching in! ¶
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(applause)
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NARRATOR:
If his youth gave him pause,
John Kennedy didn't show it.
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He appeared to be fearless.
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He ignored anyone who said
it was too dangerous
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for a president to speak
off the cuff
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and held the first
live televised press conferences
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in the White House.
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He would keep them up
throughout his presidency.
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REPORTER:
Congressman Alger
of Texas today
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criticized Mr. Salinger
as a, quote,
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"Young and inexperienced White
House publicity man," end quote.
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(crowd laughing)
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And he questioned
the advisability
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of having him visit
the Soviet Union.
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I wonder if you have
any comments.
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I know there are always
some people
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who feel that Americans are
always young and inexperienced
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and foreigners are always able
and tough and great negotiators.
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Now he also,
as I saw the press,
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said that Mr. Salinger's
main job
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was to increase my standing
in the Gallup polls.
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Having done that,
he's now moving on...
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(crowd laughing)
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...to improve our communication.
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BEDELL SMITH:
Jack Kennedy did have
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what he called the "great man"
theory of governing.
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And he felt that a leader
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with the requisite intelligence
and persuasive powers,
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which included charm, I suppose,
could have an impact.
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And he tried to model himself
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along the lines of leaders
that he admired
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who had had that kind of impact.
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NARRATOR:
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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demonstrated that this was
his presidency from the start.
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He appointed Republicans
to head the Department of State,
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00:11:26,552 --> 00:11:31,856
Treasury, Defense and the CIA,
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and when progressive Democrats
complained, he waved them off.
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He also waved off critics
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who said that his 35-year-old
brother, Bobby,
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was too inexperienced
and named him attorney general.
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He peopled his White House staff
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with brainy and confident
young men,
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00:11:50,676 --> 00:11:55,513
and he wasn't shy
about taking charge.
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EVAN THOMAS:
The Kennedys were part
of that faith, that belief,
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born of the New Deal,
of winning World War II,
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00:12:02,388 --> 00:12:04,723
this sense that
America's time had come.
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00:12:04,757 --> 00:12:06,858
We had the best,
the brightest, the smartest,
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and if you just get enough
of those guys in one room,
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00:12:09,428 --> 00:12:14,065
everything will be clear
and all problems will be solved.
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00:12:14,099 --> 00:12:16,651
There was sort of a gleeful
amateurism to them,
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00:12:16,702 --> 00:12:20,038
this faith that if you're smart
and vigorous and aggressive
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00:12:20,072 --> 00:12:21,906
and ambitious, well,
things will follow.
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00:12:21,941 --> 00:12:24,709
This was a dangerous formula,
I should say,
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but it was attractive
at the time.
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The system he worked out
was kind of a spoke and wheel
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so that he was in the center,
he was the hub,
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00:12:36,021 --> 00:12:38,957
and out to the spokes
were the State Department,
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00:12:38,991 --> 00:12:43,394
the national security adviser,
whatever.
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00:12:43,429 --> 00:12:48,333
And to get to each other,
they had to go through him.
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BEDELL SMITH:
In a way, it was quite
improvisational.
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00:12:51,237 --> 00:12:56,340
And he encouraged
a lot of clashing ideas.
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He would sometimes give the same
assignment to different people
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00:13:00,946 --> 00:13:02,380
and see what they came up with.
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00:13:02,414 --> 00:13:05,717
TIMOTHY NAFTALI:
He wasn't bringing people
together in a room
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00:13:05,751 --> 00:13:08,853
to hammer out a consensus.
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00:13:08,888 --> 00:13:10,555
He was bringing people in a room
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00:13:10,655 --> 00:13:12,657
to give him
the best information
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00:13:12,691 --> 00:13:14,392
so that he could make
the decision.
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00:13:14,426 --> 00:13:16,828
The problem with this system
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was it depended on the president
asking the right questions.
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If the president was
distracted or tired,
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00:13:22,067 --> 00:13:25,303
the system wasn't going
to work well.
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00:13:29,375 --> 00:13:32,544
KENNEDY (on tape):
Why does a politician
continually raise his sights,
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00:13:32,578 --> 00:13:33,812
and leave a job
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00:13:33,846 --> 00:13:36,014
that represented complete
satisfaction at one time
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00:13:36,048 --> 00:13:38,116
for a higher position?
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00:13:38,150 --> 00:13:39,551
Question. Paragraph.
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00:13:39,585 --> 00:13:40,618
Part of the reason lies
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00:13:40,653 --> 00:13:43,087
in the normal desire
to move ahead, comma,
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00:13:43,122 --> 00:13:48,560
perhaps a more important part
lies in the recognition
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00:13:48,594 --> 00:13:51,696
that, uh, that
a greater opportunity
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00:13:51,730 --> 00:13:55,033
to determine the direction
in which the nation will go
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00:13:55,067 --> 00:13:57,735
lies in higher office.
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00:13:57,770 --> 00:13:59,871
I've come to understand
that the presidency
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00:13:59,905 --> 00:14:01,940
is the ultimate source
of action.
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00:14:01,974 --> 00:14:03,274
(Dictaphone clicks off)
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NARRATOR:
There was a lot
on the young president's plate
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00:14:11,784 --> 00:14:16,154
when he stepped into office:
a weak economy, a trade deficit,
243
00:14:16,188 --> 00:14:20,758
ominous stirrings
in the civil rights movement.
244
00:14:20,793 --> 00:14:25,330
Kennedy wasn't pushing hard
on his domestic agenda.
245
00:14:25,364 --> 00:14:27,732
He wanted federal investment
in education,
246
00:14:27,766 --> 00:14:30,568
a minimum wage bill,
247
00:14:30,603 --> 00:14:33,638
maybe guaranteed health care
for the elderly.
248
00:14:35,674 --> 00:14:40,812
Memorandum to David Bell,
Bureau of the Budget...
249
00:14:40,846 --> 00:14:43,748
NARRATOR:
What truly engaged John Kennedy
at the beginning of 1961
250
00:14:43,782 --> 00:14:47,752
was the increasing
Soviet menace.
251
00:14:47,786 --> 00:14:50,922
Like most Americans,
the president was worried
252
00:14:50,956 --> 00:14:54,259
engagement with the Russians
might spark a hot war
253
00:14:54,293 --> 00:14:57,462
or nuclear catastrophe.
254
00:14:57,496 --> 00:15:00,798
But Kennedy did not want
to appear afraid
255
00:15:00,833 --> 00:15:03,768
to face down Nikita Khrushchev.
256
00:15:03,802 --> 00:15:06,070
The soviet premier
was making noises
257
00:15:06,105 --> 00:15:09,908
about annexing
democratic West Berlin
258
00:15:09,942 --> 00:15:12,677
and actively aiding
anti-colonial movements
259
00:15:12,711 --> 00:15:18,349
in the Congo, Laos and Vietnam.
260
00:15:18,384 --> 00:15:23,121
Khrushchev was even making
a play in America's backyard.
261
00:15:23,155 --> 00:15:26,591
He had been an ardent supporter
of Fidel Castro
262
00:15:26,625 --> 00:15:29,093
in the two years since
the revolutionary
263
00:15:29,128 --> 00:15:31,129
had taken power in Cuba,
264
00:15:31,163 --> 00:15:33,798
just 90 miles
from the U.S. mainland.
265
00:15:33,832 --> 00:15:35,433
THOMAS HUGHES:
Khrushchev,
266
00:15:35,467 --> 00:15:38,870
as a kind of inauguration
present for Kennedy,
267
00:15:38,904 --> 00:15:42,106
had given his big speech about
national wars of liberation
268
00:15:42,141 --> 00:15:46,878
being the future extension
of Communist influence.
269
00:15:46,912 --> 00:15:48,546
Kennedy made everybody
read this.
270
00:15:48,580 --> 00:15:49,948
It was required reading
271
00:15:49,982 --> 00:15:51,416
in the first weeks
of the administration.
272
00:15:51,450 --> 00:15:55,253
Kennedy definitely bought this
idea of Communism on the march,
273
00:15:55,287 --> 00:15:57,238
that we were in this
twilight struggle,
274
00:15:57,289 --> 00:15:59,457
that we had to face off against
the Communists everywhere,
275
00:15:59,491 --> 00:16:02,260
that it was this almost
sacred duty to face up
276
00:16:02,294 --> 00:16:04,929
against the Communist menace.
277
00:16:04,964 --> 00:16:08,633
Eisenhower's formula had always
been all or nothing:
278
00:16:08,667 --> 00:16:11,069
face off against the Communists
and say,
279
00:16:11,103 --> 00:16:14,138
"We're going to go
to nuclear war or nothing."
280
00:16:14,173 --> 00:16:16,174
Kennedy thought
the smarter thing to do
281
00:16:16,208 --> 00:16:18,042
was to be willing
to fight small wars.
282
00:16:18,077 --> 00:16:20,078
It was called
"flexible response."
283
00:16:20,112 --> 00:16:23,381
The idea was you can't just
threaten nuclear war every time.
284
00:16:23,415 --> 00:16:25,183
Kennedy bought into this idea
285
00:16:25,217 --> 00:16:27,685
that you could fight small wars,
win them,
286
00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:29,654
check Communism that way.
287
00:16:35,995 --> 00:16:37,895
NARRATOR:
In early April 1961,
288
00:16:37,930 --> 00:16:40,698
just a few months
into Kennedy's presidency,
289
00:16:40,733 --> 00:16:44,535
Nikita Khrushchev announced
the latest Soviet triumph:
290
00:16:44,570 --> 00:16:48,406
the first manned flight
into space.
291
00:16:54,947 --> 00:16:57,648
Kennedy watched as the Soviets
292
00:16:57,683 --> 00:16:59,817
heralded their stunning
achievement to the world,
293
00:16:59,852 --> 00:17:02,787
just as he was deciding
whether or not to execute
294
00:17:02,821 --> 00:17:07,759
the most aggressive anti-
Communist plot available to him:
295
00:17:07,793 --> 00:17:11,095
the takedown of Khrushchev's
only real ally
296
00:17:11,130 --> 00:17:14,365
in the Western Hemisphere.
297
00:17:17,703 --> 00:17:20,838
The plan for an armed overthrow
of Fidel Castro in Cuba
298
00:17:20,873 --> 00:17:25,810
was a holdover from the
Eisenhower administration.
299
00:17:25,844 --> 00:17:28,546
More than 1,000 U.S.-sponsored
Cuban exiles
300
00:17:28,580 --> 00:17:31,449
were already in Guatemala
training for the invasion
301
00:17:31,483 --> 00:17:34,085
when Kennedy took office.
302
00:17:37,022 --> 00:17:39,957
At a meeting the day
before his inauguration,
303
00:17:39,992 --> 00:17:42,493
Kennedy had spent little time
304
00:17:42,528 --> 00:17:44,912
asking the outgoing president
about Cuba
305
00:17:44,963 --> 00:17:47,098
and walked away with the idea
306
00:17:47,132 --> 00:17:49,700
that prospects for success
were good,
307
00:17:49,735 --> 00:17:52,336
that national security
required action.
308
00:17:52,371 --> 00:17:55,807
THOMAS:
They were a little bit
ships passing in the night
309
00:17:55,841 --> 00:17:58,776
when they met at the White House
in December
310
00:17:58,811 --> 00:18:01,045
and then in January 1960, '61.
311
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:02,847
And it's too bad.
312
00:18:02,881 --> 00:18:06,451
They needed to have a better
conversation than they did.
313
00:18:06,485 --> 00:18:09,287
Eisenhower should have said
to Kennedy,
314
00:18:09,321 --> 00:18:11,122
"Hey, ta it easy on this.
315
00:18:11,156 --> 00:18:13,091
"Make sure you really talk
to the generals
316
00:18:13,125 --> 00:18:14,759
before you invade Cuba."
317
00:18:14,793 --> 00:18:15,927
But he didn't.
318
00:18:15,961 --> 00:18:18,830
This really was a CIA operation.
319
00:18:18,864 --> 00:18:20,631
And there was a man named
Richard Bissell
320
00:18:20,666 --> 00:18:22,567
who ran Covert Operations
at the CIA.
321
00:18:22,601 --> 00:18:26,204
Very ambitious, very aggressive,
wanted to be head of the CIA,
322
00:18:26,238 --> 00:18:29,807
was basically banking on success
in Cuba carrying him there.
323
00:18:29,842 --> 00:18:32,977
And what Bissell was selling
was the invasion of Cuba,
324
00:18:33,011 --> 00:18:35,780
that they were going
to get rid of Castro,
325
00:18:35,814 --> 00:18:38,082
but also a whole world
of covert action:
326
00:18:38,117 --> 00:18:40,318
that by subterfuge,
327
00:18:40,352 --> 00:18:42,987
the United States
could get its way in the world.
328
00:18:43,021 --> 00:18:46,924
And the Kennedys fell
for Dick Bissell.
329
00:18:46,959 --> 00:18:52,463
The only National Security
Council meeting that I attended
330
00:18:52,498 --> 00:18:54,966
was the meeting at which
the president discussed
331
00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,902
the Bay of Pigs.
332
00:18:57,936 --> 00:19:02,073
And I remember Allen Dulles,
the director of the CIA,
333
00:19:02,107 --> 00:19:05,176
said that once
the invasion began,
334
00:19:05,210 --> 00:19:08,880
there would be
a national uprising.
335
00:19:08,914 --> 00:19:11,849
There was absolutely
no doubt in his mind,
336
00:19:11,884 --> 00:19:14,051
nor, I think,
as we left that day,
337
00:19:14,069 --> 00:19:16,287
in the president's mind,
338
00:19:16,321 --> 00:19:18,156
that once the invasion
was underway,
339
00:19:18,190 --> 00:19:21,192
that there would be a popular
uprising among the Cuban people.
340
00:19:21,226 --> 00:19:22,860
REEVES:
Kennedy had a real respect
341
00:19:22,961 --> 00:19:26,463
for the people
in the intelligence agency
342
00:19:26,481 --> 00:19:29,534
and made the obvious assumption
they knew what they were doing.
343
00:19:32,871 --> 00:19:36,607
NARRATOR:
The president wanted to believe
he could have it both ways.
344
00:19:36,642 --> 00:19:39,410
He hoped to overthrow Castro
345
00:19:39,444 --> 00:19:42,446
without leaving behind
American fingerprints
346
00:19:42,481 --> 00:19:47,952
and without poking a finger
in Khrushchev's eye.
347
00:19:47,986 --> 00:19:52,156
THOMAS:
Kennedy does have some qualms
about the invasion plan.
348
00:19:52,191 --> 00:19:55,793
It's a little bit too loud
and noisy, as they say,
349
00:19:55,827 --> 00:19:57,595
and he wants to tone it down.
350
00:19:57,629 --> 00:20:00,364
So like a politician,
he looks for a compromise.
351
00:20:00,399 --> 00:20:02,066
"I want something quieter.
352
00:20:02,100 --> 00:20:04,168
"I want you to go on a beach,
353
00:20:04,203 --> 00:20:07,939
"in an area which is far away
from an urban center,
354
00:20:07,973 --> 00:20:10,608
"so that this is not picked up.
355
00:20:10,642 --> 00:20:13,911
"Set up a camp on Cuban soil
356
00:20:13,946 --> 00:20:15,813
"and then establish
a government there,
357
00:20:15,847 --> 00:20:19,650
"and make the government there
responsible for air attacks
358
00:20:19,685 --> 00:20:21,752
"so that it's viewed
as the Cubans...
359
00:20:21,787 --> 00:20:23,054
"Okay, we're helping
the Cubans,
360
00:20:23,088 --> 00:20:25,489
"but it is ultimately the Cubans
fighting for the Cubans.
361
00:20:25,524 --> 00:20:27,291
Can you do that?"
362
00:20:27,326 --> 00:20:28,960
"Yes, Mr. President."
363
00:20:28,994 --> 00:20:32,530
THOMAS:
The fact that the military's
signing off on it just means
364
00:20:32,564 --> 00:20:34,966
what they're really saying is,
"This is a CIA operation.
365
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,801
It's their problem if it fails."
366
00:20:36,835 --> 00:20:39,370
Kennedy is not
sophisticated enough,
367
00:20:39,404 --> 00:20:41,572
not experienced enough
to understand that.
368
00:20:45,043 --> 00:20:48,746
ANNOUNCER:
The assault has begun on the
dictatorship of Fidel Castro.
369
00:20:48,780 --> 00:20:52,183
Cuban Army pilots opened the
first phase of organized revolt
370
00:20:52,217 --> 00:20:55,686
with bombing raids
on three military bases...
371
00:20:55,721 --> 00:20:58,155
NARRATOR:
The invasion unraveled
from the start.
372
00:20:58,190 --> 00:21:02,159
The initial air campaign
on April 15, 1961,
373
00:21:02,194 --> 00:21:04,662
was a disaster,
and a very public one.
374
00:21:04,696 --> 00:21:06,597
ANNOUNCER:
In Havana, acting
foreign minister Olivares
375
00:21:06,632 --> 00:21:10,701
shows diplomats rockets fired
from the Cuban raiders
376
00:21:10,736 --> 00:21:12,403
which he claims
have U.S. markings.
377
00:21:12,437 --> 00:21:16,140
NARRATOR:
Kennedy sent
his ambassador to the U.N.
378
00:21:16,174 --> 00:21:19,010
to make a hasty and formal
denial of U.S. involvement
379
00:21:19,044 --> 00:21:21,712
in the initial air strikes.
380
00:21:21,747 --> 00:21:25,750
ADLAI STEVENSON:
The United States has committed
no aggression against Cuba
381
00:21:25,784 --> 00:21:29,020
and no offensive
has been launched from Florida
382
00:21:29,054 --> 00:21:31,889
or from any other part
of the United States.
383
00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:38,062
NARRATOR:
By the time the American-trained
and equipped invasion force
384
00:21:38,096 --> 00:21:40,698
began its cruise toward
the tiny Caribbean island
385
00:21:40,732 --> 00:21:41,899
the following day,
386
00:21:41,933 --> 00:21:45,036
the coup in Cuba was
a poorly kept secret.
387
00:21:50,442 --> 00:21:53,544
MICHAEL DOBBS:
The exiles landed in small boats
at the Bay of Pigs,
388
00:21:53,578 --> 00:21:59,684
which is a very remote part of
Cuba, not near any town at all.
389
00:21:59,718 --> 00:22:02,653
The Cuban authorities
had heard about the invasion,
390
00:22:02,688 --> 00:22:07,525
and they were able to surround
this exile force very quickly,
391
00:22:07,559 --> 00:22:11,929
isolate them
and begin to massacre them,
392
00:22:11,963 --> 00:22:13,731
kill them, capture them.
393
00:22:13,765 --> 00:22:17,034
And that put the president
in a very difficult position.
394
00:22:17,069 --> 00:22:19,136
Either he had to commit
U.S. forces
395
00:22:19,171 --> 00:22:22,073
to rescue this abortive
invasion force
396
00:22:22,107 --> 00:22:26,210
or he had to deny
all connection with it.
397
00:22:26,244 --> 00:22:28,479
NARRATOR:
While the remaining Cuban
exile force dug in,
398
00:22:28,513 --> 00:22:32,917
the CIA and the military begged
Kennedy to commit more troops,
399
00:22:32,951 --> 00:22:36,454
or at least okay
powerful air strikes
400
00:22:36,488 --> 00:22:39,290
in support of the invaders
on that beachhead.
401
00:22:39,324 --> 00:22:43,194
The president demurred.
402
00:22:43,228 --> 00:22:47,264
NAFTALI:
The facts on the ground
got worse and worse and worse
403
00:22:47,299 --> 00:22:50,468
for the exiles who had invaded
with U.S. support.
404
00:22:50,502 --> 00:22:52,903
It was a total disaster.
405
00:22:59,144 --> 00:23:02,546
NARRATOR:
There was no popular
uprising in Cuba.
406
00:23:02,581 --> 00:23:05,216
Castro bragged about
his stunning defiance
407
00:23:05,250 --> 00:23:06,550
of the United States.
408
00:23:06,585 --> 00:23:09,520
His popularity in Cuba soared.
409
00:23:11,656 --> 00:23:13,691
Nikita Khrushchev
wagged his finger
410
00:23:13,725 --> 00:23:17,461
at the new American president,
who had been defeated
411
00:23:17,496 --> 00:23:21,665
and caught
in an embarrassing lie.
412
00:23:21,700 --> 00:23:26,137
Of the 1,400 Cuban exiles
who made the attack,
413
00:23:26,171 --> 00:23:30,841
1,200 were killed or captured.
414
00:23:30,876 --> 00:23:33,911
Many of the survivors were
headed for firing squads.
415
00:23:36,948 --> 00:23:40,151
NASAW:
The Bay of Pigs is the low point
416
00:23:40,185 --> 00:23:41,952
not only of the Kennedy
presidency
417
00:23:41,987 --> 00:23:45,022
but maybe of any presidency.
418
00:23:45,056 --> 00:23:46,424
As Jackie says,
419
00:23:46,458 --> 00:23:51,462
she had never seen her husband
as distraught, as defeated.
420
00:23:51,496 --> 00:23:53,864
She caught him a couple of times
just weeping.
421
00:23:53,899 --> 00:23:55,666
This is a decision-making
422
00:23:55,700 --> 00:23:57,568
that depended on the guy
in the middle
423
00:23:57,602 --> 00:24:00,538
asking the right questions
and getting the right answers,
424
00:24:00,572 --> 00:24:03,374
and it failed.
425
00:24:03,408 --> 00:24:05,276
And he knew who was at fault.
426
00:24:05,310 --> 00:24:08,412
He was pretty depressed,
sitting in his office, saying,
427
00:24:08,447 --> 00:24:11,348
"How could I be so stupid?
428
00:24:11,383 --> 00:24:14,452
Why did I listen
to those people?"
429
00:24:14,486 --> 00:24:19,323
NASAW:
And as the days went on,
he didn't feel better.
430
00:24:19,357 --> 00:24:21,392
He couldn't get himself
out of this depression,
431
00:24:21,426 --> 00:24:22,760
he couldn't rouse himself.
432
00:24:22,794 --> 00:24:26,464
At one point, Bobby came
to Jack in the Oval Office
433
00:24:26,498 --> 00:24:28,365
and said, "Let's call Dad.
434
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,968
He'll make us feel better."
435
00:24:36,107 --> 00:24:37,908
THOMAS:
Right after the Bay of Pigs,
436
00:24:37,943 --> 00:24:39,910
Kennedy calls
President Eisenhower
437
00:24:39,945 --> 00:24:42,513
and asks to meet him
at Camp David.
438
00:24:42,547 --> 00:24:45,082
And Kennedy says,
"What went wrong?"
439
00:24:45,116 --> 00:24:46,951
And President Eisenhower
starts quizzing him.
440
00:24:46,985 --> 00:24:48,652
He said, "Now, when you met
about this,
441
00:24:48,687 --> 00:24:50,454
"did you meet in a big group
and have a true back-and-forth,
442
00:24:50,489 --> 00:24:52,990
"or did you meet with people
alone, one on one,
443
00:24:53,024 --> 00:24:55,326
and not really have
a full debate?"
444
00:24:55,360 --> 00:24:58,262
And it comes out in this meeting
445
00:24:58,296 --> 00:25:00,431
that Kennedy never really talked
to the generals
446
00:25:00,465 --> 00:25:02,500
about what they really thought.
447
00:25:02,534 --> 00:25:05,302
And Eisenhower kind of shakes
his head and says, "You know,
448
00:25:05,337 --> 00:25:09,273
next time, you're going to have
to do better, Mr. President."
449
00:25:11,576 --> 00:25:14,812
DALLEK:
It humbled him,
but most important,
450
00:25:14,846 --> 00:25:18,782
it made him deeply skeptical
of taking advice at face value
451
00:25:18,817 --> 00:25:22,419
from people who were supposed
to be experts
452
00:25:22,454 --> 00:25:25,855
in the military,
in the intelligence community,
453
00:25:25,857 --> 00:25:27,525
in the CIA.
454
00:25:27,559 --> 00:25:32,263
And he realized he had to make
critical evaluations
455
00:25:32,297 --> 00:25:35,432
of what people were telling him,
and he had to be skeptical.
456
00:25:35,467 --> 00:25:38,135
He decided to set in motion
457
00:25:38,169 --> 00:25:41,739
really a revival
of his administration,
458
00:25:41,773 --> 00:25:47,077
and it leads him to decide
to do the sort of unprecedented:
459
00:25:47,112 --> 00:25:49,547
to have a second
State of the Union speech.
460
00:25:49,581 --> 00:25:51,215
Kennedy's trying to revive
his presidency
461
00:25:51,249 --> 00:25:52,850
after the Bay of Pigs.
462
00:25:59,824 --> 00:26:02,126
HUGHES:
Kennedy was always being
confronted at the wrong time
463
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,361
with the wrong problem.
464
00:26:04,396 --> 00:26:06,163
And he regards all these things
465
00:26:06,197 --> 00:26:09,099
as terrible,
competitive distractions.
466
00:26:09,134 --> 00:26:12,870
REEVES:
He learned about
the Freedom Riders
467
00:26:12,904 --> 00:26:17,207
when he got his New York Times
that particular morning,
468
00:26:17,242 --> 00:26:18,976
and there was a picture
469
00:26:19,010 --> 00:26:21,278
of the bus burning
in Anniston, Alabama.
470
00:26:21,313 --> 00:26:25,816
And his response was,
"What the hell is this?"
471
00:26:25,850 --> 00:26:30,187
NARRATOR:
In mid-May 1961,
a group of Americans
472
00:26:30,221 --> 00:26:33,424
trying to focus attention
on the illegal segregation
473
00:26:33,458 --> 00:26:36,760
of interstate bus lines
in the South
474
00:26:36,795 --> 00:26:41,165
ran into more resistance
than they'd expected.
475
00:26:41,199 --> 00:26:43,801
White supremacists in Alabama
476
00:26:43,835 --> 00:26:46,637
had firebombed one passenger bus
the protesters were on
477
00:26:46,671 --> 00:26:50,274
and beaten them bloody.
478
00:26:50,308 --> 00:26:52,443
John Kennedy was ten days away
479
00:26:52,477 --> 00:26:55,012
from a major address
to Congress;
480
00:26:55,046 --> 00:26:57,781
he was also busy preparing
for his historic summit
481
00:26:57,816 --> 00:27:03,487
with Nikita Khrushchev,
which was just three weeks away.
482
00:27:03,521 --> 00:27:05,823
He didn't want
America's race problems
483
00:27:05,857 --> 00:27:08,325
to be splashed
all over the press of the world,
484
00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:13,764
and therefore, out of the blue,
learning about it,
485
00:27:13,798 --> 00:27:18,302
I answer his call on the phone
when he suddenly discovers
486
00:27:18,336 --> 00:27:20,437
the Freedom Riders
are riding into danger.
487
00:27:20,472 --> 00:27:23,674
And he said, "Get your friends
off those buses.
488
00:27:23,708 --> 00:27:26,010
Find a way to stop it."
489
00:27:26,044 --> 00:27:29,246
JULIAN BOND:
There's a feeling that
the Kennedy administration
490
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,383
wants to treat the civil rights
movement generally,
491
00:27:32,417 --> 00:27:34,952
the Freedom Riders particularly,
as an irritant.
492
00:27:34,986 --> 00:27:36,353
"These are people getting
in our way.
493
00:27:36,388 --> 00:27:39,356
"These are people upsetting
our plans.
494
00:27:39,391 --> 00:27:41,091
"These are people
who are taking attention away
495
00:27:41,126 --> 00:27:43,627
from what we want to do."
496
00:27:43,662 --> 00:27:45,562
REEVES:
At that time,
a Democratic president
497
00:27:45,597 --> 00:27:49,366
was totally at the mercy
of Southern Democrats.
498
00:27:49,401 --> 00:27:51,068
They ran the Congress.
499
00:27:51,102 --> 00:27:55,739
And they were segregationists.
500
00:27:55,774 --> 00:28:00,444
And he did not want to lose
control of Congress
501
00:28:00,478 --> 00:28:03,747
over, you know,
a few black kids.
502
00:28:03,782 --> 00:28:07,051
NAFTALI:
That was the battle in 1961
he didn't want to fight.
503
00:28:07,085 --> 00:28:11,088
And the president
and Robert Kennedy
504
00:28:11,122 --> 00:28:13,757
reacted to this by saying,
"Not now."
505
00:28:13,792 --> 00:28:15,826
It's politically understandable,
506
00:28:15,860 --> 00:28:20,898
but historically,
it's inexcusable.
507
00:28:22,767 --> 00:28:25,235
NARRATOR:
Kennedy was wary of sending
federal troops
508
00:28:25,270 --> 00:28:28,472
to protect the Freedom Riders;
509
00:28:28,506 --> 00:28:31,809
he knew it would inflame
white Southern Democrats.
510
00:28:31,843 --> 00:28:33,777
Justice Department officials
called the protest leaders
511
00:28:33,812 --> 00:28:37,448
and warned them that
the United States government
512
00:28:37,482 --> 00:28:39,249
could not assure their safety
if they continued
513
00:28:39,284 --> 00:28:42,119
and asked them to stand down.
514
00:28:44,389 --> 00:28:47,691
BOND:
The optimism that had enveloped
the Kennedys, I think,
515
00:28:47,726 --> 00:28:50,027
from Election Day forward
began to diminish,
516
00:28:50,061 --> 00:28:52,896
and it kept going down and down
and down and down and down.
517
00:28:52,931 --> 00:28:57,434
NARRATOR:
The Freedom Riders refused
to suspend their campaign,
518
00:28:57,469 --> 00:29:02,272
though they held out little hope
of federal protection.
519
00:29:02,307 --> 00:29:07,010
"This goddamn civil rights
mess," Kennedy complained.
520
00:29:07,045 --> 00:29:10,347
He tried to satisfy both sides.
521
00:29:10,381 --> 00:29:14,752
He sent his attorney general
brother out to make statements
522
00:29:14,786 --> 00:29:18,288
chastising both the Freedom
Riders and their attackers.
523
00:29:18,323 --> 00:29:20,924
He dispatched
a Justice Department aide,
524
00:29:20,959 --> 00:29:23,460
a Southerner
named John Seigenthaler,
525
00:29:23,495 --> 00:29:25,662
to try to keep a lid
on the situation
526
00:29:25,697 --> 00:29:27,965
and to explain
to local authorities
527
00:29:27,999 --> 00:29:29,299
that it was their duty
528
00:29:29,366 --> 00:29:34,271
to protect the protesters
from the white mobs.
529
00:29:34,305 --> 00:29:38,041
This assignment landed
Seigenthaler in a parking lot
530
00:29:38,076 --> 00:29:40,277
of the Montgomery bus station,
where the local police
531
00:29:40,311 --> 00:29:43,046
refused to stand
between the Freedom Riders
532
00:29:43,081 --> 00:29:46,483
and a group of armed
and angry segregationists.
533
00:29:46,518 --> 00:29:49,353
SEIGENTHALER:
There were people there that day
534
00:29:49,387 --> 00:29:52,689
who would have killed those kids
just because they were black.
535
00:29:52,724 --> 00:29:55,692
I mean, they were intent
on maiming
536
00:29:55,727 --> 00:29:58,128
and crippling and killing.
537
00:29:58,163 --> 00:30:01,665
I think the violence visited
on the Freedom Riders
538
00:30:01,699 --> 00:30:07,404
that day in that Greyhound
parking lot in Montgomery
539
00:30:07,438 --> 00:30:11,909
shattered those hopes
that the administration
540
00:30:11,911 --> 00:30:14,378
could somehow navigate
through the troubled waters
541
00:30:14,412 --> 00:30:17,214
of race in the South.
542
00:30:17,248 --> 00:30:20,184
Certainly they understood that
there were going to be problems.
543
00:30:20,218 --> 00:30:23,620
But this was one that required
federal intervention;
544
00:30:23,622 --> 00:30:27,090
this was one that required
545
00:30:27,125 --> 00:30:29,626
sending in 400 marshals
one afternoon.
546
00:30:29,661 --> 00:30:32,229
And once that was done,
547
00:30:32,263 --> 00:30:35,199
the idea that you were
going to be able
548
00:30:35,233 --> 00:30:37,334
to navigate
those troubled waters,
549
00:30:37,368 --> 00:30:40,904
you realized that was probably
a false hope.
550
00:30:50,415 --> 00:30:54,084
(applause)
551
00:30:56,721 --> 00:30:59,022
NARRATOR:
Once the federal marshals
were in place in Alabama,
552
00:30:59,057 --> 00:31:02,559
Kennedy changed the subject
from civil rights.
553
00:31:02,594 --> 00:31:06,263
When he addressed a rare
joint session of Congress
554
00:31:06,297 --> 00:31:07,831
four days later,
555
00:31:07,866 --> 00:31:11,435
the president mentioned
civil rights only glancingly.
556
00:31:11,469 --> 00:31:16,907
He would not say a single word
about the Freedom Riders.
557
00:31:16,941 --> 00:31:21,211
"These are extraordinary times,"
Kennedy explained,
558
00:31:21,246 --> 00:31:24,047
"and we need to keep our eye
on the most important issue:
559
00:31:24,082 --> 00:31:27,217
the global struggle
for freedom."
560
00:31:27,252 --> 00:31:28,652
KENNEDY:
The great battleground
561
00:31:28,686 --> 00:31:30,988
for the defense and expansion
of freedom today
562
00:31:31,022 --> 00:31:34,291
is the whole southern half
of the globe:
563
00:31:34,325 --> 00:31:38,328
Asia, Latin America, Africa
and the Middle East,
564
00:31:38,363 --> 00:31:42,699
the lands of the rising people.
565
00:31:42,734 --> 00:31:45,669
Their revolution is the greatest
in human history.
566
00:31:45,703 --> 00:31:48,972
NARRATOR:
To promote the cause
of democracy around the world,
567
00:31:49,007 --> 00:31:52,476
he asked young Americans to join
the newly formed Peace Corps,
568
00:31:52,510 --> 00:31:57,047
and he asked Congress for money
to aid emerging nations.
569
00:31:57,081 --> 00:32:02,719
He also called for a bold
new move into the heavens.
570
00:32:02,754 --> 00:32:05,355
KENNEDY:
Finally, if we are
to win the battle
571
00:32:05,390 --> 00:32:07,958
that is now going on
around the world
572
00:32:07,992 --> 00:32:11,428
between freedom and tyranny,
573
00:32:11,462 --> 00:32:14,398
the dramatic achievements
in space
574
00:32:14,432 --> 00:32:16,333
which occurred in recent weeks
575
00:32:16,367 --> 00:32:19,102
should have made clear
to us all,
576
00:32:19,137 --> 00:32:22,039
as did the Sputnik in 1957,
577
00:32:22,073 --> 00:32:28,278
the impact of this adventure
on the minds of men everywhere
578
00:32:28,313 --> 00:32:30,914
who are attempting to make
a determination
579
00:32:30,949 --> 00:32:33,750
of which road they should take.
580
00:32:33,785 --> 00:32:35,686
I believe that this nation
581
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,422
should commit itself
to achieving the goal,
582
00:32:38,456 --> 00:32:42,759
before this decade is out,
of landing a man on the Moon
583
00:32:42,794 --> 00:32:45,595
and returning him safely
to the earth.
584
00:32:45,630 --> 00:32:49,866
NARRATOR:
The moon-shot had less to do
with science and discovery
585
00:32:49,901 --> 00:32:54,204
than it did with projecting
to the Soviets American resolve.
586
00:32:54,238 --> 00:32:57,407
Kennedy was scheduled to take
his first overseas trip
587
00:32:57,442 --> 00:33:02,446
within a week of that address
to Paris, Vienna and London.
588
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:07,184
The most important leg
was Vienna,
589
00:33:07,218 --> 00:33:09,152
where the president
would be meeting face-to-face
590
00:33:09,187 --> 00:33:13,457
with Nikita Khrushchev.
591
00:33:13,491 --> 00:33:16,893
Kennedy was very confident
of his own charm and whatnot,
592
00:33:16,928 --> 00:33:22,899
and he expected
he could seduce Khrushchev.
593
00:33:22,934 --> 00:33:25,535
SALINGER:
The President
and Chairman Khrushchev
594
00:33:25,570 --> 00:33:28,772
understand that this meeting
is not for the purpose
595
00:33:28,806 --> 00:33:31,608
of negotiating
or reaching agreement
596
00:33:31,642 --> 00:33:33,577
on the major international
problems...
597
00:33:33,611 --> 00:33:36,446
NARRATOR:
Kennedy had a big agenda
in Vienna.
598
00:33:36,481 --> 00:33:40,050
He wanted to persuade Khrushchev
to back off in West Berlin,
599
00:33:40,084 --> 00:33:43,020
to join him in decelerating
weapons programs,
600
00:33:43,054 --> 00:33:45,122
and to suspend nuclear testing.
601
00:33:45,156 --> 00:33:47,724
SALINGER
...and a general exchange
of views on the major issues
602
00:33:47,759 --> 00:33:51,228
which affect the relationships
between the two countries.
603
00:33:51,262 --> 00:33:57,267
NARRATOR:
The nuclear stand-down was the
president's highest priority.
604
00:33:57,301 --> 00:34:02,372
DALLEK:
Kennedy had a meeting with his
chiefs early in his presidency
605
00:34:02,407 --> 00:34:08,111
in which they describe to him
the plans for a nuclear war
606
00:34:08,146 --> 00:34:11,882
in which they would kill
175 million people,
607
00:34:11,916 --> 00:34:15,252
devastate every major city
in the Soviet Union and China.
608
00:34:15,286 --> 00:34:16,887
And as he walks out of the room,
609
00:34:16,921 --> 00:34:18,488
he turns to Dean Rusk
and he says,
610
00:34:18,523 --> 00:34:22,826
"And we call ourselves
the human race."
611
00:34:22,860 --> 00:34:24,961
If there was anything
that horrified him
612
00:34:24,979 --> 00:34:26,646
in that presidency,
613
00:34:26,681 --> 00:34:30,100
it was the thought of having
to pull that nuclear trigger.
614
00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:36,473
ANNOUNCER:
Paris, the city of light,
615
00:34:36,507 --> 00:34:38,875
outdoes itself in the warmth
and splendor of its welcome
616
00:34:38,910 --> 00:34:40,310
to President and Mrs. Kennedy,
617
00:34:40,344 --> 00:34:43,513
here en route to the fateful
Vienna meeting
618
00:34:43,548 --> 00:34:46,850
with Soviet Premier Khrushchev.
619
00:34:46,884 --> 00:34:49,452
French president de Gaulle,
remarkably relaxed and cordial,
620
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,756
greets the visiting Americans...
621
00:34:52,790 --> 00:34:58,562
BEDELL SMITH:
There was a great deal
of interest in that first trip.
622
00:34:58,596 --> 00:35:00,363
Jackie understood this.
623
00:35:00,398 --> 00:35:03,967
She studied very hard.
624
00:35:04,001 --> 00:35:05,902
She studied State Department
documents.
625
00:35:05,937 --> 00:35:08,338
She hired a tutor
to brush up her ench.
626
00:35:08,372 --> 00:35:13,810
And when they arrived in Paris,
people went wild.
627
00:35:20,418 --> 00:35:23,987
(applause)
628
00:35:24,021 --> 00:35:29,259
I do not, uh, think it
altogether inappropriate
629
00:35:29,293 --> 00:35:33,330
to introduce myself
to this audience.
630
00:35:33,364 --> 00:35:37,367
I am the man who accompanied
Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris,
631
00:35:37,401 --> 00:35:39,336
and I've enjoyed it.
632
00:35:39,370 --> 00:35:42,005
(laughter and applause)
633
00:35:45,276 --> 00:35:49,713
NARRATOR:
The success of the sit-down
with Khrushchev in Vienna
634
00:35:49,747 --> 00:35:52,616
was up to the president himself.
635
00:35:52,650 --> 00:35:55,819
There were two long days
of meetings on the schedule,
636
00:35:55,853 --> 00:36:01,291
and Kennedy's serious health
problems had flared again.
637
00:36:01,325 --> 00:36:04,594
Kennedy had wrenched his back
on a trip to Canada
638
00:36:04,629 --> 00:36:07,397
several weeks
before they went to Paris
639
00:36:07,431 --> 00:36:12,369
and was in a lot of pain,
more pain than usual.
640
00:36:12,403 --> 00:36:18,375
He had enlisted the services
of a controversial doctor.
641
00:36:18,409 --> 00:36:26,115
REEVES:
Max Jacobson, Dr. Feelgood,
who was unofficially his doctor,
642
00:36:26,216 --> 00:36:27,751
was flown over with his wife,
643
00:36:27,785 --> 00:36:31,288
the only two passengers
on a chartered plane.
644
00:36:31,322 --> 00:36:34,824
And then they were kept
in the hotel
645
00:36:34,859 --> 00:36:36,927
where the Secret Service was
646
00:36:36,961 --> 00:36:41,464
so that the more
mainstream doctors
647
00:36:41,499 --> 00:36:47,037
wouldn't know that Kennedy
was being pumped up.
648
00:36:47,071 --> 00:36:49,940
DALLEK:
Bobby Kennedy
cautioned his brother
649
00:36:49,974 --> 00:36:54,711
against letting this guy,
who some said was a quack,
650
00:36:54,745 --> 00:36:57,347
letting him shoot him up
with these kinds of painkillers,
651
00:36:57,381 --> 00:36:59,816
and uh, "Do you know
what's in these injections?"
652
00:36:59,850 --> 00:37:01,851
And Jack said, "I don't care
if it's dog piss.
653
00:37:01,869 --> 00:37:03,386
It makes me feel better."
654
00:37:03,421 --> 00:37:08,792
BEDELL SMITH:
A half-hour before he was due
to meet with Khrushchev,
655
00:37:08,826 --> 00:37:10,894
Kennedy summoned him to his room
656
00:37:10,928 --> 00:37:12,796
and asked him to give him
a big injection,
657
00:37:12,830 --> 00:37:16,333
because he knew he was going
to be faced
658
00:37:16,367 --> 00:37:21,004
with a long meeting
with Khrushchev
659
00:37:21,038 --> 00:37:25,141
and he wanted to be able
to withstand that length of time
660
00:37:25,176 --> 00:37:27,877
without suffering
the kind of back pain
661
00:37:27,912 --> 00:37:30,280
that he had been enduring.
662
00:37:30,314 --> 00:37:33,083
NARRATOR:
Dr. Feelgood's cocktails
663
00:37:33,117 --> 00:37:37,120
were a potent mix of painkillers
and amphetamines.
664
00:37:37,154 --> 00:37:41,891
Nobody but Jackie and Bobby knew
about the injections,
665
00:37:41,926 --> 00:37:44,761
and nobody on the staff
suspected.
666
00:37:44,795 --> 00:37:50,500
HUGHES:
Despite all the briefings
about what a crude,
667
00:37:50,534 --> 00:37:52,469
emotional peasant
Khrushchev was,
668
00:37:52,503 --> 00:37:54,404
Kennedy couldn't
have been prepared
669
00:37:54,438 --> 00:37:55,972
for what he was up against.
670
00:37:56,007 --> 00:38:00,010
Khrushchev thought of him
as young, weak, ineffective,
671
00:38:00,044 --> 00:38:03,113
and probably a pushover.
672
00:38:03,147 --> 00:38:06,449
And Kennedy
defended himself limply.
673
00:38:06,484 --> 00:38:09,519
NAFTALI:
Khrushchev wanted Vienna
674
00:38:09,553 --> 00:38:12,188
to be humiliating
for the American president.
675
00:38:12,223 --> 00:38:13,723
That was the goal.
676
00:38:13,758 --> 00:38:17,327
There was nothing that Kennedy
could say or do at Vienna
677
00:38:17,361 --> 00:38:21,998
that would have derailed
Khrushchev's strategy.
678
00:38:22,033 --> 00:38:24,434
Kennedy walked into an ambush.
679
00:38:24,468 --> 00:38:28,004
What he hopes to do is work out
some kind of accommodation
680
00:38:28,039 --> 00:38:30,073
with Khrushchev over Berlin.
681
00:38:30,107 --> 00:38:32,842
The Soviets are chagrined
682
00:38:32,877 --> 00:38:35,612
by the fact that Berlin
is a corridor of escape
683
00:38:35,646 --> 00:38:40,483
for people from the Eastern
European satellite countries;
684
00:38:40,518 --> 00:38:41,985
that they're running
out of there,
685
00:38:42,019 --> 00:38:46,489
fleeing Eastern Europe,
where Communism is in control,
686
00:38:46,524 --> 00:38:48,458
to go to the West.
687
00:38:48,492 --> 00:38:51,428
And Khrushchev
is embarrassed by this.
688
00:38:51,462 --> 00:38:53,697
NARRATION
The Soviet premier
was matter-of-fact
689
00:38:53,731 --> 00:38:56,399
in his presentation
to Kennedy about Berlin.
690
00:38:56,434 --> 00:38:58,601
He was ready to unify the city
691
00:38:58,636 --> 00:39:01,371
under the control of his ally
East Germany
692
00:39:01,405 --> 00:39:05,842
and to erase any U.S.
and NATO presence in the city.
693
00:39:05,876 --> 00:39:09,546
DALLEK:
By the end of the meeting,
Khrushchev says,
694
00:39:09,580 --> 00:39:11,348
"We're going forward.
695
00:39:11,382 --> 00:39:13,650
You press us,
that's your problem."
696
00:39:13,684 --> 00:39:17,354
And Kennedy said, "It's going
to be a very cold winter."
697
00:39:21,459 --> 00:39:24,327
DOBBS:
Khrushchev talked
about nuclear weapons
698
00:39:24,362 --> 00:39:29,132
in a very informal way
that worried Kennedy.
699
00:39:29,166 --> 00:39:31,835
Kennedy, when he came out
of that meeting with Khrushchev,
700
00:39:31,869 --> 00:39:33,636
was really shaken.
701
00:39:33,671 --> 00:39:37,774
I will tell you now that it was
a very sober two days.
702
00:39:37,808 --> 00:39:42,312
There was no discourtesy,
no loss of tempers,
703
00:39:42,346 --> 00:39:46,316
no threats or ultimatums
by either side,
704
00:39:46,350 --> 00:39:50,587
no advantage or concession
was either gained or given,
705
00:39:50,621 --> 00:39:54,991
no major decision was either
planned or taken.
706
00:39:55,025 --> 00:39:59,596
No spectacular progress was
either achieved or pretended.
707
00:39:59,630 --> 00:40:04,067
NAFTALI:
He assumed certain things
about Khrushchev
708
00:40:04,101 --> 00:40:05,468
that proved to be wrong.
709
00:40:05,503 --> 00:40:09,406
"If this guy doesn't share
my concern about nuclear danger,
710
00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:12,876
how am I going to deal with him
over Europe?"
711
00:40:12,910 --> 00:40:16,646
There was no ground that
he could see for compromise,
712
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:20,183
and that left Kennedy
in a very dangerous situation.
713
00:40:20,217 --> 00:40:23,052
It left the country
in a dangerous situation.
714
00:40:24,789 --> 00:40:28,024
NARRATOR:
The president found it
increasingly difficult
715
00:40:28,058 --> 00:40:32,462
to read Nikita Khrushchev
in the months after Vienna.
716
00:40:32,496 --> 00:40:34,464
The Soviet leader
kept Kennedy off balance.
717
00:40:34,498 --> 00:40:39,736
He backed off on his Berlin
threat, building a wall
718
00:40:39,770 --> 00:40:42,372
around the Soviet-controlled
sector of the city
719
00:40:42,406 --> 00:40:44,007
to stem the flood of defectors,
720
00:40:44,041 --> 00:40:48,978
but leaving in place
the post-war agreements
721
00:40:49,013 --> 00:40:50,713
between East and West.
722
00:40:50,748 --> 00:40:54,250
Then, in spite of Kennedy's
direct warnings,
723
00:40:54,285 --> 00:40:57,720
he restarted
Soviet nuclear testing.
724
00:40:57,755 --> 00:40:59,189
(explosion)
725
00:41:01,025 --> 00:41:05,762
NAFTALI:
Khrushchev's decision to resume
testing in summer of 1961--
726
00:41:05,796 --> 00:41:10,033
not just any kind of testing;
he decided to detonate
727
00:41:10,067 --> 00:41:13,086
the largest bomb
ever detonated before--
728
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:15,922
put Kennedy
in a difficult position.
729
00:41:15,956 --> 00:41:19,542
He has many advisers
who are arguing,
730
00:41:19,577 --> 00:41:21,711
"You've got to resume testing,"
and he doesn't want to do it.
731
00:41:21,745 --> 00:41:22,946
And he keeps putting it off,
732
00:41:22,980 --> 00:41:24,180
hoping that something
will happen
733
00:41:24,215 --> 00:41:26,549
in the negotiations
with the Soviets.
734
00:41:26,584 --> 00:41:29,418
"The nuclear scientists are
arguing that you need to do it.
735
00:41:29,519 --> 00:41:31,888
"We're going to make bombs
better and more effective,
736
00:41:31,922 --> 00:41:33,723
more efficient."
737
00:41:33,757 --> 00:41:36,159
It's the time when they start
thinking about a neutron bomb.
738
00:41:36,193 --> 00:41:39,195
And Kennedy is much less
interested in all of that
739
00:41:39,230 --> 00:41:42,198
than he is in trying
to keep the world away
740
00:41:42,233 --> 00:41:44,067
from the brink of nuclear war.
741
00:41:47,004 --> 00:41:49,472
NARRATOR:
Kennedy believed
he had to show strength,
742
00:41:49,507 --> 00:41:51,608
and asking Congress
to fund an increasing buildup
743
00:41:51,642 --> 00:41:57,714
of military capability and
weapons systems wasn't enough.
744
00:41:57,748 --> 00:42:01,851
He decided to make a stand
in a country in Southeast Asia
745
00:42:01,886 --> 00:42:08,958
few Americans
had ever heard of: Vietnam.
746
00:42:08,993 --> 00:42:14,531
The Communist-backed Viet Cong
appeared to be winning there.
747
00:42:14,565 --> 00:42:16,799
DALLEK:
There were people urging Kennedy
to understand
748
00:42:16,834 --> 00:42:22,839
that if the Viet Cong guerrillas
succeed in South Vietnam,
749
00:42:22,873 --> 00:42:25,241
it's going to be seen as a model
for guerrilla warfare
750
00:42:25,276 --> 00:42:27,143
in other developing nations.
751
00:42:27,177 --> 00:42:28,845
And so beating back
this insurgency
752
00:42:28,879 --> 00:42:33,917
not only saves Vietnam
from Communism,
753
00:42:33,951 --> 00:42:37,287
but it's going to discourage
the guerrilla campaigns
754
00:42:37,321 --> 00:42:39,956
in other Third World countries.
755
00:42:39,990 --> 00:42:42,559
Having suffered setbacks and not
ousting Castro from Cuba,
756
00:42:42,593 --> 00:42:46,930
having sort of lost the debate,
so to speak,
757
00:42:46,964 --> 00:42:48,932
in Vienna with Khrushchev,
758
00:42:48,966 --> 00:42:52,468
being under the gun
in relation to Berlin,
759
00:42:52,503 --> 00:42:55,471
he feels he can't
step aside on Vietnam,
760
00:42:55,506 --> 00:42:57,674
however marginal it may be
in his own mind
761
00:42:57,708 --> 00:43:00,610
and in the minds of some others
762
00:43:00,644 --> 00:43:03,112
telling him that
this piece of territory
763
00:43:03,147 --> 00:43:07,216
is not all that important
to America's strategic security.
764
00:43:09,386 --> 00:43:12,488
NARRATOR:
Kennedy was wary of being drawn
765
00:43:12,523 --> 00:43:15,491
into another debacle
like Bay of Pigs.
766
00:43:15,526 --> 00:43:19,228
He asked the secretary
of defense, Robert McNamara,
767
00:43:19,263 --> 00:43:22,966
and his only trusted military
adviser, General Maxwell Taylor,
768
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:25,635
to give him a reasonable plan.
769
00:43:25,669 --> 00:43:29,205
He wanted them to assess
the U.S.'s chosen ally there,
770
00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:31,407
President Ngo Dinh Diem,
771
00:43:31,442 --> 00:43:34,844
to determine the popularity of
his South Vietnamese government
772
00:43:34,878 --> 00:43:37,747
and the strength
of his military.
773
00:43:37,781 --> 00:43:41,217
He asked brother Bobby
to stay in the loop, too.
774
00:43:41,251 --> 00:43:44,754
NAFTALI:
Maxwell Taylor
and Robert McNamara
775
00:43:44,788 --> 00:43:47,690
lay out for Kennedy in late 1961
a set of proposals
776
00:43:47,725 --> 00:43:51,027
to manage the problem
in South Vietnam,
777
00:43:51,061 --> 00:43:53,329
and that involves
sending troops.
778
00:43:53,364 --> 00:43:55,431
The understanding is that
those troops
779
00:43:55,466 --> 00:43:57,233
will not engage in combat.
780
00:43:57,267 --> 00:44:01,638
Kennedy wanted it to be
South Vietnam
781
00:44:01,672 --> 00:44:03,940
fighting South Vietnam's war,
with American help.
782
00:44:03,974 --> 00:44:08,811
THOMAS:
And the idea is
that guerrilla fighters
783
00:44:08,846 --> 00:44:11,948
are going to win the hearts
and minds of the populace
784
00:44:11,982 --> 00:44:14,050
against the Communists,
785
00:44:14,084 --> 00:44:15,685
that they're going
to fight fire with fire,
786
00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:17,687
they're going to fight dirty
if they have to,
787
00:44:17,721 --> 00:44:19,722
but they're also going to build
schools and hospitals.
788
00:44:19,757 --> 00:44:22,225
And the Green Berets get started
in the military.
789
00:44:22,259 --> 00:44:24,394
The regular military doesn't
really like this very much,
790
00:44:24,428 --> 00:44:27,897
but Bobby Kennedy likes it and
the Kennedys generally like it,
791
00:44:27,931 --> 00:44:30,099
and they go to demonstrations
of Green Berets
792
00:44:30,134 --> 00:44:32,635
swinging from the branches
and jumping from trees.
793
00:44:32,670 --> 00:44:35,538
And it becomes a kind of fad,
794
00:44:35,572 --> 00:44:37,740
but really informs
our early Vietnam policy.
795
00:44:37,775 --> 00:44:40,410
We would go in there
to fight a guerrilla war.
796
00:44:40,444 --> 00:44:44,347
His preference is to use
covert action and the CIA
797
00:44:44,381 --> 00:44:46,983
to build up allies in a state
798
00:44:47,017 --> 00:44:50,820
and let them fight
the overt military conflict.
799
00:44:50,854 --> 00:44:53,356
Kennedy was on the forefront
of believing that
800
00:44:53,390 --> 00:44:59,028
these paramilitary activities
were a better use of force
801
00:44:59,129 --> 00:45:04,667
and American special forces
officers could help as advisers.
802
00:45:04,702 --> 00:45:07,603
HUGHES:
The more Kennedy talked
about counterinsurgency
803
00:45:07,638 --> 00:45:10,573
in his press conferences,
and the more the line was set
804
00:45:10,607 --> 00:45:14,343
that the Russian challenge was
going to be informal warfare,
805
00:45:14,378 --> 00:45:17,380
the more everybody sort of
climbed on board that boat.
806
00:45:17,414 --> 00:45:20,516
Bobby had a green beret on his
desk in the Justice Department
807
00:45:20,551 --> 00:45:24,087
to symbolize where our hearts
and minds were.
808
00:45:34,364 --> 00:45:36,232
NARRATOR:
The pressures of the presidency
809
00:45:36,266 --> 00:45:39,869
were taking a heavy toll
on Kennedy's health.
810
00:45:39,903 --> 00:45:43,639
He required as many
as seven injections of Novocaine
811
00:45:43,674 --> 00:45:46,175
in his back in a single day
812
00:45:46,210 --> 00:45:48,578
and was still often unable
to bend over
813
00:45:48,612 --> 00:45:50,980
to put on his own socks.
814
00:45:51,014 --> 00:45:56,319
He was on codeine, Demerol
and methadone for pain,
815
00:45:56,353 --> 00:45:59,522
corticosteroids to control
his Addison's disease,
816
00:45:59,556 --> 00:46:02,925
paregoric for his bad digestion.
817
00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:09,232
He sometimes needed Nembutal
to help him sleep.
818
00:46:09,266 --> 00:46:13,169
His nights were often long
and uncomfortable.
819
00:46:13,203 --> 00:46:15,838
When the 44-year-old president
was feeling down
820
00:46:15,873 --> 00:46:19,575
or awake and pacing
in the middle of the night,
821
00:46:19,610 --> 00:46:21,210
he would pick up the phone
822
00:46:21,245 --> 00:46:25,381
and call New York or Palm Beach
or Hyannisport
823
00:46:25,415 --> 00:46:29,752
and hear the friendly voice
of Joe Sr.
824
00:46:29,787 --> 00:46:32,588
BEDELL SMITH:
He didn't intrude
on specific policies,
825
00:46:32,623 --> 00:46:34,757
but the fact that he was there,
826
00:46:34,792 --> 00:46:36,626
that he could share
his experience
827
00:46:36,660 --> 00:46:43,065
and his point of view
was very important to Jack.
828
00:46:43,100 --> 00:46:46,469
And in December of 1961,
he had a debilitating stroke
829
00:46:46,503 --> 00:46:50,807
and never regained
his power of speech.
830
00:46:50,841 --> 00:46:54,343
Kennedy would continue
to call him on the phone
831
00:46:54,378 --> 00:46:56,846
and would sort of fill him in
832
00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:59,682
on events and people
and things that were happening,
833
00:46:59,716 --> 00:47:02,185
but all that he heard
at the other end of the line
834
00:47:02,219 --> 00:47:07,523
were sort of guttural grunts
in reply.
835
00:47:12,429 --> 00:47:13,963
When somebody proposed
writing a book
836
00:47:13,997 --> 00:47:15,431
about the first Kennedy year,
he said,
837
00:47:15,465 --> 00:47:17,433
"Why would anybody want to write
a book about disasters?
838
00:47:17,467 --> 00:47:20,002
"I've lost Bay of Pigs.
839
00:47:20,037 --> 00:47:23,639
"I had a terrible confrontation
with Khrushchev in Vienna.
840
00:47:23,674 --> 00:47:28,444
The Berlin Wall went up."
841
00:47:28,478 --> 00:47:32,181
He sees his first year as
a pretty miserable experience,
842
00:47:32,216 --> 00:47:35,384
and there's no significant gain
that he can point to
843
00:47:35,419 --> 00:47:38,154
either on the domestic
or the foreign scene.
844
00:47:38,188 --> 00:47:41,190
And so he's badly frustrated.
845
00:47:51,301 --> 00:47:56,138
NARRATOR:
She didn't talk much
or give speeches.
846
00:47:56,173 --> 00:47:59,141
Politics unnerved her.
847
00:47:59,176 --> 00:48:01,210
She was shy to begin with
848
00:48:01,245 --> 00:48:03,512
and unsure how to find
common ground
849
00:48:03,547 --> 00:48:05,381
with most of her fellow
Americans.
850
00:48:08,318 --> 00:48:11,587
But once Jacqueline Kennedy
settled in as first lady,
851
00:48:11,622 --> 00:48:15,291
she came to appreciate
the singular advantage
852
00:48:15,325 --> 00:48:17,727
of life in the White House:
853
00:48:17,761 --> 00:48:21,631
she could be walled away
from the general run of voters
854
00:48:21,665 --> 00:48:26,002
and still satisfy
their hunger for her.
855
00:48:26,036 --> 00:48:32,942
Jackie was a great student
of 18th and 19th century Europe,
856
00:48:32,976 --> 00:48:35,912
and she really set out to create
857
00:48:35,946 --> 00:48:39,548
a kind of court
in the White House.
858
00:48:39,550 --> 00:48:43,519
Her dress designer,
Oleg Cassini, even said
859
00:48:43,553 --> 00:48:47,123
that she wanted to create
a Versailles in Washington,
860
00:48:47,157 --> 00:48:51,394
and part of that was not only
to project elegance,
861
00:48:51,428 --> 00:48:54,830
but it was also
to kind of raise the game
862
00:48:54,865 --> 00:48:59,568
and put a premium on celebrating
beauty, first of all,
863
00:48:59,603 --> 00:49:04,340
and a level of intellectual
engagement,
864
00:49:04,374 --> 00:49:06,676
and celebrating artists
and writers and performers
865
00:49:06,710 --> 00:49:09,946
in ways that hadn't been done
866
00:49:09,980 --> 00:49:13,049
certainly in the Eisenhower
administration.
867
00:49:13,083 --> 00:49:15,952
NARRATOR:
John Kennedy's taste
868
00:49:15,986 --> 00:49:19,087
ran more to political biography
and spy novels,
869
00:49:19,089 --> 00:49:21,958
Sinatra and show tunes.
870
00:49:21,992 --> 00:49:25,227
So Jackie learned
to strike hard bargains,
871
00:49:25,262 --> 00:49:28,431
like the time the president
sent his press secretary,
872
00:49:28,465 --> 00:49:31,600
Pierre Salinger, to ask her
to attend a publicity event
873
00:49:31,635 --> 00:49:33,502
he couldn't make.
874
00:49:33,537 --> 00:49:36,272
Salinger failed.
875
00:49:36,306 --> 00:49:38,307
Jack Kennedy said, "I'll try."
876
00:49:38,342 --> 00:49:39,375
He went up.
877
00:49:39,409 --> 00:49:41,077
He was upstairs for 20 minutes,
878
00:49:41,111 --> 00:49:44,981
and he came back down and said
she was going to do it.
879
00:49:45,015 --> 00:49:49,051
And Salinger said,
"What did you have to give her?
880
00:49:49,086 --> 00:49:50,619
A new dress?"
881
00:49:50,654 --> 00:49:53,789
And he said, "Worse than that.
882
00:49:53,824 --> 00:49:56,092
Two symphonies."
883
00:49:59,796 --> 00:50:03,065
NARRATOR:
Jackie Kennedy spent
much of her time and energy
884
00:50:03,100 --> 00:50:05,568
in the first year
restoring the White House.
885
00:50:05,602 --> 00:50:09,338
She raised more than a million
dollars for the project,
886
00:50:09,439 --> 00:50:13,309
hired an expert on American
antiquities and decorative arts
887
00:50:13,343 --> 00:50:17,446
along with her favorite
interior designer from Paris,
888
00:50:17,448 --> 00:50:21,083
and remade the stodgy old pile.
889
00:50:21,118 --> 00:50:23,852
Her passion for the project
was evident,
890
00:50:23,953 --> 00:50:27,056
which Dr. Martin Luther King
learned when a Kennedy aide,
891
00:50:27,090 --> 00:50:30,259
Harris Wofford, sneaked him
into the private residence
892
00:50:30,293 --> 00:50:32,561
for a meeting
with the president.
893
00:50:32,662 --> 00:50:37,900
WOFFORD:
Kennedy had to tell King
that there would be no effort
894
00:50:37,934 --> 00:50:41,070
to get a civil rights bill
through the first Congress,
895
00:50:41,104 --> 00:50:48,110
and it was a great concern
as to how King would take this.
896
00:50:48,145 --> 00:50:50,579
And we got in the elevator
to go up,
897
00:50:50,614 --> 00:50:52,181
and it went down instead,
898
00:50:52,215 --> 00:50:57,219
and Jacqueline Kennedy got on,
in jeans and soot on her face.
899
00:50:57,254 --> 00:51:00,890
And I introduced her
to Dr. King, and she said,
900
00:51:00,924 --> 00:51:02,625
"Oh, Dr. King,
901
00:51:02,659 --> 00:51:06,262
"I just wish you had been in the
basement with me this morning
902
00:51:06,296 --> 00:51:08,998
"looking at Andrew Jackson
furniture.
903
00:51:09,032 --> 00:51:12,968
You would have been thrilled
down there."
904
00:51:12,970 --> 00:51:14,737
And we got off, and she said,
905
00:51:14,771 --> 00:51:17,506
"But you have other things
to talk to Jack about, I know."
906
00:51:17,541 --> 00:51:20,509
And I thought to myself,
"She sounded a little wacky.
907
00:51:20,527 --> 00:51:23,279
A little bit charming,
but wacky."
908
00:51:23,313 --> 00:51:26,115
King was completely
mellowed by it.
909
00:51:26,149 --> 00:51:30,185
He said, "My, wasn't that
something?"
910
00:51:30,203 --> 00:51:32,955
NARRATOR:
The first lady was so pleased
with the results
911
00:51:32,989 --> 00:51:35,291
that she agreed to unveil
her handiwork
912
00:51:35,325 --> 00:51:36,692
to the American people
913
00:51:36,726 --> 00:51:39,295
in an hour-long
television special:
914
00:51:39,329 --> 00:51:43,933
"A Tour of the White House
with Mrs. John F. Kennedy."
915
00:51:43,967 --> 00:51:45,801
Mrs. Kennedy,
I want to thank you
916
00:51:45,836 --> 00:51:48,637
for letting us visit
your official home.
917
00:51:48,672 --> 00:51:50,239
This is obviously the room
918
00:51:50,273 --> 00:51:52,441
from which much of your work
on it is directed.
919
00:51:52,476 --> 00:51:55,444
Yes, it's attic and cellar
all in one.
920
00:51:55,479 --> 00:52:00,549
BEDELL SMITH:
She prepared assiduously
for the day of shooting.
921
00:52:00,584 --> 00:52:02,551
The shooting took seven hours.
922
00:52:02,586 --> 00:52:04,620
There were eight cameras.
923
00:52:04,654 --> 00:52:09,492
The producer, Perry Wolff,
was amused that between takes,
924
00:52:09,526 --> 00:52:11,861
she smoked almost nonstop.
925
00:52:11,895 --> 00:52:14,296
And he saw that
every time she smoked,
926
00:52:14,331 --> 00:52:16,565
she took her cigarette
and she dumped the ash
927
00:52:16,600 --> 00:52:20,136
on the beautiful tapestry bench
that she was sitting on.
928
00:52:20,170 --> 00:52:22,037
But she performed impeccably.
929
00:52:22,072 --> 00:52:23,239
CHARLES COLLINGWOOD:
Mrs. Kennedy,
930
00:52:23,273 --> 00:52:25,808
do you spend a great deal
of time in the Lincoln Room?
931
00:52:25,842 --> 00:52:27,710
We did in the beginning.
932
00:52:27,744 --> 00:52:30,012
It was where we lived
when we first came here,
933
00:52:30,046 --> 00:52:33,449
when our rooms at the other end
of the hall were being painted.
934
00:52:33,483 --> 00:52:34,950
I loved living in this room.
935
00:52:34,985 --> 00:52:37,286
It's on the sunny side
of the house,
936
00:52:37,320 --> 00:52:39,722
and one of Andrew Jackson's
magnolia trees
937
00:52:39,756 --> 00:52:41,991
is right outside the window.
938
00:52:42,025 --> 00:52:45,661
BEDELL SMITH:
That night, Perry Wolff
stayed around
939
00:52:45,695 --> 00:52:47,463
and showed them some
of the early rushes.
940
00:52:47,497 --> 00:52:49,131
And when the lights came up,
941
00:52:49,166 --> 00:52:51,467
Perry Wolff told me that
he looked over at Jack
942
00:52:51,501 --> 00:52:56,472
and he saw a look of pure
adoration and admiration.
943
00:52:59,809 --> 00:53:01,443
NARRATOR:
Wolff would later recall
944
00:53:01,478 --> 00:53:03,379
sitting behind the couple
in the darkness,
945
00:53:03,413 --> 00:53:06,549
watching Jacqueline
in an unguarded moment
946
00:53:06,583 --> 00:53:08,984
rest her head
on her husband's shoulder
947
00:53:09,019 --> 00:53:12,021
as they watched her performance.
948
00:53:12,055 --> 00:53:15,624
"There was an exchange
of affection," Wolff noted,
949
00:53:15,659 --> 00:53:19,562
"that belied many of the stories
I had heard."
950
00:53:19,596 --> 00:53:23,465
DALLEK:
The fact of the matter is
that even though he loves her,
951
00:53:23,500 --> 00:53:26,602
it doesn't deter him
from having affairs.
952
00:53:26,636 --> 00:53:30,706
THOMAS:
John F. Kennedy, for all
his many, many qualities,
953
00:53:30,740 --> 00:53:33,609
was reckless
about his womanizing.
954
00:53:33,643 --> 00:53:36,845
It's a long list
of all different kinds:
955
00:53:36,880 --> 00:53:38,581
society matrons, 19-year-olds...
956
00:53:38,615 --> 00:53:40,749
I mean, it just went on and on.
957
00:53:40,784 --> 00:53:44,753
BEDELL SMITH:
He was abetted
by two of his closest aides,
958
00:53:44,788 --> 00:53:48,324
Ken O'Donnell and Dave Powers.
959
00:53:48,358 --> 00:53:52,027
And also, most of the people
960
00:53:52,062 --> 00:53:54,763
who covered the White House
in the press were well aware
961
00:53:54,798 --> 00:53:58,434
that Kennedy was engaging
in private sexual escapades
962
00:53:58,468 --> 00:54:01,637
in the White House,
in Palm Springs,
963
00:54:01,671 --> 00:54:05,640
in Malibu, in New York,
964
00:54:05,642 --> 00:54:08,177
and even during one
of his summit meetings
965
00:54:08,211 --> 00:54:12,381
with Prime Minister
Harold Macmillan in Nassau.
966
00:54:12,415 --> 00:54:16,819
NARRATOR:
Kennedy could be frank and
self-aware about his behavior.
967
00:54:16,853 --> 00:54:21,423
Once, when a friend asked why he
took the risk, he said simply,
968
00:54:21,458 --> 00:54:25,494
"I guess it's because
I just can't help it."
969
00:54:25,561 --> 00:54:28,297
You didn't raise the question
of the Kennedy women
970
00:54:28,331 --> 00:54:30,566
anywhere around, I mean,
971
00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:32,668
although everybody knew
what was going on.
972
00:54:32,702 --> 00:54:34,870
The press was totally
compliant with this,
973
00:54:34,904 --> 00:54:38,274
and Kennedy felt he could
depend upon them all.
974
00:54:38,308 --> 00:54:42,678
NAFTALI:
There was a code
among the political press
975
00:54:42,712 --> 00:54:45,480
not to speak of it,
976
00:54:45,581 --> 00:54:48,751
partly because it was
mutual assured destruction.
977
00:54:48,785 --> 00:54:51,954
Everybody had a secret.
978
00:54:51,988 --> 00:54:54,923
It wasn't that everyone had
decided that this didn't matter.
979
00:54:54,958 --> 00:54:57,960
It was simply that everybody
had dirt on everybody else.
980
00:54:57,994 --> 00:55:01,063
And Kennedy was very comfortable
in that environment,
981
00:55:01,097 --> 00:55:03,098
and that environment
had protected him.
982
00:55:06,703 --> 00:55:11,640
BEDELL SMITH:
Jackie did understand that
this was an aspect of him
983
00:55:11,675 --> 00:55:13,842
that there was nothing
she could do about.
984
00:55:13,877 --> 00:55:16,245
And she made her peace with it.
985
00:55:16,279 --> 00:55:19,148
It sort of gave her a pass
986
00:55:19,182 --> 00:55:22,284
to go out and spend
a lot of time in the country.
987
00:55:26,489 --> 00:55:29,591
She took off
on extended vacations.
988
00:55:29,626 --> 00:55:34,697
She went to Italy
for a long time.
989
00:55:34,731 --> 00:55:40,502
She basically every summer would
spend her time in Hyannis
990
00:55:40,537 --> 00:55:42,738
a good distance
from the Kennedy compound
991
00:55:42,772 --> 00:55:45,507
and enjoy her solitude there.
992
00:55:54,417 --> 00:55:56,285
NARRATOR:
Jack was happy to join his wife,
993
00:55:56,319 --> 00:55:59,388
his daughter Caroline,
and his son John Jr.
994
00:55:59,422 --> 00:56:02,157
in Hyannisport when he could.
995
00:56:04,861 --> 00:56:09,064
But politics kept him
on the road much of that summer
996
00:56:09,099 --> 00:56:10,766
and into the fall,
997
00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:13,635
with midterm elections
coming up.
998
00:56:16,539 --> 00:56:19,675
BILL LAWRENCE:
Mr. Kennedy figures that by the
end of this campaign alone,
999
00:56:19,709 --> 00:56:22,111
he will have traveled
almost as far
1000
00:56:22,145 --> 00:56:24,713
as all the presidents
in this century combined
1001
00:56:24,748 --> 00:56:26,382
in midterm elections.
1002
00:56:26,416 --> 00:56:29,218
President Kennedy
has deliberately,
1003
00:56:29,252 --> 00:56:31,787
directly placed his personal
prestige squarely on the line.
1004
00:56:31,821 --> 00:56:34,923
He has taken this dangerous
political gamble
1005
00:56:34,958 --> 00:56:37,493
because the fate
of his legislative program
1006
00:56:37,527 --> 00:56:39,762
for the next two years
hangs in the balance.
1007
00:56:39,796 --> 00:56:41,697
By the summer of 1962,
1008
00:56:41,731 --> 00:56:45,033
the Kennedy administration
had achieved very little.
1009
00:56:45,068 --> 00:56:46,702
The four major initiatives,
1010
00:56:46,736 --> 00:56:49,738
they were blocked
by Southern conservatives,
1011
00:56:49,773 --> 00:56:54,910
and so he's not able to get
anything significant passed.
1012
00:56:54,944 --> 00:56:59,381
NARRATOR:
Midterm elections
were always nerve-wracking
1013
00:56:59,416 --> 00:57:01,750
for a sitting president.
1014
00:57:01,785 --> 00:57:05,421
And Kennedy had
a personal stake in 1962:
1015
00:57:05,455 --> 00:57:08,624
his 30-year-old brother, Ted,
1016
00:57:08,658 --> 00:57:12,261
was running for his old
Senate seat in Massachusetts.
1017
00:57:12,295 --> 00:57:15,998
The Republicans spent
that campaign summer
1018
00:57:16,032 --> 00:57:19,034
taking pages
from the old Kennedy playbook,
1019
00:57:19,068 --> 00:57:22,771
attacking the president
for being weak on Communism.
1020
00:57:22,806 --> 00:57:25,574
Kennedy was trying
to project strength.
1021
00:57:25,608 --> 00:57:29,311
The president let the press know
about the newly operational
1022
00:57:29,345 --> 00:57:32,114
nuclear-armed missiles
in Turkey,
1023
00:57:32,148 --> 00:57:34,917
which were pointed
at the Kremlin.
1024
00:57:34,951 --> 00:57:36,752
He maintained absolute silence
1025
00:57:36,786 --> 00:57:39,021
on the historic and crucial
back-channel exchange
1026
00:57:39,055 --> 00:57:42,257
of personal letters he'd opened
with Nikita Khrushchev.
1027
00:57:42,292 --> 00:57:46,895
Only Bobby and a few of his
closest aides knew about that.
1028
00:57:46,930 --> 00:57:50,132
The president had also
entrusted his brother
1029
00:57:50,166 --> 00:57:54,736
with the continuing problem
of Fidel Castro and Cuba.
1030
00:57:54,771 --> 00:57:58,607
You would think that the Bay
of Pigs was purely chastening,
1031
00:57:58,641 --> 00:58:01,977
that it would cause them to see
a yellow light and slow down,
1032
00:58:02,011 --> 00:58:04,046
but actually,
the Kennedys hit the gas.
1033
00:58:04,080 --> 00:58:05,581
They go faster.
1034
00:58:05,615 --> 00:58:09,084
They start Operation Mongoose
to try to get rid of Castro.
1035
00:58:09,118 --> 00:58:11,587
Bobby Kennedy essentially
takes over
1036
00:58:11,621 --> 00:58:13,922
overseeing Covert Operations.
1037
00:58:13,957 --> 00:58:18,060
HUGHES:
Bobby was an unremitting
enthusiast
1038
00:58:18,094 --> 00:58:21,129
about covert activities
and kept pressing everybody.
1039
00:58:21,164 --> 00:58:23,165
I think they had
weekly meetings.
1040
00:58:23,199 --> 00:58:26,635
Tuesday, I think, was the chosen
day for Mongoose meetings,
1041
00:58:26,669 --> 00:58:28,871
and there would be
representatives
1042
00:58:28,905 --> 00:58:30,606
from the Pentagon,
from the CIA,
1043
00:58:30,640 --> 00:58:32,608
from the State Department
who'd go to these meetings,
1044
00:58:32,642 --> 00:58:35,410
and they'd all be hectored
by Bobby to do more.
1045
00:58:35,445 --> 00:58:38,146
And he would use his crudest
expressions to tell them
1046
00:58:38,181 --> 00:58:40,449
they weren't doing enough
and they should get on the ball.
1047
00:58:40,483 --> 00:58:44,453
Bobby would say
there is no higher interest
1048
00:58:44,487 --> 00:58:46,655
in the entire United States
government
1049
00:58:46,689 --> 00:58:49,157
than getting rid of Castro.
1050
00:58:49,192 --> 00:58:51,894
THOMAS:
Now, there were already
assassination plots underway
1051
00:58:51,928 --> 00:58:53,795
that started in the Eisenhower
administration,
1052
00:58:53,829 --> 00:58:56,465
but they pick up a little bit
of momentum under Bobby,
1053
00:58:56,499 --> 00:58:59,001
all sorts of crazy stuff
1054
00:58:59,035 --> 00:59:03,238
of using organized crime
to kill Castro,
1055
00:59:03,273 --> 00:59:05,807
to cause what the CIA called
"boom and bang"
1056
00:59:05,842 --> 00:59:09,211
on the island of Cuba
to try to disrupt Castro.
1057
00:59:09,245 --> 00:59:10,712
None of this stuff works.
1058
00:59:10,747 --> 00:59:13,248
It's a complete failure.
1059
00:59:13,282 --> 00:59:17,452
DOBBS:
It was the most disastrous
foreign policy combination
1060
00:59:17,470 --> 00:59:18,887
you could imagine,
1061
00:59:18,922 --> 00:59:20,689
because it wasn't
effective enough
1062
00:59:20,723 --> 00:59:23,191
to actually overthrow Castro
1063
00:59:23,226 --> 00:59:26,628
and it demonstrated
to the Russians
1064
00:59:26,663 --> 00:59:28,997
that they had to do something
very dramatic
1065
00:59:29,032 --> 00:59:32,034
if they were going to save
their Cuban ally.
1066
00:59:59,762 --> 01:00:02,965
NARRATOR:
Kennedy had insisted,
on the record,
1067
01:00:02,999 --> 01:00:07,002
that his administration
would never stand
1068
01:00:07,036 --> 01:00:10,539
for Soviet nuclear weapons
in Cuba.
1069
01:00:10,573 --> 01:00:14,576
And Khrushchev had privately
and secretly assured Kennedy
1070
01:00:14,611 --> 01:00:17,212
the Soviets had no such plans.
1071
01:00:17,246 --> 01:00:19,615
But American
reconnaissance flights
1072
01:00:19,649 --> 01:00:24,019
had returned from Cuban airspace
with photographic evidence:
1073
01:00:24,053 --> 01:00:27,155
the Soviet missiles
were already in country,
1074
01:00:27,190 --> 01:00:30,158
waiting to be mated
to nuclear warheads.
1075
01:00:36,165 --> 01:00:37,699
NAFTALI:
It's very bad.
1076
01:00:37,734 --> 01:00:40,369
It's bad on several levels.
1077
01:00:40,403 --> 01:00:44,306
This whole back-channel
operation is going to collapse
1078
01:00:44,340 --> 01:00:47,309
if he can't even believe
what the Soviets are telling him
1079
01:00:47,343 --> 01:00:50,045
on something
as important as this.
1080
01:00:50,079 --> 01:00:51,913
He made it clear to the Soviets
1081
01:00:51,948 --> 01:00:53,749
that this would not be
acceptable,
1082
01:00:53,783 --> 01:00:56,218
and yet they did it anyway.
1083
01:00:56,252 --> 01:00:58,620
DOBBS:
The president is furious.
1084
01:00:58,655 --> 01:01:02,090
He realizes that he's been
lied to by Khrushchev.
1085
01:01:02,125 --> 01:01:05,160
Kennedy called his closest
advisers together
1086
01:01:05,194 --> 01:01:07,462
and they met in the Cabinet Room
of the White House.
1087
01:01:07,497 --> 01:01:12,633
There were two questions: one,
were the missiles ready to fire?
1088
01:01:12,635 --> 01:01:16,672
And the second question was
how they were going to react.
1089
01:01:35,958 --> 01:01:39,094
The initial advice is,
"Attack! Bomb! Go in!
1090
01:01:39,128 --> 01:01:40,862
"This is intolerable.
1091
01:01:40,896 --> 01:01:43,999
We've got to bomb Cuba
or invade it."
1092
01:01:44,033 --> 01:01:46,168
It's very aggressive.
1093
01:01:46,202 --> 01:01:48,136
And his brother Robert,
the attorney general,
1094
01:01:48,171 --> 01:01:49,504
wants to stage a provocation.
1095
01:01:49,539 --> 01:01:51,506
He says, "Let's sink the Maine
or something"
1096
01:01:51,541 --> 01:01:54,843
as an excuse to invade.
1097
01:01:54,877 --> 01:01:58,380
NARRATOR:
In the first meetings of the
President's Executive Committee,
1098
01:01:58,414 --> 01:01:59,648
the Ex-Comm,
1099
01:01:59,682 --> 01:02:02,784
the analysts
all believed the Soviets
1100
01:02:02,819 --> 01:02:05,153
were still a number of days away
1101
01:02:05,188 --> 01:02:07,923
from having operable
nuclear weapons in Cuba.
1102
01:02:07,957 --> 01:02:11,359
They couldn't even be certain
the warheads were there yet.
1103
01:02:15,865 --> 01:02:18,633
Kennedy set the Air Force,
the Navy and the Marines
1104
01:02:18,668 --> 01:02:20,902
to contingency preparation,
1105
01:02:20,937 --> 01:02:25,774
but he refused to green-light a
military strike that first day,
1106
01:02:25,808 --> 01:02:28,243
and the president
let it be known
1107
01:02:28,277 --> 01:02:30,712
that he wanted this kept quiet.
1108
01:02:30,747 --> 01:02:33,081
He didn't want the Soviets
backed into a corner
1109
01:02:33,116 --> 01:02:35,550
or the American people
in a panic
1110
01:02:35,585 --> 01:02:39,688
while he decided
on the next move.
1111
01:02:39,722 --> 01:02:43,692
It's hard to realize
how frightened they were.
1112
01:02:43,726 --> 01:02:46,862
They really thought
that war was near.
1113
01:02:46,896 --> 01:02:48,964
Jack stayed cool.
1114
01:02:48,998 --> 01:02:52,334
He was grim about it,
but he was not panicked.
1115
01:02:52,368 --> 01:02:55,370
NARRATOR:
Kennedy kept his announced
schedule,
1116
01:02:55,404 --> 01:02:57,873
including a meeting
with the Soviet ambassador,
1117
01:02:57,907 --> 01:03:00,208
at which he revealed nothing.
1118
01:03:00,243 --> 01:03:02,677
He went out to dinner.
1119
01:03:02,712 --> 01:03:05,947
He traveled to Connecticut and
Illinois for campaign events.
1120
01:03:05,982 --> 01:03:09,050
...the right decision
is Democratic.
1121
01:03:09,085 --> 01:03:11,153
Thank you.
1122
01:03:16,692 --> 01:03:19,494
NARRATOR:
Five days into the crisis,
1123
01:03:19,529 --> 01:03:22,597
with more Soviet ships
steaming toward Cuba
1124
01:03:22,632 --> 01:03:24,199
and the joint chiefs
pushing the president
1125
01:03:24,233 --> 01:03:26,701
to begin bombing
the island nation,
1126
01:03:26,736 --> 01:03:29,704
Kennedy was still insisting
on restraint.
1127
01:03:29,739 --> 01:03:33,341
The president settled on an idea
1128
01:03:33,376 --> 01:03:36,444
Secretary of Defense Robert
McNamara had suggested
1129
01:03:36,479 --> 01:03:37,546
in an early meeting.
1130
01:03:37,580 --> 01:03:39,347
Kennedy instructed the Navy
1131
01:03:39,382 --> 01:03:43,118
to set up what he called
a "quarantine" around Cuba
1132
01:03:43,152 --> 01:03:45,453
and to turn back
all Soviet vessels.
1133
01:03:45,488 --> 01:03:49,925
In a private letter
on October 22, 1962,
1134
01:03:49,959 --> 01:03:53,528
Kennedy told Khrushchev
that he would protect the U.S.
1135
01:03:53,563 --> 01:03:58,533
and its allies by doing
"whatever must be done."
1136
01:03:58,568 --> 01:04:01,503
Later that evening,
the president went public
1137
01:04:01,537 --> 01:04:03,104
in a nationally
televised speech
1138
01:04:03,139 --> 01:04:05,507
to alert the country
to the danger at hand
1139
01:04:05,541 --> 01:04:08,677
and to demand
the immediate removal
1140
01:04:08,711 --> 01:04:11,847
of all Soviet missiles in Cuba.
1141
01:04:14,383 --> 01:04:16,551
It shall be the policy
of this nation
1142
01:04:16,586 --> 01:04:20,021
to regard any nuclear missile
launched from Cuba
1143
01:04:20,056 --> 01:04:22,824
against any nation
in the Western Hemisphere
1144
01:04:22,859 --> 01:04:28,029
as an attack by the Soviet Union
on the United States
1145
01:04:28,064 --> 01:04:32,334
requiring a full retaliatory
response upon the Soviet Union.
1146
01:04:32,368 --> 01:04:35,637
DOBBS:
Part of Kennedy's motivations
during the missile crisis
1147
01:04:35,671 --> 01:04:40,175
was also shoring up
his domestic political position
1148
01:04:40,209 --> 01:04:44,246
and showing that he could be
tough with Khrushchev
1149
01:04:44,280 --> 01:04:47,215
without plunging the whole world
into a nuclear war.
1150
01:04:47,250 --> 01:04:49,951
That was the fine line
that he was trying to tread
1151
01:04:49,986 --> 01:04:51,386
during the missile crisis.
1152
01:04:51,420 --> 01:04:53,521
I'd hate like heck
to see us go to war,
1153
01:04:53,556 --> 01:04:56,791
but if it's necessary to prevent
a nuclear war,
1154
01:04:56,826 --> 01:04:59,060
I think the action
has to be taken.
1155
01:04:59,095 --> 01:05:02,864
Well, I think it's high time
we stopped Russia
1156
01:05:02,899 --> 01:05:05,033
from having things
their own way.
1157
01:05:07,737 --> 01:05:11,773
NARRATOR:
President Kennedy was not
certain how to proceed.
1158
01:05:11,807 --> 01:05:13,975
He lacked good low-level
aerial photos
1159
01:05:14,010 --> 01:05:15,777
of the Soviet missile site,
1160
01:05:15,811 --> 01:05:18,980
so he kept dispatching
U-2 reconnaissance planes
1161
01:05:19,015 --> 01:05:20,649
on dangerous missions
1162
01:05:20,683 --> 01:05:25,387
within range
of anti-aircraft guns in Cuba.
1163
01:05:25,421 --> 01:05:28,089
And even if the missions
were successful,
1164
01:05:28,091 --> 01:05:30,992
there would still be
more questions than answers.
1165
01:05:34,530 --> 01:05:36,998
DOBBS:
The CIA told him
1166
01:05:37,033 --> 01:05:40,902
that there were 8,000 Soviet
technicians in Cuba.
1167
01:05:40,937 --> 01:05:45,006
In fact, there were 43,000
heavily armed Soviet soldiers
1168
01:05:45,041 --> 01:05:47,008
on Cuba at that point.
1169
01:05:47,043 --> 01:05:48,777
The Soviets possessed,
1170
01:05:48,811 --> 01:05:51,313
in addition to these
longer-range missiles
1171
01:05:51,347 --> 01:05:53,715
that could hit the United
States, they also possessed
1172
01:05:53,749 --> 01:05:56,084
shorter-range tactical
nuclear weapons
1173
01:05:56,118 --> 01:05:57,786
that could have been used
1174
01:05:57,820 --> 01:05:59,888
to wipe out the U.S. naval base
at Guantánamo
1175
01:05:59,922 --> 01:06:02,590
or a U.S. invading force.
1176
01:06:02,625 --> 01:06:05,260
Kennedy didn't know any of that.
1177
01:06:05,294 --> 01:06:07,329
HUGHES:
He gets bad advice
from everybody--
1178
01:06:07,363 --> 01:06:10,665
all of his appointees,
his chosen advisers--
1179
01:06:10,700 --> 01:06:12,167
and they're all over the place,
1180
01:06:12,201 --> 01:06:14,569
and they change
their own views frequently.
1181
01:06:14,636 --> 01:06:17,572
But in each case,
Kennedy was delaying.
1182
01:06:17,606 --> 01:06:22,744
DOBBS:
His experience in the military
made him even more skeptical
1183
01:06:22,778 --> 01:06:27,816
and more cautious than he might
otherwise have been.
1184
01:06:27,850 --> 01:06:30,885
MAN:
Two... one... zero!
1185
01:06:34,724 --> 01:06:37,592
DOBBS:
Kennedy's nightmare scenario
during the missile crisis
1186
01:06:37,626 --> 01:06:40,228
was that war would start
without either him
1187
01:06:40,262 --> 01:06:42,497
or Nikita Khrushchev
really wanting it.
1188
01:06:42,531 --> 01:06:43,898
Somebody would make a mistake,
1189
01:06:43,933 --> 01:06:46,568
and there would be
a spiraling chain of events
1190
01:06:46,602 --> 01:06:49,004
that would quickly get
out of control.
1191
01:06:52,942 --> 01:06:54,275
NARRATOR:
On October 24,
1192
01:06:54,310 --> 01:06:59,114
two days after Kennedy's
public warning to Khrushchev,
1193
01:06:59,148 --> 01:07:01,383
new U.S. reconnaissance
photographs revealed
1194
01:07:01,417 --> 01:07:05,687
that work at the missile sites
in Cuba was accelerating.
1195
01:07:05,721 --> 01:07:09,290
Kennedy understood he had
to allow the joint chiefs
1196
01:07:09,325 --> 01:07:12,327
to put the military
on a hair trigger.
1197
01:07:12,361 --> 01:07:17,732
The Air Force's Strategic Air
Command went on high alert.
1198
01:07:17,767 --> 01:07:19,734
The president also understood
1199
01:07:19,769 --> 01:07:24,606
the chance of unintended action
sparking a war grew by the hour.
1200
01:07:24,640 --> 01:07:29,377
There was no hotline between
the White House and the Kremlin,
1201
01:07:29,412 --> 01:07:32,013
no opportunity
for real-time dialogue
1202
01:07:32,048 --> 01:07:34,315
between himself and Khrushchev.
1203
01:07:34,350 --> 01:07:37,118
Both men were talking tough,
1204
01:07:37,153 --> 01:07:41,022
but they were both sending
other, less-martial signals,
1205
01:07:41,057 --> 01:07:46,928
hoping those signals
would get through the noise.
1206
01:07:46,962 --> 01:07:48,930
Khrushchev ordered early on
1207
01:07:48,964 --> 01:07:51,399
his missile-carrying ships
to turn back from Cuba
1208
01:07:51,434 --> 01:07:54,369
because he wanted to avoid
an immediate confrontation
1209
01:07:54,403 --> 01:07:55,670
with the president.
1210
01:07:55,704 --> 01:08:00,375
And at a certain point,
he decided to offer a trade-off.
1211
01:08:00,409 --> 01:08:04,879
He said that, "I'm willing to
withdraw my missiles from Cuba
1212
01:08:04,914 --> 01:08:08,249
if you withdraw your missiles
from Turkey."
1213
01:08:08,284 --> 01:08:10,318
And at one point,
1214
01:08:10,352 --> 01:08:14,022
all of Kennedy's advisers
are against accepting that deal.
1215
01:08:14,056 --> 01:08:16,091
The only man in the room
1216
01:08:16,125 --> 01:08:19,094
who thinks this is a way
out of the crisis
1217
01:08:19,128 --> 01:08:23,164
is the president himself.
1218
01:08:25,768 --> 01:08:29,437
NARRATOR:
In the private residence,
Jackie Kennedy remembered,
1219
01:08:29,472 --> 01:08:32,340
"There was no waking
or sleeping."
1220
01:08:32,374 --> 01:08:35,343
And her husband had upped
his daily dose of steroids
1221
01:08:35,377 --> 01:08:38,246
to keep his Addison's
under control.
1222
01:08:38,280 --> 01:08:41,516
Everybody went to bed night
after night that last week
1223
01:08:41,550 --> 01:08:43,351
wondering what was going
to happen the next day,
1224
01:08:43,385 --> 01:08:45,587
and the joint chiefs were busy
planning to strike
1225
01:08:45,621 --> 01:08:48,590
the Soviet Union and Cuba
on a moment's notice.
1226
01:08:48,624 --> 01:08:50,992
General LeMay, sure enough,
was true to form
1227
01:08:51,026 --> 01:08:53,194
all the way through
the Cuban missile crisis.
1228
01:08:53,229 --> 01:08:55,830
I mean, let's unleash
the nuclear weapons
1229
01:08:55,865 --> 01:08:57,765
that he had his SAC command
roaring around,
1230
01:08:57,800 --> 01:09:00,401
ready to go,
any day, any minute.
1231
01:09:00,436 --> 01:09:05,740
DOBBS:
Kennedy came under a lot of
criticism both from the military
1232
01:09:05,774 --> 01:09:08,843
and also congressmen
who were briefed on the crisis
1233
01:09:08,878 --> 01:09:11,779
who felt that he should be
taking tougher action
1234
01:09:11,814 --> 01:09:14,649
against Khrushchev.
1235
01:09:14,683 --> 01:09:16,317
And his reaction
essentially was,
1236
01:09:16,352 --> 01:09:19,053
"Well, they're not the ones
making the decision."
1237
01:09:19,088 --> 01:09:25,827
ROBERT CARO:
What you see in the Cuban
missile crisis is Jack Kennedy
1238
01:09:25,861 --> 01:09:29,464
pulling the nation back
from the edge of war.
1239
01:09:29,498 --> 01:09:34,636
We're talking here
about nuclear war.
1240
01:09:34,670 --> 01:09:38,072
NARRATOR:
Kennedy made one overriding
calculation:
1241
01:09:38,107 --> 01:09:40,308
that Nikita Khrushchev
was as horrified
1242
01:09:40,342 --> 01:09:45,213
at the prospect of nuclear
Armageddon as he was.
1243
01:09:45,247 --> 01:09:50,251
The president let that
calculation-- his alone--
1244
01:09:50,286 --> 01:09:52,854
be his guide,
and he gambled on it.
1245
01:09:52,888 --> 01:09:56,090
HUGHES:
He gave Khrushchev space.
1246
01:09:56,125 --> 01:09:57,358
He gave him space
1247
01:09:57,393 --> 01:10:00,795
when other people were unwilling
to give him any space at all.
1248
01:10:02,498 --> 01:10:05,600
NARRATOR:
Kennedy had already pulled back
the quarantine line
1249
01:10:05,634 --> 01:10:07,468
to delay confrontation.
1250
01:10:07,503 --> 01:10:10,638
And on October 25,
1251
01:10:10,673 --> 01:10:13,408
against the advice
of the Ex-Comm,
1252
01:10:13,442 --> 01:10:16,578
he instructed the Navy
to allow a Soviet oil tanker
1253
01:10:21,350 --> 01:10:24,018
toBut on the 12th dayine
and enteof the crisis,Havana.
1254
01:10:24,053 --> 01:10:29,424
Saturday, October 27,
things started to go awry.
1255
01:10:29,458 --> 01:10:31,492
Black Saturday
was probably the day
1256
01:10:31,527 --> 01:10:33,995
the world came closer
than ever before or since
1257
01:10:34,029 --> 01:10:35,930
to a nuclear war.
1258
01:10:35,997 --> 01:10:39,934
Many things started happening
on Black Saturday,
1259
01:10:39,969 --> 01:10:45,240
including a U-2 spy plane
stumbling over the Soviet Union,
1260
01:10:45,274 --> 01:10:47,542
which Kennedy reacted
to that by saying,
1261
01:10:47,576 --> 01:10:49,177
"There's always some
son of a bitch
1262
01:10:49,211 --> 01:10:50,845
that doesn't get the word."
1263
01:10:50,879 --> 01:10:53,848
Both leaders,
Khrushchev and Kennedy,
1264
01:10:53,882 --> 01:10:57,151
were beginning to lose control
over their own forces.
1265
01:11:00,289 --> 01:11:02,156
NARRATOR:
The Soviets seemed intent
1266
01:11:02,191 --> 01:11:05,326
on testing the quarantine line
that Saturday.
1267
01:11:05,361 --> 01:11:08,196
A U.S. ship dropped
depth charges
1268
01:11:08,230 --> 01:11:10,865
on a Soviet submarine
in the Caribbean,
1269
01:11:10,899 --> 01:11:15,636
and, most harrowing,
an American spy plane
1270
01:11:15,638 --> 01:11:18,573
on a mission over Cuba
fell off the radar.
1271
01:11:18,607 --> 01:11:20,641
CARO:
You hear the moment on the tape.
1272
01:11:20,742 --> 01:11:22,644
A messenger comes into the room.
1273
01:11:22,678 --> 01:11:25,280
You hear Jack Kennedy,
for a moment, he's flustered.
1274
01:11:36,558 --> 01:11:38,393
We have said that
if Russia shoots down
1275
01:11:38,427 --> 01:11:40,194
one of our U-2
reconnaissance planes,
1276
01:11:40,229 --> 01:11:42,063
we will immediately retaliate.
1277
01:11:42,097 --> 01:11:44,632
We'll immediately bomb
that missile site
1278
01:11:44,667 --> 01:11:46,301
that took out the plane,
1279
01:11:46,335 --> 01:11:49,370
and then we will prepare
for an all-out invasion.
1280
01:11:49,372 --> 01:11:53,374
And you hear in the background
this chorus of voices,
1281
01:11:53,409 --> 01:11:54,942
"We said we'll retaliate.
1282
01:11:54,977 --> 01:11:56,311
We have to do it right now."
1283
01:12:04,520 --> 01:12:06,654
CARO:
You know what Kennedy says?
1284
01:12:06,689 --> 01:12:09,390
He says, "Well, let's take
a break, gentlemen."
1285
01:12:09,425 --> 01:12:13,127
Time and again,
when the hawks in that room,
1286
01:12:13,162 --> 01:12:15,997
when the joint chiefs of staff
are insisting on invading,
1287
01:12:16,031 --> 01:12:18,700
Kennedy pulls them back.
1288
01:12:18,734 --> 01:12:20,735
He says, "Let's go to dinner now
1289
01:12:20,769 --> 01:12:22,937
"and talk about
the Jupiter missiles.
1290
01:12:22,971 --> 01:12:24,272
Let's talk about a trade."
1291
01:12:24,306 --> 01:12:27,208
NARRATOR:
Kennedy could see the chance
1292
01:12:27,242 --> 01:12:29,977
for a peaceful solution
was slipping away,
1293
01:12:30,012 --> 01:12:33,681
so he chose the person
he most trusted, brother Bobby,
1294
01:12:33,716 --> 01:12:37,618
to take an urgent message to the
Soviet ambassador in Washington.
1295
01:12:37,653 --> 01:12:41,489
He was proposing a way out,
which involved the U.S.
1296
01:12:41,523 --> 01:12:44,092
giving up a set
of redundant weapons:
1297
01:12:44,126 --> 01:12:48,096
the newly installed
Jupiter missiles in Turkey.
1298
01:12:48,130 --> 01:12:50,898
Kennedy repeats his demand
for Khrushchev to pull out,
1299
01:12:50,933 --> 01:12:53,301
says that time
is of the essence.
1300
01:12:53,335 --> 01:12:56,804
If Khrushchev pulls his missiles
out of Cuba,
1301
01:12:56,839 --> 01:12:59,474
the U.S. will
over the next few weeks
1302
01:12:59,508 --> 01:13:01,509
pull its missiles
out of Turkey.
1303
01:13:01,543 --> 01:13:04,278
The president was willing
to back down,
1304
01:13:04,313 --> 01:13:06,881
pull out the American missiles
from Turkey,
1305
01:13:06,915 --> 01:13:10,051
but only if that
was kept secret.
1306
01:13:10,085 --> 01:13:13,521
CARO:
The Strategic Air Command
bombers
1307
01:13:13,555 --> 01:13:16,057
are circling over the Arctic,
waiting for the "go" signals.
1308
01:13:16,091 --> 01:13:18,159
Other bombers
in the United States,
1309
01:13:18,193 --> 01:13:21,329
they're being handed
their target packets
1310
01:13:21,363 --> 01:13:24,098
to bomb Russia the next day.
1311
01:13:24,133 --> 01:13:26,667
In Florida, the Fifth Marine
Expeditionary Force
1312
01:13:26,702 --> 01:13:30,605
is readying for the invasion--
an invasion, war.
1313
01:13:30,639 --> 01:13:32,507
If Russia's drawn into it--
1314
01:13:32,541 --> 01:13:34,709
and it will be,
these are Russians on Cuba--
1315
01:13:34,743 --> 01:13:35,810
nuclear war.
1316
01:13:37,646 --> 01:13:40,515
RADIO ANNOUNCER:
This is Radio Moscow.
1317
01:13:40,549 --> 01:13:42,183
Premier Khrushchev
has sent a message
1318
01:13:42,217 --> 01:13:44,285
to President Kennedy today.
1319
01:13:44,319 --> 01:13:45,887
The Soviet government
1320
01:13:45,921 --> 01:13:48,656
has ordered the dismantling
of weapons in Cuba
1321
01:13:48,690 --> 01:13:52,627
as well as their crating
and return to the Soviet Union.
1322
01:13:55,096 --> 01:13:58,299
CARO:
Khrushchev accepts.
1323
01:13:58,333 --> 01:14:04,305
And he signs his telegram,
"With respect, Khrushchev."
1324
01:14:04,339 --> 01:14:07,108
KENNEDY:
Progress is now being made
1325
01:14:07,142 --> 01:14:12,947
towards the restoration of peace
in the Caribbean.
1326
01:14:12,981 --> 01:14:14,882
And it is our firm hope
and purpose
1327
01:14:14,917 --> 01:14:17,318
that this progress
shall go forward.
1328
01:14:17,352 --> 01:14:20,087
We will continue to keep
the American people informed
1329
01:14:20,122 --> 01:14:23,357
on this vital matter.
1330
01:14:23,392 --> 01:14:25,860
Thank you.
1331
01:14:25,894 --> 01:14:28,930
DOBBS:
The outcome of the missile
crisis was more than dumb luck.
1332
01:14:28,964 --> 01:14:31,799
I think had somebody else
been in the White House
1333
01:14:31,834 --> 01:14:33,801
at that point as president,
1334
01:14:33,836 --> 01:14:36,170
the outcome could have been
very different.
1335
01:14:36,205 --> 01:14:39,507
I don't want to praise
the president too much.
1336
01:14:39,541 --> 01:14:41,275
I think he made many blunders.
1337
01:14:41,310 --> 01:14:45,880
But he managed to get the Soviet
missiles removed from Cuba,
1338
01:14:45,914 --> 01:14:49,884
and he did so without triggering
a nuclear war.
1339
01:14:49,918 --> 01:14:54,789
It was not self-evident
that that would happen.
1340
01:14:54,823 --> 01:14:57,592
NAFTALI:
Did he do a victory dance
in public
1341
01:14:57,626 --> 01:15:00,394
after Khrushchev
withdrew the missiles?
1342
01:15:00,429 --> 01:15:01,729
No.
1343
01:15:01,763 --> 01:15:03,598
And he was very explicit
about why not,
1344
01:15:03,632 --> 01:15:05,800
and he said it to his team.
1345
01:15:05,834 --> 01:15:07,134
"Don't embarrass him.
1346
01:15:07,169 --> 01:15:08,469
"Don't humiliate him.
1347
01:15:08,504 --> 01:15:09,804
"We won.
1348
01:15:09,838 --> 01:15:11,839
It's good enough."
1349
01:15:14,042 --> 01:15:16,143
NARRATOR:
Kennedy was not so bashful
1350
01:15:16,178 --> 01:15:18,813
about using the outcome
of the missile crisis
1351
01:15:18,847 --> 01:15:21,716
to maximum domestic
political effect.
1352
01:15:21,750 --> 01:15:24,919
The president invited a few
of his closest reporter friends
1353
01:15:24,953 --> 01:15:29,357
to the White House for private
briefings on the events in Cuba.
1354
01:15:29,391 --> 01:15:31,592
Then he demanded a chance
1355
01:15:31,627 --> 01:15:36,130
to amend and improve their
stories about the crisis.
1356
01:15:36,164 --> 01:15:39,834
The administration
never did disclose
1357
01:15:39,868 --> 01:15:43,371
the secret trade-off
of U.S. missiles in Turkey.
1358
01:15:43,405 --> 01:15:46,507
Instead, under the president's
direction,
1359
01:15:46,542 --> 01:15:49,043
they embroidered
the already-fanciful tale
1360
01:15:49,077 --> 01:15:51,812
of the U.S. Navy
turning back Soviet ships:
1361
01:15:51,913 --> 01:15:54,815
what Kennedy's secretary
of state called
1362
01:15:54,850 --> 01:15:57,518
the "eyeball-to-eyeball"
confrontation
1363
01:15:57,553 --> 01:15:59,720
between the president
and Khrushchev.
1364
01:15:59,755 --> 01:16:01,255
DOBBS:
That never happened.
1365
01:16:01,290 --> 01:16:04,559
Khrushchev had already decided
to turn his ships around
1366
01:16:04,593 --> 01:16:06,894
and turned them around
the previous day.
1367
01:16:06,929 --> 01:16:09,697
But it helped them
build up this myth
1368
01:16:09,731 --> 01:16:13,467
of the president
as the determined leader
1369
01:16:13,502 --> 01:16:16,871
facing down his opposite number
in the Soviet Union.
1370
01:16:16,905 --> 01:16:21,108
That was politically useful
to the Kennedys for some time.
1371
01:16:21,143 --> 01:16:23,244
NAFTALI:
The Cuban missile crisis
1372
01:16:23,278 --> 01:16:25,980
establishes Kennedy's
credibility at home.
1373
01:16:26,014 --> 01:16:28,449
He can now talk to the American
people in different terms.
1374
01:16:28,483 --> 01:16:31,652
He's now earned his spurs
as a cold warrior.
1375
01:16:31,687 --> 01:16:36,457
He has actually crossed
the threshold of credibility
1376
01:16:36,491 --> 01:16:39,927
on national security affairs.
1377
01:16:39,962 --> 01:16:42,330
The Cuban missile crisis
was a game changer
1378
01:16:42,364 --> 01:16:44,198
for his presidency.
1379
01:16:47,703 --> 01:16:50,137
NARRATOR:
He entered the second half
of his term
1380
01:16:50,172 --> 01:16:53,874
with a new kind of confidence.
1381
01:16:53,909 --> 01:16:55,509
Kennedy's Democrats had held on
1382
01:16:55,544 --> 01:16:57,812
to all but four House seats
in the midterms
1383
01:16:57,846 --> 01:17:00,915
and maintained a healthy
majority.
1384
01:17:00,949 --> 01:17:04,051
His youngest brother, Teddy,
had won election to the Senate,
1385
01:17:04,086 --> 01:17:07,221
where Democrats
had gained a few seats.
1386
01:17:07,255 --> 01:17:09,790
Three in four Americans
1387
01:17:09,891 --> 01:17:13,127
approved of the way President
Kennedy was handling his job.
1388
01:17:13,161 --> 01:17:16,330
He was popular enough
to bridge the yawning gap
1389
01:17:16,365 --> 01:17:19,367
between politics and celebrity.
1390
01:17:19,401 --> 01:17:22,570
(audience laughing)
1391
01:17:22,604 --> 01:17:25,873
VAUGHN MEADER (as KENNEDY):
Next, uh, next question.
1392
01:17:25,907 --> 01:17:29,610
NAOMI BROSSART (as JACKIE):
Yes, I should like to ask
a question about...
1393
01:17:29,645 --> 01:17:32,313
MEADER (as KENNEDY):
Would you identify yourself,
please?
1394
01:17:32,347 --> 01:17:36,651
BROSSART (as JACKIE):
I'm your wife.
1395
01:17:36,685 --> 01:17:40,254
NARRATOR:
A comedy album by a little-known
impersonator named Vaughn Meader
1396
01:17:40,288 --> 01:17:44,091
was the hit
of holiday season 1962.
1397
01:17:44,126 --> 01:17:47,561
BROSSART (as JACKIE):
Yes, I should like to ask
the following question:
1398
01:17:47,596 --> 01:17:48,896
(speaking French)
1399
01:17:48,930 --> 01:17:51,432
MEADER (as KENNEDY):
No, speak English, Jackie.
1400
01:17:51,466 --> 01:17:53,868
NARRATOR:
The First Family
sold a record-breaking
1401
01:17:53,902 --> 01:17:58,406
seven-and-a-half million copies
in just six months.
1402
01:17:58,440 --> 01:18:01,342
REPORTER:
Mr. President,
it's been a long time
1403
01:18:01,376 --> 01:18:04,978
since a president and his family
have been subject
1404
01:18:05,046 --> 01:18:07,148
to such a heavy barrage
of teasing
1405
01:18:07,182 --> 01:18:12,019
and fun-poking and satire,
and now a smash hit record.
1406
01:18:12,054 --> 01:18:15,756
Can you tell us whether you read
and listen to these things
1407
01:18:15,791 --> 01:18:18,459
and whether they produce
annoyment or enjoyment?
1408
01:18:18,493 --> 01:18:19,760
(laughing)
1409
01:18:19,795 --> 01:18:21,262
Annoyment.
1410
01:18:21,296 --> 01:18:22,730
No, they produce...
1411
01:18:22,764 --> 01:18:24,932
Yes, I have read them
and listened to them.
1412
01:18:24,966 --> 01:18:27,168
Actually, I listened
to Mr. Meader's record
1413
01:18:27,202 --> 01:18:30,404
but I thought it sounded more
like Teddy than it did me.
1414
01:18:30,439 --> 01:18:31,706
(crowd laughs)
1415
01:18:47,989 --> 01:18:50,758
NARRATOR:
The president understood
political gold dust
1416
01:18:50,792 --> 01:18:53,094
when he saw it,
1417
01:18:53,128 --> 01:18:56,831
and Caroline and John
were impossible to miss.
1418
01:18:56,865 --> 01:18:59,633
He occasionally snuck
his favorite photographers
1419
01:18:59,668 --> 01:19:02,136
into the White House
for photo ops
1420
01:19:02,170 --> 01:19:06,240
when the first lady wasn't
around to run interference.
1421
01:19:08,276 --> 01:19:10,678
JOHN JR.:
Hello!
1422
01:19:10,712 --> 01:19:13,948
KENNEDY:
Why do the leaves fall?
1423
01:19:13,982 --> 01:19:16,117
Why does the snow come
on the ground?
1424
01:19:16,151 --> 01:19:18,619
JOHN JR.:
Because it's winter.
1425
01:19:18,653 --> 01:19:20,654
KENNEDY:
Why do the leaves turn green?
1426
01:19:20,689 --> 01:19:22,056
JOHN JR.:
Because it's spring.
1427
01:19:22,090 --> 01:19:24,759
KENNEDY:
And where do we go on the Cape,
Hyannisport?
1428
01:19:24,793 --> 01:19:26,594
(John answering softly)
1429
01:19:26,628 --> 01:19:28,162
KENNEDY:
In summer.
1430
01:19:28,196 --> 01:19:30,598
(John Jr. laughing,
answers softly)
1431
01:19:32,868 --> 01:19:36,771
NARRATOR:
John Kennedy had come
to fatherhood relatively late,
1432
01:19:36,805 --> 01:19:42,576
but he clearly enjoyed the role
as he enjoyed being an uncle
1433
01:19:42,611 --> 01:19:47,281
and, with Joe Sr. debilitated,
the Kennedy family patriarch.
1434
01:19:47,315 --> 01:19:51,986
KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND:
He wanted us to come over
to the White House.
1435
01:19:52,020 --> 01:19:54,054
He's my brother Joe's godfather,
1436
01:19:54,089 --> 01:19:56,957
and I was always looking
at the first edition of books
1437
01:19:56,992 --> 01:19:58,826
and the scrimshaws
and the prints
1438
01:19:58,860 --> 01:20:00,995
that my brother Joe would get.
1439
01:20:01,029 --> 01:20:04,231
So I thought he was a really,
really thoughtful godparent
1440
01:20:04,266 --> 01:20:06,133
and took it seriously.
1441
01:20:12,774 --> 01:20:14,375
SANDER VANOCUR:
Have you found that
there's any way
1442
01:20:14,409 --> 01:20:15,509
to break through
to Mr. Khrushchev,
1443
01:20:15,544 --> 01:20:20,114
to make him really aware
that you are quite sincere
1444
01:20:20,148 --> 01:20:22,650
and determined
about what you say, sir?
1445
01:20:22,684 --> 01:20:23,884
Well, it's difficult.
1446
01:20:23,919 --> 01:20:26,921
I think you see the Soviet Union
and the United States
1447
01:20:26,955 --> 01:20:30,357
so far separated
in their beliefs,
1448
01:20:30,392 --> 01:20:32,593
we believing in a world
of independent, sovereign,
1449
01:20:32,627 --> 01:20:34,562
different, diverse nations,
1450
01:20:34,596 --> 01:20:36,997
they believing in a monolithic
Communist world,
1451
01:20:37,032 --> 01:20:42,436
and you put the nuclear equation
into that, uh, that struggle,
1452
01:20:42,470 --> 01:20:45,439
that's what makes this,
as I said before,
1453
01:20:45,473 --> 01:20:47,374
such a dangerous time,
1454
01:20:47,409 --> 01:20:49,076
and we must proceed
with firmness
1455
01:20:49,110 --> 01:20:51,846
and also with the best
information we can get
1456
01:20:51,880 --> 01:20:55,282
and also with care.
1457
01:20:55,317 --> 01:20:59,954
NARRATOR:
In the first months of 1963,
1458
01:20:59,988 --> 01:21:03,624
the president was determined
to use his increased standing
1459
01:21:03,658 --> 01:21:05,659
with the American public
to take a chance:
1460
01:21:05,694 --> 01:21:09,463
to attempt to remake
the frayed relationship
1461
01:21:09,497 --> 01:21:11,665
with the Soviet Union.
1462
01:21:18,707 --> 01:21:21,175
But other events crowded him.
1463
01:21:21,209 --> 01:21:25,946
Despite rosy reports
from his closest advisers,
1464
01:21:25,981 --> 01:21:29,583
things were not going well
in Vietnam.
1465
01:21:29,618 --> 01:21:35,489
The man whose government Kennedy
was backing, Ngo Dinh Diem,
1466
01:21:35,523 --> 01:21:37,524
had dwindling
popular support there.
1467
01:21:37,559 --> 01:21:41,428
Diem's army in the field
appeared incapable
1468
01:21:41,463 --> 01:21:44,064
of holding off the undertrained
and barely weaponized
1469
01:21:44,099 --> 01:21:45,466
North Vietnamese Communists,
1470
01:21:45,500 --> 01:21:48,535
and this despite the fact
that Kennedy had quadrupled
1471
01:21:48,570 --> 01:21:51,138
the number of American troops
in Vietnam
1472
01:21:51,172 --> 01:21:56,911
in little more than a year
to nearly 12,000.
1473
01:21:56,945 --> 01:22:03,083
Many of these "advisers" were
doing actual fighting and dying.
1474
01:22:03,118 --> 01:22:07,388
Kennedy was not happy
that this was making news.
1475
01:22:11,993 --> 01:22:15,195
The issue of segregation,
in Alabama in particular,
1476
01:22:15,230 --> 01:22:18,098
was a loaded powder keg.
1477
01:22:18,133 --> 01:22:20,467
And the new governor there,
George Wallace,
1478
01:22:20,502 --> 01:22:22,469
was waving a match.
1479
01:22:22,504 --> 01:22:24,672
I draw the line in the dust
1480
01:22:24,706 --> 01:22:28,108
and toss the gauntlet
before the feet of tyranny
1481
01:22:28,143 --> 01:22:32,780
and I say segregation now,
segregation tomorrow,
1482
01:22:32,814 --> 01:22:34,782
and segregation forever.
1483
01:22:34,816 --> 01:22:35,883
(crowd cheering)
1484
01:22:38,386 --> 01:22:40,854
NARRATOR:
Wallace had won the governorship
1485
01:22:40,889 --> 01:22:44,658
by running against what
he called "federal intrusion"
1486
01:22:44,693 --> 01:22:47,361
by the "integratin',
scalawaggin',
1487
01:22:47,395 --> 01:22:50,497
carpet-baggin' liars."
1488
01:22:50,532 --> 01:22:54,735
Once in office, he kept his
white supremacist supporters
1489
01:22:54,769 --> 01:22:57,104
stirred to a foaming rage.
1490
01:23:00,959 --> 01:23:02,943
But the integrationists
in Alabama
1491
01:23:02,978 --> 01:23:06,914
were no longer in a mood
to back down.
1492
01:23:06,948 --> 01:23:09,016
We informed the White House
1493
01:23:09,050 --> 01:23:11,885
that we would be starting
a movement there.
1494
01:23:11,920 --> 01:23:13,921
And for us, the issue was
1495
01:23:13,955 --> 01:23:17,091
that there had been
60 unsolved bombings
1496
01:23:17,125 --> 01:23:23,731
that were black people's homes,
who were bombed for nothing.
1497
01:23:23,765 --> 01:23:28,369
Almost any night, somebody might
drive through that neighborhood
1498
01:23:28,403 --> 01:23:30,771
and throw a stick of dynamite
on a front porch,
1499
01:23:30,805 --> 01:23:33,207
or a Molotov cocktail.
1500
01:23:37,545 --> 01:23:43,083
NARRATOR:
That April, the movement
launched a series of boycotts,
1501
01:23:43,118 --> 01:23:44,985
sit-ins and marches
protesting segregation
1502
01:23:45,020 --> 01:23:51,892
and "the blatant misuse of local
police power" to support it.
1503
01:23:51,926 --> 01:23:55,129
"This is," the activists
proclaimed,
1504
01:23:55,163 --> 01:23:59,033
"Birmingham's moment of truth."
1505
01:24:05,340 --> 01:24:08,542
The growing protests
drew reporters and photographers
1506
01:24:08,576 --> 01:24:11,578
from around the country.
1507
01:24:11,613 --> 01:24:16,083
Kennedy would not take a public
stand against segregation there,
1508
01:24:16,117 --> 01:24:18,986
not even when Police
Commissioner Bull Connor
1509
01:24:19,020 --> 01:24:22,222
began filling the city jails
with marchers.
1510
01:24:31,866 --> 01:24:36,236
On May 2 alone, Connor arrested
nearly 1,000 children
1511
01:24:36,271 --> 01:24:39,473
who had joined the protest.
1512
01:24:42,077 --> 01:24:44,945
The next day, almost 3,000
high school students
1513
01:24:44,979 --> 01:24:48,982
marched into the streets
of downtown Birmingham.
1514
01:24:49,017 --> 01:24:52,820
YOUNG:
We were in the process
of dispersing the crowd,
1515
01:24:52,854 --> 01:24:57,257
because we did not want
any violence.
1516
01:24:57,292 --> 01:25:02,196
And so my back was turned
to Bull Connor and the dogs,
1517
01:25:02,230 --> 01:25:05,799
because we were trying to get
the young people
1518
01:25:05,834 --> 01:25:08,402
to move out of the park
and go back to the church.
1519
01:25:08,436 --> 01:25:10,003
And then all of a sudden,
1520
01:25:10,038 --> 01:25:13,974
the fire hose starts
and the dogs come charging.
1521
01:25:17,679 --> 01:25:20,747
(dogs barking angrily)
1522
01:25:27,322 --> 01:25:29,490
Jack Kennedy was very conscious
of images.
1523
01:25:31,359 --> 01:25:33,894
When the television cameras
and Life magazine
1524
01:25:33,928 --> 01:25:35,828
arrived down South,
that's the moment
1525
01:25:35,830 --> 01:25:38,565
when the federal government
cannot sit back.
1526
01:25:40,535 --> 01:25:43,871
NARRATOR:
Kennedy still shied away
from taking a side.
1527
01:25:43,905 --> 01:25:47,274
The president deputized
a Justice Department official
1528
01:25:47,308 --> 01:25:50,644
to go to Alabama and help get
a deal to end "the spectacle,"
1529
01:25:50,678 --> 01:25:52,045
as he called it.
1530
01:25:52,080 --> 01:25:54,948
But he refused to push Congress
1531
01:25:54,983 --> 01:25:57,751
to solve this problem
once and for all
1532
01:25:57,785 --> 01:26:00,120
by passing federal
civil rights legislation
1533
01:26:00,155 --> 01:26:03,957
that applied everywhere
in America.
1534
01:26:03,992 --> 01:26:06,326
The solution, he insisted,
1535
01:26:06,361 --> 01:26:10,364
would have to be worked out
by Birmingham itself.
1536
01:26:10,398 --> 01:26:17,738
The protesters did agree to take
a break as negotiations began,
1537
01:26:17,772 --> 01:26:20,474
but as soon as a tentative deal
was reached,
1538
01:26:20,508 --> 01:26:25,379
the segregationists started
a new firebombing campaign.
1539
01:26:25,413 --> 01:26:28,248
Kennedy sent 3,000
federal troops to the city
1540
01:26:28,283 --> 01:26:31,151
to keep the peace.
1541
01:26:31,186 --> 01:26:33,453
He was worried, he said,
1542
01:26:33,488 --> 01:26:37,224
that "the Negroes will be
uncontrollable."
1543
01:26:37,258 --> 01:26:41,161
This government will do whatever
must be done to preserve order,
1544
01:26:41,196 --> 01:26:43,764
to protect the lives
of its citizens,
1545
01:26:43,798 --> 01:26:46,466
and to uphold
the law of the land.
1546
01:26:48,236 --> 01:26:53,340
NARRATOR:
The president was vague
on just what that "law" was.
1547
01:26:53,374 --> 01:26:58,679
He still didn't ask Congress
to consider a civil rights bill.
1548
01:26:58,713 --> 01:27:00,948
Kennedy appeared,
1549
01:27:00,982 --> 01:27:04,284
like the white moderates
Martin Luther King despaired of,
1550
01:27:04,319 --> 01:27:08,322
"more devoted to order
than to justice."
1551
01:27:14,762 --> 01:27:18,732
Kennedy was anxious to pivot
back to his preferred agenda:
1552
01:27:18,766 --> 01:27:21,001
the relationship
between the United States
1553
01:27:21,035 --> 01:27:23,170
and the Soviet Union.
1554
01:27:23,204 --> 01:27:26,607
On June 10, 1963,
1555
01:27:26,641 --> 01:27:30,043
Kennedy stepped to the podium
at American University
1556
01:27:30,078 --> 01:27:33,280
to make what he hoped would be
the signature speech
1557
01:27:33,314 --> 01:27:35,983
of the first term
of his presidency.
1558
01:27:38,920 --> 01:27:40,721
Today, the expenditure
1559
01:27:40,755 --> 01:27:44,691
of billions of dollars
every year on weapons acquired
1560
01:27:44,726 --> 01:27:47,694
for the purpose of making sure
we never need them
1561
01:27:47,729 --> 01:27:50,497
is essential
to the keeping of peace.
1562
01:27:50,531 --> 01:27:56,069
But surely the acquisition
of such idle stockpiles,
1563
01:27:56,104 --> 01:27:59,940
which can only destroy
and never create,
1564
01:27:59,974 --> 01:28:03,644
is not the only,
much less the most efficient,
1565
01:28:03,678 --> 01:28:06,179
means of assuring peace.
1566
01:28:06,214 --> 01:28:08,649
He calls on the Americans
and the Soviets
1567
01:28:08,683 --> 01:28:12,019
to recognize that they need
to think in terms of a new day
1568
01:28:12,053 --> 01:28:14,421
in this cold war conflict;
1569
01:28:14,455 --> 01:28:16,490
that the world
is too much hostage
1570
01:28:16,524 --> 01:28:18,025
to these nuclear weapons;
1571
01:28:18,059 --> 01:28:20,427
that it is so impermissible
1572
01:28:20,461 --> 01:28:24,865
to think of having this
kind of all-out conflict.
1573
01:28:24,899 --> 01:28:28,769
REEVES:
Kennedy gave,
certainly intellectually,
1574
01:28:28,803 --> 01:28:32,306
one of the best speeches ever
given by an American president,
1575
01:28:32,340 --> 01:28:37,678
and that was that maybe
we got off on the wrong track,
1576
01:28:37,712 --> 01:28:43,450
and maybe the cold war
is not necessary.
1577
01:28:43,484 --> 01:28:46,420
I mean, it raised
the most basic questions
1578
01:28:46,454 --> 01:28:48,522
about, "Why are we doing this?"
1579
01:28:48,556 --> 01:28:53,026
KENNEDY:
History teaches us
that enmities between nations,
1580
01:28:53,061 --> 01:28:58,532
as between individuals,
do not last forever.
1581
01:28:58,566 --> 01:29:01,902
No government or social system
is so evil
1582
01:29:01,936 --> 01:29:06,540
that its people must be
considered as lacking in virtue.
1583
01:29:06,574 --> 01:29:09,609
Among the many traits
1584
01:29:09,644 --> 01:29:12,012
the peoples of our two countries
have in common,
1585
01:29:12,046 --> 01:29:17,351
none is stronger than
our mutual abhorrence of war.
1586
01:29:17,385 --> 01:29:19,286
This was the first time
an American president
1587
01:29:19,320 --> 01:29:21,154
said the Soviets are like us.
1588
01:29:21,189 --> 01:29:23,256
It was the first time
he asked the American people
1589
01:29:23,291 --> 01:29:25,425
to think beyond stereotypes
and the cold war
1590
01:29:25,460 --> 01:29:26,927
and think about the fact
1591
01:29:26,961 --> 01:29:28,729
that this was a matter of
the future of the human race.
1592
01:29:31,666 --> 01:29:34,868
NARRATOR:
The American University speech
got big play
1593
01:29:34,902 --> 01:29:40,340
behind the Iron Curtain the next
day, but in the United States,
1594
01:29:40,375 --> 01:29:44,244
more dramatic events were
leading the national newscasts.
1595
01:29:44,278 --> 01:29:48,348
As governor and chief magistrate
of the state of Alabama,
1596
01:29:48,383 --> 01:29:51,017
I deem it to be my solemn
obligation and duty
1597
01:29:51,052 --> 01:29:52,552
to stand before you,
1598
01:29:52,587 --> 01:29:55,222
representing the rights
and sovereignty of this...
1599
01:29:55,256 --> 01:29:59,760
NARRATOR:
Alabama, in the person of its
"Segregation Forever" governor,
1600
01:29:59,794 --> 01:30:01,661
was back in the news.
1601
01:30:01,696 --> 01:30:05,065
George Wallace was making a show
of blocking black students
1602
01:30:05,099 --> 01:30:07,868
from attending
the state university there.
1603
01:30:07,902 --> 01:30:09,302
WALLACE:
The illegal and unwarranted
actions
1604
01:30:09,337 --> 01:30:11,438
of the central government
on this day,
1605
01:30:11,472 --> 01:30:14,975
contrary to the laws, customs,
and traditions of this state,
1606
01:30:15,009 --> 01:30:17,411
is calculated
to disturb the peace.
1607
01:30:17,445 --> 01:30:21,515
NARRATOR:
Kennedy had been ignoring
Vice President Johnson's advice
1608
01:30:21,549 --> 01:30:24,885
to look Southerners "in the eye"
and tell them that integration
1609
01:30:24,919 --> 01:30:29,689
was a "moral"
and "Christian" issue.
1610
01:30:29,724 --> 01:30:31,992
Watching Wallace's posturing,
Kennedy decided,
1611
01:30:32,026 --> 01:30:34,394
for the first time
in his career,
1612
01:30:34,429 --> 01:30:36,797
to risk his political standing
in the South
1613
01:30:36,831 --> 01:30:39,733
by taking the side
of integration.
1614
01:30:39,767 --> 01:30:42,469
There was an argument
in the White House
1615
01:30:42,503 --> 01:30:45,272
between Sorensen, Bobby
and the president.
1616
01:30:45,306 --> 01:30:47,741
And the president said,
1617
01:30:47,775 --> 01:30:50,076
"I want to go on television
tonight and talk about this."
1618
01:30:50,111 --> 01:30:52,212
They didn't want him to.
1619
01:30:52,246 --> 01:30:54,181
President Kennedy decides to go
on national television
1620
01:30:54,215 --> 01:30:57,651
that night and give a speech
calling for a civil rights act
1621
01:30:57,685 --> 01:30:59,820
to end discrimination
in the South.
1622
01:30:59,854 --> 01:31:03,223
We are confronted primarily
with a moral issue.
1623
01:31:03,257 --> 01:31:05,358
It is as old as the Scriptures
1624
01:31:05,393 --> 01:31:08,728
and is as clear
as the American Constitution.
1625
01:31:08,763 --> 01:31:12,632
The heart of the question
is whether all Americans
1626
01:31:12,667 --> 01:31:16,670
are to be afforded equal rights
and equal opportunities.
1627
01:31:16,704 --> 01:31:19,072
NARRATOR:
John F. Kennedy
1628
01:31:19,106 --> 01:31:23,376
finally called for federal
legislation ending segregation.
1629
01:31:23,411 --> 01:31:25,378
KENNEDY:
Next week I shall ask
1630
01:31:25,413 --> 01:31:27,814
the Congress
of the United States to act,
1631
01:31:27,915 --> 01:31:30,750
to make a commitment it has not
fully made in this century
1632
01:31:30,785 --> 01:31:34,187
to the proposition
that race has no place
1633
01:31:34,222 --> 01:31:36,857
in American life or law.
1634
01:31:36,891 --> 01:31:39,092
It's done in such
a hurry-up fashion
1635
01:31:39,126 --> 01:31:41,628
that when the TV lights go on
1636
01:31:41,662 --> 01:31:44,664
and Kennedy begins to read
his speech, it's not finished.
1637
01:31:44,699 --> 01:31:46,967
One of the most important
speeches of his presidency,
1638
01:31:47,001 --> 01:31:49,069
he's winging it
for the last third.
1639
01:31:49,103 --> 01:31:51,538
We have a right to expect
that the Negro community
1640
01:31:51,572 --> 01:31:54,641
will be responsible,
will uphold the law.
1641
01:31:54,675 --> 01:31:58,378
But they have a right to expect
the law will be fair,
1642
01:31:58,412 --> 01:32:00,347
that the Constitution
will be colorblind,
1643
01:32:00,381 --> 01:32:02,849
as Justice Harlan said
at the turn of the century.
1644
01:32:02,884 --> 01:32:04,684
This is what
we're talking about,
1645
01:32:04,719 --> 01:32:07,020
and this is a matter
which concerns this country
1646
01:32:07,054 --> 01:32:08,955
and what it stands for,
1647
01:32:08,990 --> 01:32:12,425
and in meeting it, I ask the
support of all of our citizens.
1648
01:32:12,460 --> 01:32:14,394
Thank you very much.
1649
01:32:22,336 --> 01:32:27,340
NAFTALI:
May and June of 1963 are a pivot
in the Kennedy presidency
1650
01:32:27,375 --> 01:32:29,109
because it's the first moment
1651
01:32:29,143 --> 01:32:34,581
that he's willing to use
the presidency as a bully pulpit
1652
01:32:34,615 --> 01:32:38,952
to shape public opinion,
to lead public opinion,
1653
01:32:38,986 --> 01:32:41,121
and that's when presidents
are at their greatest.
1654
01:32:44,625 --> 01:32:47,894
NARRATOR:
The president flew across
the Atlantic that summer
1655
01:32:47,929 --> 01:32:52,732
with the wind at his back and
the eyes of the world upon him.
1656
01:32:52,767 --> 01:32:55,769
One of the first stops
was the city he'd protected
1657
01:32:55,803 --> 01:32:59,139
from Soviet domination:
West Berlin.
1658
01:32:59,173 --> 01:33:04,978
DALLEK:
He goes in June of 1963
on something of a victory lap.
1659
01:33:05,012 --> 01:33:07,213
It's quite triumphant.
1660
01:33:10,017 --> 01:33:13,353
KENNEDY:
All free men,
wherever they may live,
1661
01:33:13,387 --> 01:33:17,290
are citizens of Berlin,
1662
01:33:17,325 --> 01:33:22,729
and therefore, as a free man,
I take pride in the words,
1663
01:33:22,763 --> 01:33:24,698
"Ich bin ein Berliner."
1664
01:33:24,732 --> 01:33:28,234
(crowd cheering)
1665
01:33:28,269 --> 01:33:31,404
HUGHES:
The Berlin speech
1666
01:33:31,439 --> 01:33:34,674
and the million Germans
that came out to hear him
1667
01:33:34,709 --> 01:33:36,509
had a profound effect.
1668
01:33:36,544 --> 01:33:39,679
This was Kennedy the statesman
1669
01:33:39,714 --> 01:33:41,381
and the politician combined.
1670
01:33:41,415 --> 01:33:43,183
And he says to Sorensen,
1671
01:33:43,217 --> 01:33:44,851
"We'll never have
a day like this
1672
01:33:44,885 --> 01:33:46,519
in our whole political lives."
1673
01:33:46,554 --> 01:33:50,957
DALLEK:
And then of course
he goes to Ireland,
1674
01:33:50,992 --> 01:33:55,495
where he is feted
as the prodigal son
1675
01:33:55,529 --> 01:34:00,033
who has returned home,
who comes back to his roots.
1676
01:34:00,067 --> 01:34:01,935
KENNEDY:
George Bernard Shaw,
1677
01:34:01,969 --> 01:34:05,739
speaking as an Irishman,
summed up an approach to life.
1678
01:34:05,773 --> 01:34:09,275
Other people, he said,
"see things and say, 'Why?'
1679
01:34:09,310 --> 01:34:13,913
"But I dream things that never
were, and I say, 'Why not?'"
1680
01:34:13,948 --> 01:34:16,282
The problems of the world
1681
01:34:16,317 --> 01:34:19,953
cannot possibly be solved
by skeptics or cynics
1682
01:34:19,987 --> 01:34:24,324
whose horizons are limited
by the obvious realities.
1683
01:34:24,358 --> 01:34:27,961
We need men who can dream
of things that never were
1684
01:34:27,995 --> 01:34:30,030
and ask, "Why not?"
1685
01:34:30,064 --> 01:34:35,735
(applause)
1686
01:34:35,770 --> 01:34:39,472
We came home after that,
at the Cape,
1687
01:34:39,507 --> 01:34:43,410
this "big house," we call it,
which is where my parents lived.
1688
01:34:43,444 --> 01:34:47,647
And we went to the big house
for movies on the weekends.
1689
01:34:47,682 --> 01:34:50,717
So we called Jack out
when he came back from Ireland,
1690
01:34:50,751 --> 01:34:52,752
and we said, "What's the movie
for the weekend?"
1691
01:34:52,787 --> 01:34:54,387
He said, "Well, you come over
and see.
1692
01:34:54,422 --> 01:34:57,624
I thought you'd all want to see
the trip to Ireland."
1693
01:34:57,658 --> 01:35:01,261
So we all sat and watched
his trip to Ireland.
1694
01:35:01,295 --> 01:35:02,929
It was fantastic.
1695
01:35:02,963 --> 01:35:06,733
We loved it, we clapped,
and everything was wonderful.
1696
01:35:06,767 --> 01:35:09,302
And then the next night he said,
"I thought maybe you missed
1697
01:35:09,336 --> 01:35:11,004
a little bit of the trip
to Ireland."
1698
01:35:11,038 --> 01:35:12,605
Then we said,
"No, no, that's fine."
1699
01:35:12,640 --> 01:35:14,007
We went back, saw it again.
1700
01:35:14,041 --> 01:35:16,609
And the third night,
Sunday night, he said,
1701
01:35:16,644 --> 01:35:19,012
"Just to cover it completely,
1702
01:35:19,046 --> 01:35:22,782
we'll just have one more look,
my trip to Ireland."
1703
01:35:22,817 --> 01:35:24,451
I mean, he was so happy.
1704
01:35:24,485 --> 01:35:26,219
He loved being president.
1705
01:35:26,253 --> 01:35:27,620
Yes, he did.
1706
01:35:27,655 --> 01:35:29,222
He loved being president.
1707
01:35:38,499 --> 01:35:42,969
Yesterday, a shaft of light
cut into the darkness.
1708
01:35:43,003 --> 01:35:46,539
Negotiations were concluded
in Moscow
1709
01:35:46,574 --> 01:35:49,509
on a treaty to ban
all nuclear tests
1710
01:35:49,543 --> 01:35:51,478
in the atmosphere...
1711
01:35:51,512 --> 01:35:53,980
NARRATOR:
Kennedy and Khrushchev
negotiated an agreement
1712
01:35:54,014 --> 01:35:57,217
on a nuclear test ban
in July of 1963,
1713
01:35:57,251 --> 01:36:01,721
just six weeks after
the American University message.
1714
01:36:01,756 --> 01:36:05,091
It was a limited agreement
1715
01:36:05,126 --> 01:36:07,193
and still had to be ratified
by the Senate,
1716
01:36:07,228 --> 01:36:10,096
but it was an agreement.
1717
01:36:10,131 --> 01:36:14,901
REEVES:
No one ever thought that
you could get any kind of treaty
1718
01:36:14,935 --> 01:36:18,171
involving nuclear missiles,
1719
01:36:18,205 --> 01:36:20,206
and Kennedy and Khrushchev
did it.
1720
01:36:20,241 --> 01:36:24,511
There'd never been a treaty
like it before.
1721
01:36:26,280 --> 01:36:29,082
NAFTALI:
The nuclear test ban
proved two things:
1722
01:36:29,116 --> 01:36:31,951
One, that you could actually
have an agreement
1723
01:36:32,018 --> 01:36:33,953
with the Soviets;
1724
01:36:33,988 --> 01:36:38,525
and two, that you could convince
the Soviets to take a step--
1725
01:36:38,559 --> 01:36:42,195
granted, not a huge step--
towards a more peaceful world
1726
01:36:42,229 --> 01:36:44,297
where there was less danger
of nuclear war.
1727
01:36:44,331 --> 01:36:47,400
DALLEK:
He had used the power
of his office
1728
01:36:47,434 --> 01:36:51,538
to face down the Soviets
in the missile crisis.
1729
01:36:51,572 --> 01:36:53,339
He had stood up to them.
1730
01:36:53,374 --> 01:36:55,542
He had recouped the setbacks
he had suffered
1731
01:36:55,576 --> 01:36:59,545
over the Bay of Pigs
and over the Vienna summit,
1732
01:36:59,547 --> 01:37:01,681
and he was on his way
to a second term
1733
01:37:01,715 --> 01:37:05,218
that could lead maybe
to some kind of détente
1734
01:37:05,252 --> 01:37:06,820
with the Soviet Union.
1735
01:37:15,529 --> 01:37:17,864
NAATOR:
His closest friends
said Jack Kennedy
1736
01:37:17,898 --> 01:37:21,367
seemed more settled than
they'd seen him in years.
1737
01:37:25,906 --> 01:37:28,174
Jackie Kennedy would say
1738
01:37:28,209 --> 01:37:32,679
it was the most time
the family ever shared.
1739
01:37:32,713 --> 01:37:35,915
BEDELL SMITH:
Jackie was pregnant
with their third child
1740
01:37:35,950 --> 01:37:39,185
that they were
very excited about.
1741
01:37:39,220 --> 01:37:41,955
And that summer
up in Hyannisport,
1742
01:37:41,989 --> 01:37:44,023
they spent a lot of time
together,
1743
01:37:44,058 --> 01:37:49,262
and their friends commented
on how close they seemed.
1744
01:38:04,812 --> 01:38:08,114
And then Jackie went into labor
prematurely in August
1745
01:38:08,148 --> 01:38:10,283
and had Patrick,
1746
01:38:10,317 --> 01:38:13,152
who was suffering
from hyaline membrane disease,
1747
01:38:13,187 --> 01:38:17,523
which at that point
was extremely serious.
1748
01:38:17,558 --> 01:38:22,495
They took him to Boston
and Jack sat there in a chair
1749
01:38:22,529 --> 01:38:27,033
outside this hyperbaric chamber
and waited.
1750
01:38:31,338 --> 01:38:34,540
SALINGER:
Patrick Kennedy died
at 4:04 a.m.
1751
01:38:34,575 --> 01:38:38,711
The strain of the baby's
attempts to breathe,
1752
01:38:38,746 --> 01:38:41,014
with the problems
with his lungs,
1753
01:38:41,048 --> 01:38:43,016
caused his heart to expire.
1754
01:38:44,551 --> 01:38:47,320
The president, his brother
the attorney general,
1755
01:38:47,354 --> 01:38:49,789
and the president's friend
Dave Powers
1756
01:38:49,823 --> 01:38:52,425
were with the baby when he died.
1757
01:39:04,638 --> 01:39:08,207
BEDELL SMITH:
They celebrated their
10th anniversary in September,
1758
01:39:08,242 --> 01:39:12,312
and she wrote to a friend
who had introduced them.
1759
01:39:12,346 --> 01:39:14,847
It was a kind of
bittersweet letter
1760
01:39:14,882 --> 01:39:18,351
because she said that she felt
that Jack could have had
1761
01:39:18,385 --> 01:39:22,989
a full and vital life
without being married to her,
1762
01:39:23,023 --> 01:39:27,193
but to her, being married to him
and loving him was everything.
1763
01:39:27,227 --> 01:39:31,064
So it was clear that she was
very much in love with him,
1764
01:39:31,098 --> 01:39:35,435
and in many ways,
they did draw closer together.
1765
01:39:42,977 --> 01:39:44,577
REPORTER:
Mr. President, Dr. Teller,
1766
01:39:44,611 --> 01:39:47,814
in urging the Senate to reject
the nuclear test ban today,
1767
01:39:47,848 --> 01:39:50,750
said that it weakens
American defenses
1768
01:39:50,784 --> 01:39:52,318
and thus invites attack.
1769
01:39:52,353 --> 01:39:55,521
Now, to anyone who works
in the laboratories today,
1770
01:39:55,556 --> 01:39:58,925
a 30-megaton weapon
is perhaps not as sophisticated
1771
01:39:58,959 --> 01:40:01,260
as a 60- or 70-
or 80-megaton weapon,
1772
01:40:01,295 --> 01:40:04,931
but it's still many, many, many
times, dozens of times stronger,
1773
01:40:04,965 --> 01:40:08,167
than the weapon that flattened
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
1774
01:40:08,202 --> 01:40:09,902
How many weapons do you need
1775
01:40:09,937 --> 01:40:12,338
and how many megatons
do you need to destroy?
1776
01:40:12,373 --> 01:40:13,639
I said in my speech
1777
01:40:13,674 --> 01:40:16,142
what we now have on hand
without any further testing
1778
01:40:16,176 --> 01:40:19,612
will kill 300 million people
in one hour,
1779
01:40:19,646 --> 01:40:23,349
and I suppose they can
even improve on that
1780
01:40:23,384 --> 01:40:25,585
if it's necessary.
1781
01:40:30,290 --> 01:40:31,791
NARRATOR:
The president understood
1782
01:40:31,825 --> 01:40:36,129
he still had plenty
of rough water ahead.
1783
01:40:36,163 --> 01:40:40,500
Ratification of the test ban
treaty was not assured.
1784
01:40:40,534 --> 01:40:44,303
Civil rights legislation
was jammed up in committee;
1785
01:40:44,338 --> 01:40:48,808
a simple vote on the House
or Senate floor seemed unlikely.
1786
01:40:48,842 --> 01:40:52,378
Vietnam was a mess.
1787
01:40:52,413 --> 01:40:54,580
Diem's government had squandered
1788
01:40:54,615 --> 01:40:57,183
what little popular support
it had.
1789
01:40:57,217 --> 01:40:59,318
Its military was still unable
1790
01:40:59,353 --> 01:41:02,388
to stand up to the Communist-led
North Vietnamese.
1791
01:41:02,423 --> 01:41:05,491
American casualties
were on the rise,
1792
01:41:05,526 --> 01:41:08,227
and American reporters
on the ground
1793
01:41:08,262 --> 01:41:11,831
were starting to tell that story
to their readers back home.
1794
01:41:11,865 --> 01:41:14,801
(automatic gunfire)
1795
01:41:14,835 --> 01:41:16,636
NAFTALI:
Kennedy's got this problem.
1796
01:41:16,670 --> 01:41:18,738
He doesn't want the Viet Cong,
1797
01:41:18,772 --> 01:41:20,807
which are the Communists there,
to win.
1798
01:41:20,841 --> 01:41:23,943
But what do you do if the
government you're supporting,
1799
01:41:23,977 --> 01:41:27,380
and the government whose army
you are supplying, is corrupt?
1800
01:41:27,414 --> 01:41:29,916
THOMAS:
Different parts of Kennedy's
own government
1801
01:41:29,950 --> 01:41:31,284
are telling him
different things.
1802
01:41:31,318 --> 01:41:33,052
Some people are saying
we should get rid of Diem,
1803
01:41:33,087 --> 01:41:34,454
have a coup d'état;
1804
01:41:34,488 --> 01:41:36,222
other people are saying
that's a terrible idea.
1805
01:41:36,256 --> 01:41:39,041
Kennedy has basically
lost control
1806
01:41:39,076 --> 01:41:42,295
of the Vietnam policy-making
part of his government,
1807
01:41:42,329 --> 01:41:43,629
and he knows it.
1808
01:41:43,664 --> 01:41:49,368
KENNEDY (on tape):
Monday, November 4, 1963:
1809
01:41:49,386 --> 01:41:53,222
Over the weekend the coup
in Saigon took place,
1810
01:41:53,257 --> 01:41:57,777
culminated three months
of conversation about a coup,
1811
01:41:57,811 --> 01:42:02,682
comma, a conversation
which divided the government
1812
01:42:02,716 --> 01:42:05,384
here and in Saigon.
1813
01:42:05,419 --> 01:42:08,287
NARRATOR:
The president had set in motion
the overthrow of Diem
1814
01:42:08,322 --> 01:42:11,224
without really thinking
through the consequences.
1815
01:42:11,258 --> 01:42:13,259
Three days after the event,
1816
01:42:13,293 --> 01:42:15,828
in which Diem and his brother
were assassinated,
1817
01:42:15,863 --> 01:42:18,965
Kennedy was still trying
to make sense of it.
1818
01:42:18,999 --> 01:42:25,805
KENNEDY:
I feel that we must bear a good
deal of responsibility for it.
1819
01:42:25,839 --> 01:42:32,645
The way he was killed
made it particularly abhorrent.
1820
01:42:32,679 --> 01:42:35,348
The question now is whether
the generals can stay together
1821
01:42:35,382 --> 01:42:38,350
and build a stable government.
1822
01:42:38,352 --> 01:42:43,556
NARRATOR:
Kennedy was finally beginning
to understand
1823
01:42:43,590 --> 01:42:46,893
how risky was his investment
in Southeast Asia.
1824
01:42:46,927 --> 01:42:51,330
The president's instinct
was still to exert control
1825
01:42:51,365 --> 01:42:54,300
without calling attention to it.
1826
01:42:54,334 --> 01:42:58,571
He told his ambassador
in Saigon, Henry Cabot Lodge,
1827
01:42:58,605 --> 01:43:01,641
that the U.S. was going
to "intensify our efforts"
1828
01:43:01,675 --> 01:43:04,110
to help the new
government there.
1829
01:43:04,144 --> 01:43:08,247
His military leaders called
for more American ground troops,
1830
01:43:08,282 --> 01:43:10,383
sanctioned to fight
against the Communist North.
1831
01:43:10,417 --> 01:43:14,053
Kennedy wanted to weigh
all the options,
1832
01:43:14,087 --> 01:43:16,522
from a troop increase
to a troop withdrawal.
1833
01:43:19,259 --> 01:43:25,631
(marching band drumming)
1834
01:43:25,666 --> 01:43:29,168
NARRATOR:
John Kennedy's prospects
for a second term looked good
1835
01:43:29,203 --> 01:43:34,006
in the fall of 1963,
despite the problems in Vietnam.
1836
01:43:34,041 --> 01:43:37,643
But there was work to be done,
particularly in Texas,
1837
01:43:37,678 --> 01:43:45,351
the state that had been crucial
to his victory in 1960.
1838
01:43:45,385 --> 01:43:49,455
The 1964 election--
his reelection--
1839
01:43:49,489 --> 01:43:52,291
was just a year away, and it
wasn't going to be easy
1840
01:43:52,326 --> 01:43:55,261
to campaign openly
for civil rights legislation
1841
01:43:55,295 --> 01:43:58,231
and still win majorities
in the South.
1842
01:43:58,265 --> 01:44:01,934
The state party in Texas was
already beginning to fracture,
1843
01:44:01,969 --> 01:44:05,171
so the president decided
to mend some political fences
1844
01:44:05,205 --> 01:44:08,641
and fundraise with conservative
governor John Connally.
1845
01:44:14,715 --> 01:44:16,382
NAFTALI:
He needs Texas.
1846
01:44:16,416 --> 01:44:18,017
He's got to win Texas again,
1847
01:44:18,051 --> 01:44:21,254
and he's got to raise money
for the campaign.
1848
01:44:21,288 --> 01:44:24,090
Jacqueline doesn't really
want to go,
1849
01:44:24,124 --> 01:44:27,326
but he's asked her
to come with him.
1850
01:44:27,361 --> 01:44:30,596
BEDELL SMITH:
Jackie had never accompanied
Jack on a domestic trip.
1851
01:44:30,631 --> 01:44:34,367
This was her very first one.
1852
01:44:34,401 --> 01:44:37,103
They decided to take little
three-year-old John with them
1853
01:44:37,137 --> 01:44:41,707
on the helicopter
to Andrews Air Force Base,
1854
01:44:41,742 --> 01:44:47,546
and he cried when they left,
and Kennedy gave him a big hug.
1855
01:45:07,734 --> 01:45:11,704
CARO:
As Air Force One
is heading toward Dallas,
1856
01:45:11,738 --> 01:45:14,407
the weather clears.
1857
01:45:14,441 --> 01:45:17,076
And one of Kennedy's aides,
Larry O'Brien, says,
1858
01:45:17,110 --> 01:45:18,477
"Kennedy weather."
1859
01:45:23,850 --> 01:45:28,354
It's a glittering,
bright Texas sun,
1860
01:45:28,388 --> 01:45:33,259
so everything's shining,
everything's gleaming:
1861
01:45:33,293 --> 01:45:35,561
Air Force One,
the great silver plane.
1862
01:45:35,595 --> 01:45:39,131
The door opens, and it seems
like the Kennedys are gleaming.
1863
01:45:39,166 --> 01:45:43,736
ANNOUNCER:
There's Mrs. Kennedy,
and the crowd yells,
1864
01:45:43,770 --> 01:45:45,304
and the president
of the United States.
1865
01:45:45,339 --> 01:45:49,208
And I can see his suntan
all the way from here.
1866
01:45:52,346 --> 01:45:54,413
CARO:
The plan was for them
to get right into the car,
1867
01:45:54,448 --> 01:45:58,150
but the crowd is so excited
along the fence,
1868
01:45:58,185 --> 01:45:59,518
they're all reaching out
1869
01:45:59,553 --> 01:46:04,023
to try to touch
this beautiful couple.
1870
01:46:04,057 --> 01:46:05,925
And they walk along.
1871
01:46:05,959 --> 01:46:07,259
How could they resist?
1872
01:46:09,896 --> 01:46:12,131
They get into the car
1873
01:46:12,165 --> 01:46:16,502
and the motorcade
pulls out for Dallas.
1874
01:46:16,536 --> 01:46:18,170
The Kennedys are
in the first car;
1875
01:46:18,205 --> 01:46:22,541
in the jump seats
are John Connally
1876
01:46:22,576 --> 01:46:26,078
and Nellie Connally, his wife.
1877
01:46:26,113 --> 01:46:31,751
Down the sidewalks,
from the curb to the buildings,
1878
01:46:31,785 --> 01:46:33,319
are crammed solid with people.
1879
01:46:33,353 --> 01:46:35,087
From every window,
1880
01:46:35,122 --> 01:46:38,758
people are reaching out
and yelling and screaming.
1881
01:46:38,792 --> 01:46:42,661
Every time Jackie waves,
the crowd presses forward,
1882
01:46:42,696 --> 01:46:46,031
and every time Jack waves,
they press forward
1883
01:46:46,066 --> 01:46:48,968
so that the motorcade
has to go slower,
1884
01:46:49,002 --> 01:46:53,672
from 20 miles to 15 miles
to ten miles to five miles.
1885
01:46:53,707 --> 01:46:57,576
Nellie Connally turns
to the president and says,
1886
01:46:57,611 --> 01:46:59,412
"Mr. President,
1887
01:46:59,446 --> 01:47:02,148
you certainly can't say
that Dallas doesn't love you."
1888
01:47:03,884 --> 01:47:06,018
And she says Jack Kennedy
looked at her
1889
01:47:06,052 --> 01:47:08,320
and gave her this big smile.
1890
01:47:13,994 --> 01:47:16,529
ANNOUNCER:
This is Edwin Newman
in the NBC newsroom in New York,
1891
01:47:16,563 --> 01:47:17,897
this information from Dallas.
1892
01:47:17,931 --> 01:47:21,700
Two priests who were
with President Kennedy
1893
01:47:21,735 --> 01:47:25,871
say he is dead of bullet wounds.
1894
01:47:25,906 --> 01:47:29,375
This is the latest information
we have from Dallas.
1895
01:47:29,409 --> 01:47:31,877
REPORTER:
What is your feeling
right now?
1896
01:47:31,912 --> 01:47:34,980
I really couldn't say, really.
1897
01:47:35,015 --> 01:47:38,884
Right now, I just don't know
what to do.
1898
01:47:38,919 --> 01:47:41,187
Was there much emotion
among the congregation?
1899
01:47:41,221 --> 01:47:42,621
There was.
1900
01:47:42,656 --> 01:47:44,690
It really was amazing
to see the number of men
1901
01:47:44,724 --> 01:47:46,826
who came into the cathedral
sobbing,
1902
01:47:46,860 --> 01:47:50,930
almost convulsed
with sorrow, anguish.
1903
01:47:50,964 --> 01:47:53,232
But all we can do now
is pray for him,
1904
01:47:53,266 --> 01:47:56,602
and that's about all we can do.
1905
01:47:56,636 --> 01:47:59,572
An entire loss to the world,
it's hardly believable.
1906
01:48:23,597 --> 01:48:28,200
¶
1907
01:48:43,550 --> 01:48:45,351
¶
1908
01:49:11,311 --> 01:49:15,648
(drums playing funeral cadence)
1909
01:49:40,874 --> 01:49:43,609
(drumming fades away)
1910
01:50:13,373 --> 01:50:15,975
(silence)
1911
01:50:19,913 --> 01:50:21,847
(soft music playing)
1912
01:51:09,796 --> 01:51:12,865
THOMAS:
Jack Kennedy was
the most glamorous,
1913
01:51:12,899 --> 01:51:15,300
attractive president of the
United States we've ever had
1914
01:51:15,335 --> 01:51:17,236
and that we'll ever have.
1915
01:51:17,270 --> 01:51:20,606
That alone holds
your fascination.
1916
01:51:20,640 --> 01:51:23,876
And he had enormous promise.
1917
01:51:23,910 --> 01:51:24,977
Now, it was unfulfilled.
1918
01:51:25,011 --> 01:51:26,378
It was not realized.
1919
01:51:26,413 --> 01:51:29,348
He probably wasn't as great
as he appeared to be.
1920
01:51:29,382 --> 01:51:31,650
But he sure felt that way.
1921
01:51:34,054 --> 01:51:36,422
BEDELL SMITH:
He is, as is always the case
1922
01:51:36,456 --> 01:51:39,658
with people who die
at a young age,
1923
01:51:39,693 --> 01:51:43,062
he's fixed in everybody's mind
1924
01:51:43,096 --> 01:51:46,165
in the way he looked,
in his "viguh,"
1925
01:51:46,199 --> 01:51:51,203
in his sense of humor,
in his informal style.
1926
01:51:54,507 --> 01:52:00,045
NAFTALI:
Kennedy set so much in motion
in such a short period of time
1927
01:52:00,080 --> 01:52:04,783
that the outcome of each
narrative was unclear.
1928
01:52:08,588 --> 01:52:09,888
WOFFORD:
We will never know
1929
01:52:09,923 --> 01:52:13,492
whether he would have been
a great president.
1930
01:52:13,526 --> 01:52:17,863
I'd bet on him,
but we didn't have that chance.
1931
01:52:28,575 --> 01:52:31,076
atExclusive corporate funding
for American Experience
1932
01:52:31,111 --> 01:52:32,211
is provided by:
1933
01:52:38,151 --> 01:52:40,986
And by contributions
to your PBS station from:
1934
01:52:49,596 --> 01:52:52,931
Captioned by
Media Access Group at WGBH
access.wgbh.org
1935
01:53:08,314 --> 01:53:12,317
There's more American Experience
online at pbs.org,
1936
01:53:12,352 --> 01:53:14,620
where you can find out
how to join the discussion
1937
01:53:14,654 --> 01:53:16,121
on Facebook and Twitter.
1938
01:53:16,156 --> 01:53:21,693
American Experience "JFK"
is available on Blu-ray and DVD.
1939
01:53:21,728 --> 01:53:26,465
To order, visit shopPBS.org
or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.
1940
01:53:26,499 --> 01:53:29,835
American Experience is also
available to download on iTunes.
177710
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