All language subtitles for Kennedy.2023.S01E04.WEBRip.x264-XEN0N

narrator:
Previously on "Kennedy"...

- He’d climb one rung
of the ladder.

Then he’d start looking
to the next one.

narrator: The presidential
election of 1956

would be an important
opportunity

for Kennedy to gain momentum
on his political journey.

- He spotted a potential
opening for himself,

so Kennedy thought he could
butter up Adlai Stevenson

and be chosen
as an ideal running mate.

- He campaigns vigorously
for Adlai Stevenson.

narrator: He would soon know
if his efforts had been enough

to claim the vice presidential
nomination.

[dramatic music]

- To lead us
to a fruitful America,

from the state
of Massachusetts,

John F. Kennedy.

narrator: John F. Kennedy
lived a life that would help

define an entire generation.

♪ ♪

- Together we shall
save our planet,

or together we shall perish
in its flames.

- What was it about that guy?

- Looks, style, empathy.

He was incredibly charming.

- Intellectual
and progressive.

- He was the future.
He was next.

♪ ♪

narrator: President for just
over a thousand days,

Kennedy navigated events
and crises

that changed the world.

- Kennedy is feeling
the pressure

from the civil rights
activists.

- This was a country
on nuclear war footing.

♪ ♪

- This could be
the last mistake

that anybody makes politically.

♪ ♪

- He changed us in the process
of his own growth.

- We choose to go to the moon
in this decade

and do the other things,
not because they are easy

but because they are hard.

♪ ♪

narrator: 60 years
after his assassination,

we are still fascinated
by the triumphs and flaws

of the youngest president
ever elected.

- I ask you to join us in
all the tomorrows yet to come

in building America,
moving America,

picking this country
of ours up,

and sending it into the ’60s.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: August 1956.

♪ ♪

It was off to Chicago

for the 1956 Democratic
National Convention.

- These are taking place
in the televised age

by the 1950s and ’60s.

And part of what parties
are trying to do

is tell Americans

what kinds of issues
do they stand for,

who are some of our
most exciting figures,

who are the voices
of the future.

That’s where Kennedy fits in
in 1956.

narrator: When Kennedy
arrived, he denied allegations

that he sought the
vice presidential nomination.

- Playing games, clearly,

he was better prepared
than anybody.

That was really
his first gambit

was to seize control
of the state

Democratic apparatus,
which he did.

narrator: Secretly, his team
had prepared for months,

working to support Stevenson
and boost Kennedy’s chance

to be chosen
as his running mate.

However, Stevenson decided
not to choose at all.

narrator: Stevenson decided
he would allow

state delegates
to choose the nominee,

meaning each vice presidential
candidate would have

to scramble
for the next 24 hours,

trying to collect
the most votes.

♪ ♪

Kennedy decided
to chase the nomination.

Rushing to pull
a team together,

Kennedy, his family members,
Sorensen,

and the larger Kennedy machine
went into motion.

It was a frenzied, messy,

nonstop
political free-for-all.

- It’s fascinating.

We’re still in the era
of backroom politics

with smoky back rooms,
you know?

This is not an era
as we live in now

where it’s all decided
before that convention starts.

I mean, was Keith Arthur
gonna be named,

or was Kennedy gonna
be named?

narrator: Kennedy’s team raced
around the convention,

trying to secure as many
delegates as possible

to win the vice presidential
nomination.

The hotel room-
turned-campaign headquarters

was suddenly
bursting with activity.

♪ ♪

Bobby Kennedy took on
a key campaign role,

attempting to personally
persuade delegates

to vote for his brother

and scolding them
if they didn’t.

During that frantic 24 hours,
Kennedy’s father, Joe,

called campaign headquarters.

Bobby answered the phone.

The room froze
and stared at Bobby,

observing his alarmed reaction
to what he heard

on the other end of the line.

♪ ♪

Joe was incensed
that his son had decided

to run for the
vice presidential nomination,

certain that a defeat
would destroy

Jack’s political future.

- You can imagine, you know,

probably a good bit
of profanity,

telling him how dumb
they were to do it.

narrator: Joe insisted
that Kennedy back down.

Jack refused.

As the results were tallied,

Kennedy seemed to be
in the lead.

- So yeah, I watched it,

and I’m begging them
to pick John F. Kennedy.

♪ ♪

narrator:
Campaign headquarters waited

in joyful anticipation,

but suddenly there was
a roadblock.

The votes began
to swing in favor

of Tennessee senator
Estes Kefauver.

Before long, two candidates,

Senator Hubert Humphrey
of Minnesota

and Albert Gore of Tennessee,

receded from the race.

As the final votes came in,
the Kennedy camp knew

it was not in his favor.

♪ ♪

In the end, Kefauver won the
nomination for vice president.

- The Democratic Party
will go from this convention

far stronger for what
we have done here today.

♪ ♪

narrator: Kennedy returned
home empty-handed after losing

the vice presidential
nomination,

but he had won
a major victory.

After appearing
on TV numerous times

and proving himself
a charming, youthful,

and hardworking presence
at the convention,

Kennedy had a surge
in popularity.

- I want to take
this opportunity

first to express
my appreciation.

♪ ♪

- He has used this
to get his name out there.

He’s used this to make deals,
to make friends,

to try to add
to his organization.

♪ ♪

narrator:
Following Stevenson’s defeat

and Eisenhower’s reelection,

the Kennedy family
gathered at Hyannis Port

for Thanksgiving in 1956.

Kennedy and his father, Joe,
are huddled in a small study,

discussing the future.

After Kennedy’s surge
in popularity

at the Democratic
National Convention,

questions arose
about a presidential run.

Kennedy listed every reason
why he believed

running for president
was a bad idea.

His father countered
each point one by one.

♪ ♪

The two went back and forth

until the conversation
reached a stalemate.

Finally, Kennedy uttered
four words

that would unwittingly change
the course of his life:

where do we begin?

♪ ♪

- Somebody once asked him,

why do you want to run
for president?

And his answer:

that’s where the action is.

He wanted to be
where the action was.

♪ ♪

narrator: The Kennedy
presidential campaign

started very early,

before any other candidate.

Money could buy
advertisements,

but time was a luxury
that could not be purchased.

Ted Sorensen said
one hour of work in 1957

was the equivalent
to two hours of work in 1958.

- And in those days,
Kennedy was not traveling

with a great entourage.

It was basically Ted,

who would keep track
of the speeches.

He would attend
and listen carefully

to every speech,
what worked, what didn’t,

what could be more clear.

They analyzed
the political situation.

What were the key states?

And that’s where they started.

♪ ♪

narrator: In 1957,
Kennedy participated

in more than 140
campaign events,

building momentum
for his presidential run

as well as his upcoming Senate
reelection race in 1958.

- The number
of days on the road

in ’57, ’58, ’59,

there’s a famous story about
Lyndon Johnson looking up

one day in the Senate
in ’57 or ’58

and saying something like,
where’s Kennedy?

I never see him around.

♪ ♪

narrator: He spent
a great deal of time

drumming up support from

and forming relationships
with journalists,

taking advantage
of each press inquiry.

- There was a tremendous
amount of exposure

in the national
mass circulation press,

"Time" magazine, "Life."

narrator: Kennedy created
a campaign division

solely to monitor public
opinion and collect data.

- They’re writing down
the name and the address

of every single person
that he’s met,

putting it on an index card.

By 1960, they have maybe
10,000 index cards.

- It gave a personal touch
to it

so that the audience felt

recognized and appreciated.

Eventually, they built a deep
file of political contacts,

friends and supporters.

- Nobody had ever campaigned
like that before.

c]

narrator: With the 1958 Senate
election swiftly approaching,

Kennedy’s months of effort
on the campaign trail

were paying off.

- The impression that stays
with me is that what started

as a rather small effort
began to grow

and to grow and to grow.

And at first, the audience
might be 100 people.

Then it was 500.
Then it was 1,000.

Then it was a full auditorium
and people outside.

They just got
this positive response

that encouraged them
to carry on.

♪ ♪

narrator: In 1958, Kennedy
won Senate reelection

by the largest margin
in Massachusetts history.

After the victory,
Kennedy knew his sole focus

had to be
the presidential race.

Although he had not yet
announced his candidacy,

Kennedy secretly campaigned
with an eye

towards a national audience,

building towards
the 1960 election.

♪ ♪

narrator: To enhance his image
as a serious politician,

Kennedy and Sorensen
made it a goal

to release an assortment
of scholarly articles

and pamphlets
expressing Kennedy’s politics,

ideas, and observations.

In public, Kennedy
spoke about topics

like health care,
public school funding,

and foreign policy concerns.

- He was a mainstream Democrat
who believed in the Cold War.

He believed in
the welfare state at home.

So he was anti-communist
in his foreign policy.

In a very firm way, he was
sort of a Roosevelt disciple

in terms of domestic policy
in this country.

- He’s talking about,
get America moving again

so we can compete
against the Soviet Union.

The Cold War
is what dominates

the 1960 election
almost completely.

- Kennedy developed a way
of looking at America

that was fresh,

that the country
was a little bit stuck,

that it needed a new push,

that it needed some goals

that might excite people
and stimulate effort.

narrator:
To win the presidency,

Kennedy would have to
be nominated

at the Democratic
National Convention in 1960.

To get the nomination,
he would need to persuade

at least 761 delegates
from around the country

to support him.

In the months leading up
to the convention,

Kennedy trekked
across the country,

meeting with state leaders
and influential politicians.

- He was everywhere.

The more people saw of him,

the better he did.

Nobody had ever
worked like that

as a presidential candidate.

♪ ♪

narrator: In 1959,
Joe Kennedy purchased

an American Airlines aircraft,

fitted it
with a new interior,

and donated it to his son’s
presidential campaign.

That plane, called "Caroline,"

was the first private aircraft
ever used

by a presidential candidate.

It was a sizable tribute

to the newest
Kennedy family member.

- I think, of all the things
his father did for him,

having that plane
was a big deal,

because I think it increased
his mobility,

particularly in ’59.

narrator: During the campaign,
the airplane logged

more than 100,000 miles.

Ted Sorensen called
the Kennedy campaign

a highly organized army
ready for battle.

♪ ♪

- I am today announcing
my candidacy

for the presidency
of the United States.

- Senator Kennedy,
if you don’t win

the presidential nomination,

will you accept
the vice presidency?

- I shall not,
under any conditions,

be a candidate
for vice president.

If I fail in this endeavor,
I shall return and serve

in the United States Senate.

narrator: To win
the presidential nomination,

Kennedy needed delegates.

He set his eyes
on state primaries,

a series of daunting obstacles
he would have to overcome.

His major Democratic rival,
Lyndon Johnson,

opted to sit them all out,

feeling that his influence
and years spent in Congress

would be enough to earn the
nomination at the convention.

However, Kennedy believed
winning at the primaries

would carry him into
the convention with momentum.

In March of 1960, Kennedy
dove into his first primary

in New Hampshire
and won handily.

- You know, because it’s
neighboring to Massachusetts,

it wasn’t considered
a breakthrough on his part.

Next comes Wisconsin.

♪ ♪

narrator: Kennedy gave
unprecedented access

to documentarian Robert Drew
and his crew

to follow him as he campaigned
in the Wisconsin primary.

- You’re essentially running
against Hubert Humphrey,

who’s, you know, trying to do
a low-funded campaign

but high-energy.

And Wisconsin, of course,
is neighboring

to his own Minnesota,
so he’s putting his all

into that campaign.

- He wasn’t nearly as good on
the campaign trail as Kennedy.

[people clamoring]

[indistinct chatter]

- Listen, now,
anybody I didn’t get?

’Cause I guess we’re late.

Yeah, whose is this?
- Mine.

- Whose is this?
- Mine.

- If you would write me
at the Senate,

I’ll send you a picture
and an autograph

and something
about the Capitol.

- Where should we write?

[indistinct chatter]

- Just write me,
Senator Kennedy,

the Senate, Washington, D.C.

- There. That’s it.

And the eyes
just above the camera.

That’s just fine.

- He was really good-looking.

That helps.

- Kennedy’s physical
attractiveness was huge.

He looked great, particularly
when he was feeling well,

and he always seemed
to have a suntan.

- You know, he had that
kind of bon vivant quality.

Men want to be him.
Women want to have him.

There’s something to that.

- It became a kind of
running joke

among many of the reporters
covering him

about the women
who would flock to see him

like they would flock
to see Elvis Presley

or some kind
of movie star celebrity.

And he made his youth
into an attractive quality

by associating it with sort of
the dawning of a new age.

It was time to get
the country moving again.

♪ ♪

c]

narrator: As Kennedy
campaigned in 1960,

he honed the power
of his words.

- Well, John F. Kennedy knew
how to deliver a speech.

- He was funny,
and he gave short speeches.

They’re witty.

They’re to the point.

They were all at most
6 paragraphs, maybe 12.

Make them want more.

- I run for the presidency
because, like you,

I have strong ideas about
what this country must do.

I have strong ideas
about the United States

playing a great role
in a historic moment.

When the cause of freedom
is endangered

all over the world...

- These are
rhetorical devices

to make your words
more powerful.

- But that particular accent
and the particular pacing

and all of that,
I don’t think anybody’s come

anywhere close to it.

- This is somebody who gives
speeches that make people want

to get up and march somewhere.

♪ ♪

- Well, ladies and gentlemen,
I ask your help.

I ask your help
in building the United States.

I ask your help
in reestablishing the prestige

and strength of our country.

I ask your help.

♪ ♪

narrator:
April 1960, Wisconsin.

The campaign lasted
four weeks.

While Kennedy did well in
large cities like Milwaukee,

Humphrey spent
much of his time

with farmers in rural areas.

Humphrey was far more familiar
with that territory

than his upper-class opponent
from Boston.

♪ ♪

- This is the heart
of Senator Kennedy’s strength,

the heavily populated
city areas,

particularly the Polish
Catholic fourth district

in Milwaukee.

♪ ♪

- We would have passed
that bill two years ago,

but it failed by one vote
in the Senate

when the president
withdrew his support

on the day the bill
was coming up to vote.

That’s how important the office
of the presidency is.

He shall determine what shall
be our policy on Berlin.

He shall determine whether
we shall be at war or peace.

♪ ♪

narrator: When the Wisconsin
numbers came in,

Kennedy and his team
were shaken.

He had won by only 13%,
a dramatic contrast

to his landslide victory
in New Hampshire.

♪ ♪

- It punctured
the Kennedy momentum

for a brief, brief period,
that they really realized

they had to regroup.

crowd: ♪ Back Jack ♪

♪ Jack is on the right track ♪

♪ ’Cause he’s got high hopes ♪

narrator: After Wisconsin,
Kennedy won in Illinois,

his home state
of Massachusetts,

Pennsylvania, Indiana,
and Nebraska.

But the next destination,
West Virginia,

would prove to be a challenge
unlike any state so far.

♪ ♪

- As different
from Massachusetts

or anything John Kennedy
had ever known,

very Protestant,
very few Catholics,

people who didn’t know wealth.

narrator:
West Virginia was rural,

at the heart
of America’s coal country.

- Coal mines were running
at 100% capacity.

Everybody was busy, but it
still had the reputation

of having pockets of poverty.

And I think that’s
how Kennedy was briefed,

that he was going to be coming
into a poverty-stricken place.

Instead he found a lot
of working coal miners.

♪ ♪

narrator: The campaign
increased its intensity

beyond what it had displayed
in Wisconsin.

The Humphrey camp
followed suit.

♪ ♪

One of the biggest gripes
the general public had

with Kennedy
was his Catholic faith.

This was especially true
in West Virginia.

- You would be divided
between two loyalties,

to your church
and to your state,

if you were
to be elected president.

- Yeah, the question
is whether I think that--

if I were elected president,

I would be divided
between two loyalties,

my church and my state.

Let me just say
that I would not.

I have sworn to uphold
the Constitution.

In the 14 years
I’ve been in Congress,

in the years
I was in the service,

the Constitution provides
in the First Amendment

that Congress
shall make no laws

abridging
the freedom of religion.

I must say I believe in it.

I think it’s the only way
that this country can go ahead.

I am sure that no one
believes that I’d be

a candidate
for the presidency

if I didn’t think I could
meet my oath of office.

♪ ♪

narrator:
This clear, strong oath

seemed to quiet
the local critics.

♪ ♪

On May 10th, Kennedy won
60% of the popular vote

in West Virginia.

That afternoon,
overcome with emotion

from the hard-fought campaign,

Humphrey tearfully announced
he would no longer seek

the Democratic nomination.

♪ ♪

Kennedy won more votes
than any other candidate

in the Democratic primaries,

walking away with 32.5%
of the total vote.

It was a significant
accomplishment,

but it wasn’t enough
to lock in the nomination.

♪ ♪

With the nomination
up for grabs,

Kennedy took off for the
Democratic National Convention

in Los Angeles.

♪ ♪

- I want to assure you
that today we begin here

in this city an effort
to win this nomination,

which I believe
will be successful.

♪ ♪

c]

narrator: At the 1960
Democratic National Convention

in Los Angeles,
Kennedy was vying

for the presidential
nomination

against Lyndon Johnson
of Texas,

Stuart Symington of Missouri,

and Adlai Stevenson
of Illinois.

- If we’re going
to successfully move

through the ’60s,

if we’re going to be true
to our destiny of being

the great defender of freedom
in these dangerous times,

then the United States
must build its strength.

♪ ♪

narrator: Civil rights
were this convention’s

hot-button topic.

- You know, the experiences
of African Americans

vary greatly.

The common thread is
segregation, discrimination,

denial of opportunity.

- It was a movement that could
not be contained in the South

or even in the United States.

It was a powerful
human statement

for the desire
for human freedom,

and that is what gave it
so much power.

narrator:
Despite his lackluster record

on the issue,

Kennedy took a decisive step
by supporting

a progressive civil rights
plank at the convention.

This plank called
for the complete elimination

of discrimination
based on race,

religion, and national origin.

It also demanded
fair employment practices

and openly advocated
the sit-in demonstrations

occurring all over
the Deep South.

♪ ♪

- So at that convention,
what’s notable

is the lead
that the Kennedy group takes

in insisting on a strong
civil rights plank,

responding to the demands
that are rising,

the pressures
that are accelerating,

and, most significantly,
the importance of Black voting

in Northern industrial states.

♪ ♪

Narrator:
After this unflinching stance

was announced,

nine Southern states
promptly signed a document

denouncing Kennedy
as a candidate.

- It wasn’t like everybody
was for John Kennedy in 1960.

That was clear.

People were counting,

are we gonna get the number
of votes on the first ballot?

So there was a tension as to
whether it was gonna work,

absolutely, total tension.

♪ ♪

narrator: The legwork done
by the Kennedy camp

over the past four years

finally paid off
on July 13, 1960.

♪ ♪

narrator: Amidst tens of
thousands of people,

Kennedy accepted
the Democratic nomination

at the Los Angeles Coliseum

and chose his former opponent,
Lyndon Johnson,

as his vice presidential
running mate,

believing the Texas senator
would help secure

the Southern political support
he needed to win the election.

- And we stand today
on the edge of a new frontier,

the frontier of the 1960s,

the frontier of unknown
opportunities and perils,

the frontier of unfilled hope
and unfilled threats.

The new frontier is here,
whether we seek it or not.

Beyond that frontier
are uncharted areas

of science and space,

unsolved problems
of peace and war.

♪ ♪

narrator:
The 1960 presidential race

between Kennedy and Nixon

would be the first widely
televised election in history.

♪ ♪

If the American people
couldn’t see

their candidate in person,

they could watch him from
the comfort of their own home.

The candidates
would debate four times,

arguing their case
to the nation.

- The candidates
need no introduction,

the Republican candidate,

Vice President
Richard M. Nixon,

and the Democratic candidate,
Senator John F. Kennedy.

- The president gained,
America gained

by continuing the dignity,
the decency

that has characterized us,

and it’s that that keeps
the prestige of America up,

not running down America
the way Senator Kennedy

has been running her down.

- Much as Richard Nixon
is criticized,

he mounted the stage
of the Republican Party

on five separate occasions

to accept the nomination
for national office,

three times for president
and twice for vice president.

He was formidable.

- I really don’t need
Mr. Nixon to tell me

about what my responsibilities
are as a citizen.

I’ve served this country
for 14 years in the Congress

and before that in the service.

I have just as high a devotion,
just as high an opinion.

- You look at
the Kennedy-Nixon debate,

a Republican running
at the center

and a Democrat running
at the center in 1960

don’t disagree on much.

And so when people were trying
to decide who do they want,

you have two people
who want the job

who are saying
they’re pretty much

gonna do similar things.

So then TV becomes
that much more important

because you’re making
your decisions based on,

what does your gut tell you?

Kennedy presents
very differently than Nixon.

♪ ♪

- And the difference
between the crowds

the day before that debate

and the crowds
after that debate,

the crowds the next morning
heading into Iowa

were enormous.

We called them the dancers.

The crowds, if you look down
the street half a mile away,

you started to see--
as soon as they saw him,

you could see the crowd
start to jump.

♪ ♪

- I don’t think I looked at him
as some sort of a sex idol.

I looked at him
as an energizer.

He was the future.

He was next.

♪ ♪

c]

♪ ♪

- I think one
of the most important things

was when he called
Coretta Scott King

in the election

when Martin Luther King
was arrested.

- Martin Luther King
is busted in Georgia

on a phony
parole violation charge.

He’s sent off
to a rural Georgia prison,

where there’s great fear
that he will never

get out of there alive.

- He was arrested after
participating in a sit-in,

but he had an outstanding
traffic violation,

so he wasn’t given bail.

He’s put in the jail.

And this was
the end of October.

The election’s
beginning in November.

- Nixon--
who, I think, frankly,

had a better
civil rights record

during the last eight years
than Kennedy--

froze, and he didn’t know
what to do.

He was trying to compete
in the South,

and so he didn’t want
to inflame--

he thought he might win
over some Southern Democrats.

So Nixon tried to just kind of
put his head in the sand

and just hope
that this King incarceration

would be resolved quickly
by local officials.

Kennedy makes a phone call--
it lasted maybe a minute

or two--to Coretta Scott King
and just said,

I’m worried
about your husband,

and we’ll be thinking of you,

and we’ll do
everything we can do.

- That sent a huge message
to the Black community

that John F. Kennedy,
that he was helpful.

And they got Martin Luther King
out of jail.

♪ ♪

- Kennedy’s action
redounded in his favor.

King’s father,
Martin Luther King Sr.,

was actually intending
to vote for Nixon.

- And when they got
Dr. King out of jail,

Daddy King said, I got
a whole suitcase full of votes,

and now they’re going
to Kennedy.

And so that was a signal
where Black people

then lined up
behind John F. Kennedy.

♪ ♪

narrator: With time running
out before the election,

Kennedy and Nixon
were still in a tight race.

Kennedy knew that to win,
he needed to address

any last concerns
the public still had.

♪ ♪

- This program this evening

does not constitute
an endorsement

of either the speaker

or the party
which he represents.

The program has been motivated
by the religious issues

in this campaign.

♪ ♪

- He’s looking
at the polling data.

They decide, look,
we’ve got to take

the Catholicism issue head-on.

- The talk on the street was,
he’ll kiss the pope’s ring.

The pope calls him
every morning

and tells him what to do.

I mean, I remember this.

I was a Catholic schoolkid
at the time.

narrator: Kennedy knew he had
to address the subject

in a public arena one last
time before the election.

He chose Houston
as the location,

where the Greater Houston
Ministerial Conference

was taking place.

♪ ♪

- I believe in an America

where the separation of church
and state is absolute,

for while this year,
it may be a Catholic

against whom the finger
of suspicion is pointed,

in other years,
it has been

and may someday be again
a Jew or a Quaker

or a Unitarian or a Baptist.

- He made his points forcefully
but not--

he was very good in
not being overly combative.

But he was assertive.

- And we raised the question
because we would like to know,

if you are elected president
and your church elects to use

that privilege and obligation,

what your response will be
under those circumstances.

- If my church attempted
to influence me in a way

which was improper
or which affected adversely

my responsibilities
as a public servant

sworn to uphold
the Constitution,

then I would reply to them

that this was an improper
action on their part.

It would be
an unfortunate breach

of an interference with
the American political system.

♪ ♪

narrator: After the speech,
Kennedy spoke off the cuff,

answering a series
of questions

from the ministers that had
not been screened in advance.

- I’m sure that I have made
no converts to my church,

but I do hope--
[laughter]

I do hope that at least
my view, which I believe

to be the view of my fellow
Catholics who hold office,

I hope that it may be
of some value

in at least assisting you
to make a careful judgment.

[applause]

♪ ♪

narrator:
Racing across the country

and fueled by adrenaline,

Kennedy often had dark circles
around his eyes.

Without much time
to rest or eat,

just days before the election,
Kennedy claimed,

I’m going to last
about five more days,

but that’s time enough.

- It’s the day before
the election in 1960,

and Kennedy finishes
in Waterbury,

Springfield,
and Boston Garden that night.

My grandmother marched us
down to city hall

to see this remarkable
presentation.

I remember one sign
that was hung

on the Grand Army Hall
of the Republic that said,

welcome home, Jack.

I mean, I’m 11 years old
and looking up and saying,

you know, tomorrow this guy
could be the president.

And nobody knows
how the election

is still gonna turn out.

- His last speech
was at Boston Garden.

And it was brilliant.

It was absolutely brilliant.

♪ ♪

- So I come here tonight.

I thank you
for your past support.

I ask you to join us tomorrow.

And most of all,
I ask you to join us--

if we are successful,

I ask you to join us
in all the tomorrows

yet to come
in building America,

moving America, picking
this country of ours up,

and sending it into the ’60s.

♪ ♪

c]

♪ ♪

narrator: Finally,
Election Day had arrived.

Kennedy, his wife, Jackie,

and their two-year-old
daughter, Caroline,

were camped out
at Hyannis Port.

- Joe Kennedy, the father,

had a big place
in Hyannis Port,

and we were invited to be there
on election night

as the returns were coming in.

And the cohesion
among the family,

it was a beautiful sight.

- Photographers and reporters
are all around them,

for this is the man who,
in the next 24 hours,

may become president
of the United States

and she first lady
of the land.

♪ ♪

narrator: Jackie was pregnant
with John Jr.,

due at the end of the month.

Jackie described the scene
as a cold, clear autumn day.

She would later remember her
husband as restless but quiet,

spending some time in the sun
and then trying to nap.

- From the very beginning,
it becomes obvious

that this is going to be
a close election.

♪ ♪

The television networks have
made elaborate preparations

to broadcast
the election returns

as they come in
from the different parts

of the country.

Huge tally boards
post the returns

as they come in minute
by minute, hour by hour.

♪ ♪

- The excitement
of being there,

watching the returns coming in,

it was neck and neck all night.

♪ ♪

- I guess the thing I really
remember trying to stay up.

Come on, I’m not gonna
stay up till--

stay up till 6:00
tomorrow morning and find out

we still got 10 hours
to go, you know.

But we stayed up awful late,
and we had no idea.

♪ ♪

- In Illinois,
the voting will be so close

that the lead
will go back and forth

from one candidate
to the other,

but then this turns
into a seesaw battle

in quite a few
of the states all night long.

♪ ♪

narrator: As darkness set
over Cape Cod,

Kennedy hung up the phone
with his brother Bobby

after learning the numbers
would not be in for hours.

He retired to his bedroom.

In the morning, Kennedy’s
closest aide, Ted Sorensen,

set out for Kennedy’s house,

just like any other day
in Hyannis Port.

As he approached, he noticed
something was different.

Secret Service agents were
stationed around the home.

John F. Kennedy
was the next president

of the United States.

♪ ♪

Kennedy won the election

with 303 electoral votes
to Nixon’s 219.

The popular vote
was much closer,

with Kennedy receiving only
118,000 more votes than Nixon.

- To all Americans,
I say that the next four years

are going to be difficult
and challenging years

for us all.

The election may have been
a close one,

but I think that there is
general agreement

by all of our citizens

that a supreme national effort
will be needed

in the years ahead

to move this country safely
through the 1960s.

I ask your help in this effort,

and I can assure you
that every degree

of mind and spirit
that I possess

will be devoted
to the long-range interest

of the United States

and to the cause of freedom
around the world.

So now my wife and I prepare
for a new administration

and for a new baby.

Thank you.

♪ ♪

- He ends up writing

his farewell speech
to Massachusetts,

which is astonishingly eloquent
and powerful.

♪ ♪

- For 14 years,
I have placed my confidence

in the citizens
of Massachusetts,

and they have
generously responded

by placing their confidence
in me.

Now on the Friday after next,

I am to assume new
and broader responsibilities.

We must always consider,
he said,

that we shall be
as a city upon a hill.

The eyes of all people
are upon us.

I ask for your help
and your prayers

as I embark on this new
and solemn journey.

♪ ♪

narrator: Next on "Kennedy"...

- I, John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
do solemnly swear

that I will
faithfully execute

the office of president
of the United States.

- He’s very young,
and he doesn’t fit the mold.

- How would he do
on the world stage,

given he was so young
and inexperienced?

- He was instantly
overwhelmed by it.

The sheer number of concerns

that were piled
onto his plate,

and they were urgent issues.