Original subtitles

January, 1961.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and arms industry is new...

...in the American experience.

The total influence...

...economic, political, even spiritual...

...is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every government office.

We must guard against the acquisition...

...of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought...

...by the military-industrial complex.

We must never let the weight of this combination...

...endanger our liberties or democratic processes.

November, 1960.

Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy of Massachusetts...

...wins one of the narrowest election victories in American history...

...over Vice President Richard Nixon by a little more than 100,000 votes.

Alongside his beautiful and elegant wife, Jacqueline Bouvier...

...Kennedy is the symbol of the new freedom of the 1960s...

...signifying change and upheaval to the American public.

"All men are created equal."

Every degree of mind and spirit that I possess will be devoted...

...to the cause of freedom around the world.

Today, the proudest boast is:

"Ich bin ein Berliner!"

He inherits a secret war against the Communist Castro dictatorship in Cuba...

...a war run by the CIA and angry Cuban exiles.

Castro is a successful revolutionary...

...frightening to American business interests in Latin America.

This war culminates in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion...

...in April, 1961...

...when Kennedy refuses to provide air cover for the exiled Cuban brigade.

Kennedy takes public responsibility for the failure.

He privately claims the CIA lied to him...

...and tried to manipulate him into ordering an American invasion of Cuba.

In October, 1962...

...the world comes to the brink of nuclear war...

...when Kennedy quarantines Cuba...

...after announcing the presence of offensive Soviet nuclear missiles...

...90 miles off American shores.

Soviet ships with more missiles sail towards Cuba...

...but at the last moment they turn back.

The world breathes with relief.

In Washington, rumors abound that JFK has cut a secret deal...

...with Russian Premier Khrushchev...

...not to invade Cuba in return for a Russian withdrawal of missiles.

Suspicions abound that Kennedy is soft on communism.

Kennedy also finds himself embroiled in Laos and Vietnam.

We've got our difficulties there.

Unless a greater effort is made by the government...

...to win popular support, I don't think the war can be won there.

It's their war. They're the ones who have to win it or lose it.

Early that fateful summer...

...Kennedy speaks of his new vision at the American University.

What kind of peace do I mean?

What kind of peace do we seek?

Not a Pax Americana...

...enforced on the world by American weapons of war.

We must re-examine our own attitudes towards the Soviet Union.

Our most basic, common link...

...is that we all inhabit...

...this small planet.

We all breathe the same air.

We all cherish our children's futures.

And we are all mortal.

You fucking assholes!

Don't leave me here!

They've gone to Dallas.

Friday.

They're going to kill...

...Kennedy.

Call somebody.

Stop them.

These are serious fucking guys.

She's been high on something since they brought her in.

Help!

Please!

DALLAS - NOVEMBER 22, 1963

WANTED FOR TREASON

CBS NEWS BULLETIN

Here is a bulletin from CBS News.

In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired...

...at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas.

The first reports say that President Kennedy...

...has been seriously wounded by the shooting.

New Orleans

OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY

What's wrong?

The President's been shot.

In Dallas. Five minutes ago.

Oh, no!

How bad?

No word. They think it's in the head.

Napoleon's has a TV set.

Three bullets were found. Gov. Connally also appeared to have been hit.

The President was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, four miles away.

We are told the bullet entered the base of the throat and came out the back...

...but there is no confirmation.

Blood transfusions are being given. A priest has administered the last rites.

There's still a chance.

Pull through, Jack.

From Dallas...

...the flash, apparently official:

President Kennedy died...

...at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time...

...2:00 Eastern Standard Time...

...some 38 minutes ago.

Vice President Johnson has left the hospital.

Presumably he will take the oath of office shortly...

...and become the 36th President of the United States.

He did so much for this country, for colored people. Why?

Good-bye, you sorry bastard! Die!

Shut the fuck up!

I'm ashamed to be an American today.

The President of the United States is dead.

I just talked to Father Oscar Hubert of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church.

He told me...

...President Kennedy has been given the last rites.

Shortly after 12:30...

...near the park in downtown Dallas...

...the shots rang out.

The President is dead.

The bullets came up over our heads...

...from that fence up on the knoll.

I seen his face when it hit.

His ear blew off and he turned real white.

He flopped over on his stomach...

...with his foot sticking out.

None of us thought it could happen in America or any place else.

All this blubbering over that no-count son of a bitch!

They're bawling like they knew the man. Makes me want to puke.

For God's sake, the President was shot.

A bullshit President!

Nobody's crying for the thousands of Cubans...

...that bastard condemned to death and torture at Bay of Pigs.

Goddamn peace treaties!

I heard shots from over there.

- I heard shots from over there. - How many?

That's what happens when you let the niggers vote.

They get together with the Jews and the Catholics...

...and elect an Irish bleeding heart.

Chief, maybe you had too much to drink.

Bullshit!

Here's to the New Frontier.

Camelot in smithereens.

I'll drink to that.

Dallas police have just announced...

...they have a suspect in the killing of Dallas policeman J.D. Tippit...

...who was shot at 1: 15 in Oak Cliff, a Dallas suburb.

Police say there could be a tie-in to the President's murder.

The suspect, identified as a Lee Harvey Oswald...

...was arrested by more than a dozen policemen...

...after a short scuffle at a movie theater in Oak Cliff.

Officer Tippit was killed...

...by a revolver which was found on Oswald.

Shoot the bastard!

Give him a medal for shooting Kennedy!

I don't know what I am charged with...

...but I emphatically deny these charges.

The kid must've gone nuts, right?

I said, Oswald must've flipped.

Right?

Just did this crazy thing before anybody could stop him.

I'm going. I've got to get home, Chief.

What are you talking about?

Who'd have ever thought...

...that goofy Oswald kid would pull a stunt like an assassination?

Goes to show you can never know about some people. Am I right, Jack?

Am I right, Jack?

Well, bless my soul.

All these years, I thought you were on my team.

Are you kidding?

I couldn't be more serious, Jack.

Your little red eyes have me wondering about your loyalty.

Look at that, Martin.

Who's been going through my files?

You've been looking through my files, you little weasel!

You're starting to get paranoid. Really!

You went through all my files!

You're a goddamn spy!

Why would I want to look through your files?

I've seen enough here this summer to write a book.

I always lock my files!

You're the only one here today.

What do you mean, you bastard?

You're going to write a book?

You know what I mean.

I've seen a lot of strange things here.

Strange people.

You didn't see a goddamn thing!

Not a goddamn thing!

The full name is Lee Harvey Oswald.

- Did you shoot the President? - I didn't shoot anybody.

They have taken me in because I have lived in the Soviet Union.

I'm just a patsy!

He sure looks like a creep.

I protested at that time I was not allowed legal representation...

...during that very short and sweet hearing.

I really don't know...

...what this situation is about.

Nobody has told me anything except that I am accused...

...of murdering a policeman.

I know nothing more than that.

I do request someone to come forward...

...to give me legal assistance.

Were you ever in the Free Cuba movement or whatever it's called?

It's the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.

Why were you in Russia? What happened to your eye?

He seems pretty cool for a man under pressure.

A policeman hit me.

He gives me the willies.

Come on, sugarplums, it's past your bedtimes.

Mattie, honey, get a hold of yourself.

A fine man.

After a stint in the Marines...

...he became fascinated by communism. He is said to be a dedicated Marxist...

...and a fanatical supporter of Fidel Castro and ultra left-wing causes.

He spent last summer in New Orleans and was arrested...

...in a brawl with anti-Castro Cuban exiles.

Lou? Sorry to disturb you this late.

Matter of routine. Get on this Oswald connection in New Orleans.

Check out his record. Find any friends or associates from last summer.

Let's meet with the investigators day after tomorrow.

On Sunday?

Sunday. 11:00.

Thanks, Lou.

I would say that he is the killer...

...beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty.

I thought a motorcycle had backfired. I looked to my left.

A second shot hit him in the face.