All language subtitles for Ten.Steps.to.Disaster.Series.1.Part.2.JFK.Assassination.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

Announcer: (singing) mtv.

[crowd cheering]

Narrator: November 22, 1963.

[gunshot]

America's president is
shot dead in full view

Of crowds of well-wishers.

To have him taken away
in such a violent manner,

It was incredibly shocking.

When the president
of the united states

Gets assassinated, it sends
shock waves all over the world.

Narrator: Jfk's death
leads many to ask,

How could the leader of the free
world be murdered so easily?

[gunshot]

The assassination of john f.
Kennedy was a watershed event.

It changed the
history of the world.

Narrator: Now,
in-depth analysis,

Investigative reports,
and declassified documents

Expose crucial errors.

If you don't have intelligence
coming in, you cannot ensure

That the president is safe.

There was a failure of
collecting the data, but also

Of imagination or analysis.

Narrator: From ignored threats--

The biggest mistake was
going to the city of hate.

Narrator: --To
intelligence breakdowns.

The less you can make public,
the better it is,

The safer it is.

The tragedy is that this
man who wasn't taken seriously

As a violent threat
was on the radar

Screen of us law enforcement
and intelligence before dallas.

Narrator: And major
security failings.

Putting the president of the
united states in a convertible

Was incredibly stupid.

If there had been
a bulletproof top,

That would have made
the president far safer.

Because they weren't
feeling at their best,

They weren't watching.

Narrator: 10 deadly mistakes
that, if avoided,

Could have changed history.

You don't want to think
like a secret service agent.

You want to think
like the assassin.

Not recognizing that
threat was possible

Was probably the greatest
oversight in american history.

[numbers clicking]

[typing]

[dramatic music]

The constitution--

Narrator: John f.
Kennedy's inauguration

Changes the way the world
sees an american president.

[crowd cheering]

Ask not what your country
can do for you.

Ask what you can do
for your country.

Narrator: Jfk's life
as us president plays

Out on camera to the world.

The image that john kennedy
had as president

Was one of energy and youth
and vitality.

He exuded charisma,
intelligence,

And he worked hard to
ensure that he came

Across very well in the media.

President kennedy
wanted to be seen.

He wanted to connect.

Sharron wilkins conrad:
To be in that role

And to be seeking
votes in that way,

You have to be willing to
put yourself out there.

And he certainly was
willing to do that.

Narrator: When he's shot dead,
the world goes into mourning.

But the tragic journey
leading to jfk's death

Begins long before
the bullets hit him--

[bullet crashing]

[tape rewinds]

--Starting three years earlier,
when poor security allows

An assassin to almost kill
him before he even steps

Foot in the white house.

If he had set off the bomb,
it would have probably

Killed president-elect kennedy.

[numbers clicking]

[shutter clicks]

[crowd murmuring]

Narrator: November 8, 1960.

John f. Kennedy narrowly
beats richard nixon to become

President of the united states.

But many people
across america are

Outraged at the shock result.

[crowd yelling]

Barbara a. Perry: He didn't even
get 50% of the popular vote.

So while there were many people
who loved the kennedys

And loved president kennedy,

There were a lot of
kennedy haters

In the united states
at that time.

Narrator:
Among the most outraged

By kennedy's narrow
victory is richard pavlick,

A 73-year-old retired
postal worker living

In belmont, new hampshire.

Richard pavlick
was known to be

The town crank in a small
town where he had retired.

He began to be threatening
about the town.

He would write intemperate
letters to the editor

Of the local newspaper.

But it also happened
that he began

To act out in his own mind
this plot against kennedy.

Narrator: Pavlick believes
kennedy has stolen

The election from nixon
and vows to assassinate

The president-elect.

Kennedy's popularity and
willingness to court the media

Means it's not hard
for pavlick to track him

To his vacation home
in palm beach.

Barbara a. Perry: Kennedy
wanted to have that relationship

With the media.

So all he had to do was read
the newspaper about where

President-elect
kennedy was going

To be staying at any one time.

Narrator: Pavlick buys 10 sticks
of dynamite and heads south.

Barbara a. Perry: He
would have created

What we would now call a
suicide bomber out of himself.

This plot was to approach
kennedy at some point

Where he could get close enough
to kennedy to pull the switch

To set off this suicide bomb
and take kennedy out

And murder him.

Narrator: Sunday, December 11,
just a month since his victory.

Jfk is preparing to attend
Sunday mass in palm beach.

As he leaves his vacation home,
pavlick is waiting.

Pavlick saw the
president-elect come out

And was ready to get
out of his car

And set off the suicide bomb
and take the president out

And murder him.

But just at that
moment, mrs. Kennedy

Appeared in the doorway with
her young toddler daughter,

Caroline.

Pavlick sees caroline
next to the president.

And apparently, as he would
later tell law enforcement,

He didn't want to kill anyone
but john kennedy.

And so he stopped.

He did not go ahead with his
plot of blowing himself up

And the president-elect.

Narrator: It is
pavlick's own morals,

Not the actions of the secret
service, that spare jfk's life.

Incredibly, pavlick
continues to stalk

The president for
a further four days

Without anyone picking him up.

Eventually, he is stopped by
the fbi, but only by chance.

He wrote to the postal
inspector in his small town

In new hampshire with
some threatening language

About kennedy.

And that caused the
postal inspector to turn

It over to the authorities.

That's how they began to be
on the lookout

For richard pavlick
in palm beach.

But as it turned out,
he created a traffic offense.

That's why the police
picked him up.

But once they put all
the dots together,

They realized that they
had this potential assassin

On their hands.

Narrator: During his trial,
pavlick mocks the president's

Ineffective protection detail.

What should have been
a major flag that jfk's

Security is too lax is ignored.

Three years on, at the end
of his first term in office,

Jfk and his security are making
exactly the same mistakes.

And this time, his would-be
assassin is far more

Equipped to complete the job.

Not recognizing that a
high-angle sniper threat was

Possible was
probably the greatest

Oversight in american history.

[text clicking]

Narrator: November 22, 1963.

Jfk heads to dallas,
texas to rally

Support for his re-election.

But choosing dallas
is a major error.

Jfk's pro-civil rights
stance has made him hugely

Unpopular across the south.

Dallas had had a long
history of violence

To secure different
kinds of political aim.

The dallas branch of the kkk,
which emerged in the 1920s,

Was one of the largest in the
country, if not the largest.

Narrator: But the
president ignores

All warnings to avoid the city.

You didn't go
to dallas in 1963

If you were afraid of the
possibility of criticism.

Narrator: And just an hour
after arriving, he is dead.

[gunshot]

The biggest mistake was
going to the city of hate.

[numbers clicking]

Narrator: In the run up to
the 1960 presidential election,

Jfk knows he's
behind in the polls

In the conservative south,
particularly texas.

So he sends his vice
presidential running mate,

Texan-born lyndon b.
Johnson, to dallas

To try to gain some ground.

Clodagh harrington:
To jfk's credit,

He could hardly
have chosen better

In terms of a brash, loud,
macho texan who spoke

The language of the south.

Narrator: Jfk's team
believes if anyone's

Got a chance of gaining
some momentum in dallas,

It's lyndon b. Johnson.

But not even a texan
with johnson's following

Is enough to calm
the anti-jfk feeling.

Sharron wilkins conrad: When
lyndon johnson comes to dallas

In 1960 as part of the
campaign, he and his wife

Lady bird are swarmed
by this mob of middle-

And upper-class white women.

Barbara a. Perry: Women
took out their hat pins

And tried to stick
them in soon-to-be vice

President johnson and soon-to-be
second lady lady bird johnson.

Sharron wilkins conrad:
They spit on the couple.

They pushed the couple.

They steal lady bird's
gloves out of her hand

And throw those
gloves into the gutter

And really kind of create
this environment,

This mob environment.

In fact, these women came to
be known as the mink coat mob.

Narrator: This is no
grassroots movement.

The anti-kennedy campaign is
highly coordinated and backed

By some of the biggest
names in dallas,

Including newspaper moguls,
wealthy oilmen, and even

Religious leaders, all
united in their anger

At kennedy's support
for civil rights.

It will be a miracle
if kennedy can carry

This part of the united states.

For lyndon johnson to
be the object of scorn,

That was a sign that politics
of the south were boiling.

Narrator: And the
anti-jfk movement

Only gets stronger throughout
the president's first term.

Just four weeks before
kennedy's fatal visit to dallas,

History repeats itself.

On a visit to the city,

Ambassador to the united nations

Adlai stevenson
finds himself

At the center of another
violent demonstration.

[crowd yelling]

Adlai stevenson was surrounded
by a mob, attacked, spat upon.

One of these ladies that
was at the stevenson rally,

She took a placard and
hit him over the head.

And so he was not only verbally
attacked during his speech,

But physically attacked.

Narrator: Stevenson is
sped away by security.

The shaken ambassador is among
the close advisors who warn jfk

Against the visit to dallas.

[dramatic music]

Had jfk heeded those warnings,
he may have survived.

Instead, less than a month
after adlai stevenson's visit,

The powder keg
that is the city explodes.

To go to a part of the country
where he knew that the vitriol

And the hatred towards him was,
you know, on display,

There was perhaps an arrogance,
maybe, to the trip,

And the warnings should
have been heeded.

[siren wailing]

Narrator: But the
next mistake is only

Focusing on the far-right
extremist element.

Jfk's assassin is
known to the fbi,

But the left-wing sympathizer
is discounted as a threat.

Timothy naftali: The fbi
is interested in extremism.

It's not associating far-left
activism with terrorism.

[numbers clicking]

Narrator: October
1959, four years

Before jfk's assassination.

The cold war is at its peak,
and there's growing tension

Between the us and
the soviet union

When the cia receives an alert.

[phone rings]

A 20-year-old former marine
and highly skilled marksman

Is looking to defect to russia.

His name is lee harvey oswald.

You got to remember that
being in the united states

For an american citizen
is, you know--

It's a pretty cool thing.

So if you have someone that
is interested in leaving,

You're going to
want to know why.

Narrator: As theagency
responsible for

External threats, the cia
monitors oswald for three years

After his successful defection.

But by June 1962,
he's back in the us

With his russian wife and child.

Fbi agents in dallas
soon discover

A defector with
military training

Has moved into
their jurisdiction.

They interview oswald twice
about his soviet links.

It is no surprise that the
intelligence community was

Interested in lee harvey oswald,
because a,

He was one of the very few
americans who had ever defected

To the soviet union, and b, he
was almost the only person

Who had re-defected back to
the united states after

Defecting to the soviet union.

Narrator: Oswald then
moves to new orleans.

His plan is to set up a local
branch of an organization

To support cuba and the
country's new communist regime.

This was a national
movement among

Communists in the united states,
pro-fidel castro, pro-cuba.

It hated the anti-castro,
anti-communist cuban vision

Of the american president,
john kennedy,

And his administration.

Narrator: Two years
before, jfk tried

To topple cuba's
communist leader,

Fidel castro, with the
ill-fated bay of pigs invasion.

The fallout of the
failed coup means

That anyone expressing
sympathy for cuba

Is immediately
a person of interest.

But the authorities fail
to see the bigger threat.

Timothy naftali: Lee
harvey oswald triggers

Interest in new orleans.

He triggers interest because
he is a far-left activist.

He does not trigger
interest because

He is a potential murderer.

The fbi is interested
in extremism.

It's not associating far-left
activism with terrorism.

Narrator: Lee harvey oswald is
arrested, but yet again fails

To cooperate with the fbi.

He's charged with disturbing
the peace and, once released,

Quickly falls off
the fbi's radar.

Had there been
better communication

Between the fbi bureaus,
they might not have lost him.

Greg shaffer: That was
the crux of the failure.

Law enforcement learns
its lessons the hard way.

Narrator: Just two months
before president kennedy

Is assassinated, the fbi
loses lee harvey oswald.

There's still a chance for
us external intelligence

To stop him, but the mistakes
continue to stack up

When the cia
also drops the ball.

It is clear that the kgb
agent that lee harvey oswald

Is speaking to is known to be
attached to the assassination

Group of the kgb.

[numbers clicking]

[muffled voices on radio]

As the fbi attempts to
locate lee harvey oswald,

The former marine is
once again on the move.

This time, he's crossing
the border out of the us.

In September of '63,
lee harvey oswald makes

A bus trip to mexico city.

[horn honking]

And it's at this point that
the american cia picks up

The trail, because now
he's left the country,

And he is engaging in
conversations in mexico city

At the soviet embassy,
at the cuban embassy,

Presumably about
a visa possibility,

So that he's perhaps
thinking about going

Back to the soviet union.

Timothy naftali: He
wants to go to moscow,

And he wants to go
to moscow via cuba.

The cubans say to
him, "we're not

Going to give you
a transit visa unless we know

That you have a soviet visa.

So go talk to the
soviets first."

Narrator: Declassified
cia documents now

Reveal a key mistake is made
when the agents fail to react

To who oswald is talking to,
a kgb officer believed

To work for the department
responsible for sabotage

And assassination.

When oswald was
in mexico, a call

Was made from the soviet
embassy back

To the kgb department itself.

And that tells us
lots of things,

Even if we don't know the
contents of the call itself.

The fact that an american
citizen had traveled to mexico,

Gone to the soviet embassy,
was using a telephone line

At the soviet embassy
to phone back to the kgb

In moscow should really
have triggered off

A whole number of alarm bells.

To have lee harvey oswald
going to speak to assassination

Group members
of the kgb in mexico city

At the soviet embassy,

And it would seem
that it would have sparked

So much suspicion at the time.

And certainly,
in retrospect, it does.

Narrator: Despite the monitoring
and logging of oswald's call

To a soviet spy
department linked

To political assassinations,
no action is taken,

And oswald returns to the us.

Timothy naftali: Lee harvey
oswald was in a different box.

He was in the cold war box.

He's a far-left agitator box.

Wasn't the same box as the
secret service's box of people

Who were potential candidates
for attempting to assassinate

The american president.

Hindsight is a wonderful
thing, of course,

And it's very easy
when we know what's

Happened to look back and think,
why didn't someone spot this?

Narrator: As oswald
roams free, his dislike

For american politics
becomes more and more

Hate-fueled by the day.

And warnings that
could ultimately

Help stop the
president's assassination

Are about to be fatally ignored.

You don't want to think
like a secret service agent.

You want to think
like the assassin.

[phone rings]

[men murmuring]

[suspenseful music]

Narrator: In the months leading
up to jfk's assassination,

The intelligence agencies fail
to recognize the looming threat

Of lee harvey oswald.

The former marine
and sharpshooter

Is now suspected to
be in direct contact

With an agent from russia's
assassination department.

But there is still
time to stop him,

If only the dots are connected.

We now know there were small
snippets of intelligence that

Had been picked up beforehand
that suggested

That he might be a target
for assassination.

[numbers clicking]

[text clicking]

Narrator: October 15, 1962.

Almost a year before
kennedy's dallas visit,

A call comes through to the
us naval attaché in canberra,

Australia, warning of an
assassination plot against jfk.

A man called to say that
he was a polish chauffeur,

And that he was hired to
drive soviet officials

Around australia, and that,
in the course of doing that,

He heard conversations about
assassination plots and plots

To murder
the american president.

Narrator: The anonymous caller
claims that iron curtain

Countries plan to pay $100,000
for the assassination

Of president kennedy.

But officials in canberra
find no trace

Of any polish chauffeurs working
in australia's soviet embassy.

The call is filed as a hoax.

There's no corroborative
information.

If there's nothing else
to substantiate it,

Then quite often,
it's going to be ignored

And put into the discard pile.

Barbara a. Perry: This would
fall into what intelligence

Officials call chatter.

And that is an increase
in talk or communiques

That sometimes are
in coded language,

Are not specific, but
seem to be revolving

Around a certain event that
may be about to happen.

Narrator: On the day
of the assassination,

Just before midday,
jfk's motorcade

Leaves love field airport,
headed towards downtown dallas.

It's just 35 minutes before lee
harvey oswald fires his gun.

Almost 5,000 miles away,
across the atlantic,

Another mysterious
phone call is received.

Barbara a. Perry: It was
an anonymous phone call

To a journalist in
cambridge, England,

Alerting him that there
was going to be a big story

Breaking and that, in order
to get that big story,

He should call the
american embassy.

Narrator: The tip-off is so
vague, the reporter ignores it.

What's interesting about
any sort of telephone chatter

Or, you know, anyone calling,
saying that the president's

Going to get assassinated,
and then they hang up the phone,

You're at a disadvantage.

You can't ask any questions.

Every piece of information,
whether it's a call

From canberra,
whatever it happens to be,

Is a piece in a mosaic.

But if you're not looking
to build a mosaic,

It's just a piece,
and it gets filed away.

Narrator: As news of
jfk's assassination

Spreads across the globe, the
journalist contacts the police.

British intelligence
passes the details

To the london cia office, and
it eventually reaches the fbi.

The next day, the polish
chauffeur from canberra

Also calls the naval base again
to follow up on his tip-off

From a year earlier.

But in both cases, it's
too little, too late.

Because intelligence
failures sometimes

Are missing the piece,
but often,

They're not having
the picture in mind.

So the piece doesn't
fit anything,

And so it's disregarded.

So intelligence failures
can be both a failure

Of collecting, collecting
the data, but also

Of imagination or analysis.

Narrator: Efforts to
trace the polish chauffeur

Fail to locate him.

Numerous errors mean the stage
is now being set for the moment

That will end jfk's life--

Ignored tip-offs,
warnings about dallas,

And major security failings.

But the mistakes
don't stop there.

Just days before
the assassination,

The secret service unwittingly
provides the perfect vantage

Point for a trained marksman.

Not recognizing that a
high-angle sniper threat was

Possible was
probably the greatest

Oversight in american history.

[numbers clicking]

[ominous music]

Narrator: In a bid to gain
more public support in texas,

Jfk agrees to a
45-minute motorcade

Through the streets of dallas

Before his planned
business lunch.

Clodagh harrington: Well, I can
see why a motorcade would be

Attractive to any public
official who wants to seem

Accessible to the crowds,
to citizens,

To potential voters,
et cetera.

But there's a sense
of vulnerability there

That, you know, with even
the tiniest bit of hindsight

Is quite shocking.

Narrator: Eight days
before the visit,

A secret service agent
checks out the planned route

Of the motorcade.

When he signs it off,
the president's fate

Is sealed, because the route
takes jfk through dealey plaza

And right past several
tall buildings,

Including the texas school
book depository from where

The fatal shot will be fired.

Greg shaffer: The threat from
any one of those buildings

Would be great.

It was putting the president
in a very precarious situation.

When you think of
protection, it's not just

What's at the ground level.

You have to think 360 degrees.

You don't want to think
like a secret service agent.

You want to think
like the assassin.

Narrator: And there's
another crucial flaw

That's been missed.

Approaching dealey
plaza, the motorcade

Will need to slow down
significantly

To make the turn
onto elm street.

Greg shaffer: It's not
just a left-hand turn.

It's a sharp left-hand turn then
coming back at an angle, ok?

The vehicle has to
virtually stop

Or go at a very, very low speed
to make that hard turn.

Narrator: From a window high
up in the book depository,

The limo becomes the perfect
target for a trained sniper.

You don't want to
be static or still,

And there's a term
that's commonly referred to

In the service
called "get off the x."

When you're on the x,
or when you are static,

You are most likely to get hit.

Narrator: The secret service
then makes another key error.

The details of the planned
route are passed on to every

Law enforcement group involved
in the president's visit

Except the fbi, the one
agency that could have made

The connection with the route
and a possible threat,

Because the local fbi
has finally

Tracked down lee harvey oswald.

He's back in dallas and is
the newest employee of the texas

School book depository.

If you don't have intelligence
coming in, then you cannot have

Those kind of conversations,

And you cannot get out
in front to ensure

That the president is safe.

Narrator: On November 19,
four days before jfk's visit,

The local fbi bureau eventually
finds out the exact details

Of the motorcade route, not
through official channels,

But from the local paper.

Timothy naftali: If you keep
a motorcade route secret,

It makes it very hard for
potential conspirators

To ambush the president.

But it also means the
public doesn't know where

The president is going to be.

Narrator: Publishing the
route of the motorcade

Ensures maximum
exposure for jfk.

It also puts him
in the direct line

Of fire of lee harvey oswald.

[crowd cheering]

I suspect if the secret
service had known that someone

As controversial as lee
harvey oswald was working

On the motorcade route,
they either would have changed

The motorcade route,
or they would have found

A way to keep him
under surveillance that day.

And he would not have been
in the texas book depository

That day.

Narrator: But by 11:55
on November 22, 1963,

Oswald is in position
at the book depository

Sixth-floor window, and
a key procedural error

By the secret service is about
to ensure he is undisturbed.

Greg shaffer: They
didn't have the manpower.

They recognized that
as a vulnerability.

They recognized
that as a mistake.

[numbers clicking]

[siren wailing]

Narrator: Today,
the secret service

Has an annual budget
of around $2.25 billion

And employs over
3,000 special agents.

In 1963, its budget is the
equivalent of just $35 million,

And the most powerful man in
the world has just 28 agents

To provide round-the-clock
close protection.

That's a low number, given
what you're dealing with.

You're dealing with
crowds of people.

You're dealing with the
vehicles and its movements.

You're looking at
securing the environment

Around it, the buildings.

That's a lot.

Narrator: For the dallas
visit, the secret service

Insists local officers
act as rooftop security

At either end of
the motorcade route.

But during the 45-minute
motorcade journey,

The secret service agents
are expected to watch

The windows as they go.

In that era, they didn't
clear the buildings.

In fact, the president wanted
people to open the windows

And look at him, or at least
to see him from windows.

The secret service was
not looking for snipers.

In retrospect, you've
got to wonder, why?

Narrator: The route
through dallas

Takes jfk past 20,000 windows.

Rhonda glover reese:
When kennedy was shot,

The resources of
the secret service

Was minimal, whereas
now, everybody

Is going to participate.

The more collective
information you have,

The more intelligence you have,

The more and the better you
can secure somebody

So things like this
don't happen.

[suspenseful music]

Narrator: In the aftermath
of the assassination,

Secret service procedures
change almost overnight.

In today's world, when a
president visits some place,

You have everything from
removing mailboxes along

The motorcade route,
to soldering shut

The manhole covers,
to putting counter-sniper teams

On the rooftops
that look for snipers.

But back in 1963,
it was just a different world

That we lived in, and the
failings of the secret service

Became evident as a result
of the assassination.

Narrator: The unsuitable route
that brings the motorcade

To a standstill, the exact
journey's publication

In the press, and
a lack of manpower

All leaves the president
more open to attack.

But it's jfk's open-top
limo that decides his death.

Truly, at the end of the
day, when it comes down to it,

It's the car, the car, the car.

[ominous music]

Narrator: Prior to the
assassination of jfk,

Everyone from intelligence
agencies to the white house

And even the president
himself either misses

Or ignores the warning signs
of a clear and present danger.

But there is one
factor that makes

Jfk even more vulnerable--

The very car he is sitting in.

[numbers clicking]

Jfk's car of choice
is a modified lincoln

Continental nicknamed x-100.

Costing over $1.5
million in today's money,

It's designed to be
the ultimate head turner.

It had this sleekness about
it, and even its secret service

Name of x-100 made it
seem like something

Out of a james bond movie.

Narrator: The limo's
plush interior

Includes luxury rugs
and hand-stitched panels

Featuring the presidential seal.

Rather than being traditional
presidential black,

It is blue with silver sparkles
to look better on camera,

And it's a convertible.

He knew people
wanted to see him.

He's like, yeah,
I'm the president.

I'm cool.

I need the people
to see my face.

Narrator: But when it comes
to keeping the president safe,

The limo has serious flaws.

It had almost no
security features.

It was not armored, for example.

It didn't have
bulletproof sides.

It didn't have
bulletproof glass.

That was not the car
to put the president

Of the united states in.

Narrator: The limousine's
only security features

Are extra room in the back,
retractable running boards

On the sides, and steps at the
rear for secret service agents

To ride on the car.

One extra feature of
high importance to jfk

Is the car's
hydraulic rear seats.

They had made a platform
along the back seat

So that he could sit
above the rear seat

In full view of the crowds
on the side of the street.

Narrator: The raised
back seat makes

Jfk a clear target
for attack.

There were certain
things that he wanted to do

That really positioned him,

That put him out there.

And so there's
some contributions there

To making it very difficult,

Particularly for
the secret service,

To protect the president.

There's moments, I think,
in every agent's career,

Mine included, where you say,
"no, I'm not ok with this.

This isn't ok.

I can't keep you
alive and do this."

But I do think you
see at that time,

With jfk, this pivotal flaw
where you give in to something

That you necessarily should
not have been given into.

Narrator: Another fatal decision
made by the president himself

Makes him even more
exposed, because jfk

Wants the limo's roof removed.

They called from
fort worth to ask,

"how is the weather in dallas?"

To the secret service
agents at love field.

They said, "it's looking fine.

The weather is clearing."

He didn't bring jackie
along with him to hide

Underneath some bubble top.

He wanted people to see them.

Evy poumpouras:
So there's nothing

There to obstruct
the shot that lee

Harvey oswald's about to take.

Everything's lined up perfectly
for him to take that shot

And succeed in taking that shot.

Sometimes it's just that simple.

He should have never
been in that vehicle.

Narrator: Today, the
presidential limousine

Is one of the most secure
vehicles ever built.

Greg shaffer: The limousine
that the president currently

Travels in is called the beast.

The capabilities of that
vehicle are classified,

But it's virtually impenetrable.

So in 1963, putting the
president of the united states

In a convertible was
incredibly stupid,

And the secret
service, you know,

Learned a very valuable lesson.

Narrator: Jfk, seated raised
up in an open-top limo,

Is an easy target for oswald.

But that's not the only
mistake the president makes

On the day of his death.

As his motorcade makes
its way down elm street,

He should be surrounded
by a human shield

Of secret servicemen.

But the president has
ordered them to back off.

It's an error that he will
pay for with his life.

In a sense, they set
themselves up for failure,

And they set up lee
harvey oswald for success.

[numbers clicking]

[ominous music]

[crowd cheering]

Narrator: As john f. Kennedy's
motorcade begins its journey

Through dallas,
the crowds are able to get

A close look at the
charismatic young president

And his glamorous wife.

Narrator: Standard protocol
is for the president's

Bodyguards to be stationed as
close as possible to the limo.

But jfk wants to make
an impression in dallas,

And he doesn't want his
secret service agents getting

Between him and the public.

Barbara a. Perry: Because
president kennedy wanted

To have maximum
contact with the people

While riding in a
motorcade, he did not

Want any physical blockage of
having secret service agents

On the running board, or he
didn't really even want them

On the back of the limousine.

One of the things that
kennedy prided himself on

Was that willingness and that
ability to just get out there.

He was willing to talk to
people, to engage with people.

Narrator: The secret
service reluctantly complies

With jfk's wishes to back off.

They'll ride in the
second car, only getting

Closer if his limo slows down.

Evy poumpouras:
It's another layer

That should have been there.

It's another layer
that could have

Prevented this from happening.

So you can see all
these concessions

Made by the us secret service in
turn which yielded this result.

Narrator: When lee harvey
oswald first pulls the trigger

At 12:30 pm, the nearest
secret service agent

Starts to run towards
the president,

But he has 25 feet to cover.

When it comes to
protection, proximity is key.

You need to be close enough
to touch your protectee,

And that's not happening here.

Narrator: By the time the agent
reaches the presidential limo,

A second shot, this one
fatal, has been fired.

That led to the dramatic
moment of the secret service

Officer trying to shield
both the president

And protect the first lady
from falling out the back

Of an accelerating limousine.

Evy poumpouras: You want
to have close access

To the person you protect.

I'm not physically faster
than a speeding bullet,

And especially if you put
me at a greater distance.

So these agents
are at a distance.

They can't get there in time.

If you've got the
running boards,

At least they're there to
possibly shield and take

The bullet for the president.

Narrator: Distancing himself
from his protection detail

Is a critical error.

But even if the agents had
been in position on the limo's

Running boards,
shocking evidence

Reveals that late-night
drinking has left many of them

In no fit state
to react quickly.

Evy poumpouras:
When I look back,

It is almost incomprehensible
to understand how

They thought they
could keep somebody safe

Functioning this way.

[numbers clicking]

[glasses clinking]

Narrator: In the inquest that
follows jfk's assassination,

Many of the secret
service agents

Claimed they thought the first
gunshot was a firecracker.

But 10 days later,
"the washington post"

Reveals another reason for the
lag in their reaction times--

They were hungover.

Rhonda glover reese:
There's no way

That you're going
to be on task

When you're out drinking
the night before.

I know that, as a former
leader in the fbi,

Those individuals
would have been pulled.

Narrator: The night before
the motorcade, six members

Of jfk's personal
protection detail

Head out for late-night drinks.

Some remain out until 3:00 am.

Evy poumpouras:
When you're an agent,

Like, you have to
be fully functional.

So the consumption of any
alcohol, any substance,

Is a huge no.

Narrator: After jfk's
assassination, several members

Of the public report
they spotted a gun barrel

In the window of
the book depository.

Rhonda glover reese:
Because they weren't feeling

At their best,
they weren't watching.

Evy poumpouras: You have to
have all your wits about you.

You have to have all
your senses and be sharp.

The odds were in his favor,
not in theirs.

[dramatic music]

Narrator: Had all of
jfk's security detail

Been in their best
physical shape

And stationed next to him,
jfk may have survived.

[gunshot]

Timothy naftali:
First shot to hit kennedy

Went through his neck.

And he remained
sitting upright,

Which meant that he was a clear
target for oswald's next shot--

[gunshot]

--Which hit the back of
his head and blew it off.

Narrator: John f. Kennedy is
pronounced dead

At parkland memorial hospital
at 1:00 pm.

Timothy naftali:
It looked like the kennedys

Would be in the white house
for another four years.

Dallas ended all of it

In one, sharp, tragic,
awful moment.

I don't think america
was ever or will

Ever be the same after that.

It was, as some
have said, a loss

Of innocence for
the united states,

And it was a loss of hope.

Sharron wilkins conrad: For
african americans watching this

And living through this,
there's a sense

That they had lost
their champion,

Because he had spoken out
on their behalf.

Narrator: No single
error allowed

The events of November 22,
1963 to play out as they did.

But the 10 mistakes that led to
the inevitable death of

Of john f. Kennedy also mean
no other president will ever

Be as exposed to attack again.

[gunshot]

This whole thing
is about holes.

Where are the holes?

Where are the vulnerabilities?

That day in dallas was a
huge wake-up call around

How a president is
allowed to be and how

Free he and his family can be.

It just gets tighter
and tighter and tighter.

Greg shaffer: The assassination
of john f. Kennedy

Was a watershed event.

It changed the
history of the world,

And it also changed dramatically
the standard operating

Procedures that the secret
service now follow to ensure

That their principal, the
president of the united states,

Is being protected.

The scenario that happened
with president kennedy

Is not a scenario that
will ever happen again.

As an agent looking
back at my predecessors,

I think to myself, how did
you not think something

Like this would happen?

But as a result of that,
everything changed.