All language subtitles for S01E03 - Into the Political Jungle (1946-1956)

- Previously on "Kennedy"...

- We will gain the
inevitable triumph,

so help us God.

- Kennedy comes home
a different man.

- Joe Jr.'s death is a knife

into the heart of
the Kennedy family.

- World War II was maturing

for a whole
generation, of course,

but for John in particular,

he came back with a
sense of responsibility.

- Well, he knew that
politics was the world.

- He knew, I think, in his heart

that he was destined
for greater things.

- To lead us to a
fruitful America,

from the state of Massachusetts,

John F. Kennedy!

- 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.

- President for just
over 1,000 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.

- 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,

taking this country of ours up,
and sending it into the '60s.

- In the spring of 1946,

29-year-old John F. Kennedy

was busy on the campaign trail,

working to make himself
known to the people of Boston

as a candidate to represent

Massachusetts' 11th
congressional district.

On June 17, he participated

in the annual Bunker
Hill Day parade.

- There'd be certain
days during the campaign

that his back would
be bothering him.

And I'd say, do
you want to rest?

And he'd say, no.

There's only a short time
before the campaign is over.

- Waving to the masses of people

along the parade route,

things were going
well for the candidate

until he collapsed in the street

under the hot summer sun.

- Jack can barely stand...

can barely walk,

and he campaigns from
morning to night.

- Despite the reality
of his health conditions

and getting only four to five
hours of sleep each night,

he appeared energetic
to swarms of onlookers.

At campaign events, he said
he stood for free enterprise,

the right to a living wage,

and affordable-housing
needs for the working man.

Jack impressed audiences with
his heroic service record

and charmed them
with his enthusiasm,

candor, and humor.

Joe Kennedy contributed to
Jack's campaign financially

and also made countless calls
to reporters and editors,

promoting his son's campaign.

Though Joe tried to buy
Jack's way toward victory,

Jack sought to earn it
through labor and merit.

- I mean, his father had money,

but money doesn't
always win campaigns.

You have to work really hard.

- After defeating nine other
candidates in the primary,

Election Day arrived.

Kennedy won a landslide victory,

taking 73% of the vote.

On January 3, 1947,
at the age of 29,

John F. Kennedy officially
became a member of Congress.

- He walked into
difficult circumstances,

in the sense that the
Republicans had won control

of Congress

after a long Democratic period.

So he was a minority member

of the House of Representatives.

And he had no power,

you know, had a tiny office

in the farthest reaches
of Capitol Hill.

- As a Congressman, Kennedy
showed his interest in

and stance on
international affairs

when he supported the
Truman Doctrine...

a policy to contain
Soviet expansion

following World War II.

- I think everyone who lived
through the World War II era

couldn't not think of the
world as relevant to you.

After Pearl Harbor,
for every American,

it was clear that
the world mattered,

and we were not
disconnected from it.

- In 1947, Kennedy embarked
on a working trip to Europe.

- At times when the
House was in session,

he just sort of took off
for, you know, weeks on end

to travel overseas.

He was interested in the issues,

interested in just the challenge

of reconstructing Europe
after World War II.

- He was lively at the
beginning of the trip,

but his blood
pressure began to drop

after arriving in London.

After being rushed to
a hospital in London,

he was diagnosed with
Addison's disease...

an incurable condition
causing weight loss,

low blood pressure, and weakness

that would plague him
for the rest of his life.

To help with the pain,

Kennedy was prescribed
the steroid cortisone.

- Someone walked in as
Kennedy was giving himself

an injection of cortisone
for his Addison's disease,

and the person said, you
probably get used to that.

And JFK took the needle

and stuck it in the
other guy's leg,

and the guy was like, ow.

And he went, that's
what it feels like to me

every time I do it... it never
feels any better than that.

- But I think what all
these health problems fed

was Kennedy's sense he would
not live to an old age,

that he would die young.

- I've always felt, for example,

if you look at the JFK speeches,

there's always a sense
of, time is short,

time is running out.

- He knew he had to use
his limited time wisely.

With this in mind,

Kennedy wanted to move forward
on his political journey.

Fueled by a driving ambition

to make his mark
and create change,

Kennedy began eyeing
a spot in the Senate.

- He'd climb one
rung of the ladder,

and he'd stand there
for just a microsecond,

take a deep breath,

and then he'd start
looking to the next one.

- He increased his
public appearances

around Massachusetts,

accepting every
invitation he received.

- So, for really
about four years,

from, like, '48 to '52,
he went home every weekend

and traveled around the
state of Massachusetts,

going to any event
that would have him,

you know, Boy Scout
events, ice cream socials,

church events,
anything, rotary clubs.

- From Holyoke to Fall River
and Chicopee to Springfield,

he spent a great deal
of time on the road,

speaking about issues
like education,

labor rights, health
care, and taxes.

- So Kennedy built
an organization

and just, you know, did
all they could to make him

better known
throughout the state.

- Despite being
the representative

of a moderately sized
district in Boston,

international issues were
of particular interest

to Kennedy.

By the end of the 1940s,
no international issue

was of greater interest
to him than communism.

- In theory, communism was
about everyone being equal

and there not being classes.

Communism, on the one
hand, had great faith

that this is the
way of the future.

It is inevitable.

On the other hand, you
can also help it along.

So you get rid of
opposition parties.

In the worst excesses
of communism,

people were executed

or died a slower death

by being sent to prison camps.

The U.S. described
communism often as tyranny

versus democracy in
the United States.

- In the mid to late 1940s,

the domino theory took shape.

The domino theory predicted

that if one nation
fell to communism,

others would soon follow.

As the Korean War raged on,

many people, including Kennedy,

believed that Asia was most
threatened by communism.

With higher office
in his sights,

Kennedy decided to
visit the region,

meet the leaders
of its countries,

and report back to the U.S.

about the spread of
communism in Asia.

- He saw this as being the place

where the Cold War
would be won or lost...

not in Europe but in
the developing world.

- There was a lot of legitimate
fear in the United States

about the spread of communism.

- In the fall of 1951,

Kennedy was yearning for
a more powerful voice

in politics.

To achieve that goal,
he'd need to improve

his knowledge of foreign policy.

In October, he set out
for an arduous trip

that covered more
than 25,000 miles

over 6 weeks.

He traveled across
the Middle East

and Southeast Asia,

stopping in countries
such as Israel,

Pakistan, India,

French Indochina,
Korea, and Japan.

Though Kennedy was initially
opposed to the idea,

Joe Sr. pressured him

into taking two of his younger
siblings on the trip...

sister Patricia, age 27,

and brother Robert, age 26,

known by the family as Bobby.

A routine schedule
was established.

Kennedy would meet with
high-ranking leaders

of the country
they were visiting,

and afterward, he would
speak with journalists

and intellectuals.

As the trip went on, Kennedy
valued Bobby's insights

and relentless energy.

- He discovers, through
seven weeks overseas,

that there is a depth to Bobby

that he had not realized before.

And that really is the beginning

of the close
Jack/Bobby relationship

that lasts throughout
the rest of Jack's life.

- After the trip, Kennedy
delivered his report,

disparaging what he thought

was an inadequate
American response

to critical
international problems.

Kennedy now had a new
perspective on the world,

the growing threat of communism,

and the effects of colonialism.

He felt that the only
way for democracy

to win against communism

was for the native
population to support it,

ideologically and
militarily on their own,

but with the aid of the West.

When he returned from Asia,

he knew it was time to
begin the next chapter

of his political career.

- Our audience, of course,
is particularly interested

in your views, because
it's been mentioned

that you are a possible
or probable candidate

to the United States Senate
against Senator Lodge.

Have you decided whether or
not you're going to oppose

Senator Lodge this year?

- Well, Mr. Huey, I plan
to announce my plans

about what I thought I might
do about the end of April.

At that time, I thought
I'd make them definite,

but I'm certainly
considering it very strongly.

- On April 6, 1952,

Kennedy announced his
candidacy for the Senate.

- I think he saw it

as a more powerful
policy-making position,

but I think he also
saw it as a politically

more advantageous
position to be in.

- Well, politics is
about opportunity

and seizing the moment.

Kennedy saw this as his moment.

- Despite his wealth,
family connections,

and his political
record thus far,

the campaign would be
massive and energy-depleting,

a nonstop effort.

Kennedy would run

against Republican
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.,

who likewise had a rich,

multigenerational family
history in politics.

- They were both, you know,
wealthy, Harvard-educated,

respected families.

Both of them were
centrists politically.

- If Kennedy was to
emerge victorious,

he knew the campaigning methods

for his congressional run

would have to expand and evolve.

When Kennedy was too
busy to appear in person,

his brother and campaign
manager Bobby took over.

Rough around the edges and
cold when he needed to be,

Bobby was relentless
and ruthless,

working around the clock for
his older brother's campaign.

"I don't care if anyone
around here likes me,"

he would say, "as long
as they like Jack."

As the tense race began,

Kennedy went on
the campaign trail

and rallied the efforts
of friends, family,

and more than 20,000 volunteers.

- ♪ When we vote
this November ♪

♪ Let's all remember ♪

♪ Vote for Kennedy ♪

♪ Make him your selection... ♪

- Kennedy raced
across Massachusetts,

giving speeches,
attending campaign events,

even creating the
Kennedy tea party...

gatherings where Kennedy
could meet and connect

with female voters.

- ♪ He's your kind of man,
so do all that you can ♪

♪ And vote for Kennedy. ♪

- During the campaign,
Kennedy improved his outreach

by making many
television appearances.

He even enrolled in a
CBS television school,

where he honed his skills
in front of a camera.

He'd use these methods

throughout his political career.

- Once TV came to the fore,
it was not terribly surprising

that Jack wanted to know
how he was coming across

on camera.

And that was something that was
always very important to him.

- After months of hard work,

it was November
4th, Election Day.

As Kennedy's mother,
Rose, recalled,

it was one of the few occasions

she saw him visibly nervous...

pacing and eager for results.

- The Kennedy/Lodge
race was considered

the marquee Senate race of 1952,

because you do have
these two glamorous,

wealthy, respected, charismatic,

attractive candidates
going head-to-head.

And it was a very tough,
close-fought race.

- Suddenly, the
campaign headquarters

erupted in celebration.

Kennedy had defeated
Lodge by 70,000 votes.

Though Lodge never
congratulated Kennedy

in person,

his concession arrived via
telegram later that day.

Kennedy was a United
States Senator.

- Kennedy first laid
eyes on his future wife

at a Georgetown dinner
party in the spring of 1951.

He wouldn't see her again
until the spring of 1952.

Like Danish journalist
Inga Arvad years before,

this woman fascinated him.

Born Jaclyn Lee Bouvier
on July 28, 1929,

in Southampton, New York,

her mother, Janet, was Irish,

and her father, John
"Black Jack" Bouvier,

was of French, Scottish,
and English descent.

Raised Catholic like Kennedy,

she also grew up
in an environment

of economic and
societal privilege.

She was talented and
ambitious even as a child,

taking ballet lessons,
learning multiple languages,

and reading often.

She was a bright yet
rebellious child.

One of her teachers
described her

as "very clever and
full of the devil."

On the surface, her
life seemed idyllic,

though it was anything but.

Her father was an
aggressive alcoholic

and a notorious philanderer,
often absent from her life.

Black Jack's neglectful behavior

led to a divorce
from Janet in 1940

and affected Jackie for
the rest of her life.

Jackie spent her senior
year of college in France,

which would be a major influence

on the European aesthetic
often associated with her.

She graduated from George
Washington University

in 1951,

the same year she met a rising
Congressman from Boston.

When Jackie first met Kennedy,

she thought he was a man who
clearly did not want to marry.

But he leaned across
the dinner table

and asked for a date

in May 1952.

For Kennedy, who was
interested in history,

politics, and literature,

he was at first taken aback
by Jackie's intelligence,

then entranced.

Despite the clear attraction
between Kennedy and Bouvier,

others were wary of
the relationship.

Members of Kennedy's
inner circle

warned Jackie about
his womanizing ways.

- You know, one of the legacies

of being Joe Kennedy's son

was that you learned very early

that men were allowed
to fool around,

to have as many
lovers as they wanted.

Jack's promiscuity, you know,
is learned as a young man

from watching his father.

- They had a sense
of entitlement

about what they could do that
other people couldn't do,

what they could get away
with that other people

would never think that
they could get away with.

- As Jackie processed the news,

she felt it was an inevitable
masculine flaw, saying,

"Well, that's what men do."

Despite warnings,
she fell for him.

- I mean, she knew that he had
that mix of danger and charm,

and I don't think she
was kidding herself.

She knew what she
was getting into.

- He liked to play the field.

He liked having all
of these girlfriends.

He liked having
young women around

and cared little about marriage.

It was his father who actually
sort of put the pressure

on him, saying, if you want
a national political career,

you can't be this
carefree bachelor.

You need to get married.
You need to be respectable.

- There is no secret that he
was cheating on her constantly

and she was aware of it.

She looked the other way,

in part because that
was how she was raised

in the upper echelon of
society... to accept it.

But she was devoted to him.

- I would say that there was
love throughout, you know?

I would say that, you
know, from the beginning,

all the way to the end.

- On the evening
of June 24, 1953,

the couple shared dinner at
Martin's Tavern in Georgetown.

That evening at booth three,
Jack proposed to Jackie,

and she said yes.

- This looks like
a royal wedding.

You know, like, if you
look at that church

and you look at those pictures,

it's hard to believe that he
was, you know, just a Senator

and she was, you know,
just sort of a socialite.

It looks like...

they're, like, the king
and queen of some country.

- Kennedy later sent
his parents a note,

which read, "At last I
know the true meaning

"of rapture.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for
making me worthy of her."

Jackie had a certain
sense of order

and her own set of
standards for furniture,

food, fashion, and aesthetics.

Kennedy, a wealthy man
with a carefree style,

had some adapting to do.

The two had interesting
intellectual conversations,

where Kennedy found he could
speak to her as an equal.

From incoming
reports on Indochina

to works by classic
writers like Voltaire,

Jackie translated books from
French to English for him.

- Jackie was very
well read, you know.

You know, she loved to read,
and she loved to write.

She was a very creative
person. She loved to paint.

- By January 1954,

they had settled
into their new home

in the Georgetown neighborhood
of Washington, D.C.

A new chapter in the
Kennedy story had begun.

- As Kennedy settled
into his position

in the Senate in 1953,

he needed a new
legislative assistant,

someone who could
conduct research,

provide counsel, and help
draft legislative programs.

Ted Sorensen,

a 24-year-old attorney
from Nebraska,

was interested in a position.

He was an unlikely choice,

in the words of Robert Dallek...

young, comparatively
inexperienced,

and almost entirely unknown.

- He was born in
Nebraska in 1928.

He was one of five children.

They were not at all wealthy,

maybe middle class,
lower middle class.

He clearly knew,
even in college,

that he wouldn't
stay in Nebraska.

He somehow felt that he
had a larger purpose.

Within weeks of graduating
from law school,

he was on the train

from Nebraska to
Washington, D.C.

The election had taken place,

and new Senators and members
of Congress were coming in.

And that was when
he was recommended

to the office of the new Senator

from Massachusetts.

- Sorensen had already received

a job offer from Washington
Senator Henry Jackson

but sought an interview with
the 35-year-old Kennedy.

- Senator Kennedy and his team

were literally moving
into the office.

And he was junior Senator,
so it was a small office...

chairs and boxes
going in and out.

And they apparently
took two chairs

and sat them outside
the door in the hall

and had a conversation

that was not longer
than 15 minutes.

And the Senator
looked at the résumé,

and he apparently said,
well, you're not Irish,

and you're not Catholic, and
you're not from Massachusetts,

and you didn't go to Harvard.

Then he said, but this
looks interesting.

Let's give it a trial run.

- He would later become one
of the most important figures

in Kennedy's life.

- Kennedy was very worldly.

He'd traveled all over

and had all kinds of privileges

that Ted could hardly imagine.

- That perspective was very
helpful to their collaboration

and to JFK's
political prospects,

because it gave JFK a sense
of the rest of the country.

- Within about three months,

the first speechwriting
opportunities came.

- After working as Kennedy's
legislative assistant,

Sorensen took on the
role of speechwriter.

The two became such a pair
that every day after work,

Kennedy would drop off Sorensen

at the bus stop for
his journey home.

- Kennedy would sort of lay
out what he was thinking.

Sorensen would go off,

sometimes stay up all
night and kind of write it

into this lyrical,
magical speech.

- JFK would always
have comments,

and there'd be lines
drawn from here to there,

and certain things crossed out

or question marks
about this or that.

So it was very
much a partnership.

- Sorensen regularly
sat in the front row

at Kennedy's
speaking engagements

and made detailed notes
about his performance,

providing critical feedback.

This inspired Kennedy

to improve his
oratorical prowess.

One of Kennedy's
favorite methods

was reading out loud in
tandem with recordings

of Sir Winston
Churchill's speeches.

- Churchill, one of the
great orators of all time...

Kennedy admired him

and understood
the power of words

and the power of a great speech.

So he practiced his speeches.

- Sorensen considered Kennedy
an enigmatic character

with a youthful spirit,

embodied with a natural
sense of leadership,

and a genuine friend.

Their steadfast
partnership was a constant

for the remainder
of Kennedy's life.

Sorensen's support
was especially vital

when Jack was getting his
footing as a young Senator.

During his years in the Senate,

Kennedy's interests
were many and varied.

He focused on both domestic
and foreign-policy issues,

ranging from labor,
industry, and welfare

to communism and
foreign diplomacy.

He was slowly but
steadily growing

from a local
Massachusetts congressman

into a national politician.

- He played very heavily

on the notion that he
thought the United States

was falling behind
the Soviet Union.

And he accused the
Eisenhower Administration

of not, you know, having

as much defense
spending as it should,

allowing the Soviets to
surge ahead of the Americans

in the space race.

- One domestic issue
which caught the attention

of both Kennedy and
his brother Bobby

was corruption within
the trade unions.

- He was known for going
against, you know, racketeering

and organized crime.

- In his later
years as a Senator,

Kennedy gained
attention when he joined

the Select Committee
on Improper Activities

in Labor and Management,

better known as the
McClellan Committee.

Bobby was selected
as chief counsel.

- Kennedy was a
supporter of labor,

but he was also
very much against

what he thought were
some of the excesses

of the union bosses.

And Jimmy Hoffa, you
know, the Teamster's boss,

was considered deeply corrupt.

- The McClellan Committee
hearings were televised,

allowing Kennedy
to cement himself

as a prominent political figure

on a national stage.

- The whole transaction
was in cash.

- I think Kennedy saw

that it was just a real
politically explosive issue.

It had that level of prominence.

- As Senator Kennedy's career

gained strength and
momentum in Washington,

the condition of his back
continued to deteriorate.

- Kennedy, actually,
even in his '52 campaign,

spent a lot of it on crutches,

and he was smart enough
that when the cameras came,

he would kind of put
them off to the side.

- You see him coming down
the stairs in the newsreels,

you know, walking... as someone
said, he had to walk sideways.

He couldn't just walk
straight down the stairs.

His back was killing him.

- His painful condition began
at Harvard after he sustained

an injury playing football.

It became worse during the war
and had continued to decline

in the years since

due to poor medical
treatment and misdiagnosis.

- Hugh Sidey once reported

that he couldn't pick up
a golf club off the floor.

And someone else said he
couldn't put his socks on.

- One aide said that
Kennedy at one point

told him he would have given up

all of his political
success to be pain-free.

It was this... you know,
this chronic albatross.

- In 1954, one year
into his Senate term,

Kennedy began to seriously
contemplate spinal surgery.

Kennedy's father cautioned him

to think of former president
Franklin D. Roosevelt,

who led the country
from a wheelchair.

Joe Sr. hoped this image
would persuade Jack

to decide against the
dangerous operation.

In the end, Jack elected
to go under the knife,

seeking any solution
that might alleviate

the agonizing pain
he endured every day.

- There was a chance
that he would die

on the operating table,
and he knew that going in.

But he decided, I would
rather take the risk of dying

than live in this
extraordinary pain

that I'm living in
that is crippling me,

that is leaving me unable
to do what I want to do.

- On October 10, 1954,

Kennedy arrived at the hospital.

Kennedy matriarch Rose

recalled the night
before the surgery

and how it affected
her husband, Joe.

Despite the risks,

Kennedy moved forward
with the surgery.

The surgery failed, putting
Kennedy into a coma.

Anything that
could go wrong did.

He contracted an infection,

and his condition
took a nosedive.

As his family rushed
to the hospital,

Kennedy received last rites.

Pope Pius XII sent
his words of support.

Lying motionless in
his hospital bed,

Kennedy's life appeared to
be ebbing away yet again.

Like his earlier
brushes with death,

Kennedy managed to pull through.

Though by no means healthy
or cured of the infection,

his health stabilized
enough to transfer him

to the Kennedys'
Palm Beach residence,

where he spent the
next several weeks

recovering from the operation.

Jackie was constantly
at his side.

She fed him, read to him,
and kept him entertained

while he was bedridden.

- When JFK had his
spinal surgery, you know,

Jackie was this amazing
nursemaid figure in his life.

The love for him
was always there.

Even if sometimes, you
know, we were to question

whether it was reciprocal,

where she was
concerned, it was there,

and you really saw it in the
way that she took care of him

in those early days
after the operation.

- By Christmas 1954,

Kennedy still remained at
the family's Florida home,

welcoming an array of visitors

that included his close
friend Lem Billings.

During this time,
Joe Sr. noted

that Kennedy couldn't sleep
for more than an hour or two.

So he studied to take
his mind off the pain.

To help pass the time,

Kennedy took up the challenge
he had envisioned for months...

writing a new book.

Bedridden and lacking energy,

this new writing project
was something Jackie thought

pushed her husband forward.

The book, Kennedy decided,
would document the life

and legacy of influential
United States Senators

who had taken courageous stances

at key moments in history.

- He was looking to forge
a political identity,

and he wanted to be...

he wanted to package himself

as this sort of an intellectual,

modern, progressive statesman.

- Based in Washington
at the time,

Ted Sorensen worked with Kennedy

on the writing process,

taking dictation and
assisting with research.

By the summer of 1955,

Kennedy and Sorensen
had finished

the entire 266-page draft

of the book called
"Profiles in Courage."

In a happy coincidence,

Kennedy was also
walking without crutches

for the first time in months.

- For months between
the winter of 1954

and mid-1955,

while Kennedy recuperated
from back surgery,

he collaborated with Sorensen

to write "Profiles
in Courage."

The book was published
on January 1, 1956.

- And then allegations
start to come out

that it was actually
Ted Sorensen

who wrote the book.

And Kennedy saw this
as both infuriating

and also possibly devastating
to this political image

that he was trying to forge.

Jackie was utterly furious,

and she felt that
Sorensen had not disavowed

his role as forcefully as
he should have initially.

- It was a genuine
collaboration.

Ted would always say
he had a hand in it.

That's as far as he would go.

- That book, of course,
won a Pulitzer Prize,

sort of gained him
some respect as someone

other than a politician.

- The ideas about democracy,

courage, and
sacrifice were there.

The question of how
faithfully Kennedy

would stick to those
ideas and values

would be tested again and again.

The presidential
election of 1956

would be an
important opportunity

for Kennedy to gain momentum
on his political journey.

Despite a successful first term

with impressive
economic policies,

Republican president
Dwight D. Eisenhower

was facing health issues.

He had reservations about
running for a second term

but eventually
returned to the ticket.

An important question
bubbled up in Washington,

which Democratic candidate
would take on Eisenhower?

The leading hopeful
was Adlai Stevenson,

who had run and lost
against Eisenhower in 1952.

If Adlai Stevenson
was going to campaign

against Eisenhower,

he needed a strong running mate.

Speculation surrounded
Kennedy as a viable option.

At first, Kennedy was hesitant,

even surprised when he saw his
name suggested in newspapers.

But after some consideration,

he decided this was
the necessary next step

in his political career.

He plowed forward into
the political fray

and began to hone his prowess

leading up to the Democratic
National Convention

that summer.

- Well, I think he spotted a
potential opening for himself.

The nominee was probably going
to be Adlai Stevenson again.

So Kennedy, you know,

thought he could butter
up Adlai Stevenson

and be chosen as an
ideal running mate.

- If Kennedy had any chance

of winning the vice
presidential nomination

on the Stevenson ticket,

he would need to prove himself

by openly displaying support
for Stevenson's candidacy.

His aides suggested
the first step

was helping Stevenson
supporter John Lynch

take control

of the Massachusetts
Democratic Party,

then chaired by onion farmer
William H. "Onions" Burke.

- You know, the people who
encouraged Kennedy to do it

said it was a brilliant move,
you know, genius, et cetera.

Those who opposed it

thought it was a stupid
waste of his time,

a diversion, you
know, allowing himself

to get pulled into the muck
of Massachusetts politics.

And Kennedy was persuaded
to enter that battle.

- He actually went
out and met with Burke

and told him, I'm
going after you.

And we're going to beat you.

And Burke was,
you know, defiant,

and says, you know, come ahead.

I'm gonna beat you...
stronger terms than that.

- Shortly before the convention,

Burke was overthrown
by Kennedy's team

in a landslide vote.

Onions Burke was enraged
by the development.

Having overthrown
Burke and replacing him

with devoted Stevenson
supporter John M. Lynch,

Kennedy had backed
Stevenson in a big way,

rallying the entire

Massachusetts Democratic
Party behind him.

Kennedy was determined to
continue climbing the ladder.

This was the next rung on
his rise to prominence.

- He campaigns vigorously
for Adlai Stevenson,

again, getting
his name out there

and getting the loyalty
and name recognition.

- This strategic move
gave Kennedy the influence

he needed to be selected

to lead the
Massachusetts delegation

at the 1956 Democratic
National Convention.

He would soon know if his
efforts had been enough

to claim the vice
presidential nomination.

Next on "Kennedy"...

- Clearly, he was better
prepared than anybody.

- Nobody had ever
campaigned like that.

- The impression that stays
with me is that what started

as a rather small
effort began to grow

and to grow and to grow.

- The more people saw of him,

the better he did.

- I am today
announcing my candidacy

for the presidency
of the United States.