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- Previously on "Kennedy". After seven months in Europe, Jack Kennedy was now 22 years old. - Handsome, born to an extremely wealthy family. What we really know is a lot of pain. - One thing after another sent him to the infirmary. - He's got this older brother, Joe Jr., who is considered the shining star of the family. - Jack was an afterthought. - Was he going to pity himself, or was he going to overcome it? - He was exposed from a very early age to a really incredible array of international experiences.
- Using what he learned in Europe as a guide, Jack began work on his thesis, which he later expanded into a book called "Why England Slept." It quickly sold 80,000 copies. - To lead us to a fruitful America, from the state of Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy! [crowd cheering] - John F. Kennedy lived a life that would help define an entire generation. - Together, we shall save our planet, or, together, we shall perish in its flames. - What was it about that guy? - Looks, style, empathy. he was incredibly charming.
- Intellectual and progressive. - He was the future. He was next. - President for just over 1,000 days, Kennedy navigated events and crises that changed the world. - Kennedy is feeling the pressure from the Civil Rights activists. - This was a country on nuclear war footing. - This could be the last mistake that anybody makes politically. - He changed us in the process of his own growth. - We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
- 60 years after his assassination, we are still fascinated by the triumphs and flaws of the youngest president ever elected. - I ask you to join us in all the tomorrows yet to come, in building America, moving America, picking this country of ours up and sending it into the '60s. - If Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe and Asia and Africa and Australasia and the high seas. And they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere.
There will be no bottlenecks in our determination to aid Great Britain. No dictator will weaken that determination. - In 1940, as Britain turned to the United States for assistance, Jack Kennedy published a book about the lead-up to World War II. As Germany's Luftwaffe bombarded British cities during August 1940, Americans seeking to better understand the war eagerly turned to Kennedy's book. Letters flew into Jack's mailbox with offers from prestigious publishers and inquiries about follow-up volumes. Now a best-selling author at age 23, Jack had to decide if he would continue writing or choose another avenue altogether.
By fall 1940, Jack had a plan to return to school and build on his Harvard education, but his plans stalled when his health declined again. He checked into the Lahey Clinic in Boston, with gastrointestinal problems and back pain-- an issue that began during his time at Harvard, where he ruptured a disk in his spine while playing football. Physicians recommended he find a place for quiet rehabilitation. That place, he decided, would be the Golden State. Jack settled in California, auditing business, political science, and economic classes at Stanford University.
Jack was a minor celebrity at Stanford, not least of which was due to his father's previous position as the American ambassador to the United Kingdom. On his first day, he wore casual shabby clothes while driving the Buick convertible purchased with his book earnings. With his "FDR for President" button, unkempt hair, confident and carefree attitude, Jack made a splash around campus. While he studied and gallivanted around Stanford, he kept an eye on the situation in Europe. Like many Americans his age, he was unsure what the escalating conflict meant for his future. As the war surged overseas, Kennedy's older brother, the fervently anti-war Joe Jr., left law school to enlist in the United States Navy.
Jack decided to follow suit, putting aside his academic pursuits as the United States' entrance into the war seemed inevitable. - Jack was a man who wanted to be at the center of action. - Quickly, he volunteered for Army Officer Candidate School but was rejected due to his poor health. - He failed the physical because of his back pain. So the Army said to Jack Kennedy, well, thanks for showing up, young man.
We just don't need you. - Jack was undeterred, adopting a strict health regimen to build his strength. - Ultimately, Jack continues to push to get into the armed forces in some way. - In October 1941, Jack was approved for military service. He was assigned a post at the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C., as a Navy Reserve officer. The desk assignment wasn't ideal, but it was all he had for now. [plane engines roaring] [ominous music]
- Just after Jack finished a game of football near the Washington Monument, news arrived of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor-- a Naval base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The next day, President Roosevelt officially announced that the United States was at war with Japan. Hitler, allied with Japan, promptly declared war on the United States. Two years into the Second World War, the United States was now fully engaged in the conflict. - With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.
- Jack's busy schedule at Navy Intelligence did not give him much time to sleep, especially after the U.S. joined the war effort. Helping him get through the long days was his new lover. - His sister Kathleen introduced him to a beautiful young lady. - Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, journalist Inga Arvad was an exotic figure whom Jack saw as an intellectual equal, fascinated by her sharp mind and captivating Scandinavian looks. To the FBI, there was more to Inga than met the eye.
Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a reporter from the "Washington Times-Herald" found an image of Inga in Hitler's box during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Intelligence collected on her indicated that as a reporter, she met Hitler on multiple occasions and attended the wedding for high-ranking Nazi official Hermann Goering. Speculation on whether or not Inga was a German spy ran rampant. She rejected all accusations, and her relationship with Jack didn't wane.
- So she was on the FBI list. J. Edgar Hoover was after her. - Spying on their every move, Hoover wiretapped their bedroom, even recording their sexual encounters. Inga and Jack had fallen in love. Kennedy was obsessed with Inga. But she knew if he chased a career in the political limelight, her murky background would make a long-term relationship impossible. - Plan your life as you want it. Go up the steps of fame. But pause now and then and make sure that you are accompanied by happiness.
Love my dear, Binga. - As war raged across Europe and the Pacific in 1942, Jack grew restless and wanted to participate more directly in the U.S. military effort. Finally, in late July 1942, he was approved to register at Officer Training School. - He attends the Naval Reserve Officers Training School at Northwestern University in Chicago.
- His time had come. Jack had poor health, enormous physical pain, and a fragile body, but he had grueling persistence. Because of his love for sailing, boats, and the ocean, Jack took a liking to PT boats-- agile vessels used in the Pacific theater. - These small boats are some of the Navy's newest weapons. It is essentially an 80-foot-long speedboat. - They were noted for their ability to sneak up on and attack large vessels with torpedoes. Jack was so successful in the completion of his boat-training course that he was offered a position as an instructor. It would require him to stay stateside for another six months.
Jack was infuriated. He wanted to fight. With help from his maternal grandfather, former Boston mayor John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, Jack arranged a meeting with Massachusetts senator David Walsh, chairman of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee. The goal was to prove himself willing and able to fight. He made an impression on the senator. After months of struggling for an active position in the Navy, the time had come, whether he was physically ready or not. - He went through town, and just a few minutes ago, he was here. And then he's going on active sea duty. Only, you know, his back-- he looks like a limping monkey from behind.
He can't walk at all. That's ridiculous--sending him off to sea duty. - On March 6, 1943, Lieutenant Junior Grade Jack Kennedy stepped aboard a troop carrier in San Francisco. The destination was Tulagi, part of the Solomon Islands, some 1,100 miles northeast of Australia. He was headed straight into the heart of war. 16 months after Pearl Harbor, the United States was locked in a fierce naval campaign against Japanese forces. Using their powerful navy, Japan steamrolled through the Pacific, crushing any obstacle that stood in their way.
- Kennedy takes command of PT-109 on April 23, 1943. - It was 80 feet long and weighed 40 tons. - They're made out of wood. They are powered by engines that run on high-octane fuel. There's no armor at all and is very dangerous duty. I mean, one well-placed hit from a Japanese ship, and the ship is going up in an explosion. - The PT boat bases, like the one on Tulagi where Jack was stationed, were built quickly, leaving much to be desired. - The Solomon Islands are deep in the South Pacific.
These are jungle-covered islands. There's heat, humidity, bugs, thunderstorms, rainstorms. - Diseases like malaria and dengue fever ran rampant through the hastily erected structures. Rats and cockroaches were part of daily life. Making matters worse, food supplies-- mostly canned food-- were inadequately allocated to troops in the area, and the soldiers were constantly threatened with malnutrition. Difficult though it was, Jack's PT boat and its crew became his home away from home. - PT-109 had been operating for a number of months under different commanding officers, different crew members.
The commanding officers from the boat had already transferred to other positions or moved back stateside. So Kennedy is kind of rebuilding the crew. And by August, you know, they've been together for a few months. So this is a very small, cohesive group, unlike a bigger ship. I mean, they have to depend on each other for life and death. - During his first months at Tulagi, they saw little action. Kennedy had ample time to send his mother flowers for Mother's Day, write letters home, and read his copy of Tolstoy's 19th-century epic novel "War and Peace."
At the end of July, intelligence reports arrived at Jack's PT base, indicating that five Japanese destroyers were scheduled to move on the night of August 1st and 2nd. The destroyers were expected to sail through the Blackett Strait, supplying provisions to and moving Japanese troops. - The Japanese are trying to resupply their island garrisons with these nighttime runs called the Tokyo Express, delivering supplies and troops under the cover of darkness. - So Kennedy was assigned to one of four groups that were going to be positioned to try and intercept these destroyers.
This is a major, major mission. - This is a, you know, very dangerous place to be. - On August 1st, 15 PT boats, including Jack's PT-109, set off toward the Blackett Strait at 6:30 p.m. Including himself, there were 13 men on Jack's boat. In near darkness, PT-109 became separated from the other PT boats. Jack shut down two of the boat's three engines to conserve fuel. It would also help the boat remain hidden from the Japanese air patrols looking for the phosphorescent glow left by boat wakes.
- The enemy they're really worried about is above. And if they make a wake, not only are the aircraft going to see them, if there's enemy ships about, they will also see them. - Oftentimes, if the PT boats were deployed and they were waiting for Japanese ships to arrive, they would be idling, meaning they would be operating at one engine instead of three, very low speed, you know, almost idling in place. - PT-109 idled. Under the moonless sky, the crew noticed movement on the water in the pre-dawn hours of August 2nd. Jack and his men struggled to identify the shape in the darkness. As the wake grew closer, the outline of a massive ship emerged.
Moving towards them was the towering Japanese destroyer "Amagiri." - And she is speeding directly towards PT-109. Kennedy tries to turn, but there's really no time. - The "Amagiri" collided violently with Jack's boat. The Japanese destroyer sliced through PT-109, causing fuel to explode into a raging fire more than 100 feet tall. Two of Jack's men were killed instantly, and the remainder scrambled to escape the flaming wreckage. - Kennedy himself is thrown against the bulkhead.
He reinjures his already bad back. - The Japanese destroyer doesn't even slow down. They just want to get out of there. So they just power right through and keep going. And the gasoline spreads out over the ocean, and it's on fire. [explosion] - Amidst the chaos, Jack dove into the dark waters to save badly burned sailor Patrick McMahon. - That guy was just a common sailor. He saved his life. So that's the things that really made me admire him most, I think--his courage. - Paddling in cold water for hours, Jack ordered his most severely injured crewmen to cling to a small plank that had splintered from the boat.
- Some of them had swallowed gasoline. Some of them were burned. Some of them had been crushed against the boat. But McMahon was the worst off. He had been severely burned. - At daybreak the next morning, this small group is still clinging to this wreckage. They are in open waters, and then the wreckage starts to sink. - Surrounded by Japanese soldiers on the neighboring islands, they were in a terrifying situation. While floating in the Pacific, Jack and his crew were faced with an enormous decision-- continue fighting or surrender to hostile forces.
Jack said, there's nothing in a book about a situation like this. I have nothing to lose. They decided to continue on. - Kennedy had a flare gun, which he could have used, but to illustrate the danger they were in, you know, to shoot off a very light will also tell the enemy you're there. They were just as afraid of being captured or killed by the enemy as not being rescued. So Kennedy chose not to shoot off a flare to signal a rescue at that point. - Kennedy spots a distant island, and he decides the best course of action is for his group to swim to that island. - Jack tied a knot to the wounded Patrick "Pappy" McMahon's life jacket and put the other end between his teeth.
- It was described by one of the witnesses as if he had done it all the time in his life. He just got a knife out and cut the strap, put the strap of the life jacket in his mouth and pulled Pappy on his back, his bad back. - Jack began the 3 1/2-mile journey through shark-infested waters. Listening to Kennedy's labored breathing, McMahon didn't know if they could make it. Kennedy replied, it can be done. - We can do this. Well, that's what you want, isn't it-- a skipper that says, we can do this?
- After an arduous journey, Kennedy, McMahon, and the surviving crew finally made it to shore. - When they arrive on the beach, Kennedy literally collapses in exhaustion. - By this time, Jack and his crew were presumed dead, when a report stated that neither the ship nor the crew were found at the collision site. - They are in survival mode at this point. They need to somehow get word to the Americans that they're alive and where they're at because they're in Japanese-held territory.
- On August 2, 1943, Jack and his men had been sunk by a Japanese destroyer and lost two of their crew members. Now they were stranded on a small island roughly the size of a football field. - It's only 100 yards wide, but it was enough to get out of the water and hide. So they all make it there, and soon after they get there, a Japanese barge goes by. So they know that was close. But there's no food. There's no water there. There's just trees. And Kennedy knows they can't stay there. - Armed with a lantern in one hand, Jack swam two miles alone to the Ferguson Passage-- an area American boats often pass through.
- Kennedy thinks he can swim out and flag down one of the PT boats. This proves unsuccessful and utterly tiring. - When he made it back to his men the next afternoon, Jack led his crew in swimming nearly four miles to nearby Olasana Island in hopes of finding food, water, and fellow American PT crews. They found nothing. But Jack was undeterred. - The morale of the crew is very important, and Kennedy knew that. They needed to know somebody's trying to do something. One of us has to try and always be doing something to improve their situation so they don't give up.
- The next day, Jack brought a new measure of hope to his injured and starving crew when he found a nearby island with old Japanese provisions, including crackers and a supply of fresh water. Amazingly, on the same day, Jack encountered two Melanesian natives-- Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana. They were part of a network called "coastwatchers," providing intelligence on Japanese movements to the Australian Allied forces. Jack inscribed an SOS message on a coconut for the coastwatchers to relay back to their commander, an Australian named Arthur Evans.
- He wants them to take it to the American PT boat base on the island of Rendova. - At night, by canoe. [chuckles] Through enemy water. I mean, this is a tremendous thing to ask of these people. - The next day, the natives return with supplies and food and the note from the coastwatcher, asking that Kennedy meet Evans in person. Kennedy at this point knows that, you know, this gives him a chance. - Jack set off with the natives to a nearby PT boat base on Gomu Island.
- Kennedy really didn't want to leave his men, but he got in the canoe anyway, and he hid under these palm fronds in the bottom of the canoe. While they're paddling across the bay towards Gomu Island, a Japanese plane flies down and scouts them. The two natives give them the wave. And the pilot left them alone, but Kennedy is hiding under this palm frond, hoping he wasn't seen. They arrive at Gomu Island, and Kennedy hops out of the canoe and. - Two PT boats come by. They pick up Kennedy. - Jack led the two boats back to Olasana Island to rescue his crew.
- And by the morning of August 8th, they are back at the American PT boat base, ending the ordeal of the PT-109 sailors. - Jack was now a war hero. Bravery and leadership earned him a Navy Marine Corps medal and a Purple Heart. Jack later said, the real heroes are not the men who return but those who stay out there-- two of my men included. - Well, there was a lot of favorable attention that he received but none more important than that from the men who were on the PT-109 with him.
They testified to his gallantry. They testified to what he had actually accomplished at great risk to himself. - I think it was a genuine record of truly selfless heroic behavior. I think there's no other way, really, accurately to describe it. - After the rescue of PT-109, Jack was promoted to full lieutenant in October 1943 and would stay in the South Pacific. He served on another PT boat until he was finally sent home on December 14, 1943 under doctor's orders. Arriving stateside in early January 1944 with an injured back, Jack was severely underweight and had symptoms of malaria and jaundice
from months away at war. But the change that would most affect him was his newfound understanding of the world. - It was the killing that he saw, and it really made him sensitive to what is at risk when the United States goes to war. He writes very graphic letters back to his parents about this one particular Japanese soldier who's in the water and causing problems until an American stands up with his rifle and blows his head off. - Kennedy comes home a different man in a lot of ways-- someone who's been forced to grow up, I think, in a lot of ways and see the hard side of life that I think he had never, ever encountered as a rather privileged young man in the Boston area before.
- I think that in many ways, World War II was maturing for a whole generation, of course. But for John in particular, I think he came back with a sense of responsibility. - Jack's time in the war would impact how he would lead the rest of his life. - By the summer of 1944, Jack was back home in Massachusetts, but his older brother, Joe Jr., was still deployed, flying B-24 Liberator planes on missions over the English Channel and the North Sea.
On August 12th, he volunteered for a dangerous top-secret mission-- Operation Aphrodite-- tasked with destroying German V-2 rocket sites. His aircraft was loaded with over 20,000 pounds of explosives when he took off, flying over the English Channel toward his target. On the afternoon of August 13th, during an idyllic Sunday at Hyannis Port, Joe Kennedy appeared before his family. The Kennedy patriarch was pale and paralyzed with disbelief as he delivered the horrible news.
The mission had gone awry, and Joe Jr.'s plane had exploded in midair, killing him instantly. - Joe Jr. could have come home. And yet he volunteers for what is almost a suicide mission. Joe Jr.'s death is a knife into the heart of the Kennedy family. They never recover. - Jack was overcome with shock and emotion. He had seen firsthand the devastation of war. Now it had taken his brother.
- We found this essentially aimless young man who'd returned from a really rough war experience, both in terms of losing his brother and almost losing his life, without any idea what he wanted to do. - Unsure of his immediate future and conferring with his father, Joe Sr., Jack decided to pursue journalism in the interim. Joe Sr. felt it was a good way to keep Jack busy and in the public eye. Kennedy began working for Hearst Newspapers. Hearst was owned and operated by media mogul William Randolph Hearst, a good friend of Joe Kennedy Sr.
- So to this city on the shores of the ocean named for peace came 1,300 representatives of the 46 United Nations. - He was sent to California to cover the San Francisco Conference-- a conference that laid the foundation of the United Nations. Kennedy was less than impressed by the conference and felt that until the world faced the brutal reality of war, no organization could effectively resolve the world's conflicts. While in San Francisco, he saw the streets explode with celebration when a news flash came from Europe. Hitler had been defeated. - General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations.
The flags of freedom fly all over Europe. - During the summer of 1945, Kennedy raced off to Europe on assignment. He was tasked with covering the British General election in London and the final meeting between World War II Allied leaders in Potsdam, Germany. During his time in London, Kennedy worked fervently as a journalist, even correctly predicting that his hero, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, would be ousted from his position. - He went to the Potsdam Conference, where Truman and Churchill and Stalin were going to discuss the shape of the post-war world.
His experience in terms of his travels and seeing just what was at stake in terms of this long-term struggle that he clearly recognized between the forces of freedom and the forces of authoritarianism and how people would live in the future, and he always had his eyes on, you know, what is the most powerful thing that I can do to make a difference? - Kennedy embarked on a three-day tour of the war-torn Nazi landscape, seeing a string of battered ports and cities and Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Observing the ruins of Berlin, Kennedy sensed it would become a centerpiece in the battle between Soviet communism and the West.
His experiences in Europe taught him the value of strong political leaders in ensuring ongoing peace. - Well, he knew that politics was the world. He learned that politics wasn't about somebody running for city council. Politics meant, are we going to avoid another war or not? - And had been, in a sense, preparing himself, not least of all through international travel and international exposure, for some kind of career as a statesman, not just as a political leader but as a person who would play his role on the international stage.
- Upon returning to the United States, Kennedy was offered a position with the Navy, but he politely rejected it. He had other plans. - From the neighborhoods of Brookline, Massachusetts, to the halls of Harvard University to the Solomon Islands, Kennedy's life had been leading to Washington, D.C. His wartime experiences and his stint as a journalist, coupled with his extraordinary opportunities to travel the world and observe foreign affairs in person, made a career in politics seem like the best avenue toward making his mark.
- Kennedy came from a family where public service mattered. Part of life was doing something for the country. And there was also an attraction to it-- the power that came with that, the ability to influence events. - As a political newcomer, it was time for an opening gambit. Kennedy decided to run for the United States House of Representatives in the 1946 elections. He ran for Boston's 11th district. The 29-year-old Kennedy announced his campaign for the House at the luxurious Parker House Hotel in downtown Boston.
Kennedy was not afraid to plunge into every aspect of his congressional crusade, appearing at numerous campaign events. He kept his campaign tight-knit, enlisting the help of friends and family, remembering people's names and taking advantage of every introduction. - Kennedy's natural mode was not an extrovert back slapper. That was not how he interacted with people. And that was never how he served as a politician. But when he decided to run for this seat, he went for it. - Kennedy began rallying his supporters, focusing on local issues, like housing, health, and labor. - He did not run his initial campaign with a real heavy focus on international affairs, because I think he sort of deduced that it was pocketbook issues
that were probably most important to the people of Massachusetts and the district that he was hoping to serve. It was not a shoo-in. There was a ten-person primary, including, you know, former mayors from the district and people who are much better known than Kennedy. - He's the only war veteran running for that seat. Hard to believe, isn't it? All the other politicians had avoided the war.
- Kennedy understood the only way for a newcomer to campaign effectively would be to introduce himself and speak personally to potential voters and volunteers. Undaunted, he put on a back brace and canvassed the neighborhoods of Boston, knocking on door after door. - When he first knocked on my door. I lived in a three-decker in the Bunker Hill section of Charlestown. And this young veteran, this decorated veteran was putting an organization together of other veterans to help him get elected to Congress.
- It didn't take long for his popularity to rise, especially with women. - And women, by the mid-century mark in the 20th century, had the majority of the electorate here in Massachusetts. They were about 51%. And so this was the great untapped political resource in Massachusetts politics. So Kennedy immediately targeted them. - I went with him to hear him speak to a group of Gold Star mothers, all who had lost a son or a daughter in World War II.
He said, I think I know how you feel. Because my mother is a Gold Star mother, too. But I never witnessed such a reaction. They all leave their seats. And I can hear them saying that he reminded them. of their own John or Joe or Pat, the loved one they had lost. - He went to church basements and ice cream socials, and he just worked harder than his opponents did. I mean, he literally outworked them.
- He could be a fellow who just sort of sits on things, who lets his staff, who lets his father's friends do all the heavy lifting, but that is not his style. - The one thing about Kennedys is they will get up an hour before everybody else, and they will go to bed an hour later than everybody else. And if everybody else does three stops a day, they'll do five. - He knew, I think, in his heart that he was destined for greater things. He realized that if he applied himself, great things would follow.
- Next on "Kennedy". - Well, politics is about opportunity and seizing the moment. Kennedy saw this as his moment. - He was looking to forge a political identity. - His father had money, but money doesn't always win campaigns. You have to work really hard. - But Kennedy oftentimes had trouble walking. - Jack can barely stand, and he campaigns from morning to night. - Jackie was this amazing figure in his life. You know, this looks like a royal wedding.
- Jack's promiscuity is learned as a young man. - She knew what she was getting into.
