Original subtitles

Adventures in Reporting.

Adventures on the New Frontier.

The White House, Washington, DC.

The eyes of the world are turned on a new president

who six weeks ago took on the free world's most awesome responsibility.

On this day in late February,

he is already showing how he will handle his immense burden.

You are going to be with President John F. Kennedy

at work in the White House.

From time to time throughout the day

you will leave the White House for other adventures.

In Wisconsin, as Senator Kennedy fights to win the presidency;

at the Inaugural, where you will meet some Kennedy friends;

in West Virginia and Africa,

where the Kennedy Administration faces two of its most important challenges.

The president starts the day in his ceremonial role.

A friend, Paul Fay, is being sworn in as undersecretary of the navy.

Thank you very much.

- Thank you very much. - Good morning, Mr. President.

Now you will begin to move with the president,

seeing and hearing for yourself in a new kind of report.

Not a filmed version of summary and opinion you can find in print,

but rather, a personal ad venture with the president

as he confronts the great problems of the US and the world...

serious unemployment in the US,

competition with Communism in Africa,

the urgent need to control nuclear weapons

before mankind is wiped from this earth.

Now John F. Kennedy is walking to the Oval Office in the White House

with Congressman John Shelley.

Some other friends of the president with whom you will be moving...

a Harvard economist,

a Minnesota senator,

a cabinet member from Illinois,

the president's emissary to Africa.

Morning, Ken.

Fine. How are you? It's nice to see you.

Good to see you, Mr. President.

First into the president's office is Kenneth O'Donnell, special assistant.

The president signs correspondence for his secretary, Evelyn Lincoln,

then puts his signature on government appointments he has made.

Uh...

this is a memorandum to David Bell, Bureau of the Budget.

I think we should discuss the proposed budget request,

or supplemental request

for the construction of reactors.

Perhaps you could talk to Dr. Seaborg about this and then discuss it with me.

I note that Congressman Holifield

and other members of the Joint Atomic Energy Committee

are concerned about the inadequacy of the program.

Would you let me hear from you on this?

The morning of a day at the White House

with President John F. Kennedy.

The arrival of Press Secretary Pierre Salinger,

with wire service bulletins torn from the White House Teletype,

brings the president the latest news,

word of events that hour by hour add to the burdens of the presidency.

Okay. Thanks a lot. Bye. Bye now.

But John F. Kennedy asked for those burdens.

He fought for them.

Just one year ago he was waging his first primary battle in Wisconsin.

He looked youthful but confident against a formidable opponent, Hubert Humphrey.

I still have my cup of coffee here.

After all, I met a couple of Norwegians over here, you see,

and since I'm only half Norwegian they only gave me a half a cup,

and I wanted to finish it off.

Now, gentlemen...

Senator Humphrey rallies farm support against Kennedy

with slashing charges.

And I charge here that not a single candidate in this primary election

has paid any attention to the farmer at all except Hubert Humphrey.

Too high. Well, the school...

Here he is now. What do you think of him?

Mr. Humphrey, I hope you get good luck.

- Thank you so much, my friend. - Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

- Thank you very, very much. - Sure.

- You're very fine. - I'll see you tomorrow.

You betcha. I'll be listening in tomorrow night.

If you ever get in, I will see you, by God.

Say, you come down to the White House for a cup of coffee. Okay?

- Maybe a schnapps. - Yeah! Good!

Senator Kennedy is gambling to win the nomination the hard way,

through the primaries.

Primaries are very risky,

but my judgment is,

I never could have been nominated if I hadn't run in primaries,

so I'm taking the risk,

but I would say you have to keep coming up sevens.

And then you focus in, you phase right in on that.

Then when I say, "All right, now we have a call here -"

And at that point when they're saying now we have a call,

you get off that and get back on me.

Must end about one minute.

Now, uh, Phileo, uh, when it comes, uh, down...

before you, uh, come to me, you might...

All right, thank you. We're four seconds down.

Uh, five minutes down. Yeah.

Just joke about your husband.

He's been wondering all day long where you've been, and so on.

I could say I've come here to meet you.

On the TV. Well, but you're on this show now.

Just take about 30 seconds to tell us where you've been.

Then you've gotta come right back to me and say,

"Senator, I want to come on this record."

'Cause we want to get on those questions.

We want Muriel to have 30 seconds to tell where she's been, what she's been doing.

- Yes, sir. - The moment of suspense.

Well, I don't think the family farm is impractical at all.

In fact, I would say it's highly desirable, both economically and, more so, socially.

The family farm has social and spiritual values to it.

You realize that you are voting for the most important individual

in the entire free world,

and that the welfare of our country is heavily involved in his good judgment,

his sense, his responsibility, his competence, his integrity.

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

He shall determine what shall be your policy on Berlin.

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

This is the key office.

And 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

in the coming months and years,

all of us as Americans are going to be called out of the ranks.

Our courage is going to be tested.

And I am confident that we are going to give the same affirmative answer.

That's what I think this election is about.

That's what we're going to begin to do on next Tuesday.

- Thank you.

We want Kennedy! We want Kennedy!

Now I understand, also,

that we will be pleased to have the privilege

of seeing Bob Kennedy, Senator Kennedy's son.

- Son? - Brother!

Uh, thank you very much.

I'm sorry that my mother couldn't be here tonight.

And I'm sorry that my sister Pat couldn't come,

and my sister Eunice, and my sister Jean,

my brother-in-law Peter Lawford or my brother Teddy,

or my cousin Joe Gargan.

So you're going to have to settle with me. Thank you very much.

To a Polish-American audience, an attempt to please in Polish.

His name is Stanislaw Radziwill

And he taught me one sentence.

He has lost weight.

Looks like a farmer's boy. Got a good head of hair on him.

Well, he was on that panel this afternoon.

He was good on that panel.

When he talks, he never talks about anybody or anything.

- The issues. - He works on his own record.

And if you can't run on your own record, you haven't got any business running.

Senator Humphrey is leading Senator Kennedy

by a margin of two to one.

Early returns the night of the Wisconsin primary,

and Humphrey's ahead.

The, un, ninth is gone.

The, uh, third we have a chance in.

The, uh... But just a chance. It really depends on La Crosse.

The 10th we have a chance in.

Yeah, I guess the, uh...

Hi. Hi.

How are you? Glad to see you.

Well, we'll see what happens.

Okay, here's where we go ahead.

The worst we can get tonight is six to four with the popular vote.

A two-to-one victory for Jack on delegates.

Hubert Humphrey lost to Kennedy in Wisconsin

and again in West Virginia a month later.

The victorious Senator Kennedy went on to win seven other primaries

and finally the nomination.

Ohh! Ohh!

- Sal, you rubbed him! - I can't wash my hands!

Now, John F. Kennedy holds the office

with the most awesome responsibility in the free world.

It is February 1961.

John F. Kennedy has held the presidency six weeks

and enormous burdens have settled on his shoulders.

His two greatest problems...

the domestic economy is in recession

and the Cold War is heating up and spreading in Africa.

On the decisions that President Kennedy must make

lie the hopes of men and nations around the world,

and on him the pressures to make the right decisions

continue to build up with every day.

We will return to the White House

after this message from Bell & Howell.

Continuing the morning of a day at the White House,

John F. Kennedy is already at work on an immense array of fateful decisions,

decisions he must ultimately make alone.

But he has already set forth some of the attitudes and principles

that will guide these decisions,

spoken with great eloquence on the day he took office.

Inauguration Day, January 20, 1961.

President-elect Kennedy rides to the ceremony with President Eisenhower.

Presidential speechwriter and an adviser on the address he is about to hear,

John Kenneth Galbraith, Harvard economist.

Former Governor G. Mennen Williams, the new assistant secretary of state.

You'll be traveling with him to Africa.

In accordance... This is all in accordance with the Kennedy policy of

all public positions publicly arrived at.

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.

For I have sworn before you

and Almighty God

the same solemn oath

our forebearers prescribed

nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The phrases of this speech will echo through the years to come...

"Ask not what your country can do for you,

ask what you can do for your country."

And as your day with the president unfolds,

events will recall other parts of his Inaugural speech.

After the president's speech,

writer Galbraith and his wife join author John Steinbeck and Mrs. Steinbeck.

As professionals, they discuss the new president's style

with verbs, predicates, participles and infinitives.

How'd you like the speech, John?

I thought it was a brilliant speech.

We haven't heard one of these for a long time.

Oh, I was thrilled with it. Just thrilled by it.

What'd you like best about it?

The simple declarative sentences we haven't heard for a long time.

Speaking professionally.

Verbs and predicates.

This is a reasonably satisfactory English form.

Yes.

And the participle undangled, the infinitive unsplit.

And also the delivery was very good.

Yes, it was excellent.

"Never negotiate out of fear,

but never fear to negotiate."

- I like that. - Mm-hmm.

That'll be widely quoted.

No. Excessive effort to avoid ending with a preposition.

Mmm.

But it wasn't obvious.

It seemed like speech.

How long do you expect that you will support the Kennedy administration?

- Twenty-four hours. - Will it last until the end of the week?

No, I automatically become opposition within 24 hours.

Well, I shall...

I shall warn the president-elect

that, uh... that Steinbeck is a purely transitory phenomenon.

- The whole section here is a band...

The Inaugural Ball.

- Oh, boy!

- Did you do that? - Who has a corkscrew?

- Good to see you. - Yes, sir.

Thank you. Nice to have you with us.

How are you? Nice to see you.

Hello. Good to see you. How are you?

- Good to see you. - Good to see you.

Hello there.

The climax of the Inaugural Ball

is a look at the new president.

This is what Professor Galbraith sees.

- The president leaves.

The party is winding down.

There is sobering work to be done by the intellectuals of the new administration.

Professor Galbraith draws historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

Into serious conversation

about the problems their president will face on the new frontier

after the ball is over.

The world is very different now,

for man holds in his mortal hands

the power to abolish

all forms of human poverty

and all forms of human life.

Man's nuclear weapons hold the power

to abolish all forms of human life.

The president has assigned John McCloy, his chief disarmament adviser,

to try to find ways to control nuclear arms

before it's too late.

We will not be privileged to hear everything to be said

in this and other conversations with the president.

From time to time the words will be obscured.

Now, with deceptive casualness

the two men approach a momentous question...

how soon can we start serious disarmament discussion with the Russians?

- 1812. - 1812, I suppose.

Here are all the ones we won.

Well, you know, I think if you...

I meant to tell you... I never had a chance...

The, uh... Mr. Dean, on the nuclear testing,

we should have somebody on the disarmament there.

And, uh, we're, uh...

In all these discussions, disarmament looms so large.

When we talked to the Canadians the other day,

they were particularly interested in what we were gonna do on that.

I thought that we probably ought to have somebody at it

on a judgment about when we would be in some position on disarmament

to be able to participate in some negotiations.

Uh, well...

Uh, this is a tremendously complicated, involved...

And it's awfully hard to give you time schedules on it.

I have four or five things in mind that I think we could do.

I believe we would not be prepared

to really move into a serious negotiation,

either before the Ten-Power business

or, indeed, for that matter, with the Soviets,

except on a very informal basis,

until fall.

Now, I think, uh, that'll be probably pretty early fall.

But from the way I can sense attitudes around town here,

there's an awful lot of, uh... of, uh, persuasion

and an awful lot of studies that have to be resolved.

They've got studies all over the place.

As far as saying anything to them that that was... looked pretty late.

I thought at least ought to indicate our... if we...

Otherwise, everybody is going to begin to assume that we're not as serious.

I was talking to Mishnikov the other day about this very thing and I asked him...

He'd been after me, as well as a number of other people.

And I asked him what he thought about it, and he said,

"Well, I think that we probably, on a more comprehensive -"

They would not be ready, as he put it, till fall.

And I said, "Well, you're not going to press us, then, if we suggest..."

"You're not going to try to take advantage of it, if that's the date we set."

He said, "No, I think it will depend on how well the nuclear test ban goes." Yeah.

ohn McCloy has left.

The president's sister, Eunice Shriver, approaches his door with some trepidation.

The president autographs pictures for his sisters and their children.

- This is for... - Me.

- You're here all the time.

- Should I make it for young Stevie? - Yeah.

- Or you? - Uh, one for me.

They tell him the names to go with the personal greetings.

Peter.

But in signing autographs for the family,

the president finds it hard not to be presidential.

It's pretty hard to turn these out.

Now I find myself writing, "Very best wishes."

Oh, no!

That is really boring.

Well, write it, 'cause it's really funny.

Listen, have a good trip.

Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg.

The president has asked him to help settle an airline strike.

- Hello, Arthur. How are you? - How are you? Very good.

How are you, Arthur?

Well, I'm happy to advise you, President Kennedy.

Much, uh...

When will they start to fly?

As soon as the orderly reductions can work, which is, you know...

- Today? Tonight? - Today.

Uh, I'd like to give you a brief report on what we did.

Can we do this now?

But Secretary Goldberg's primary concern is unemployment.

Not only joblessness caused by the recession,

but long-term unemployment due to basic changes in US business,

a persistent blight that is most severe in the country's 105 depressed areas.

Goldberg is called upon by Congressional committees.

I would not attempt to overemphasize

the problem of unemployment in West Virginia.

It's almost impossible to overemphasize it.

In the state of West Virginia as a whole...

West Virginia Senator Jennings Randolph.

...be estimated today as unemployment at 16%.

I would ask you, Mr. Secretary, for the record,

to indicate what it is as a national figure.

The national figure...

I was checking with Mr. Wolfbein, who always corrects me if I am wrong

and whom you gentlemen, of course, have heard testify,

but the national average of insured unemployment is about 8%.

We can speak with a rough approximation

of the unemployment in West Virginia

as more than twice the national average.

The situation in West Virginia is, of course, much more serious

than the national average.

We in West Virginia have approached a period

which is comparable to the early '30s.

Comparable to the '30s.

What does this mean to the people in West Virginia?

In the Pigeon Creek area it means that the coal industry

has long been in depression,

with little hope of change even after the recession ends.

I've lived here all my life. I know about it.

These last four years have been the worst four years ever hit West Virginia.

That's right.

Take an old man's picture, son, that's been here and knows about it.

It'll show you. It'll prove what he tells you.

In the town of Puritan, 25 families.

Only two left with jobs.

People don't have enough to eat.

To 20,000 people in this county the government distributes surplus food.

President Kennedy campaigned throughout West Virginia

and vowed to help its people

after they handed him a primary victory over Hubert Humphrey.

His first executive order as president was to increase their food allotments.

Included in the anti-recession measures he had sent to Congress

is a $394 million program to create jobs

in depressed areas like West Virginia.

Where's there any work at now? There ain't none.

About, uh, '47...

The home of one of Puritan's unemployed miners.

They transferred me to Lando.

Tom Muncie. He has a wife and eight children.

Since his mine closed down six years ago he has had no steady employment.

And I worked there till they shut down in '55.

More than half the mines are closed.

The rest are cut back, surrounded by a silent wasteland.

Many of the others are in the same shape I'm in...

out of a job and can't get one.

Young Tommy Muncie's playground

is the dump of a closed-down mine.

Muncie is on the way to the hospital to see his daughter.

Three-year old Mally is too weak to talk.

She's suffering from an illness that began with malnutrition.

She is being treated free in a United Mine Workers hospital.

Oh, here you go. Here.

Hello.

Muncie drives on to the county seat to apply for a job with the state

under West Virginia's New Hope Program.

In the Mingo County Courthouse,

hundreds of miners wait to register for temporary jobs on state roads and parks.

Come on over here, buddy.

Handing over his Social Security card,

Muncie explains to the registrar that as a miner he used to make almost $27 a day.

Twenty seven and...

Back in Puritan, the Salvation Army arrives with donations of old clothes.

Muncie's daughter, Janice, comes to see if there's anything for her.

What do you say about that? Huh?

Tommy hopes to get a shirt.

- Go in and get that pair of tennis shoes. - Yes, sir, boy.

Turn around.

Well, so we wanted to be sure.

Your name's Tommy? My name's Tommy too.

How long will Tom Muncie's children

have to get their clothes from the Salvation Army?

The president is looking ahead.

I just think that there's a prospect

that we're going to find ourselves with a longer unemployed percentage

and it won't be over by summer.

I think we ought to be thinking about that.

What we've got to do is to begin to focus national attention on this as a problem.

If the problem is going to exist in the fall,

we've got to focus congressional attention.

We assume that the measures we recommended will be passed.

If they're not passed, of course, the problems are going to be more intense.

But I just think unless we set up our committee

and get public attention on this,

that it will come as a shock.

The Federal Reserve...

Walter Heller, Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers,

reports on the immediate outlook for the economy.

It's still falling off, but it's falling off a little more slowly.

There are some indications that it might be bottoming out.

But there isn't anything decisive.

What sort of prediction are you going to make on the economy?

We don't really care about predictions, first of all,

'cause, boy, you can get hung up on those.

Essentially, uh, there's no real change

in our appraisal of the current situation.

No upturn in sight.

We think there will be one, but there's none clearly in sight.

Get me a chart of what the economy...

of what money is going into the economy from the federal government and being taken in.

I'd just like to see what our cash, now and for the next six months, is going to be.

Here's an item that I think...

Since this has been such a serious conversation, you ought to see

one of my items of fan mail.

Just read it from top to bottom. I think you'll, uh...

Do you know which one this is?

This is my friend from, uh... from Denver.

He wrote me three letters like this before.

That's right.

You really considered this, fella.

That's really funny.

It's just that whenever I get a little bit too serious about all this,

I take this out and read it.

He's with you up till the end.

You'll be traveling from the White House to Africa

after this word from Bell & Howell.

To those people

in the huts and villages of half the globe,

struggling to break the bonds of mass misery,

we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves.

To help the underdeveloped and emerging nations of the world

with their serious shortage of skills,

the president is creating a Peace Corps

in which young Americans will volunteer to serve abroad,

teaching their skills to people of Latin America, Asia and Africa.

The president and an aide, Richard Goodwin,

discuss plans for the Peace Corps.

By the end of the year, 2,180.

And then by the end of the year...

October. That's December here.

There'll be 2,180. That's abroad or in this country?

- Abroad. - Participating?

Abroad.

On board... Well, these are...

This figure is a combination of everybody presented at that time,

including those abroad.

Where are we going to send most of them?

- This is India. - Right.

So, 105. Iran, 55. Pakistan, 30. Turkey, 50.

What about Africa?

The president's interest in Africa

is being followed up by G. Mennen Williams, new assistant secretary of state.

Well, I'm going to leave tomorrow.

This is a trip that I promised you I would take right after you nominated me.

As you know, I'm bringing your greetings

to this, uh, conference at Addis Ababa,

this economic conference.

I think it would be worthwhile...

The idea that we never had a colonial interest in Africa... quite the reverse...

that our present interest is the traditional one,

to see Africa developed by Africans and maintain its independence.

And I think the more we can hammer that theme,

the more successful we will be there.

Et cetera, and then finally number three.

All right.

Well, I think I may be running around the Capitol here.

Williams takes a Capitol subway

for a last minute round of conferences with members of Congress.

Representative Barratt O'Hara of Illinois,

chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa.

Well, I just came over to pay my respects.

What time do you leave tomorrow, Governor?

I leave, I think, uh - The plane leaves about 3:30.

And, uh, we get into Rome the next afternoon.

Oh, I don't know, 2:00 or so.

And we have two or three hours there and then we go on to Sudan.

And then, after refueling,

we go on to Ethiopia where the conference is,

and then we're off on our trip.

I bet you've been through there many, many times.

Well, twice. Twice.

And when I was there the last,

I found a climate of expectancy.

Your appointment and your acceptance of this important position

I think has done more for us in Africa than anything else could have done.

It gave us a tremendous lift in Africa.

And all the leaders commented on it.

Well, I guess there isn't a sparrow falls in Washington

but what they know about it in, uh, Africa.

I don't want to burden you with this.

Senator Ellender of Louisiana presents a report on his travels.

Oh.

And I visited, as you notice here,

uh, 38 countries this year.

Among them is...

Sudan, Ethiopia, Somaliland, Eritrea... that's in Africa.

Yes, sir. I'd be very grateful to have this.

I've been advocating for the past seven, eight years

that in any program in these underdeveloped countries,

we should start at the bottom rung of the ladder.

I talked to the president of Somaliland,

who is the first there.

I found where they were trying to raise chickens way out in the jungles,

where the rainfall was 287 inches a year.

Well, anybody with common sense knows

you can't grow chickens with that kind of climate.

Well, I certainly think that business can either be...

Williams talks with Senator Gore of Tennessee,

chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Africa.

We seems to have created...

From my investigations and experiences

in visiting aid programs around the world,

I am impressed that so often we try to overdo.

Advice to go slow.

But the president is concerned about the rapid pace of events in Africa.

I hope you have a good trip. We'll be hearing from you on your trip.

You certainly shall.

I hope you'll be hearing good things.

Addis Ababa, Africa.

Governor Williams is on his way.

When he arrives here he will discover the startling contrasts

and ominous signs that are springing up all over the continent.

Amid the ancient cultures, unchanging for many centuries,

the noisy evidences of modernization started by the colonial powers.

And, contrasting with the old ways of life,

the even more modern signs of fast-moving African nationalism.

This is United Nations, Africa Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

For the first time in a meeting of the UN Economic Commission for Africa,

independent African states outnumber European members.

In an anti-colonial outburst,

a Guinean delegate protests having to address the council in French.

He pleads instead for Africans to address each other in African languages.

Soviet posters encourage Africans to hate the West

as oppressors of the black man.

Soviet teachers conduct language classes for Ethiopian students.

Africans study in a Russian center under a portrait of Lenin.

Very, very good, students. Feel free to talk at any time.

And at this time I think I'd like very much to have you, John...

Behind the portrait of John F. Kennedy

at the United States Information Agency Center in Addis Ababa,

an English class is conducted for Ethiopians.

Well, then the next thing is this dinner we're giving at the hotel

with the Economic Commission of-

or Economic Council of Africa.

This is a place where I'd like to try and get close

to as many of these African delegations...

They say there are about, uh, 27 countries.

Gonna be pretty hard to touch base with all of them,

but, uh, I guess that... that'll be interesting.

It'll be a chance to warm up my French too.

At the Economic Conference,

delegates from Liberia, Ethiopia and Nigeria

anticipate Governor Williams' arrival.

His open-mindedness, because he is one of the liberal, I understand,

governors in the States.

And, of course, he's now being more or less conditioned with this kind of,

um, I would call, rejuvenated,

um, official opinion in America,

which, as we know, was not the case before.

I've said, and I honestly believe that American opinion,

including American official opinion,

was somewhat parochial before.

I think it's becoming a little more broad, perhaps.

You know, they have had certain wrong notions about Africa

which made our coming into self-governance

look too sudden to them.

They thought that we developed too quickly.

They think, uh, uh, our progress is too rapid,

whereas our progress has been going on for years.

And of course the question now arises, how much... What can he learn?

Governor and Mrs. Williams arrive in Addis Ababa.

Williams will speak at a formal dinner for delegates to the conference.

But first on the schedule is an official visit

to the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, in his palace.

Oh, well, that's kind of the emperor.

I was so happy to receive that wonderful autographed photograph

from His Imperial Majesty.

Well, uh, we'll have them all back together.

We'll take a picture here, at least.

First of all,

I want to bring to you

the greetings of the president of my country,

John F. Kennedy.

President Kennedy said to me,

"Tell the people in Africa"

"I'm the same man who was Senator Kennedy."

"As Senator Kennedy,"

"I was chairman of the subcommittee on Africa,"

"and as you know I had many occasions"

"in which to express my sympathy"

"with the aspirations of self-determination"

"of the people of Africa."

And speaking directly about Africa,

Senator Kennedy said this...

"That we want for Africa

what the Africans want for Africa."

Williams spoke the phrase "Africa for the Africans" in Nairobi,

throwing the white settlers and colonial powers into an uproar

and a question to the president.

The ambassador to Africa has been widely criticized

for some of the statements he has made... that is, Mr. Williams.

Including the one of "Africa for Africans" and the like.

Do you find any validity in this criticism?

And would you consider that his tour of Africa

has been a plus for the United States on policy?

Oh, I don't... I think that Governor Williams has done very well.

I'm wholly satisfied with his mission. It's a very difficult one.

Africa is, uh...

is, uh, not an easy matter, uh, to, uh...

The problems of Africa are not easy,

and there are a good many conflicting forces that are loose in Africa,

as well as in all parts of the world.

The statement, "Africa for the Africans,"

does not seem to me to be a very unreasonable statement.

He made it clear that he was talking about all those who felt that they were Africans,

whatever their color might be, whatever their race might be.

- I don't know who else Africa should be for.

You'll see the president in his role as commander-in-chief

after this message from Bell & Howell.

We dare not tempt them with weakness.

For only when our arms

are sufficient beyond doubt

can we be certain beyond doubt

that they will never be employed.

The president is strengthening US military forces.

He confers with aide Walt Rostow and McGeorge Bundy,

special assistant for national security affairs.

Let me say to you that I think we can postpone or cut out

the National Security Council meeting for tomorrow.

Because you cut out one item

that you were talking with McNamara about here the other evening.

And there was another matter that Dean Rusk is happy to put off

and would rather not discuss.

This is the general problem of discussing serious matters in that rather general forum.

So we just cancel that.

You gonna do that with the Joint Chiefs or in the National Security Council...

I want to do it with the Joint Chiefs, and I would think that, uh-

- We've got acceptance... - It should stop with the Joint Chiefs.

I've got a separate study going on,

because you tagged that question a week ago,

and Gilpatric is supposed to be working on it,

and we're supposed to have a really detailed

and pretty highly classified briefing on all this business of command and control

ready by the end of next week, if that's time for you.

And that ought to come right to you and whoever you want there,

rather than the National Security Council,

because it's very edgy stuff.

When are we going to... Is Kissinger going to look at these...

Kissinger is coming down on Monday. Do you want to see him?

Yes. I'd like to have him look at this proposal.

I was going to say, if you want to get the best single chapter

on this question of whether you mean counterforce or stable deterrents,

you could take this and look at it during the weekend.

What about the... When are we supposed to meet McNamara again on that?

When you're ready.

- I would think, uh... - When is his schedule?

I have to be before the committee today.

He's supposed to be not talking about anything.

All he's done is make proposals,

and he's going to try to steer away from what they are.

I don't think this'll work for too long.

I'm going to look at that, uh... finish reading the memorandum.

And I think that we probably ought to have a conversation with Bell and you,

and I'd like to get Kissinger's judgment.

There's no way to speed his coming down here, is there, before Monday?

Uh, yes, I think he'd come if you want him.

Well, if he could look that over,

then we could have a conversation with you and I and Bell

before we meet again with McNamara.

As President,

John F. Kennedy is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

In the Cabinet Room the Joint Chiefs of Staff await him.

We can do that, if that's all right with you.

The Chairman, General Lyman Lemnitzer.

Army General George Decker.

Navy Admiral Arleigh Burke.

Air Force General Thomas White.

Can we forge against these enemies

a grand and global alliance,

north and south, east and west,

that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind?

Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world,

only a few generations

have been granted the role

of defending freedom

in its hour of maximum danger.

I do not shrink from this responsibility.

I welcome it.

The hour is late.

The official day is ending.

Now you will see John F. Kennedy in the more intimate moments of evening,

moments that reveal the workings of the presidential mind

and the warmth with which he treats his close associates.

To an admiral, whose speech-making he has publicly curtailed,

the president shows obvious affection for the navy,

his World War II service.

The president's desk was built from timbers of a British sailing ship.

As you see, we've got all the navy...

Yes, sir.

...pictures up around here.

This was loaned to us by the Philadelphia Maritime Museum.

I have a picture in my quarters that you may... you might like.

It's a big one though.

Probably too big for this...

We have the Constitution, and then we... These two are both the, uh...

And the other of these was John Paul Jones, and this...

- He's waiting right out... - I better get moving 'cause it's getting late.

My problem with that was...

The president's mind works in many channels at the same time.

If something catches his interest in an outer office,

he's likely to drop everything and go out and check on it.

Now, Ted Sorenson is posing a question.

Watch how and when Sorenson finally gets his answer.

And "defense" at the end of all that.

Now, is that too long, the wait on "defense"?

But since the assurances were not given,

and since the question for...

The United Nations in Leopoldville

sent a note today to Antoine Gizenga, pro-Lumumba leader in Stanleyville,

telling him that political killings have to cease now.

The UN also demanded a full and factual report

on the fate of 15 or 16 political prisoners

who were reported to have been put to death.

The events in the Congo, however, could fail at any moment

in the flash of an explosion in neighboring Northern Rhodesia.

It is a member of the Central African Federation

along with Southern Rhode...

Sorenson's question is still hanging.

Yeah, this is fine, Ted.

If you don't mind if they put it to a hundred-percent vote in Congress.

- Yeah. - It's bad enough as it is now.

When are you gonna start hearing... You're not gonna have any...

He abandoned the wage base, abandoned...

The president grasps information

in a way that Goldberg can deliver it...

the facts, fast and in a lightning interchange with all the details.

What he does is... No. No, no.

3.5 on the rate of the tax.

What's the dollar?

What's the wage, uh... H-How much...

- Oh, this isn't the minimum wage. - No, I meant on the, uh, tax base.

- I think we said 5,200? - 48. He left it alone.

- He increased the rate of the tax. - What is it now?

3.1 to 3.5.

- What's the dollar base now? - Three thousand.

- He didn't put that up at all? - No.

He said he'll talk about that in the permanent legislation.

But the important thing is...

When are we due to send the permanent legislation out?

We made a promise that we would do it by March... sometime in March.

Well, anyway, on this matter, I appreciate your willingness, all of you,

to take on this airline matter.

I must say, in just talking to Arthur the last two or three days,

it's a terribly... tough one.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it very much.

- Very wise men. - Good to see you again.

- Thanks a lot. - Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you very much.

In the late hush, Kenneth O'Donnell whispers,

trying not to distract the president.

MAN: Incidentally, they've been very pleased about your letters.

- Who? How do you know? - I have a wire here.

Today, John F. Kennedy has faced

some of the most soul-shaking problems of the United States,

the free world and all mankind.

But with more of the same promised for tomorrow

and every day for the next four years,

he remains calm in his deliberations

and relaxed with an old friend, Kenneth O'Donnell.

- It's interesting. - Isn't it?

Read this, Kenny, just to show you how not to...

That one should stand.

I do not believe

that any of us

would exchange places

with any other people or any other generation.

No!

The energy, the faith, the devotion

which we bring to this endeavor

will light our country and all who serve it.

And the glow from that fire

can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans,

ask not what your country can do for you,

ask what you can do for your country.

You have seen John F. Kennedy

fight to win the presidency,

and as president you have seen him in some of his many roles...

We shall be at war or peace.

As ceremonial head of state,

as chief executive,

as commander-in-chief...

- How are you? - Good to see you.

And as spokesman for the principles

of the United States and the free world.

And you have met some of his friends...

Senator Humphrey, now an enthusiastic supporter of the president,

is the new Senate whip.

Just check into Chet Bowles a little bit.

Well, hello there! How are you?

John Kenneth Galbraith

has been chosen the president's ambassador to India.

Governor Williams will continue his mission in Africa.

These people you have seen in a new way, moving about,

seeing and hearing for yourself what it is like to be with them.

This has been the first Adventures in Reporting.

The Next Adventures in Reporting will appear on Bell & Howell Close-up

over the ABC Network April 27,

continuing with Governor Williams in Africa

until an unexpected event captures in camera in Nairobi, Kenya.

The American Broadcasting Company

wishes to thank its sponsor, Bell & Howell,

for encouraging our complete editorial freedom throughout this series.

And now a final word from Bell & Howell.