All language subtitles for S01E05 - The Torch Has Passed (January 1961 - December 1961)

- We stand today on the
edge of a new frontier,

the frontier of the 1960s.

- Somebody once asked him,

why do you want to
run for president?

And his answer, that's
where the action is.

- What's notable is the
lead that Kennedy takes

in insisting on a strong
civil rights plank.

- Black people lined
up behind Kennedy.

- The candidates
need no introduction.

- It was neck and
neck all night.

We want Kennedy!
We want Kennedy!

We want Kennedy!

- So now my wife and I prepare
for a new administration

and for a new baby.

Thank you.

- 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.

- You, John Fitzgerald Kennedy,

do solemnly swear...

- I, John Fitzgerald
Kennedy, do solemnly swear...

- That you will
faithfully execute

the Office of President
of the United States...

- That I will faithfully execute

the Office of President
of the United States...

- So help you God.
- So help me God.

- On the frigid morning
of January 20, 1961,

John F. Kennedy took
the oath of office,

becoming the 35th president
of the United States.

At 43 years old, he was the
youngest man ever elected.

- He's very young and
he doesn't fit the mold

and he's very glamorous.

He caught our imagination.

And he gives this terrific
inaugural address.

- It's one of the great
speeches in history.

- Fellow citizens,
we observe today

not a victory of party,

but a celebration of freedom,

symbolizing an end, as
well as a beginning,

signifying renewal,
as well as change.

- So a lot of politicians
use their inaugural address

to just almost list
policies and check boxes.

And he didn't do that.

- Let the word go forth,
from this time and place,

to friend and foe alike that
the torch has been passed

to a new generation
of Americans,

born in this century,
tempered by war,

disciplined by a hard
and bitter peace.

- His words were amplified
across the National Mall

and beamed to millions
watching on their televisions.

- And so my fellow
Americans, ask not

what your country
can do for you.

Ask what you can do
for your country.

- He's very optimistic
in this address

in terms of what America
can potentially be

and what it really should be.

- He had risked his life.

His brother had lost his life.

So he had great
credibility giving a speech

in which he was asking
Americans to sacrifice.

- In the early 1960s,
the United States

was experiencing a
civil rights crisis

and a daunting Cold War
with the Soviet Union.

Outgoing President
Eisenhower considered

the incoming president
callow and unprepared.

On the day before
the inauguration,

the two met at the White House.

Eisenhower warned Kennedy

about foreign policy challenges,

including the spread of
Communism in Southeast Asia,

mounting tension in Cuba,
and the ongoing struggle

between the U.S. and
the Soviet Union.

- I think he was scared.

How would Kennedy do
confronting Soviet leaders?

And how would he do
on the world stage,

given he was so young
and inexperienced?

- There was a sense of threat,
very much a sense of threat.

It is our freedom
that's at stake.

If we don't stop the
spreading of Communism,

other countries may
fall like dominoes,

and we'll lose out in
this global competition

for influence in the world
and for military power.

- Eisenhower was dropping

an enormous
geopolitical challenge

in the new president's lap.

- He was instantly
overwhelmed by it,

the sheer number of concerns
that were piled onto his plate.

And they were urgent issues.

There were crises mounting.

- He understood
this was not just

any old moment in
the march of time,

but a moment when
the United States had

an unusually large capacity

to shape the
international environment

and the course of
humankind's history.

- But he had never been in
charge of that much before.

So he had a lot to learn.

- As Kennedy prepared
for the challenges ahead,

he ensured he had
allies in his corner.

He appointed his brother
Bobby as attorney general

and filled his cabinet
with mostly young men

who, like him, had both liberal

and conservative ideas.

Work began immediately
in the White House.

On March 1, 1961, the
new president created

a progressive program
that he believed

would combat Communism

and promote democracy worldwide.

- I have today signed
an executive order

providing for the
establishment of a Peace Corps.

- The Peace Corps was
charged with providing

socioeconomic support

to isolated developing
parts of the world.

- That's a very noble,
optimistic idea.

Following up on his
message in the inaugural,

he's now taking that a
step further and saying,

what can we do for the world?

- Members of the
Peace Corps will work

in three different
areas, first as teachers,

secondly as agriculturalists,

and third, they
will work on health.

- Kennedy understood
that global poverty was

not simply a
humanitarian concern.

It was also a national
security concern,

that these nations were
either going to be vulnerable

to exploitation by
Communists, or they were going

to collapse into
a kind of disorder

that was going to ultimately
require a response.

- We don't just fight the
Cold War through weapons,

but we're going to
fight the Cold War

by doing good overseas.

- I hope that from it will
come renewed understanding

by people all over the world
of a common desire for peace.

- Despite a promising
start to his presidency,

Kennedy would soon face
an alarming matter in Cuba

that threatened to destabilize
his political agenda.

April 1961, just 90 miles
off the Coast of Florida,

the island nation
of Cuba was now run

by dictator Fidel Castro.

Castro had overthrown
the old regime

in a daring revolution.

After he took power,
Castro's regime began

a courtship with
the Soviet Union.

His politics began
to follow suit.

- He started with a lot
of anti-American rhetoric.

And then he started
jailing people

who had the temerity to
speak up against him.

He started acting
like a totalitarian.

- I never understood why
a leader of a country

can be as cruel and as bad.

- The relationship between
the United States and Cuba

soon deteriorated.

- As Castro became

closer and closer
to the Soviet Union,

they worried that
Castro was a Communist.

And the idea of having
a Soviet satellite

within 90 miles of
the United States

was intolerable.

- The administration
viewed Castro's actions

as a direct threat to
American national security.

With the Cold War now
in America's backyard,

the growing tensions with Cuba
would need to be addressed.

- In early 1961,
as Kennedy stepped

into the presidency,
he was briefed

on the festering
situation with Cuba

and the plan he
would be inheriting.

Several months earlier,

the CIA under Eisenhower
had created a plan

to overthrow the Castro regime.

- It wasn't about
Cuba in and of itself.

It was about the
fate of that region,

a region that we did not want
to lose to the Communists.

- Starting in March
1960, the CIA had begun

to train Cuban exiles
to conduct an invasion.

These exiles would
ideally put up a fight

that would inspire the
Cuban people to rise

and help topple Castro
in a coup d'état,

replacing the dictatorship
with a democratic government.

- I was 16 at the time.

Sometimes, people ask me,
you know, how at that age,

you know, you make a
decision to go into a fight.

It's not like an
obligation or a duty.

I consider it a gift that
somebody was offering me

training and armaments
to go and fight

to liberate my country.

- So it was a very
easy decision.

You know, we have to
fight for the country.

And it didn't take too much
time for me to realize that.

- Kennedy was unsure
about authorizing

the complex invasion.

He was worried, if
it became public,

that the Soviets would see
the American intervention

in Cuba, their ally, as
an official act of war.

- The CIA was telling
him that Castro was

about to get a large
shipment of arms

from the Soviet Union,
including MiG fighter jets.

And once Castro got
these, it would be

almost impossible
to get rid of him.

So it was kind of now or never.

He felt compelled to
go forward with it.

He knew it was a bad idea,

but he did not know
how to undo it.

- On April 16, Kennedy
reluctantly agreed

to the plan with
one major exception.

If the operation foundered
for the Cuban exiles,

the U.S. military
would not intervene.

- We were moved from Guatemala.

That was where the
training camps were.

We went to Nicaragua.

We arrived there
in the afternoon

on the 16th of April.

We were going to win.

There was no doubt that
that was going to happen.

- On the morning of
Monday, April 17,

the exiles had landed
near the Bay of Pigs,

and the invasion had begun.

- It was such a
magnificent feeling.

We're here, and
we're going to do it.

And a few minutes later,
we hear this other airplane

shooting at us.

- By Tuesday, April 18, the
Cuban exiles were caught

between Castro's
overwhelming forces

and the sea, with nowhere to go.

- These are 1,400 men.

Castro's army is 25,000.

The real story here
is these desperate men

on the beach watching
their chances go away

and back in the White House,
Kennedy suffering mightily

with what to do about this.

- As the disaster was unfolding,

it soon became clear
that CIA officials had

misled the president,
secretly hoping

they could sway him to
involve the U.S. military

when the situation became dire.

When the United States
involvement in the invasion

became public knowledge,
the Soviet Union warned him

against taking any
further steps in Cuba.

- He feels terrible
about what's happening.

But on the other hand,
he doesn't want to start

World War III over it.

- Kennedy felt cornered by those

he thought he could trust.

Facing threats of nuclear war,
Kennedy decided to back away,

refusing requests to
send in the U.S. military

to save the Cuban exiles.

With that, the mission
met its tragic end.

More than 1,000
U.S.-backed Cuban exiles

were captured by Castro's
army and thrown into prisons

with deplorable conditions.

Over 100 members of
the brigade perished.

Kennedy fell into
a state of despair.

His wife Jackie would
later recall him

with his head in his hands,

weeping that evening
in his bedroom.

- Whether he received
the bad advice or not,

still, he's a president.

He took the action.

He took the decision,

and the result was
a total disaster.

- He walked around
the White House,

ashen-faced, saying,

how could I have been so stupid?

- The Bay of Pigs was a mistake,

and Kennedy knew it.

Meeting with him at Camp David,

Kennedy remarked to Eisenhower,

"No one knows how
tough this job is

until after he's been
in it for a few months."

"Mr. President,"
Eisenhower replied,

"if you'll forgive me,

I think I mentioned that
to you three months ago."

- What's interesting
about Kennedy is,

it becomes a
learning experience.

Some presidents double
down on mistakes.

But for him, this is
instantly a lesson

about the limits
of military advice.

- This administration intends
to be candid about its errors.

For as a wise man once said,

an error doesn't
become a mistake

until you refuse to correct it.

- The Bay of Pigs forged
a lasting skepticism

in Kennedy of the CIA
and military leaders.

He had to be careful
who he trusted

and use the presidency to lead,

not be led by others who
wished to influence him.

Kennedy was astonished
when a new Gallup poll

following the failure announced

that 83% of the
people in the country

were standing by
their new president.

But not all Americans agreed
that Kennedy was living up

to the expectations he set

during his
presidential campaign.

- At the time that
Kennedy came in,

quite a few Black people thought

that he represented change.

But as soon as he was elected,

all of the things that he
said he was going to do,

none of it happened.

- African Americans are
asking the federal government

to do its job, which
is force states

to enforce the Constitution.

They're fighting for full-class,

first-class citizenship.

- In spring 1961,

the civil rights
movement raged on.

Although Kennedy was slow

to move ahead with legislation,

soon, a situation in the South
would demand his attention.

- On May 4, 1961, 13
civil rights activists,

including Congress of Racial
Equality leader James Farmer

and future Representative
John Lewis,

took a Greyhound bus
from Washington, D.C.,

to the Deep South.

A provocative and
historic campaign

was beginning that would be
known as the Freedom Rides.

Their goal was to test
a Supreme Court ruling

which banned racial
discrimination

on Interstate highways.

- The goal was to sit Black
and white constituents

on the bus and seated together
throughout the entire bus,

not in segregated spaces,
and then travel the South.

- The Freedom Riders
traveled from city to city

in Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina,

Georgia, and Alabama.

As the trip went on and word
of the Freedom Riders spread,

conditions became
more dangerous.

The protesters were
increasingly targeted

by white supremacists.

- Well, I know it was
something we had to do.

It was always a possibility

of us losing our
life or getting hurt.

- They do run into some trouble
in Virginia and South Carolina,

but nothing like what
they found in Alabama.

- Dr. King said, "Look,
the things I'm hearing

"from Alabama are
really frightening.

"It may be suicidal
to go on, frankly,

because the Klan is planning
quite a welcome for you."

- Dr. King was proven right.

Once in Alabama, the Riders
were met with violence,

instigated by the Ku Klux Klan,

who were supported by white
supremacist police forces.

A bus was firebombed
in Anniston,

and riots followed in
Birmingham and Montgomery.

The Freedom Riders looked
to the new presidential

administration for support.

- We are asserting our
rights as citizens,

and we expect that
you will support

these kinds of campaigns.

Because we're not taking
an aggressive action.

It's just riding the bus.

- Focused primarily on
the escalating Cold War,

President Kennedy was irritated

by the situation in Alabama.

- You have Kennedy trying
to walk this tightrope.

How do I manage the
Cold War but also adhere

to the real dilemma that
African Americans are facing?

He delegates down to
the attorney general,

his brother, who
actually is the liaison

between the civil
rights movement

and the Kennedy administration.

- Attorney General
Robert Kennedy

deployed 400 federal marshals
to protect the Riders

and urged Alabama
Governor John Patterson

to send in the Alabama
National Guard.

Once order was restored,
Bobby issued a statement

calling for a
cooling off period.

But the Freedom Riders did
not abandon their cause

and continued on to Mississippi.

- With Bobby and John
Kennedy, if you don't have

the Freedom Rides, they don't
start moving to a position

where they are going to support

the civil rights movement.

Basically, the Freedom
Rides forced them to choose.

You're either with us,

or you're with the
white supremacists.

And we think that you'll choose

to uphold the Constitution
and uphold civil rights.

And they were right.

- While the Freedom Riders
continued to fight for justice

domestically, Kennedy was locked

into an ongoing competition
with the Soviet Union

for supremacy in space.

- Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin

had orbited Earth three times
in his spacecraft the Vostok.

- Even though it was long
expected that the Soviets

would beat the U.S.
to this milestone

in sending the first
person into space,

there was a shock to the system
when it actually happened.

Kennedy's policymaking process,

when it comes into space,
goes into total overdrive.

The nation that
was ahead in space

seemed to be the
nation that could

do anything technologically
and therefore militarily.

- Less than a month later,
a breakthrough would advance

the space program
like nothing before.

- The transfer trailer that
brought astronaut Alan Shepard

to his rendezvous with history
arrived at Launch Complex 5,

Cape Canaveral, at
5:00 on Friday morning,

the 5th of May.

Reporters and cameramen
focused on America's

first manned spacecraft,

poised and ready for
all the world to see.

Liftoff.

And the great white rocket
with its human cargo

rose higher, higher, higher.

- In a scientific triumph,
Alan Shepard became

the first American in
space on May 5, 1961.

"What a beautiful
view," Shepard remarked,

while looking at
the world below.

- The dramatic achievements
in space which occurred

in recent weeks should
have made clear to us all

the impact of this adventure

on the minds of men everywhere.

I believe that this nation
should commit itself

to achieving the goal
before this decade is out

of landing a man on the moon

and returning him
safely to the Earth.

No single space
project in this period

will be more impressive to
mankind or more important

for the long-range
exploration of space,

and none will be so difficult
or expensive to accomplish.

- You need a president
who has vision

and can set what appear
to be unrealistic goals.

Sometimes they become realistic.

To me, that was Kennedy
and the space program.

- Never one to rest
on his laurels,

Kennedy knew this was only
a momentary progression

in a much more crucial race.

Advances toward the
stars could have

dire consequences on earth.

Rapidly evolving
technology meant

that political
differences could soon end

in total annihilation.

- By the summer of 1961,
Kennedy had been in office

less than six months.

He had already endured
the Bay of Pigs failure

and made great strides
in the space race.

But now there was a new
crisis escalating in Europe.

- Following World War
II, Germany was divided

among the Allied forces.

By 1961, the U.S., Great
Britain, and France

occupied West Germany,
while the Soviet Union

occupied East Germany.

The capital, Berlin,
though located

within the Soviet
zone, was also split

into a Western side and
a Communist Eastern side.

- Berlin is something
that the United States

and the Soviet Union inherited
from a much happier times,

from the times of
the Second World War,

when they were allies,
and there was a belief

that they could
actually share the city.

But as World War II made
way to the Cold War,

sharing became, really,
an impossibility.

- East Germans began
to flee Communism

by crossing into West Berlin,
hoping to find an improved

quality of life, better
job opportunities,

and the chance to continue
onward to Western Europe.

- The Soviet Union's eastern
empire was in trouble.

East Germany was
hemorrhaging people

who were going to
the west via Berlin.

And Khrushchev was very nervous

that East Germany,
which was the jewel

of the Soviet
crown, if you will,

in Eastern Europe,
would fall away.

- The Soviet leader wanted
the West out of West Berlin.

- For Kennedy,
losing West Berlin

meant losing Europe as a
whole to Soviet Communism.

It simply wasn't an option.

- Over time, Khrushchev's
demands for West Berlin

became more threatening
and more urgent.

A European summit was planned,
giving Kennedy the opportunity

to meet Khrushchev
face-to-face to discuss

the future of Berlin.

He embarked on a
week-long journey,

with stops in Paris,
London, and Vienna

for the summit with
Premier Khrushchev.

Kennedy began his
journey in France,

making a grand entrance
in Paris on June 1, 1961.

People lined the streets,
screaming and cheering

as he and Jackie rode by.

- The coverage in the
press was triumphant.

- Though the trip started
out bright and celebratory

in France, it was
about to take on

a far more serious tone.

Kennedy was finally
going to meet

face-to-face with
Nikita Khrushchev.

Vienna, June 4, 1961.

- Kennedy knew the
world was watching,

and this conversation
would determine

the future of the nation.

If an agreement could not be
reached with the Soviet Union,

the ongoing tensions
between the two superpowers

could reach a boiling point.

Before their meeting, Kennedy
and the Soviet premier

posed for a photo.

The president was tense but
eager to stand his ground.

- The idea that a young
man who came from privilege

could possibly have the
toughness to operate

on a global scale
vis-à-vis Khrushchev

made Khrushchev laugh.

- Khrushchev was unyielding

in his demands for West Berlin.

- Kennedy knew the one
thing he could not negotiate

was Berlin.

There was no price

the United States
was willing to pay.

- Kennedy says, "We are
not leaving West Berlin.

"And if you interrupt

"freedom of access
to West Berlin,

"freedom of daily
life in West Berlin,

that is grounds for war."

- With both Kennedy
and Khrushchev

unwilling to relent,
Kennedy warned the premier,

"Then, Mr. Chairman, it
will be a cold winter."

- No advantage or concession
was either gained or given.

No major decision was
either planned or taken.

No spectacular progress was
either achieved or pretended.

- Kennedy's meeting with
Khrushchev in Vienna

ended without a
clear resolution.

The administration
had to calculate

their next steps carefully.

A wrong move could have
catastrophic results.

Shortly after Kennedy's return,

his secretary found
a slip of paper

on which he had written...

- "I know there is a God,
and I see a storm coming.

If he has a place for me,
I believe I am ready."

I mean, that's ominous.

So he's clearly
coming back thinking

he's going to face
a historic moment

for all the wrong reasons.

- Kennedy comes out
of Vienna worried

because the Soviets are
pushing on the one thing

that he can't negotiate.

He's thinking, if the
Soviets are really

serious about this ultimatum,
and I can't give in on this,

then we're headed towards war.

- Are the Soviets going
to send in the troops

like they have before?

Are we going to have to respond?

Like, this could
spiral out of control.

- Robert Kennedy thought
there was a 1 in 5 chance

of nuclear war igniting

from the confrontation
in Berlin.

President Kennedy encouraged
the nation to prepare

by whatever means necessary.

- Now, in the thermonuclear age,

any misjudgment on either side

about the intentions
of the other

could rain more devastation
in several hours

than has been wrought in all
the wars of human history.

- That summer, numerous
fallout shelters

were built around the country,

and new nuclear war public
service announcements

were created.

In drills across the
country, children were taught

to seek shelter
underneath their desks

in case of an attack.

- In the event of an attack,
the lives of those families

which are not hit in a
nuclear blast and fire

can still be saved if they
can be warned to take shelter

and if that shelter
is available.

We owe that kind of
insurance to our families.

- There were dog
chains that kids had.

The reason they had
it was to identify

the charred remains of kids

if there had been a nuclear war.

They watched a thing
called Bert the Turtle,

which was a cartoon
that played in schools,

which taught you duck
and cover drills.

And he was a character
like Bugs Bunny,

but it wasn't about comedy.

It was about how to
prepare for nuclear war.

This was a country on
nuclear war footing.

The idea we could get
into a nuclear war

during the '60s was very real.

- These actions will require
sacrifice on the part

of many of our citizens.

More will be required
in the future.

They will require from all of us

courage and perseverance
in the years to come.

- Both the U.S. and
the Soviet Union

prepared for the worst,

increasing their
defense spending

and building up
their militaries.

- On Saturday night, August 12,

suddenly the East Germans shut
down the border in Berlin.

- After weeks of
escalation, on August 13,

Khrushchev laid
out the foundation

of what would be
the Berlin Wall,

a towering physical
boundary dividing the city.

- Over 1,000 East Germans
were fleeing from East Berlin

to West Berlin every day.

And finally, the Soviets agreed

to the East German
government's request,

close down access
to West Berlin.

And they did, building
the Berlin Wall.

- In building the wall,
Khrushchev conceded

that for now, he wasn't going
to overtake West Berlin.

The two sides were now divided,

effectively defusing tensions

between the U.S.
and the Soviet Union

and ending the
1961 nuclear scare.

But the Berlin Wall had
devastating effects as well,

keeping many people trapped
in Communist territory

and separating them from
their friends and families.

- When Kennedy found
out the next day,

he ultimately said
to his advisors,

"You know, it's not nice,

but a wall is a hell of
a lot better than a war."

- Though conflict had
been narrowly avoided,

things were far from over

between the United
States and the Soviets.

One letter, one
announcement, or one misstep

could lead to war, and
Kennedy treaded lightly

in the political minefield.

- And we in this hall
shall be remembered

either as part of the generation

that turned this planet
into a flaming funeral pyre

or the generation
that met its vow

to save succeeding generations
from the scourge of war.

- As the threat of
war began to die down,

calm gradually returned to
the Kennedy White House.

Everyone fell back into
their daily routines,

including the Kennedy children:

the shy Caroline, almost four,

and John Jr., nicknamed
John-John by a reporter,

who was almost one year old.

Whether playing with
the family dogs,

running around the
White House grounds,

or going to school,

Jackie made sure
the children grew up

with a sense of relative
normality and privacy.

Though they seemed like
the perfect family,

there were cracks in
the romantic façade.

When Kennedy came into
office in January 1961,

he continued his
sexual escapades

under the nose of
White House staff,

Secret Service agents,
and Jackie herself.

- Well, Kennedy's many
relationships and dalliances

and affairs with women, I
think, in almost all cases,

were simply about the sex.

- Part of it was just
this was a Washington

in the early 1960s where
womanizing was common.

- Franklin Roosevelt had
an affair with Lucy Mercer.

Did Dwight Eisenhower have
an affair with Kay Summers?

Yes, he did.

Did Bill Clinton? Yes, he did.

Lyndon Johnson boasted,
"I've had more women

than John F.
Kennedy ever did."

It isn't to justify
that behavior.

But I think what historians
have done is said,

yes, these are flawed people.

- It was reckless.

It's really extraordinary

that there wasn't somebody there

to put the brakes on
him, to say, no, no,

you're in the White House now.

- Jackie responded by
distracting herself,

regularly going on trips
for days at a time.

Despite this, the
two still maintained

an intimate relationship.

The Kennedy family
member later described it

as a marriage of its time,
saying, at the end of the day,

Jack came back to
Jackie, and that was it.

- In 1961, the world
relations of this country

have become tangled and complex.

One of our former allies
has become our adversary.

The names of cities
changed overnight.

We increase our arms
at a heavy cost,

primarily to make certain
that we will never use them.

We must face up to
the chance of war

if we are to maintain the peace.

- Kennedy certainly
had a rocky first year.

There's no question.

- Of course it was tough.

And they didn't have many
successes to report then.

But they were not discouraged.

They just thought,
we have to do better.

We'll do more and do better.

- In the final days of
1961, Kennedy was informed

that reporters were
considering writing a book

about his first year
in the White House.

Kennedy responded,
"Who would want to read

a book about disasters?"

Throughout his first
year, Kennedy had learned

the dangers of putting his
trust in the wrong people.

- Bobby Kennedy, of course,
became a real right-hand man

for John Kennedy.

- Joe Kennedy told the boys
when they were growing up,

stick together.

When Jack became president
and in the aftermath

of the Bay of Pigs, this
stick together doctrine

became something
that Jack lived.

He stuck together with Bobby.

And whenever he had a
foreign policy challenge,

he most valued Bobby's advice.

- A year full of mistakes
and lessons learned

came to a close.

As the civil rights
movement called on Kennedy

to be more active and
Cold War threats loomed

over Washington, Kennedy
accepted the past

and kept his eyes
on the horizon,

determined to lead his
country to a better 1962.

- Let us go forth to
lead the land we love,

asking His blessing
and His help,

but knowing that here on Earth,

God's work must
truly be our own.

- I realized I could
get killed out here

because of so many
bullets are flying around.

- Kennedy's national security
advisor knocks on his door

and says, "We've discovered
missiles in Cuba."

- This country will do
whatever must be done

to protect its own security.

- The first thing
that I think about

when I think about the
Cuban Missile Crisis is

how much worse the situation was

than the people
at the time knew.

- Nuclear weapons had become
exponentially more powerful.

These weren't city
killers anymore.

These were country killers.