Previously on The Kennedys....
You want me to be Joe, and I'm not! Well, that's obvious.
Well, then save your money, for chrissake! I can't win.
Your name is Kennedy, and Kennedys never come second.
Jacqueline Bouvier, Congressman Jack Kennedy.
He'll never be faithful.
I don't particularly care what happens, really.
I mean, after today, I'm done. He's just on edge.
He's been waiting 50 years for this day.
Mr. President! Mr. President! Jack needs somebody he can trust,
and I need you to keep an eye on Jack. I'm picking my own cabinet, dad.
I believe they elected me President, not you.
♪ The Kennedys♪ Episode 3 Original Air Date on April 5, 2011
-- sync, corrected by elderman --
(Elder-Man) A happy President-elect and Mrs. Kennedy
today left the hospital with their new addition,
John F. Kennedy Jr.
When reporters asked Mr. Kennedy
if he hoped his son would someday occupy the White House,
he joked that one President per family is probably enough.
Later, at his Georgetown residence,
Mr. Kennedy met with several newly appointed members
of his cabinet and advisory staff.
The President has tapped Harvard Dean McGeorge Bundy
to be his National Security Advisor,
Robert McNamara, President of the Ford Motor Company,
will serve as Secretary of Defense,
and Air Force General Thomas Bennett
will sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The top spot at the Justice Department
has yet to be filled, and who America's chief
law enforcement officer will be remains an open question.
I'm a little surprised
you haven't announced Bobby as Attorney General.
Oh. Well, there's, uh...
there's a lot to consider, dad, and I still have time.
I think you owe it to him, Jack,
given everything he's done for you.
I appreciate that,
but, uh, I'm not sure he's the right choice.
Really?
How are you feeling?
Wonderful.
They took excellent care of me.
I had all my children at home, as you know.
Yes. I knew that.
(Clock chimes)
Have you thought about
what you'll be wearing to the inauguration?
(Sighs) Uh, um...
Mr. Cassini has drawn up some beautiful sketches.
He is a very well-respected designer.
I'm sure whatever he comes up will be lovely.
Though...
He tends to favor a more European look...
Designs that work better on a more slender woman's body.
Well, I have eight weeks to get my figure back.
Oh, don't you think that's cutting it rather fine, dear?
I'd try to get it back in four.
(Footsteps approach)
Jackie,
do you think Jack should appoint Bobby as Attorney General?
Whatever Jack wants.
Joe, I'm not sure that's such a good idea.
Why is that?
Bobby told me he wants to go back to Boston,
spend more time with Ethel and the children.
Well, that's good to know, but he needs to be with Jack.
He has no experience.
He has the best experience in the world. He's your brother.
Christ, he's never been in a courtroom.
He deserves it, Jack, and he wants it.
I'm not sure he does.
Well, I want it for him.
All those other guys,
the Harvard and Yale guys you're talking to, the PhDs--
their only allegiance is to their résumé.
Bobby's as smart as any of 'em,
and he'll jump under a train for you.
I'll think about it.
No, don't think. Get it done.
You've got lots of other work to do.
Thank you.
Listen, I think before we go in there
and tell him I'm not goa do it,
I think we should be clear on this. Yeah, we covered that.
I know, but you haven't said one way or the other.
I want to hear it from you.
You think I want to hear your high-pitched, whiny voice
yakking in my ear for the next four years?
Listen, I'm serious. Christ, it's four years.
You want me to be a part of your administration, I'll do it.
I don't want to do it, but I will do it if you need me to.
Go live your life. You've done enough, all right?
But if they don't impeach me first, you're coming back
to get me reelected in '64.
All right, fine, but you're telling him. I'm not--
Oh, hell, no. I'm not starting. You start.
(Clock ticking)
(Clears throat)
Well, I mean, we've talked about it,
and there's just far too many negatives here.
The press is gonna be out for blood, and I, uh,
I don't want to come out of the gate on the defensive.
No. No.
Besides, um...
You'll--you'll be there, and, uh...
I mean, he doesn't really-- really need me, do you?
I won't be there every day. You will.
Well, I-I just-- I think it'll look bad.
I think the press is gonna say, uh, it's nepotism, it's a-a co-presidency.
I don't think it'll work, dad. I agree with that.
We have bigger problem with Hoover. Oh, that's true. He--he's really--
I mean, he's not gonna accept him as a boss, and I, uh--
That's a good point.
Hell, he's ran the FBI for 30 years. I mean...
(Ticking continues)
It's just, uh... It's not gonna work.
(Ticking continues)
All I can do...
is try to give you the benefit of my experience.
If you boys don't want that,
I have no choice
but to respect your decision.
(Ticking continues)
Well, thank you, dad.
We appreciate that.
(Ticking continues)
It is with great pleasure
that I announce the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy
as Attorney General.
I, uh, know
there have been some questions about his qualifications...
(Laughter)
But, uh, I can attest to the fact that he is, uh,
very intelligent, very, uh, very tenacious, and, uh,
we thought it'd be useful for him to get some, uh, experience
before he went into private practice, so...
(Laughter)
So I, uh, wasn't gonna have him say anything,
but I think I will. Bobby?
(Men) Bobby... Bobby...
(Bobby) Thank you all very much. I, um...
I, uh, am pleased to, uh, accept the position
of the Attorney Generalship, uh, of the United States.
Joe Kennedy thinks I'm gonna take orders
from that snot-nosed kid of his.
Don't get upset, Edgar. Would you like a TUMS?
Yes, I would.
(TV continues playing indistinctly)
The FBI is the finest investigative agency
in the world.
I've spent my entire life making it so, and I will not...
let it be degraded by a bunch of...
Amateurs.
Well, you've always found a way to circumvent the authority
of the Attorney General, whoever he is.
(TV continues playing indistinctly)
You're right, Clyde.
You're right.
(Elder-Man) Despite subfreezing temperatures,
hundreds of thousands watched today's inaugural ceremonies,
as President John F. Kennedy
and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson
took their constitutional oaths of office,
on the steps of the nation's capitol.
(Amplified voice) In the long history of the world,
only a few generations have been granted the role
of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.
I do not shrink from this responsibility. I welcome it.
I do not believe any of us would exchange places
with any other people or any other generation.
The energy, the faith, the devotion
which we bring to this endeavor will light our country
and all who serve it.
And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans,
ask not what your country can do for you.
Ask what you can do for your country.
(Applause)
(Engines roaring)
(Grunts)
Bahía de Cochino, Mr. President--
Bay of Pigs, on the southern Cuban coast.
For the past 18 months, we at the CIA
have been training a brigade of anti-Castro guerillas
in Guatemala.
Yes, I'm aware of that.
Then I'm sure you're also aware
that President Eisenhower
approved this training and its ultimate purpose--
the--the elimination of Fidel Castro.
Well, I'm certainly for his, uh, elimination.
I just question whether or not this will, uh, work.
I think-- Yes, it will, Mr. President.
Without direct U.S. involvement, General.
Our fingerprints can't be anywhere on this operation.
They won't be, sir.
The guerillas are using untraceable equipment,
and the support planes and vessels
are without U.S. insignia.
That's all very good and well, General,
but the, uh, Castro army here seems to have, uh, 25,000 men.
Uh, our invasion force has roughly, uh...
1,500.
And Castro's forces are, uh, well-armed.
They have Russian hardware.
The guerillas have the advantage of surprise, sir.
Castro has not one idea in hell that they're coming.
Now let's not forget, the Cuban people will rise up
and support this liberating force.
Well, I question that as well.
The State Department shares your doubts, Mr. President.
And there's another thing to consider.
If we give the guerillas the go-ahead and the operation
begins to fail, will you be able to resist the pressure
to save it by ordering our direct military involvement?
Sir, we have a communist bastion
90 miles from our shore.
By excising it,
we make this whole part of the world more secure.
This is something we have to do.
The General is the best commander I ever served under.
In my opinion,
he shortened the war in the Pacific by six months.
Well, he's, uh, he's quite a character. Yes, sir, he is.
But he also makes a good point. The guerillas are patriots.
They want to take their homeland back.
Bob?
This is your first strategic decision.
You go against the recommendation of the Chiefs
and the CIA, they're gonna make you pay for it.
I'm not issuing an invasion order
because I'm afraid of the Joint Chiefs.
Sir,
for every hour that this decision is delayed,
you run the risk of these invasion plans being leaked.
You think this succeeds?
I do, sir.
Not only will it succeed, but it will send Khrushchev
a message of our intent and our resolve.
And it will show him
exactly the kind of President you intend to be.
You know, when I made a decision in the Senate,
I always had 40 or 50 guys to go alongside me
to take the heat if things went wrong.
Job's little different now.
(Taps fingers on leg)
(Sighs)
All right, issue the go codes, Bob.
Send those guerillas to Cuba.
Yes, Mr. President.
(Bobby) Thanks for coming by, Mr. Director.
I, uh, wondered if you had a chance to, uh,
review the policy changes I sent over to your office.
I did see them, yes.
Well, I'd like to, uh,
streamline the flow of information going to
the public and the press.
In the past,
all Bureau communications were issued through my office.
Well, from, uh, from now on, I'd like, uh, any press releases
from the Bureau to go out, if approved, on D.O.J. letterhead,
and anyone from the Bureau giving public speeches
will have their comments first cleared by my office.
I'm puzzled by your need
to control the flow of information so tightly.
Well, I want the entire department
to speak with one voice.
The Bureau has had its own voice for 30 years,
and I have to insist that we maintain it.
Well, now this is a new era,
and there's a new world order, Mr. Director.
I sincerely hope that you can adapt yourself to it.
I hope you'll forgive me, young man,
if it takes me a while to make that adaptation.
I do forgive you,
and I would appreciate from now on
you addressing me as "General."
(Elevator bell dings)
Feet on the desk... throwing darts against the wall
is desecrating government property.
Little bastard has no respect.
He thinks he can take over my Bureau?
We're gonna have to dissuade him, Clyde.
Bobby's squeaky clean.
But his brother isn't.
The Jack Kennedy file-- that dates back to 1942.
We need something current. It shouldn't be too difficult.
Our President is just like his father.
Their need for sexual conquest borders on addiction.
And I want full attention paid to this.
(Elevator bell dings)
(Telephone rings)
(Ring)
(Joe) Hello?
You, uh... You got a minute to talk?
Well, that's what I'm here for, Jack.
We, uh, we made a, uh, pretty big decision over here today.
We're gonna send that, uh, that brigade of, uh,
guerillas into, uh, Cuba.
What, to get rid of Castro?
That's right.
No American troops, right? You can't be traced back?
Well, that's what I've been told.
Well, that's great.
(Laughs) It'll be great if it works.
Well, Castro's a damn dictator-- Hitler with a beard--
and you're gonna get rid of him
in your first three months in office. Congratulations.
Thanks.
A-and stick to your guns.
You've got the best people in the world working for you,
and that's what they recommended, right?
Yes.
Well, then you did the right thing.
And let me tell you something, I-I-I don't like Harry Truman,
but when he dropped the bomb, he got the best information
he could, he made his decision, and that was that.
You'll be fine.
Thank you.
Good night, son.
(Receiver clatters)
These congressional receptions are ridiculous.
Be confident in your decision, Jack.
You're a wonderful leader.
Those guerillas are gonna land on the beach
in less than an hour.
Have you talked to Bobby about it?
No. No, he's, uh...
He's not involved.
You look beautiful.
(Indistinct conversations)
Very well.
(Indistinct conversations continue)
(Gunfire, man yells)
(Indistinct conversations continue)
Thanks.
(Gunfire)
(Machine gun fires)
(Boom)
(Machine gun fires)
(Clink)
(Speaking inaudibly)
(Machine gun fires)
(Speaking indistinctly)
(Indistinct conversations)
(Indistinct conversations continue)
Castro's intelligence services must have been tipped off.
His men were on the beach,
waiting for the guerillas with Soviet tanks.
I don't understand.
I ordered the invasion when I did to avoid a security breach.
He had a clear view of the brigade as it approached.
Clear view? It was the middle of the goddamn night.
It was the conditions. What?
We didn't factor in a full moon.
(Indistinct conversations) (McNamara) "Engagement continues in the bay.
"Guerillas under heavy bombardment.
Questionable if they can withstand"...
(Conversations stop) I understand the, uh, guerillas are in trouble.
What's going on out there?
They're taking heavy losses, sir.
How heavy?
We don't know precisely.
What's that?
A cable from one of our CIA operatives on the scene.
What's it say?
Sir, if you'd just allow me to para--
I want you to read it, Bob.
"Cuban defense forces opened fire at 700 yards.
"Landing craft blown out of the water.
"Have counted over 50 corpses in the water.
"One young guerilla suffered extensive shrapnel wounds
"in an explosion no more than 10 yards from my position.
"Due to withering fire, I could not reach him.
He choked to death on his own blood."
(Clears throat)
"Have," uh, "never seen such slaughter."
At this point, sir,
the situation can only be served with air power.
The guerillas had air support.
They flew their own planes in from Nicaragua.
They were ineffective. To make matters worse,
Castro's planes destroyed the supply ship that contained
the guerillas' ammunition and communication gear.
Jesus. These were on one ship? Yes, sir.
And there's no uprising in the Cuban people.
Sir, we don't get planes in the air immediately, this operation is doomed.
Our planes? Our planes launched from our carriers?
We'll need one of our destroyers to take out Soviet tanks.
No, I have been consistent on this from the get-go.
Cuba is a Russian ally.
I'm not gonna risk retaliation from Khrushchev.
He won't do a damn thing.
You said that the invasion force would land without resistance.
You told me that, uh, Castro and the people of Cuba
would rise up. You've been wrong about everything so far.
Air support--
I don't know why the hell I should start believing you right now, General.
Air support is the only way to keep this from becoming
an unmitigated disaster. It already is.
Mr. President, if you don't send in the planes,
those men out there on the beach,
who were trained by us, who trust in us...
They will die.
I'm aware of that.
Well, then please, sir, make your decision.
Time is of the essence.
I don't, uh, suppose CIA can explain this, Mr. Dulles?
Well, I-I won't do it.
Christ, I-I'm not gonna send in our own planes.
Mr. President, you can't just sit here--
I'm your Commander in Chief. That's my decision.
Are these the cables? Latest?
(Man) Yes, sir.
I just wanted it to work. And I trusted them.
Jack, Bennett told you, he assured you that this--
I believed because they were military,
they knew a damned thing about military matters.
Khrushchev...
This is a victory for him.
It's a victory I handed him, I...
The public relations victory of a lifetime.
I was so stupid.
You're exhausted, Jack.
You should get some sleep.
Come on.
And all those men...
They're never coming home because of me.
(Joe) How could you let this happen? What are you talking about, dad?
I'm talking about this Bay of Pigs thing. How could you let Jack do it?
I-I wasn't in those meetings. That's foreign policy.
Well, you should have been.
Now listen to me, Bobby,
I know you didn't want to be in the Cabinet,
that you wanted to be on your own, but you've got the job,
and your job is to support your brother.
That's precisely what I've been doing.
I do support my brother. Not enough.
You have to be the sounding board
for every major decision he makes.
His presidency's in trouble,
and you need to fix it.
(Line disconnects)
(Dial tone drones)
Bobby and I'll come up Friday.
(Door closes)
(Engine turns over)
(Woman) Mr. President,
the Attorney General's here to see you.
(People speak indistinctly)
What's everyone telling you to do?
Hunker down.
Avoid the press.
Sons of bitches.
They want this job, they can have it tomorrow.
(Indistinct conversations)
So where do we go from here?
Well, hopefully, there'll be a natural disaster
some other part of the world, and people will forget about
the man-made disaster right here.
Listen, I wish I could have been here for you.
Sorry.
Jesus, Bobby, I made so many so many mistakes
with this damned thing.
Not having you around was another one of my screwups.
Listen, covert action was justified, Jack.
You were trying to liberate a-an oppressed people.
You weren't committing a crime.
(Sighs)
Unfortunately, it didn't work.
No, it didn't.
Well, not this time.
But we're gonna fix this.
We're--we're gonna get Castro out of there,
one way or the other.
(Sighs)
Now I gotta figure out how long to hide
before I show my face again.
Why not show it tomorrow?
Hold a press conference.
You stand up in front of the American people
and tell them you made a mistake.
Use the entire country as my confessional?
That's very Catholic of you, Bobby.
Not very Presidential.
Yeah, well, maybe not, but at least it's human.
When all else fails, tell the truth.
(Elder-Man) In Havana,
Fidel Castro claimed victory at the Bay of Pigs
over Washington's imperialist warmongers.
Speaking, at times hysterically,
to large and enthusiastic crowds,
Castro did not mention President Kennedy by name,
but he promised that Cuba would defend itself to the last man
if there is another attempt by the United States
to overthrow his Communist regime.
(Reporters) Mr. President? Mr. President?
Our intention was, of course, to, uh, help the Cuban people
free themselves from the Communist yoke.
Um, there's an old saying that, uh,
victory has a, uh, hundred fathers,
defeat is an orphan.
This is, uh, not to deny responsibility.
Uh, I am the, uh, responsible officer of the government,
that much is obvious.
The, uh, brave volunteers
at the, uh, Bay of Pigs
uh, believed that communism in this hemisphere
was intolerable
and that freedom in Cuba was inevitable.
I believe, uh, in the inevitable defeat of Communism
throughout the world.
Mr. President? Mr. President?
Yes.
(Indistinct conversations)
Gentlemen, how are you? (Door closes)
Mr. President, I've begun to put an assessment together
as to why the operation did not achieve its desired result.
Well, that's fine, but I'm, uh, less interested in a post mortem
than where we go from here.
Where do you want to go, Mr. President?
Well, Castro's gonna continue to be a problem.
And, uh, this government is, uh, committed to, uh,
resolving that.
I'd just like to go on the record, sir,
that the CIA's information
about the reaction of the Cuban people
was based on contact with dissidents
among Castro's inner circle.
Very good. You're on the record, Mr. Dulles.
I, uh, think it's important to stress to our allies
and the communists that, uh, despite this, uh...
Setback, that, uh, our resolve is not diminished.
That's a fine sentiment, Mr. President,
but the Russians are gonna look at it as weak,
and made significantly weaker
by your press conference this morning.
Well, I don't know if I follow you.
The idea of the Commander in Chief
apologizing for a military operation...
Let's just say I've never seen anything like it.
Well, I-I am known for breaking new ground.
(Laughter)
You may enjoy your witticisms,
but there are a hundred dead men out there.
How dare you, sir? Might I remind you,
you're speaking to the President of the United States?
And his apology, as you call it,
was one of the-- the bravest things
any President has ever done, and I think we're gonna
come out of this stronger than ever because of it.
So--so if you can't see your own culpability in this mess,
I-I-I suggest that you don't belong in this room
or this Administration.
And that goes for everyone else here.
Well, you all know my brother Bobby.
(Laughter)
General, I understand you're not pleased with my performance,
and you consider me inexperienced.
Well, I just got a hell of a lot of experience,
and I intend to use it to make sure
nothing like this ever happens again.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Gentlemen, in your briefing package,
you will find our first order of business.
If you could please turn to page three.
Still haven't gotten a reaction from the press conference.
People either, uh, rally around me
or, uh, I'll be impeached.
Jack, you were magnificent.
It's just what the country needed to hear.
Well, thanks, honey, and I hope you're right.
How's everybody doing up there?
Fine.
The kids are having fun at the beach.
I'm doing some work on de Gaulle.
It's only six weeks before we go to Paris.
Good. Well, I, uh,
have a National Security briefing in the morning,
and, uh, I'll come up to The Cape after that.
See you then.
I love you.
I love you, too.
(Indistinct conversations)
Jack's going to try to get here tomorrow.
Oh, wonderful.
Well, I think I'm... I'm gonna call it a day.
Good night, Rosie.
Good night, grandpa.
Don't forget to turn out the lights.
Can I get you anything, Mrs. Kennedy?
Cup of tea?
No, thank you, dear. It'll keep me up.
Do you mind if I sit with you?
Of course not.
It's beautiful.
Hmm.
How are things with you and Jack?
Busy.
We don't see much of each other.
Joe was never around while I was raising the children.
He was in Hollywood, New York...
(Chuckles) A man of the world.
That must have been very difficult for you
with nine children.
Oh, it was.
After Jack was born,
I became very depressed about my marriage.
(Chuckles)
I took the children and moved back to my father's house.
You left Joe?
The rumors of his indiscretions became too much for me.
How long were you separated?
Not long.
My father sent me back to Joe.
He said that a Catholic woman's place was with her husband.
A Catholic woman's obligation is to keep the family together.
That's what the church intends for us.
But the rumors didn't go away?
Oh, not only did they not go away,
it became obvious that they weren't rumors.
Yet you stayed.
My husband provided a life for me,
a life that allowed me to raise children
in the way that God wants them to be raised.
But he hurt you.
Yes, as I know that Jack has hurt you.
The men that we've married
have great gifts and great flaws, but...
They're the men we've chosen.
(Turns TV on)
("The Star-Spangled Banner" playing)
(Turns TV off)
(Clock ticking)
(Click)
(Sighs)
(Click)
(Clock ticking)
(Telephone rings)
(Ring)
(Woman) White House operator.
This is Mrs. Kennedy. I'm looking for the President.
I tried calling up to the residence,
but he's not answering.
Let me ring Mrs. Lincoln's office, ma'am. Please hold.
Mrs. Lincoln isn't answering. I can check with
the Secret Service office if you'd like.
It's okay. Good night.
Good night, ma'am.
(Receiver clatters)
♪
Hi, Toots.
Judy.
(Man) President Kennedy's approval rating,
which had plummeted sharply due to the Bay of Pigs incident,
took a dramatic upturn following his press conference,
in which he accepted responsibility
for the disaster. Over 80% of the American people
now approve of the President's job performance.
Perhaps buoyed by that response,
Mr. Kennedy is spending the weekend in Massachusetts
for what his aides described as "strenuous relaxation."
That's it! That's a touchdown!
(Bobby) Whoo-hoo!
You played well. I'm done!
(Breathing heavily)
Nice.
What did you get up to last night?
Well, we're gonna try to work out, uh...
some sort of negotiation
for some of those Cuban prisoners.
Jackie called me, uh, about 11:30,
concerned that you weren't in the residence.
What'd you tell her?
Well, I told her you were exhausted.
You'd probably unplugged the phone.
Am I in trouble here? Did she buy that?
I don't know. I suppose.
I said I'd, uh, spoken to you 15 minutes earlier,
and you were gonna go to bed.
Well, not that I, um...
get any points for it.
I was gonna go to bed, I just...
Christ, I couldn't sleep. I just...
But you're, uh, not the Junior Senator from Massachusetts--
I know. I know.
(Indistinct conversations)
It's not even about the sex, for God sakes, it's just...
Mm...
The rush of the damned thing...
What you and Jackie have is so beautiful, Jack.
I just don't want you to do anything to ruin it.
(Indistinct conversations continue)
We can just pass the whole thing over to state.
All right.
Mr. President, Director Hoover is here to see you.
I asked him to wait in the cabinet room.
He's not on the schedule. What's he doing here?
I don't know.
He said it's a matter that needs your immediate attention.
The woman's name is Judy Campbell.
I believe you've known her for some time--
were introduced to her by the entertainer, Frank Sinatra.
Here she is entering the West Wing last night at 11:17 p.m.
We've had her under surveillance
because of her other known associations.
What, uh, associations in particular?
The gentleman is Sam Giancana.
I believe you know him
from your days on the McClellan committee.
He's the most powerful gangster in the country.
Now under normal circumstances, Mr. President, I would, uh,
I would feel that, uh,
your dalliances should remain a matter between you,
your wife, and your God.
However, our concern is that Mr. Giancana
might be using the young woman to put you,
and therefore your Administration,
in a compromised position.
What are you, uh...
What are you planning on doing with those?
Naturally, they will remain secure in our files.
But I urge you...
Tread cautiously, Mr. President.
Tread cautiously. Thank you.
Good day to you, sir.
General.
-- sync, corrected by elderman --