All language subtitles for Kennedy s01e07 The Brink of War.eng

- 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.

[soft sweeping music]

- 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.

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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.

narrator:
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.

narrator:
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."

[suspenseful music]

? ?

narrator: It wasn't long
before Kennedy received

a new threat from Khrushchev.

[propellers whirring]

narrator: With the massive
blockade now in effect,

Khrushchev made it clear:
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.

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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.

narrator:
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.

[airplane engine roaring]

narrator: 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.

narrator:
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.

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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."

narrator: 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."

[sniffles]

[gentle music]

? ?

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.

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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.

narrator: Having responded
to Khrushchev's terms,

the United States could only
wait for a final decision

from Moscow.

[gentle piano music]

narrator:
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.

narrator: 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?"

narrator: 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.

narrator:
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.

narrator:
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.

[applause]

narrator:
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.

narrator: 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.

[cheers and applause]

narrator:
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? ?

narrator: 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.

- [vocalizing]

narrator:
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.

[soft music]

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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.

[raucous cheering]

- 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."

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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.

[tense piano music]

narrator: 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.

narrator:
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.

narrator:
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.

narrator:
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.

narrator: 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.

narrator:
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."

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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."

narrator: 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.

narrator:
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.

narrator: 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.

narrator: 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.

[dramatic music]

? ?

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.

[cheers and applause]

? ?

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

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

narrator: 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.

[cheers and applause]

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

"Ich bin ein Berliner."

- There were no doubts left
about his leadership.

[sweeping orchestral music]

- The last 60 years
has been America wishing

they could rewrite sad history.

[siren wails]

- Parkland Hospital has
been advised to stand by

for a gunshot wound.

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