All language subtitles for Kennedy.2023.S01E07.720p.WEB.H264-EDITH

- James Meredith had
talked about taking on

this whole barrier
of white supremacy,

but it's a whole
nother thing different,

going through this
entire process

to integrate the
University of Mississippi.

- So a full-scale
riot breaks out.

- Kennedy was very hesitant
to take bold action.

- We've discovered
missiles in Cuba.

- The Joint Chiefs
of Staff are unified

that we should bomb
and we should invade.

- Kennedy was not convinced
that a blockade would lead

to the Soviets withdrawing
their missiles,

but he recognized that
he had no better options.

- Good evening, my
fellow citizens.

Unmistakable evidence
has established the fact

that a series of
offensive missile sites

is now in preparation on
that imprisoned island.

- 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 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.

- Having now confirmed and
completed our evaluation

of the evidence and our decision

on a course of action, this
government feels obliged

to report this new crisis
to you in fullest detail.

The purpose of these bases
can be none other than

to provide a nuclear
strike capability

against the Western hemisphere.

On
October 22nd, 1962,

President Kennedy addressed
the waiting nation

about the Soviet
arms buildup in Cuba.

People listened
around the country

and across the globe.

All eyes were now on Cuba,

and nuclear war was on
the world's doorstep.

- I thought he was nervous.

I wouldn't say scared,
but I could tell.

I just, uh... his tone of voice.

And I was sitting
five feet from him.

- Several of them include
medium-range ballistic missiles

capable of carrying
a nuclear warhead

for a distance of more
than 1,000 nautical miles.

Each of these missiles,
in short, is capable

of striking Washington,
D.C., the Panama Canal,

Cape Canaveral, Mexico
City, or any other city

in the southeastern part
of the United States.

- That's the only time I
felt as though I could...

it could be over.

But everybody in the
country was feeling that.

That kind of absence
of air in the room

was all over the world.

And I remember our parents
being given the option to,

when the sirens went
off, to have us run home

and be with them for the end

or to take cover at the school.

- Kennedy really threatens
nuclear war in that speech.

He says that we will
regard any attack from Cuba

as an attack by the Soviet Union

on the United States,

and we will respond
quickly and forcefully.

So it's... he now
has upped the ante.

The temperature's
really gone up.

With
Kennedy's go-ahead,

United States Naval
vessels made their way

to form a wall-like blockade
around the island of Cuba,

intending to force out the
Soviet troops and missiles

and stop additional
weapons from arriving.

- Kennedy and his advisors
were trying to be careful

in the language that
they were choosing.

In particular, they called
the blockade a "quarantine,"

because "blockade"... this
is a declaration of war

in the international law.

But everyone got the message,

"Okay, probably
the war is coming."

It wasn't long
before Kennedy received

a new threat from Khrushchev.

With the massive
blockade now in effect,

if Soviet ships were sunk,

or the Americans
attempted an invasion,

it would be war.

- Khrushchev ordered
all his ships

with military equipment
that were not yet close

to Cuba, turn back.

On the Cuban
shores closest to Florida,

waves of missile sites and
nuclear-armed submarines

were at the ready.

- We will not prematurely or
unnecessarily risk the course

of worldwide nuclear
war, in which

even the fruits of victory
would be ashes in our mouth.

But neither will we
shrink from that risk

at any time it must be faced.

- When I think about Kennedy
and the Missile Crisis,

I think about a
president who, frankly,

is really good at stalling,
who's really good at delaying,

trying to hope that
a solution will arise

that will not lead to being
boxed into a nuclear box.

- I have directed the
armed forces to prepare

for any eventualities.

It shall be the
policy of this nation

to regard any nuclear
missile launched from Cuba

against any nation in
the Western hemisphere

as an attack by the Soviet Union

on the United States,

requiring a full
retaliatory response

upon the Soviet Union.

Local Soviet
commanders in Cuba had been

given approval to fire
nuclear weapons if necessary.

- Nikita Khrushchev
had not only deployed

nuclear weapons into Cuba,

he had actually deployed
operational control

of those weapons down to
the battlefield commanders.

What does that mean in English?

That means the first moment
that marines hit the beach,

mushroom clouds start going off.

Total annihilation.

Every time I study the
Cuban Missile Crisis,

I get more afraid.

Tensions
had come to a head.

- I don't want to be
critical, but the problem is,

when you say further
action's gonna be taken,

then they all say,
"What action?"

And it moves this escalation up

a couple of days when
we're not ready for it.

- Yeah. I-I'm sorry...

- So therefore, you have
to be goddamn careful.

We gotta get this under control.

On October 27th,
at the height of the Crisis,

American U-2 pilot Major
Rudolf Anderson was

shot down and killed over Cuba

while on a surveillance mission.

The order was given by a
Soviet lieutenant general,

without the authorization
of his commanding general.

Anderson's death signaled
a turning point...

a turn for the worse.

- And once an American
pilot has been shot down,

American blood has
been spilt, you know,

that changes the nature
of the calculations

for American politicians.

- Against his orders,
Khrushchev's commanders

ordered to shoot down
a U-2 plane over Cuba.

That is another layer
of complexity and danger

associated with the
Crisis like that.

There is also
people on the ground

who very often make
their own decisions.

And they become, at the end,

deciders of whether there
would be a conflict or not,

whether there would be
a nuclear war or not.

That
same day, a group

of U.S. Navy destroyers
were positioned above

the Soviet submarine B-59.

To force the submarine
to the surface

for identification,

the navy began dropping
small explosives

called signaling depth charges.

The captain of the
Soviet submarine,

Valentin Savitsky, mistook
the depth charges for bombs.

- So they could have been
forgiven for thinking

that the... the real
conflict had begun.

What the Navy
did not know at the time

was that the B-59 had
nuclear weapons on board.

Thinking that the
war had started,

Savitsky gave the order

to launch one of the
nuclear torpedoes.

Black Saturday,
October 27th, 1962.

While Kennedy was
deciding how to respond

to Major Rudolf
Anderson's death,

Russian submarine B-59 prepared

to fire a nuclear torpedo,

believing the war had
started above them.

However, in order
to fire the weapons,

the decision had to be unanimous

between all officers.

- They all three had to
say, "Yes, let's fire back."

All on board were in
favor of the nuclear attack,

except for the
second-in-command officer

named Vasili Arkhipov...

who convinced the B-59
crew to halt the launch

of the nuclear missile.

The submarine rose
to the surface

and would soon head
back to the Soviet Union

without incident,
thanks to Arkhipov.

- He talks the captain
out of that decision,

which surely would have
led to a nuclear war.

- The real risk of war, I think,

during the Missile
Crisis, came from the fact

that neither side
really understood

what the other side was doing,

and there was a lot of
room for misinterpretation

and miscommunication
between the two sides.

On the 27th of October,
which was widely regarded

as the most dangerous
day of the Crisis...

it was later called
Black Saturday...

the two sides were very close

to the early stages
of a nuclear war.

- One of my best
friends is Clint Hill.

He was Mrs. Kennedy's agent.

And he went to Mrs. Kennedy,
and he said, "Mrs. Kennedy,

I've gotta take you down
to see the bomb shelter."

And she said, "No, I
won't use it, Mr. Hill."

And he said, uh, "At some point
you're gonna have to go inside,

and you're gonna have to
take the children there."

And she said, "Mr. Hill,

"if it comes to that,

"I will take little
John-John and Caroline,

"and we'll go out
to the South Lawn,

"and we will face the music.

We'll face the danger along
with the American people."

- On that day, when an
American U-2 is shot down,

it looks like this crisis
is spiraling out of control.

Kennedy decides this is
the time for diplomacy.

- Truly, only the president
can make a major decision.

And no matter how many
advisors he has in the room

or out of the room, only he
can make that final decision.

And in that sense, it's
a very lonely process,

no matter how crowded
the environment may be.

Behind closed doors,
negotiations were conducted

between the White
House and the Kremlin.

Khrushchev presented his
final terms for withdrawal

to the Kennedy administration.

He declared that in
order for the Soviets

to remove their weapons, the
United States must pledge

to never invade Cuba again.

Khrushchev also demanded the
American Jupiter missiles

aimed at the Soviet Union
be removed from Turkey.

- Kennedy decides, if I have to,

I'm gonna trade away
the security of Turkey.

I'm gonna trade
that away briefly

and give the Soviets what
they want to end this.

We can't have this continue,

because we're not any longer
in control of the situation.

And there, Kennedy leads.

In fact, most of
Kennedy's advisors

are against the trade,
trading Turkish missiles

for the Soviet missiles in Cuba.

And you can hear on tape
John Kennedy saying to them,

"How can I explain to
the American people

"that I didn't take this offer?

"If they ever learn that
it was on the table,

"that I could have
avoided what happens next,

"how could I ever explain
to them, or history,

that I couldn't
take this deal?"

That's where Kennedy
is the leader.

The United States
agreed to both terms,

but insisted that it
be allowed to remove

the Jupiter missiles covertly
over the next few months.

As Kennedy had
stated days before,

he was determined that
peace would prevail.

- Our goal is not
the victory of might,

but the vindication of right,

not peace at the
expense of freedom,

but both peace and freedom
here in this hemisphere.

And we hope around the
world, God willing,

that goal will be achieved.

Thank you and good night.

With nuclear weapons
aimed at Washington, D.C.

and ready to fire,

the night of October 27th
was fraught with tension.

While eating dinner
in the White House

with his friend David
Powers, Kennedy commented,

"Anybody would think that
it was your last meal."

- Probably one of the most
tense evenings of the...

of the Cuban Missile Crisis,
because it's a big unknown.

Having responded
to Khrushchev's terms,

the United States could only
wait for a final decision

from Moscow.

On
October 27th, 1962,

Kennedy had agreed

to Khrushchev's
terms for withdrawal.

The fate of the country was
uncertain as Kennedy awaited

the final response from Moscow.

After 13 days of
tense negotiations,

Khrushchev finally
conceded on October 28th.

It was 6:00 p.m. in Moscow

and 9:00 a.m. in
Washington, D.C.

The Cuban
Missile Crisis was over.

In standing firm against
engaging the Soviets

militarily and
choosing to deliberate,

Kennedy helped
bring the world back

from the brink of nuclear war.

- No matter how many
advisors you have,

frequently they are divided,

and the president
must finally choose.

No easy matters will ever
come to you as president.

Those that come to you
as president are always

the difficult matters,
the matters which carry

with them large implications.

- John Kennedy had
an ability during

the Cuban Missile Crisis

to not just get swept up in
the passion of the moment,

but to step back
and to see the risks

and the opportunities.

- So in the spring of 1963,
the Cuban Missile Crisis

having happened about
eight months earlier,

John F. Kennedy is thinking
about the great scourge

that faces mankind
in the proliferation

of nuclear weapons.

And he thinks, "What can I
do to find a way through?

How can I change the channel?"

Kennedy decided
to address the Cold War

in a way he had
never done before.

- There is no treaty of any sort

between the United States
and the Soviet Union.

And so the idea emerges of
a nuclear test ban treaty.

That spring, Kennedy
wants to give

that idea public expression
in a formal, eloquent way.

The speech as an
instrument of public policy

is very important to JFK,
and he has in Ted Sorensen

about the finest speechwriter
a president could have.

They have worked
together since 1953.

They've been together ten years.

They want to make an
overture to Khrushchev.

On June 10th, 1963,

Kennedy would pour
his experience

navigating the chaos
of the Bay of Pigs,

neutralizing the
Cuban Missile Crisis

and the friction in Berlin,

into a commencement address
for American University.

- What's important to know
about the peace speech is,

it doesn't get any
kind of exposure

in the arteries of government.

Kennedy does not want what
he's going to say to get out,

because he is going to
speak to the Russians

with a generosity and
a sense of conciliation

that no president has
shown the Russians

since Franklin Roosevelt was
an ally of Joseph Stalin.

Suddenly,
it was showtime.

- I have therefore chosen
this time and place

to discuss a topic on which
ignorance too often abounds,

and the truth too
rarely perceived.

And that is the most important
topic on Earth, peace.

- He has been a cold warrior,

and important to note,
between 1961 and 1963,

has presided over the
largest military buildup

in American peacetime history.

So when Kennedy is coming around

to speaking about peace,
what does it mean?

- I am talking
about genuine peace,

the kind of peace that makes
life on Earth worth living,

and the kind that enables
men and nations to grow,

and to hope, and
build a better life

for their children,

not merely peace for Americans,

but peace for all men and women,

not merely peace in our
time, but peace in all time.

He was
a different leader

than the man newly
elected in January 1961,

who asked the country
to bear any burden

against Soviet and
Communist might.

The speech he delivered now
was grounded in stark reality,

examining America's
moral responsibility

to support a strategy of peace.

- First, examine our attitude
towards peace itself.

Too many of us think
it is impossible.

Too many think it is unreal.

But that is a dangerous,
defeatist belief.

It leads to the conclusion
that mankind is doomed,

that we are gripped by
forces we cannot control.

We need not accept that view.

Our problems are man-made.

Therefore, they can
be solved by man.

Kennedy announced
the United States would stop

atmospheric nuclear testing

if a treaty could be agreed
upon with the Soviets.

In the Soviet Union,
a full translation

of Kennedy's speech
was broadcast

and printed in the press.

Khrushchev himself
was deeply impressed.

Soon after, American diplomat
Averell Harriman traveled

to Moscow to negotiate
a test ban treaty.

Kennedy said this was not his
ideal solution of disarmament,

but it was a step
toward achieving it.

- And within six weeks,

he's in the situation
room in the White House

and getting drafts
of the agreement.

- Our most basic common link

is that we all inhabit
this small planet.

We all breathe the same air.

We all cherish our
children's future.

Confident and unafraid,

we must labor on,

not towards a strategy
of annihilation,

but towards a strategy of peace.

In the
summer of 1963,

while Kennedy was focused
on working towards

international arms
control and diplomacy,

a fire was smoldering
in the American South.

Soon it would once again
burst into raging flames.

In May 1963, the city
of Birmingham, Alabama,

called the most segregated
city in the country

by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,

became the new epicenter of
the civil rights movement.

Hundreds of Black students,

some as young as
seven years old,

were recruited to join a series

of nonviolent demonstrations
promoting racial equality.

- Being a teenager at the time,

I was just learning.

I wanted to be a part
of the change, yeah,

because we can't keep
on living like this.

It's got to be better.

- ♪ Who's that writing? ♪

In a courageous
effort, activists emerged

from the 16th Street
Baptist Church

and took to the
streets for two days,

marching shoulder to shoulder
through downtown Birmingham

and singing songs like
"We Shall Overcome."

As the children
marched peacefully

through the streets, the
Birmingham Commissioner

of Public Safety, Bull
Connor, decided to respond.

- Connor snapped.

Just turned out the
full force of the police

with fire hoses and dogs,

attacking these
young protesters.

- ♪ Oh, who's that writing? ♪

- Somebody started singing,
"We are not afraid."

That gave me the... the
encouragement that I needed

to remain in the line
and to be arrested.

When
Kennedy saw the photos

coming out of Birmingham,
he was disgusted.

Robert Kennedy sent

Assistant Attorney
General Burke Marshall

to facilitate
negotiations between

civil rights protesters

and Birmingham city
business leaders

to desegregate businesses
and end the demonstrations.

- John Kennedy, he
had the type of heart

that when he saw all of
this happening to children,

he said, "No more," and I...
for that, I respect him.

On May 10th,
an agreement was reached.

The demonstrations
were a success and led

to new efforts in
Birmingham to integrate

and improve job opportunities

for African-American residents.

But Kennedy's involvement
wasn't enough.

The violence in Birmingham
brought worldwide attention

and scrutiny to the Kennedy
administration's response

to the civil rights movement.

- Those images are
spread internationally.

So Kennedy is
feeling the pressure

from internally, from the
civil rights activists,

and then externally from
his allies around the world.

As protests
and violence continued

in the South, pressure
mounted on Kennedy

to take decisive
legislative action

in support of the
civil rights movement.

Now it was June 11th,
1963, just one day after

Kennedy's peace speech
at American University.

The University of Alabama
in Tuscaloosa was one

of only a handful
of universities yet

to be desegregated.

The civil rights
group the NAACP,

the National Association
for the Advancement

of Colored People,
tried to arrange

for two Black students,
Vivian Malone and James Hood,

to integrate the university.

Filmmaker Robert Drew was
given the rare opportunity

from the Kennedy
administration to capture

the behind-the-scenes events
of the attempted integration.

- Why do you want to go to
the University of Alabama

specifically, and not
some other university?

- The school that I was
previously attending

became unaccredited
in December of 1961,

and the University of
Alabama is accredited.

The
governor of Alabama,

staunch segregationist
George Wallace,

wanted to show his
opposition on a public stage.

- And I say segregation
now, segregation tomorrow,

and segregation forever.

- So Wallace says, "The
federal government"...

he made them the bad guys...

"Come down here and tell
us how to live our lives,

"tell us what to do.

I will stand in the
schoolhouse door."

- The Kennedys see him as
a pugnacious, theatrical,

jumped-up Southern politician

who is going to force his day

onto the national
stage with his stunt.

Well, eight months before,
the University of Mississippi

has gone through the same thing,

and Kennedy had to
order in 25,000 troops

to put down a riot
that went on 26 hours,

killed two people,
injured hundreds.

The Kennedys had lost
control of that situation

and Kennedy said, "That's
never gonna happen again."

This time, they
would be adequately prepared.

Anything that could have
been used as a weapon

was removed from campus.

- Every rock on
campus was removed.

Every Coke bottle

in the Coke machine was removed.

There were sharpshooters
on all the buildings.

When Malone and
Hood arrived at the university

for their first day,
on June 11th, 1963,

they were escorted to the school

by Deputy Attorney General
Nicholas Katzenbach,

who reported directly

to the Attorney
General Robert Kennedy

throughout the day.

- He's had this opportunity
and should let 'em go through.

Or otherwise, we're gonna
have to take other steps,

because these students
are going to attend

the University of Alabama.

George Wallace
blocked the entrance

to the school, flanked by
Alabama state troopers.

- He says, "I will
bar the admission

"of James Hood
and Vivian Malone,

if I have to do it physically,"

from this citadel
of white supremacy,

the University of Alabama.

- Governor George Wallace
of Alabama has stood

in the schoolhouse door.

On June 11th,
1963, Governor George Wallace

stood firmly in the
schoolhouse door,

blocking Malone and Hood

from entering the
University of Alabama.

On orders from Attorney
General Bobby Kennedy

to resolve the situation,

Deputy Attorney General
Nicholas Katzenbach

approached the governor
and demanded he step aside.

- And I've come
here to ask you now

for an unequivocal assurance

that you will permit these
students, who, after all,

merely want an education
at the great university...

- Now you make your
statement, but we don't need

for you to make a speech.

Interrupting,

Wallace pulled out
a written statement,

which he delivered to the crowd.

- The unwelcomed,
unwanted, unwarranted,

and force-induced
intrusion upon the campus

of the University of Alabama

today of the might of
the central government

offers frightful example

of the oppression of
the rights, privileges,

and sovereignty of this state

by officers of the
federal government.

Back at
the White House,

Kennedy listened attentively

while Bobby briefed
him on the situation.

- They were ready to carry
Wallace away if they had to.

- Then, uh, if he
still doesn't move,

then we'll try to get by him.

- Pushing?

- Pushing a little bit.

Uh, or just having somebody...
- Trying to walk around him.

- And try to walk
through the three doors.

We're gonna try to
have somebody inside

who will open up the other...
one of the other doors,

so they can't cover
all three doors,

and just have the girls
and the boys just try

to go through another door.

Anyway, that's gonna be
up to Nick Katzenbach,

as to how far we
can go with that.

- Governor, I am not
interested in a show.

I don't know what the
purpose of this show is.

I am interested in the orders
of this court being enforced.

That is my only
responsibility here.

When
Wallace announced

he wasn't going to step aside,

the president federalized
the Alabama National Guard,

calling upon them to
enforce federal law.

Kennedy was now their
commander, over Wallace.

- They were so worried
about the thing exploding

at the University of Alabama,

as it had at the
University of Mississippi.

In Tuscaloosa,
100 guardsmen arrived

and thousands more
stood at the ready

if violence broke out.

Marching up to the door,
one of the guardsmen,

General Henry V.
Graham, demanded

that Governor
Wallace step aside.

Bobby and his team at
the Justice Department

in Washington listened
in anticipation

over a telephone
line from the scene.

- It was, in effect,
a single defiant man

holding with strength to
the weak mores of the past.

- Change is about to occur,
and we can feel the ground.

Uh, it's trembling.

After
a tense buildup,

the governor finally
stepped aside,

allowing the students to
register at the university.

- The stand at the
schoolhouse door

was an important event because
it finally got Kennedy to say,

"I'm not gonna be afraid of
the issue of race in America.

I'm gonna speak out on it.
I'm gonna speak out on it."

The question
on Kennedy's mind was

whether or not he would
deliver an address

on civil rights that
evening, using Birmingham

and the University of Alabama
integration as a backdrop.

- There have been
demonstrations and riots

in a number of American
cities since Birmingham,

and Kennedy understands that.

- Across the United States,
pressures are rising

for the president to speak
out for racial equality

as a moral issue.

But a strong speech could cost
the president Southern support

for new civil rights legislation

he would like to have.

- Okay, let's get started now.

- The president must
decide whether or not

to speak out anyway in
a nationwide TV address.

- I think it's a
reason to do it.

I think you could talk
about the legislation

and talk about employment
and talk about education.

Kennedy, like
the presidents before him,

had never addressed civil
rights as a moral issue.

Most of Kennedy's inner
circle was opposed

to a televised address
about civil rights

on the evening of June 11th.

They felt the time wasn't right

and would push too
far, too quickly,

alienating the South
from the administration.

The only person
on Kennedy's side

was his brother Bobby.

Together they decided
that enough was enough.

Kennedy chose to speak to
the nation that evening,

against the recommendation
of his trusted advisors.

- That's the big decision
that John Kennedy makes,

um, that is really the basis
for his reputation as someone

who, in the end,
supported civil rights

in a legitimate and a real way.

- And it's then that JFK
turns to Ted Sorensen,

who never had a speech he
couldn't write for JFK,

and says, "It's time tonight
to give that speech."

And Sorensen says,
"What speech?"

JFK says, "And by the way,

I've booked the
networks for 8:00 p.m."

There was little
time to draft a speech.

At air time, it was incomplete.

Kennedy went
forward nonetheless,

improvising the final portion.

At last, with Kennedy
positioned at his desk

in the Oval Office,
the cameras turned on.

- Ladies and gentlemen,

the president of
the United States.

- Good evening, my
fellow citizens.

This nation was founded by men

of many nations and backgrounds.

It was founded on the principle
that all men are created equal,

and that the rights of
every man are diminished

when the rights of one
man are threatened.

We are confronted primarily
with a moral issue.

It is as old as the scriptures

and is as clear as the
American Constitution.

The heart of the question
is whether all Americans are

to be afforded equal rights
and equal opportunities,

whether we are going to
treat our fellow Americans

as we want to be treated.

- At the 11-minute
mark, if you watch it,

you see that Kennedy
is beginning to ad-lib.

He's speaking extemporaneously.

- We have a right to expect
that the Negro community

will be responsible,
will uphold the law,

but they have a right to expect
that the law will be fair,

that the Constitution
will be colorblind,

as Justice Harlan said at
the turn of the century.

This is what we're
talking about,

and this is a matter which
concerns this country

and what it stands
for, and in meeting it,

I ask the support of
all of our citizens.

Thank you very much.

Kennedy's
speech marked

a historic turning point
in American history.

However, racial hatred
continued to haunt America.

Hours later,

prominent NAACP
Mississippi field secretary

Medgar Evers was assassinated
outside of his home.

His murder shocked the nation

and illustrated the urgent need

for civil rights legislation.

Within a week, Kennedy sent
his sweeping civil rights bill

to Congress.

The bill would unilaterally
ban racial discrimination

in public places,
including restaurants,

hotels, and stores.

Another provision would increase

the attorney general's
speed and ability to assist

with the integration
of public schools.

- It's robust.

It directly forces the state to
not adhere to states' rights,

that the federal
government will intervene

if you do not actually
enforce federal law,

things that folks have been
asking him to do for years.

Kennedy's
administration began a series

of private White House
meetings and conferences

with more than 1,000 people
from around the country,

representing education,
women's organizations,

the South, and
religious institutions.

The goal was to discuss the
proposed civil rights bill

and Kennedy's expectations
for how these groups

could responsibly
adhere to the bill

and reliably carry
out its values.

- He really had no choice.

Morally and politically,
he had no choice

but to introduce a
civil rights bill.

With talks underway
about the Civil Rights Act,

Kennedy embarked
on the eighth trip

of his presidency
in late June 1963.

His travel schedule included
a visit to West Berlin,

a meeting in England
with his good friend,

British Prime Minister
Harold Macmillan,

and a long-awaited visit

to his ancestral
home of Ireland.

This would be Kennedy's
final international trip.

When Kennedy arrived in Germany,

he made his long-awaited
visit to the Berlin Wall

on June 26th, 1963.

- He sees the Berlin
Wall for the first time.

You could almost feel Kennedy
finally understanding,

on a whole different,
deep level,

what the Cold War meant

by seeing the Berlin Wall.

And so he said, "For people
who don't understand what is

this Cold War conflict, come
here, come look at this."

Nearly half
a million Berliners

stood outside to
hear Kennedy speak.

It was a larger crowd
than he had ever seen.

- Thank you.

There are many
people in the world

who really don't understand,
or say they don't,

what is the great issue
between the free world

and the Communist world.

Let them come to Berlin.

- As a free man, I
take pride in the words

"Ich bin ein Berliner."

- There were no doubts
left about his leadership.

- The last 60 years has
been America wishing

they could rewrite sad history.

- Parkland Hospital has
been advised to stand by

for a gunshot wound.