Virtual JFK
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- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
At the heart of VIRTUAL JFK is the critical question: Does it matter who is President of the United States when it comes to issues of war and peace? It explores this question by investigating one of the most debated 'what if' scenarios in the history of U.S. foreign policy: What would President John F. Kennedy have done in Vietnam if he had not been assassinated in 1963, and had he been re-elected in 1964? The film employs what Harvard historian Niall Ferguson calls 'virtual history,' assessing the plausibility of counterfactuals -- 'what ifs' -- and the outcomes they might have produced.
Drawing on unusual archival footage from presidential libraries and the National Archives, along with newly deciphered audio tapes and other documentary evidence, the film draws our attention to six highly charged crises Kennedy faced in which many, or most, of his advisers counseled war: The Bay of Pigs, The Laos Crisis, the Berlin Crisis, the Showdown over Vietnam, The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Withdrawal from Vietnam.
Note about Rentals : For the time being we are able to fill rental requests for classroom use only. All other requests for screenings will be forwarded to the producer at virtualjfk.com
'Virtual JFK is both exciting visually and bold intellectually. It provides a compelling argument about the competing demands on a president facing foreign policy crises, and the essential wisdom of restraint. While it's about President Kennedy's decisions about the use of force, it is striking how timely it is for our current predicaments. Fast-paced and always inventive, Virtual JFK is a must see.' John Tirman, Executive Director, M.I.T. Center for International Studies
'Virtual JFK is an intelligent and provocative study of President Kennedy's views on foreign policy, war and peace. Whether or not one agrees with the conclusion that JFK would have withdrawn from Vietnam if he had lived, this is a first-rate argument.' Richard Reeves, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, Author, President Kennedy: Profile of Power
'It is important that in times of crisis leaders of great countries think before they shoot. As my father repeated many times, any fool can start a war, but it takes truly wise leaders to avoid war. Virtual JFK is not merely a film, but a critical handbook for current and aspiring world leaders.' Sergei Khrushchev, Son of former Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khruschchev
'This fascinating documentary covers the supposedly Virtual JFK but it is compelling because it is built on a foundation of fact, brought alive with vivid and well-chosen video clips. This helps bring the Kennedy era alive in a refreshing and thought-provoking way.' Gil Troy, Professor of History, McGill University, Author, Leading from the Center: Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents
'I am ordinarily unimpressed by counter-history, by virtual history. We can each imagine what might have been if...However, Virtual JFK is a compelling examination of the record of John F. Kennedy's 1,000 days in office and the caution with which he approached issues of war and peace. It makes a strong case for presidential leadership and presidential skepticism, [and] having lived through the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, remembering well when the Berlin Wall went up and having been in Europe when the Berlin Wall was taken down, I was most impressed by all that I saw. This is an important examination of the past, but also a significant lesson for the current commander-in-chief and his predecessor.' Michael Berenbaum, Professor of Jewish Studies, Director, Sigi Ziering Institute, American Jewish University
'An exercise in what historians call counterfactual or virtual history, debating how history would be affected if one significant element had been different. The premise may sound academic but the filmmakers assemble a cohesive set of archival audio and film clips to demonstrate to the viewer Kennedy's resolve to avoid war through diplomacy...Virtual JFK is highly recommended for general interest collections and especially for those strong in the areas of U.S. history, the Vietnam War, and peace and conflict resolution.' Christopher Lewis, American University, Educational Media Reviews Online
'Fascinating...Riveting entertainment and a solid discussion starter; highly recommended for history students and everyone with memories of Vietnam.' Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State University, Library Journal
'Virtual JFK offers a wealth of archival material--news footage, stills, recorded conversations, transcripts--as well as recollections from participants and scholars (along with excerpts from three of Johnson's later national addresses about Vietnam as a bonus)...A solid discussion starter. Recommended.' Video Librarian
'Virtual JFK is surprisingly dramatic without being overly manipulative...augmented with gripping audio clips and unexpurgated minutes from Situation Room meetings, there emerges the complex image of a clever, sophisticated, disciplined man whose mind remains keen under enormous stress. Given the parallels in persona linking JFK and Barack Obama, there's a teasing implication that crises awaiting the next president will be ripe for similar counterfactual review. The case is persuasive.' Ted Fry, The Seattle Times
'A prime example of the power of the documentary to expose truths and to enhance legends at one and the same time.' Peter Howell, Toronto Star
'A compelling and extremely unusual approach to a possible history.' Atom Egoyan, Academy Award Nominated Director of THE SWEET HEREAFTER
'An extended glimpse into a bygone era of statesmanship. In Masutani's selection of clips, watching Kennedy field astute questions and scathing critiques with thoughtfulness and wit proves extremely illuminating; his weighing of complex factors in an international situation and consciousness of how much rides on his decisions strikes a now unfamiliar note.' Ronnie Scheib, Variety
'A compelling history lesson that offers an insightful primer on the Kennedy presidency even while proving sadly germane to our current times.' Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
'With its fascinating central question and well-chosen, nostalgic footage of John F. Kennedy in his prime, this well-played documentary manages to escape the fate of other dry historical overviews. Filmmaker Koji Matsutani wisely avoids any comparison to the current administration; they'll rise unbidden from your psyche nonetheless.' Sara Cardace, New York Magazine
'Virtual JFK succeeds on the two most important levels: its argument is persuasive, and it works as documentary art. It is an extraordinary portrait of someone thinking, and a president at that.' Normal MacAfee, The Huffington Post
'Elegantly constructed. The question: can an individual leader take a nation to, or keep it from, war? The conclusion: individual temperaments matters, and John F. Kennedy's example proves it...Virtual JFK ponders the mystery of the Kennedy personality mainly as manifested during his televised press conferences -- radiating star power, the coolest man in the room disarms adoring tweedy reporters with his dry martini wit..Masutani's no-frills, largely black-and-white production is as evocative of early-'60s masculine styles as any episode of Mad Men.' J. Hoberman, The Village Voice
'The word 'Iraq' is never uttered, but there's no avoiding it as Kennedy asserts during the Bay of Pigs crisis that to attack Cuba, a country that hadn't attacked the United States, would be contrary to our national tradition. History and current events collide, and the answer to the filmmakers' question is perfectly clear.' Maureen M. Hart, The Chicago Tribune
'We should welcome anything that reacquaints us with the facts, and Virtual JFK is an admirably concrete survey of how Kennedy dealt with a series of international crises.' J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader
'The main question is in the title, and it's a worthwhile pursuit that's certainly proven by this imaginative and fascinating documentary...Well-crafted and timely, Virtual JFK is a great piece of filmmaking.' Garret Conti, Pittsburgh Tribune
'There are few things as genuinely thrilling as a truly well-made documentary...Virtual JFK is that, a masterfully assembled and strenuously researched 'what-if' scenario in film form.' Jason Bailey, DVD Talk
'Koji Masutani's film is an important study in the pressure upon a world leader to wage peace or war. The Cold War and a hot war -- Vietnam -- occurred at the same time and provide good and bad lessons that are relevant to today. The film is a cinematic paean to Benjamin Franklin's words, 'there never was a good war or a bad peace.'' Lincoln Chafee, Former U.S. Senator (R-RI)
'Virtual JFK is a virtuoso performance. Using old footage, in-depth interviews, and a close reading of the documentary record, Koji Masutani has come up with a very new way to write history. Getting right with JFK -- as this film does -- is important not only for the sake of the past, but for the sake of the present as well.' Ted Widmer, Presidential Historian/Foreign Policy Speechwriter/Senior Adviser to President Clinton (1997-2001)
'Koji Masutani's film is solidly grounded in scholarly research with a clear-eyed view of the way the world works. By demonstrating JFK's handling of crisis, keeping his own counsel and going against the advice of his senior political and military advisors, the film demonstrates how an effective president operates. The unspoken but clear point that I take away from Virtual JFK is that a president of JFK's caliber would not have taken the country into Iraq.' Mark Garrison, Former U.S. Deputy Ambassador to Moscow
' Virtual JFK does the near impossible by presenting incredibly familiar information in a compelling and entertaining way...[The film] is filled with well-documented facts and a lot of information that many other documentaries simply gloss over. The presentation is accurate and non-biased, making this film a must-see for anyone looking for a new take on the Kennedy presidency.' Pop Matters
Citation
Main credits
Masutani, Koji (screenwriter)
Masutani, Koji (film producer)
Masutani, Koji (film director)
Masutani, Koji (film editor)
Almond, Peter O. (film producer)
Other credits
Original music, Joshua Kern; cinematography, Edward Huff, Koji Masutani, Curt Worden.
Distributor subjects
American Democracy; American Studies; Anthropology; Asian Studies; Biography; Central America/The Caribbean; Conflict Resolution; Critical Thinking; Ethics; Film Studies; Foreign Policy, US; Government; History; Humanities; International Studies; Military; National Security; Political Science; Psychology; Sociology; Vietnam; War and PeaceKeywords
WEBVTT
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Other people may look at the same facts
and come to a different conclusion.
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Obviously, they have but that
represents my view as president.
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In some areas involving the national
interest, the news would be worse
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before it gets better. And I think that the American
people might just as well realize that. Yeah.
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[sil.]
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Talked about and read stories of 7-50,000
thousand guerrillas operating in Vietnam,
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killing 2,000 civil… civil officers a year,
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2,000 police officers to year, 4,000.
Now there\'s been an election
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in Vietnam, in which 75% of
the people or 80% to endorse
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the government and yet we read how Vietnam is
in danger because of the guerrilla operations
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carried on by this small well-disciplined,
well-supplied across the border,
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uh… group of guerrillas, how we fight
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that kind of a problem, which is going
to be with us all through this decade
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seems to me to be the one of the great
problems now before the United States.
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[music]
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The issue of what Kennedy might have
done in Vietnam is both fascinating
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and potentially important. I
like to call it virtual history.
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Professional historians traditionally called it counterfactual
history. I suppose because there\'s factual history
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that is the story of what happened and
then there\'s an infinite number of stories
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about what didn\'t happen that would be your counterfactual
history. The most famous example of this one
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that usually held up by people who
don\'t like the idea of an effect
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writing the history that didn\'t happen is to suppose
that history would have been far… far different
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if Cleopatra had… had a longer nose, and
Marc Antony had taken an interest in her
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and the whole story of the Roman empire would be different
and if the story of the Roman empire would be different,
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the history of the Western world would be different and if the history of the
Western world with different history, the whole world would be different.
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And so, therefore, everything in history
hinges on the length of Cleopatra\'s nose.
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Now you can take it to this absurd level
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and it\'s often done by people who are… who
are worried about the chaos or the anarchy
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of the history that delves into
things that did not happen.
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I\'m concerned about the kind of
problem which I just described,
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I don\'t feel satisfied that we
have an effective answer to it yet
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and I think it\'s a matter of
the greatest possible concern
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to all of us because I think events
in the moving with some speed.
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[music]
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Does it matter who is president
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on issues of war and peace can a President.
Make a decisive difference
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in matters of war and peace, and a president
decisively lead his country into war
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or keep his country out of
war, whether the forces
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that drive nations into
conflict far more impersonal
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out of the control of any single
human being even a president.
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[music]
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The issue of what Kennedy might
have done, why is it interests?
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One reason is obviously related to
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the scope of the tragedy,
wouldn\'t there have been some way
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to avoid it that would be worth knowing.
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Do you have uh… personally fallout shelters
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in any of the residents (inaudible) for years I\'m
thinking particularly of your house and (inaudible),
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or a Metal Bird or in Palm
Beach or at New Port?
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But they\'re not all my residents that…
I\'m sorry to say, but I will say that…
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I would say that there
are naturally provisions
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for the protection of those in presidency
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and in the Joint Chiefs of Staff
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and others who would have to maintain a
responsibility in case of a military action.
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Though, of course, there\'s no
where sure answer for anybody.
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Obviously, you cannot build a shelter and the accepted sense
of the word for the kind of money which we have talked about
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but we can provide directions,
whereby a family can take steps
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to protect themselves on a
minimum basis and give them…
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members of the family some hope.
They are out of the blast area,
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they could survive the fall out and by the middle
of November, we hope to suggest some of the steps
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that every homeowner could take. My own feeling
is that these shelters are most useful
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and most important and no one
can… we\'re going to live through
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a long period of constant tension with these
dangerous weapons which will be proliferating.
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[music]
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The Cold War was cold in the sense that it was
not characterized by a hot or shooting war
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between the two most powerful
countries, superpowers.
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The peace was kept, primarily because of the
existence of strategic nuclear weapons,
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each side had more than enough nuclear
weapons to completely destroy the other.
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So any direct military conflict
between the two ran a strong risk of
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actually destroying one or both societies
and possibly all of civilization within.
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As he said he would Mr. Krushchev
has exploded his giant bomb
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in cynical disregard of the United Nations.
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By this act, the Soviet Union
have added injury to insult.
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They broke the moratorium on nuclear weapons
testing. They have started a new way
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for more deadly weapons, the
United States delegation
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deeply deplores this
contempt for world opinion.
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A sufficient number of those weapons
would survive the Soviet surprise attack
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to literally be capable of destroying
the Soviet Union. In the meantime,
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the Soviet Union undoubtedly would have attack
Western Europe. The net effect of this exchange
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would probably be 100 million
casualties in the Soviet Union,
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uh… perhaps 50 plus million
casualties in the United States,
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perhaps 100 million casualties in Europe.
There can be no winner
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in that kind of situation. We\'d happen to
live because of the ingenuity of science
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and man\'s own inability to control
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his relationship one with another. We happen to live in
the most dangerous time in the history of the human race.
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Each side completely mistrusted the other.
Each side believed that
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the two ways of organizing society were
completely incompatible with each other
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and so the question arises really for the
first time, how does the competition
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between these two most powerful countries in the
world take place without them destroying each other
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in the process and everything else with it.
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It\'s at this point in the \'50s and \'60s that
the competition between these two countries
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moves to other parts of the world.
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No, I don\'t want to comment the tail on the… on the
situations in South Vietnam because it is a very complex one.
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I think in (inaudible) he returned said
that there were 43 different wars,
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whether there are 43 different
wars or not, it\'s a complicated
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uh… situation involving political, economic
and military factors and I don\'t think
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we can expect to give
day-to-day accounts of the…
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the improvement of retrogression in… in a
situation. But I do call your attention again
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to this one important point that the
rate of Vietcong incidence is high
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and as long as that rate of incidence is high
and by an incidence, I mean, a terror attack
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as long as that rate of incidence is high,
it means the security that people is low
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and as long as in certain areas of the country…
And as long as the security to people is low
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and certainly in the country, uh… there are
allegiances to the government will be in doubt.
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And it\'s that which makes
the problem for us.
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The trick I think in engaging
this issue in a way that
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all open-minded people can come together
on, would be to look a little more closely
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at the factual.
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Let\'s get the database.
Let\'s see what Kennedy did.
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Now what\'s the issue? Well, he did a lot of things,
of course, but when pressure is put on Kennedy,
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by most or all or some of his advisers
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to commit the United States
to a war, what does he do?
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Should there be a pattern here
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in Kennedy\'s behavior? Or we might say if we\'re
thinking sort of psychologically, if he has
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a habit of deciding one way rather than
another, maybe we have some information
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that we can apply to that other thing
that he didn\'t live to deal with,
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six times when he was put to the test
John Kennedy avoided war all six times.
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He avoided conventional war
and he avoided nuclear war.
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I\'m not saying he was a perfect President, uh… but that that
particular feature of his presidency is really interesting.
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[music]
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1961, may have been one of the worst
years an American President ever had.
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[sil.]
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[non-English narration]
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[music]
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Immediately after Kennedy was inaugurated
in a sense all hell broke loose,
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he had inherited a crisis
about 12,000 Cuban exiles
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were being trained in the jungles in Guatemala, uh…
to get on American ships that had been repainted
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so that nobody would know they
were wink-wink American ships,
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and they\'re gonna overthrow
the Castro government.
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[music]
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The Cuban exiles have landed at the
Bay of Pigs they are getting beaten
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and the call goes out for help,
help is near in the form of
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American troops ships carrying several
thousand US Marines which are located
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less than two miles offshore, and
suddenly Kennedy is besieged
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with advisers saying, \"Look, this thing is going belly
up. It\'s going under… Our guys are gonna get crushed.
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Castro\'s gonna win all that kind of stuff.
But you have an option.
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You can send in the Marines and begin
the conquering or the re-conquering of
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cubing the destruction of the Cuban
Revolution.\" The president of a great democracy
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such as ours and the editors of
great newspapers, such as yours.
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Oh, a common obligation to the people,
an obligation to present the facts
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to present them with Canada.
It is with that obligation
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in mine but I\'ve decided
in the last 24 hours
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to discuss briefly at this time,
the recent events in Cuba.
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Any unilateral American intervention
in the absence of an external attack
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upon ourselves or an ally,
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would had been contrary to our traditions
and to our international obligations.
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We intend to profit from this
lesson, we intend to re-examine
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and reorient our forces of all kinds.
We intend to intensify
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our efforts for a struggle in many
ways more difficult than war…
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I know that many of you have
further questions about Cuba.
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I made a statement on that subject yesterday afternoon.
I do not think that any useful national purpose
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would be served by my going further
into the Cuban question this morning.
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I prefer to let my statement of
yesterday suffice for the present.
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Reporters in Washington has noticed that there\'s been a
clamming up of information from formerly useful sources,
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and this morning we are not permitted
to ask any further questions
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about this foreign policy situation.
Why is it not useful, sir,
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for us to explore with you the real
facts behind this, or our motivations?
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Well, I think in answer
to your question, that
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we have to make a judgment as to
how much we can usually say that
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would aid the interest of the United States.
One of the problems of a free society,
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problem not met by a dictatorship
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is a problem of the information. A good
deal has been printed in the paper
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and I wouldn\'t be surprised if those of you who are members
of the press will be receiving a lot of background briefings
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in the next day or two
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by interested people are interested
agencies. There\'s an old saying that
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victory has 100 fathers and defeat is
an orphan. And I wouldn\'t be surprised
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if the information is poured into you
in regard to all the recent activities.
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
But I will say to you, Mr. Vanocur, that
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
I have said as much as I feel
can be usefully said by me
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
in regard to the events
of the past few days.
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.999
Further statements, detailed discussions,
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
are not to conceal responsibility because I\'m
the responsible officer of the government.
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
Quite respecting your
feeling of not going beyond
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
your statement of yesterday on Cuba,
there still is in print this morning,
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
that you took the decision
to continue training
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.999
Cuban refugees with arms
provided by this Government
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
for launching the current operations in
Cuba. Now, is this true? I think that
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.999
the facts of the matter
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.999
involving Cuba will come out in due time.
I am sure that an effort will be made
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
to determine the facts accurately. As for
me, I am confining myself to my statement
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
for good reason.
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
[music]
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
Kennedy personally called the commander of that
ship Admiral Arleigh Burke and said, \"Stop.
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
We\'re not getting involved jungle
warfare 90 miles south of Florida.\"
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
He ordered the ship to
move away from the shore
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
and this was so difficult for him.
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
All of these people are
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
veterans of both the Second World War and
the Korean War and the Cold War in 1950s
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
and these guys are fighters. That\'s what they think
they\'re doing. Trained to do and that\'s what
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
they\'re experience tells them. Also,
their experience tells them that
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
if the Americans apply
military force, they win.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
Americans came in late in World War
I, Americans think they won the war.
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
World war II, they also came in
late, Americans did win the war.
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
Korean War, they saved at least half
of Korea. Cold War, they staved off
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
the Soviet threat and these guys
cannot understand why this young…
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
young punk, I mean, I think
would be the right word
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
in terms of what Kennedy was sexually like,
but the way they sort of reacted to this.
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
Nixon wrote that the lesson
in the Bay of Pigs was that
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
Kennedy lacked the spine to send in the Marines,
to send in the Air Force, to unseat Castro,
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
to assassinate Castro, occupy the
country, to put a government in charge
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
in Havana more congenial to US
interests, that was the lesson.
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
[music]
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
There were rumors of impeachment.
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
There were rumors that this young
guy was completely incompetent.
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
I mean, these hoodlums
in these green outfits
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
have beaten the United States of America which won
the Second World War, which won the first World War,
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
there was no category within which to
conceive of this… of this outcome.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
We do know a lot about what happened
to Kennedy in the South Pacific
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
but he almost died and that was a real
crisis. This is probably comparable to them.
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
It\'s a crisis… it\'s a crisis…
it\'s a personal crisis,
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
it\'s a crisis of his presidency. It\'s
barely gotten underway and it\'s a crisis
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
and the credibility of the United
States of America. I think failure is
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
the operative word here. Kennedy
has failed but Kennedy also knows
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
he will be perceived as a failure.
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
[music]
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
I was taken into the kitchen
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
and introduced to all the help
who were just over from Ireland.
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
I saw Chris Dumphy who told me Mrs. Fraser\'s
sister, Mrs. Ayres, does not think that
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
I am serious about politics, and
therefore cannot support me.
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
At the very first meeting held in private,
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
Kennedy was described as
traumatized, as shocked.
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
Chester Bowles, a State Department
official was at that meeting said that
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
John F. Kennedy looked completely crushed.
He sat through a 45-minute meeting,
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
while all the cabinet secretaries were arguing
with each other about who\'s fault or it wasn\'t,
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
what should have been done or what shouldn\'t
have been done, Kennedy didn\'t say a word,
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
and then one of the most ghostly passages
I\'ve ever read in a classified memo.
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
Bowles says the President looking pale, stood
up and walked out of the room without speaking.
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
So much for the way it looked and felt,
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
what did he learn? I am not a candidate
for office, or at least four years
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
so that there will be many ups and
downs, I suppose during that period.
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
So that anybody who thinks that
things get better in the spring
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
that we will be able to say that we have the result of the administration\'s
policy and that\'s the reason that I painted them unnecessarily
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
doc misunderstands completely. They are
painted accurately as I understand them to be
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
and anyone who makes a judgment that it
was made on thick for political reasons,
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
I think is making him a serious mistake and I
hope would that give us the benefit of the doubt
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
of a honest view now, other people may look at the
same facts and come to a different conclusion.
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
Obviously, they have, but that
represents my view as president.
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
In some areas involving the national
interest, the news would be worse
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
before it gets better and I think that the
American people might just as well realize that.
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
[sil.]
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
These three maps show the area of
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
effective Communist domination
as it was last August
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
with the colored portion is up on the right hand corner being
the areas held and dominated by the Communists at that time,
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
and now next in December
of 1960, three months ago,
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
the red area having expanded.
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
And now from December 20th,
now to the present day,
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
at the end of March, Communists control
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
a much wider section of the country.
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
Soviet planes I regret to
say had been conspicuous
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
in a large scale air lift
into the battle area.
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
Plus a whole supporting
set of combat specialists
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
mainly from communist North Vietnam, and heavier
weapons had been provided from outside.
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
I want to make it clear
to the American people
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
and the all of the world that all
we want and Laos is peace, not war.
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
A truly neutral government,
not a cold war upon,
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
a settlement concluded at the conference
table and not on the battlefield.
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
I think ladies and
gentlemen that is enough.
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
I said what all I have in mind.
(inaudible) the Soviet Union
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
willing to agree to receive
(inaudible) in Laos.
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
We (inaudible) conversation this subject,
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
uh… I feel nothing to say publicly at this
moment. That is the purpose of Mr. Ross
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
going to the senators uh… preparation
of asking for declaration of war
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
in case of really (inaudible). The
Communists seem to be putting us
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
on the defensive on a number of fronts. I wonder if you
could tell us how long this government is prepared
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
the wait before it proposes
some new action to resolve
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
this continuing crisis. A shocking crisis
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
with the emergence of a crisis
in a country called Laos,
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
uh… a landlocked mountainous kingdom.
The CIA reported that the Soviet Union
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
was giving blatant and considerable
support to the (inaudible) Laos
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
the communist insurgency in Laos
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
and that unless the US did something about
it, the communists would take over Laos
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
and the Domino would fall. Another
country would go communist.
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
And this country bordered South Vietnam
which the US was propping up and supporting
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
so he was told by his military and
many of his civilian advisors,
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
\"You cannot let this happen. I know you don\'t know where it
is or what this is all about but you\'ve got to do something
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
to show the Russians that we mean
business.\" So Kennedy did sort of.
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
He ordered some troops (inaudible) ships
and he ordered them to the Thai border
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
with Laos and that was all he did.
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
Not one US combat troop ever set
foot in Laos. But at the same time,
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
he began conversations with the
Kremlin, indirectly and directly.
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
Careful negotiations are being
conducted with many countries
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
at the present time in order to see that
we have taken every possible course
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
to insure a peaceful solution. And
within a very short time, two months,
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
by May, there was sea spider. American
troops which had never even gone into Laos
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
and retrieve it back on
the ships and sail away,
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
the Soviets more or less get in their airplanes and fly
back to the Soviet Union and the negotiation begins
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
which will result in a kind of treaty,
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
which provides a neutral solution for Laos.
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
President… uh… Vice President Nixon
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
seems to be taking a then view of your
administration. He said in a speech yesterday that
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
never in American history has a man
talk so big and acted so little.
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
You have anything to say about it?
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
No, I wouldn\'t comment on Mr. Nixon. He has
been engaged and busy and I sympathize
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
with the traveling problems he has and his
other problems but I don\'t… I don\'t have
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
any response to make. We\'re doing the best
we can. We\'ll continue to do so until 1964
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.000
and then we can see what
the situation looks like.
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
The source of world trouble and tension
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
is Moscow not Berlin. And if war begins,
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
it will have begun in
Moscow and not Berlin.
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
Are you basing your judgment on the assumption that
it is conceivable that we might fight a ground war
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
in Europe over Berlin? On August 13th 1961,
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
the East Germans and soviets
began putting up the Berlin Wall
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
and I mean the whole of the Western world
just held its breath, because American tanks
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
moved into position and Soviet tanks moved into position where this
wall was going up and the thought was, well, what are they gonna do?
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
The talks which we had
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
with the Mr. (inaudible) did not give us
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
immediate hope that this matter
would be easily settled.
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
Their fighting should break out over
Berlin that as the peace efforts fail,
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
you believe that can be limited to
a conventional war or what it lead
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
to the use of nuclear weapons. If one takes
the proper statements of the two side
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
that face value with same
as (inaudible) US and USSR
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
and something of the (inaudible)… Do
you think generally speaking sir that
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
the crisis in Berlin as a better chance
of being settled through negotiation
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
as you have suggested rather than by
force Soviet threatened upon occasion?
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
Well, I don\'t see that there could be any
solution which would serve the world
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
to Berlin by force. And
therefore, I\'m hopeful that
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
all people involved will realize
that in the days of massive forces
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
available on every side that the… for
the future of countries involved
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
and for the human race that we should
attempt to work out a peaceful solution.
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
General Lucius Clay,
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
who was the American commander in
Berlin ignoring orders from Kennedy
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
and from McGeorge Bundy, his National
Security Adviser, moved his tanks
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
right up to the border, I mean,
like right up to the line.
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
He moves them up there, he lined them up, he loaded them up with
live ammunition, he pointed them directly at the Soviet tanks.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
Not to be done the Soviet tanks
instead of withdrawing pulled up
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
to the board.
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
(inaudible) I have the impression that you have asked the
(inaudible) done. Well, now how did you get that impression?
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
I got it from Jim (inaudible)… When I waited (inaudible)
I get PA right here. He says he\'s under the impression
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
that we asked that this be done.
Kennedy intervened directly
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
by telephone to Lucius Clay on that
potential battlefield and told him
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
to get those god damn tanks out of sight.
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
[music]
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
One way to deal with this would have been to be
confrontational and this issue a challenged to Khrushchev
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
to back down prepare for war.
In fact, it was Khrushchev
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
who took that approach, what
Khrushchev wanted essentially was
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
for Kennedy to order the US
forces to leave West Berlin
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
retreat into West Germany and give him
what he thought was his natural right
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
as a conquering Soviet in World
War II, which was all of Germany
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
inside the borders of East Germany.
Khrushchev once said,
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
it would be like having a piece of the Soviet
Union in Iowa. You wouldn\'t accept it.
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
He had a point and yet Berlin was regarded…
00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
West Berlin was regarded as this
bulwark, a kind of a test of
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
how courageous we were in the west and while
Kennedy\'s advisers are furious they say,
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
\"You can\'t let him get away with this,
Kennedy goes through the motions,\"
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
privately we know Kennedy was grateful
for that wall. What the wall did
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
was to prevent large numbers
of people from being shot
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
as they raced across the border
from East Berlin to West Berlin.
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
It\'s sad and it\'s… it\'s very poignant human
story that so many people got trapped
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
behind the wall but Kennedy has
to think in somewhat larger terms
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
about preventing war and so while he had
nothing to do with putting up the wall,
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
he didn\'t try to tear it down.
Did you make the decision for us
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
not to use force to stop the
building and the wall in Berlin
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
and if you had it to do over again
would you make same decision
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
or what would have been an alternative if you had
not made that decision. There have been charges
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
that we have not adequately maintained the strength
or the credibility of our nuclear deterrent
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
and that we also have not fully convinced
the leaders of the Soviet Union
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
that we are determined to force with force
then Berlin or elsewhere. At the same time
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
the republican national chairman has said that
your administration\'s attitude in general
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
is one of appeasement toward
communism throughout the world.
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
You have been angered or at least
disturbed by what has been described as
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
partisan criticism of your foreign policy. It has also
been reported that some members of your administration
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
possibly including yourself have
felt that sharp Republican warnings
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
against appeasement have constricted the rule
that you may have to negotiate with the Russians.
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
Would you discuss these points? No, I\'m
going to attempt to as I have said
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
protect our vital interests and see whether
it\'s possible for us to reach an agreement
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
in this matter, which will not necessitate a
war, which could mean so much destruction
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
and so many millions and millions of people in this country
and elsewhere. Now I\'m going to continue to do that
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
and we\'ll do the best we can
and we\'ll see what happens.
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
Everyone is free to make any attacks they want, I
think what would be most helpful to the nation today
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
would be constructive and
frequently critical alternatives,
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
suggestion for alternative courses of action
and not merely rather generalized statements
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
which throw a very little light on very
complicated and dangerous matters.
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
But I would never suggest that the
Battle of the mimeograph machine
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
between the Republican Committee and
the Democratic Committee should seize.
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
American officials are encouraged by the
outlook. The other day they read that
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
they\'re not encouraged and they\'re
glooming. One day we\'re going ahead
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
the next day but going back. Mr.
President does the real situation
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
fluctuate that much as a one time
journalist who became president,
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
how does it look to you?
A lot of journalists had
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
bad luck and death. I had the…
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
75% of the people are 80%
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
to endorse the government and yet
we read how Vietnam is in danger
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
because of guerilla operations carried on by this small
well-disciplined, well-supplied across the border.
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
Group of guerillas, how we fight
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
that kind of a problem which is going
to be with us all through this decade
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
seems to me to be the one of the great
problems now before the United States.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
I\'m concerned about the kind of
problem which I just described,
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
I don\'t feel satisfied that we have
an effective answer to it yet.
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
General Maxwell Taylor, Kennedy\'s personal
representative the sensitive South Vietnam
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
was starting to become issues.
He takes along with Walt Rostow,
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
the Deputy National Security Adviser.
Their instructions are to determine
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
what the problem is over there with this insurgency
that seems to be growing and growing and growing
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
and especially what\'s the problem
with this… with our guys ZM(ph)
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
and why he can squash the insurgency.
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
Decision beside General Taylor who… Vietnam, there
might be some interpretation of that decision
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
as implying confirmation
of report that you intend
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
to send American forces to Vietnam
or the Thailand or the Laos.
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
Can you give us your appraisal of the conditions under
which you might find it necessary to send troops and…
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
Well, we\'re going to wait till General Taylor
come back and bring an up-to-date description
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
of the situation particularly in Vietnam.
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
General Taylor will give me a…
and the Joint Chiefs of Staff
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
an educated military guess as to what the
situation that the government they are facing
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
and we can come with conclusions
as what is best to do.
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
They come back and we\'re
not talking here about
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
the advice of a bunch of Warmongers, we\'re
talking about people who believe fervently
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
in the domino theory that you
cannot let South Vietnam fall,
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
you can\'t let it go communist because
who knows even Indonesia could go
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
or Japan to go, the rest of the countries in
Southeast Asia that are not already communists
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
will just topple over and become Communists and that will be
the beginning of the end of the free world as we know it.
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
[music]
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
Now this sounds very
apocalyptic and it is, it was
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
but people didn\'t think it was a fantasy. They
believed it. Kennedy himself probably believed it.
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
Vietnam has been in war 20 years.
Japanese came in,
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
(inaudible) with the French, the civil
war which has going on for 10 years,
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
this is very difficult and for any society
to stand this. And as the country
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
which has got a good many problem, it\'s
divided that the guerrilla activity,
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
murder and all the rest, we wanted to be a stable government there,
carrying on a struggled to maintain it\'s national independent.
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
We believe strongly in that. We\'re
not going to withdraw from that.
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
My opinion for us to withdraw from that effort would mean a
collapse not the only of South Vietnam but South East Asia,
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
so we\'re going to stay there.
We hope with the great efforts
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
and (inaudible) being carried by the Vietnamese themselves and
they\'ve been in the field a long time… a lot longer than we have,
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
and (inaudible) would a good deal more death and
casualties that behind this military shield
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
put up by the Vietnamese people, they can
reach an agreement on the civil disturbance,
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
and also on respect for the rights
of others. That\'s our hope,
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
that\'s our effort, that\'s to bring our influence
to bear. The decision is finally this,
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
but I think that before we render too harsh to
judgment, that people we should realize that
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
they\'ve going through a lot of
time that we\'ve had to go through.
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
[music]
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
All the advisors, including the military and
civilian advisors, they have this feeling that
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
Kennedy is an unknown quantity.
Where is Kennedy going to come out
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
with regard to the question of what to
do in November 1961 in South Vietnam?
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
It\'s totally clear to them.
Absolutely clear to them,
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
what needs to be done, but… but if Kennedy doesn\'t
go along with it, then we\'ve got a problem.
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
And so rather than go to the President and
called the meeting, there are other meetings
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
and being held out in the Defense Department of the Pentagon or
in the State Department or in the basement of the White House
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
and McGeorge Bundy\'s office. And the reason
that there\'s a lot more meeting going on
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
in preparation here is they\'re… they\'re trying
to figure out how to build the case to Kennedy
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
that they absolutely positively and effect
need to go to war in South Vietnam.
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
At 10 AM to noon meeting
on November 15th 1961
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
at the White House, Kennedy
faced off like a chess master
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
against every one of his top advisers, who were
recommending anything from a small troop commitment
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
to a very large troop commitment. They
argued for two hours and he said,
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
\"You\'re not getting one combat for
none, zero, what else do you want?
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
Planes okay, advisors okay, we\'re gonna… we\'re gonna give them
a lot of advisors. Okay, we can do these kinds of things.\"
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
They went to that meeting
absolutely convinced that
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
they were right in their opinion
that the United States must commit
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
their troops to South Vietnam and they must
do it as soon as possible. Kennedy said no.
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
On the occasion of your
New Year\'s celebration,
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
my fellow Americans and I and
extend our very best wishes
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
for the prosperity and well-being of the
government and the people of Vietnam.
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
We in America, sincerely hope
that the year of the tiger,
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
will see peace calm again to Vietnam.
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
And your predecessor in office called himself
a political moderate said he believed
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
in the middle of the road of cults(ph). What do you
call yourself politically and how do you define
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
your political philosophy? Well, I
don\'t call myself anything except
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
a Democrat who has been elected
president of United States and I hope
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
I am a responsible president,
that\'s my intention.
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
There are many Americans who believed that
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
in our manner of questioning are seeking
your attention that we\'re subjecting news
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
in some abuse are a lack of respect.
I wonder, sir,
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
and it\'s like could you tell us generally your
feelings about your press conference today
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
and your feeling about how they\'re conducted?
Well, your subject needed some abuse
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:05.000
but not to any lack of respect.
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
This government as promised has
maintained the closest surveillance
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
of the Soviet military buildup
on the island of Cuba.
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
Within the past week, unmistakable
evidence has established
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
the fact that a series of
offensive missile sites
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
is now in preparation on that imprisoned
Island. The purpose of these bases
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
can be none other than to provide
a nuclear strike capability
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
against the Western Hemisphere.
Only last Thursday,
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
as evidence of this rapid offensive
build-up was already in my hand,
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko, told
me in my office that he was instructed
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
to make it clear once again as he said
his government had already done that
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
Soviet assistance to Cuba and
I, \"Pursue solely the purpose
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
of contributing to the defense
capabilities of Cuba,\" that
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
and I quote him \"training by Soviet
specialists of Cuban nationals
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
in handling defensive armaments
was by no means offensive,
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
and if (inaudible) otherwise… \" Mr. Gromyko went on,
\" …the Soviet government would never become involved
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
in rendering such assistance.\"
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
That statement also was false(ph).
Mr. President
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
I am submitting today a resolution
to the Security Council
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
designed to find a way out of
this calamitous situation.
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:53.000
[music]
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
The Cuban Missile Crisis was
the most dangerous crisis
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
uh… this country or any country has ever faced. There
were so many points during the missile crisis,
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
when a president who was not as
cautious or skeptical as Kennedy,
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
would have done things, would
have sent ships into regions,
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
would have attacked certain targets. A fact that
you refer back to my speech that then gives them
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
a lead headline saying United States is planning further
action. Then we had a long talk about it this morning
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
and it was agreed that the talk about the statement
on the build up would come from the White House
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
and that we would say anything about what
action we\'re gonna take. And we don\'t want to…
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
when you make a reference back to my speech that then gives
them a lead that further actions is going to be taken.
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
Now we gotta get this under control (inaudible)
I want to… we\'ll be run out of the White House.
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
Under me, to (inaudible), to
you people and to (inaudible)
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
and nothing dealing with the Cuban crisis of any
importance is to go out and to go through (inaudible)
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
and comes to me because I\'m not… I don\'t
want to be critical but the problem is
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
when you say further action should be taken then they
all say what action and it moves this escalation up
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
a couple of days when
we\'re not ready for it.
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
So therefore, you have to be goddamn careful, you just can\'t make
references to past speeches because that gives them a headline
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
and they\'ve got now got it and every reporter in town
is going to be putting together (inaudible) sound
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
just released about the missile thing
with your thing that further action
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
that we\'re going to find ourselves
getting out of control. Okay.
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
[music]
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
Mr. President, as you know, we\'ve been meeting
on this subject ever since we discovered
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
the presence of missiles in Cuba. And I
would say the debates in our own midst
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
have followed very closely in parallel with those
that you\'ve heard from your other advisors.
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
From the outset I would say that we found
we were united on the military requirement.
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
Let me just say a little, first,
about what the problem is,
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
from my point of view. If we attack
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
Cuban missiles, or Cuba,
in any way, it gives them
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
a clear uh… line to take Berlin,
as they were able to do in Hungary
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
under the Anglo war in Egypt.
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
We will be regarded as the trigger-happy
Americans who lost Berlin.
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
We would have no support among our allies. We would
affect the West Germans\' attitude towards us.
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
They don\'t give a damn about Cuba.
They do… care about Berlin
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
and about their own security. So they would say
that we endangered their interests and security.
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
I\'d emphasize, a little
strongly perhaps, that
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
we don\'t have any choice
except direct military action.
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
Now, as for the Berlin
situation, I don\'t share
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
your view that if we knock off Cuba,
they\'re going to knock off Berlin.
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
What do you think their reply would be? I don\'t think
they\'re going to make any reply… if we tell them that
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
the Berlin situation is just like it\'s always
been. If they make a move, we\'re going to fight.
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
Mr. President, I feel that the course of action recommended
to you by the Chiefs from the military point of view
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
is the right one. It\'s quite obvious
that what they think they can do is
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
try to get Berlin. That may be
a risk we have to take, but –
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
Well, history has been, I think, the other way,
Mr. President. So I see no other solution.
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
This blockade and political action,
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
I see leading into war. I
don\'t see any other solution.
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
This is almost as bad as
the appeasement in Munich.
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
I think that a blockade,
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
and political talk, would be considered
by a lot of our friends and neutrals
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
as being a pretty weak response to this… and I\'m sure
a lot of our own citizens would feel that way, too.
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
You\'re in a pretty bad fix, Mr. President.
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
What did you say? You\'re
in a pretty bad fix.
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
You\'re in there with me.
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
I\'ve directed that the following
initial steps be taken immediately,
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
a strict quarantine on all
offensive military equipment
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
under shipment to Cuba is being initiated.
All ships of any kind bound for Cuba
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
whether found to contain cargoes of
offensive weapons be turned back,
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
shall be the policy of this nation
to regard any nuclear missile
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
launched from Cuba or against any
nation in the Western Hemisphere
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
as an attack by the Soviet
Union on the United States
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
requiring a full retaliatory response upon the
Soviet Union. I call upon Chairman Khrushchev,
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
the stable relations
between our two nations.
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
I have several statements.
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
I have today been informed
by Chairman Khrushchev,
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
that all of the IL-28 bombers now in
Cuba will be withdrawn in 30 days.
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
He also agreed that these planes can
be observed and counted as they leave.
00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
Former governor of Florida now head of
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
the National Association of Broadcasters has accused
both the Defense Department and the State Department
00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
of new suppression and the Cuban
crisis, which (inaudible) a comment
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
on your general feeling that… Uh… Well,
00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
it won\'t… it is true that when we
learn the matter on Tuesday morning
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
until we made the announcement on the quarantine
on Monday afternoon that this matter was kept
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
at the highest levels of government, we
didn\'t make any public statement about it.
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
And I returned to Washington that Saturday
morning because I had a campaign trip
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
that we\'re going to take till Sunday evening and I
had to come back and we did not want to indicate
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
to the Soviet Union or up to Cuba or
any one else might be our adversary
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
to extend about information until we
determine what our policy would be
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
and until we consulted with our allies. So
for those are very good reasons I believe,
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
this matter was kept up by the
government until Monday night.
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
There is at least one newspaper
learned about the some of the details
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
on Sunday evening and did not print
it for reasons of public interest.
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
I have no apologies for that. I don\'t think there\'s
any doubt that it would have been a great mistake
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
and possibly a disaster, there\'s news
it dribbled out when we were unsure
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
of the extent of the Soviet buildup in
Cuba and when we\'re unsure of our response
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
and when we are not consulted with any of our allies who
might themselves have been involved in great difficulty
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
as a result of our action. During the
week then, from Monday till Sunday,
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
when we see Mr. Khrushchev\'s first
message about the withdrawal,
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
we attempted to have the government speak with one voice.
There were obvious restraints on a newspaper main,
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
they were not meant, for example, go to Guantanamo
because obviously that might be an area
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
which might be under attack. Since
that Sunday we have tried to
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
uh… of these content to attempt to
lift up the any restraint in the news
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
and I\'m really as a reader of a
good many papers, seems to me that
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
the papers and more or less reflected quite
accurately the state of our negotiations
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
with the Soviet Union. They have in a sense been suspended
because we\'ve been arguing about this question of Il-28,
00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
so there hasn\'t been any real progress
that we could point to any hot information
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
that we can put out until the
day which we\'re now doing.
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
Now if the procedures which had been
set up, which are really to protect
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
the interest of security of the United States are
being used in a way inimical to the free flow of news
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
and then we change the procedures.
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
The other day Khrushchev stated that communists
could learn something even from capitalists
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
and he even add a few kind words
to say about profit incentives.
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
Do you read any great amount
of significance into this?
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
No, I don\'t. No. To people
of Florida are hoping that
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
you and your family will again spend Christmas with
them. Can you tell us what your present plans are so?
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
My father and mother are going to Florida in December
and my wife and children hope to go there for Christmas
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
and if my situation here permits
I will go in Christmas.
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
If the question is the result of some
stories that towards business in Florida
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
is off because of our difficulties, I don\'t think it will be
too. I hope it will not be too dangerous in Florida this year.
00:50:55.000 --> 00:51:00.000
[sil.]
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
We need a way to get out of Vietnam.
This is a way of doing it.
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
And to leave forces there when they\'re not
needed, I think, is wasteful and it complicates
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
both their problems and ours… We must have
a means of disengaging from this area.
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
We must show our country what that means.
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
I am sure that if we don\'t meet
those dates, in the sense of ending
00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
the major military campaigns, we nonetheless
can withdraw the bulk of our U.S. forces,
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
according to the schedule we have laid out…
And the advantage of taking them out –
00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
And the advantage of taking them out is that we can
say to the Congress and people that we do have a plan
00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
for reducing the exposure
of US combat personnel
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
to the guerrilla actions in South Vietnam
actions that the people of South Vietnam
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
should gradually develop a capability
to suppress themselves. And I think
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
this will be of great value to us in meeting the very
strong views of [Sen. J. William]Fulbright and others
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:15.000
that we\'re bogged down in Asia
and will be there for decades.
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
Senator Goldwater accuses
your administration that
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
they falsifications of the news in
order to perpetuate itself in office.
00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
Do you care to comment on that? What…
what was he referring? In the speech here
00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
at the Women\'s National Press
Club, and he has… Point was that
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
you and your administration are
mismanaging the news and using it
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
to perpetuate yourself and
all… Well, as I\'ve said before
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
I think it would be unwise
at this time to answer,
00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
reply to Senator Goldwater. I\'m confident
that he\'ll be making many charges
00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
even more serious than this one that in the
coming months. And in addition he himself has
00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.999
had a busy week selling TVA and to…
00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:34.999
and giving permission to suggesting that military
commanders oversea, he permitted to use nuclear weapons
00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:39.999
packing the president of Bolivia while
he was here in the United States,
00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:44.999
balling himself in the Greek election.
So I thought that it really would be
00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.999
not fair for me this week to reply to him.
00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.999
Mr. President back to the question of acute
rejection or any (inaudible) in the far
00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
that he\'s at the present time particularly
in Korea and is there any speedup
00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.999
in the withdrawal from Vietnam and…
Well, you know when Secretary McNamara,
00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:09.999
General Taylor came back, they announced
that we would expect to withdraw
00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:14.999
a 1,000 men from South Vietnam
before the end of the year
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.999
and there\'s been some reference to that by General Hawkins.
If we\'re able to do that that will be our scheduling,
00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.999
the first unit, the first
contingent would be 250 men
00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.999
who were not involved in what might
be called a frontline operations.
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.999
It would hope to lessen the number of Americans
thereby 1,000 as the training intensifies
00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
and is carried on in South Vietnam.
00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:44.999
He should start talking within about seven or eight
minutes assuming he arise within the next few minutes
00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.999
and he plans to speak for 20 minutes. However,
his schedulers so tight, he\'s doing Dallas
00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.999
in less than 2.5 hours. There had been plans
for him to leave from here in an open car
00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:59.999
and for Dallas the motorcade downtown
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.999
will go to Lemon to Turtle Craig, bend
down cedar springs to Harvard down main,
00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:09.999
circle the courthouse then on Stemmons Freeway to the
trademark. When the President appeared on the parking lot,
00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:14.999
he broke one of the cardinal rules of security,
he went out into the crowd and of course,
00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:19.999
Secret Service men find this the most nervous
time of any presidential appearance.
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:24.999
Another rule is that anyone who approaches the president
should have both hands visible on September 6th 1901,
00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:29.999
those two rules were broken. President William
McKinley was appearing at the Pan American Exposition
00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:34.999
in Buffalo New York and had a public
reception, the crowd moved in around him
00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:39.999
and the three Secret Service men who are guarding him
had no chance to screen the people approaching him.
00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:44.999
There comes the president.
00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:53.000
[music]
00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:09.999
As you can tell for their action that Mrs.
Kennedy coming in, she\'d been standing outside
00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:14.999
in the kitchen waiting for the introduction of
guests at the head table will be completed.
00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:19.999
Now she is moving up to the front
of the ball room (inaudible) Dias.
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:24.999
For the ladies in the audience, she\'s wearing
a (inaudible) outfit trimmed in black,
00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:29.999
uh… Finding more about it, I tell you the kind
of material, it looks like a lovely material.
00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:34.999
Two years ago I said that I
introduced myself in Paris
00:56:35.000 --> 00:56:39.999
by saying that I was the man who had accompanied
Mrs. Kennedy to Paris. I\'m getting that
00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:44.999
some of that same sensation that
as I travel around the Texas.
00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:49.999
[sil.]
00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:54.999
Nobody wonders what Lyndon and I wear…
00:56:55.000 --> 00:56:59.999
[sil.]
00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:04.999
But this is a very dangerous
00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:09.999
and uncertain world as I said earlier on
three occasions in the last three years,
00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:14.999
the United States has had a direct
confrontation. No one can say
00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:19.999
when it will come again. (inaudible) you lean forward
without providing you with some protects against the rain.
00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:28.000
[sil.]
00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:49.999
I\'ll put it on in the White House
on Monday if you\'ll come up there
00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:54.999
you\'ll have a chance to see it there.
00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:59.999
From Dallas, Texas, the
flash, apparently official,
00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:04.999
President Kennedy died at 1 p.m.
Central Standard Time,
00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:09.999
2 o\'clock Eastern Standard
time, some 38 minutes ago.
00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:14.999
[sil.]
00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:19.999
Vice-President Lyndon Johnson has left the
hospital in Dallas but we do not know
00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:24.999
to where he has proceeded.
Presumably he will be taking
00:58:25.000 --> 00:58:29.999
the oath of office shortly and become
00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:34.999
the 36th President of the United States.
00:58:35.000 --> 00:58:40.000
[music]
00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:53.000
[music]
01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:04.999
It turns out that John F. Kennedy was
pressured more often and more strongly
01:01:05.000 --> 01:01:09.999
by more people to take this nation
to war than any president ever was
01:01:10.000 --> 01:01:14.999
within 1,000 days that he had to work with.
If we take the fundamental issue
01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:19.999
to be how profoundly did this
man resist the urge to war,
01:01:20.000 --> 01:01:24.999
Vietnam, Laos, Cuba, they are in
Missile Crisis of the Bay of Pigs,
01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:29.999
were in Berlin. If we take that as our
fundamental variable of the thing
01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:34.999
that we really are paying attention
to, it\'s almost unavoidable that
01:01:35.000 --> 01:01:39.999
we conclude that he wasn\'t going
to have that war in Vietnam.
01:01:40.000 --> 01:01:44.999
[music]
01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:49.999
Together we shall save our planet, or
together we shall perish and explain.
01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:54.999
Say it we can and say that we must.
01:01:55.000 --> 01:01:59.999
And then shall we earn, the
eternal thanks of mankind
01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:04.999
and as peace makers, the
eternal blessing of god.
01:02:05.000 --> 01:02:09.999
First examine our attitude
towards peace itself
01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:14.999
too many of us think it is impossible,
too many think it is unreal
01:02:15.000 --> 01:02:19.999
but that is a dangerous the fetus belief.
01:02:20.000 --> 01:02:24.999
It leads to the conclusion
that war is inevitable,
01:02:25.000 --> 01:02:29.999
that mankind is doomed, that
we are gripped by forces
01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:34.999
we cannot control, we need
not accept that view,
01:02:35.000 --> 01:02:39.999
our problems are man-made, therefore,
they can be solved by man,
01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:44.999
United States as the world
knows will never start a war.
01:02:45.000 --> 01:02:49.999
We do not want a war, we
do not now expect the war,
01:02:50.000 --> 01:02:54.999
this generation of Americans has
already had enough of war and hate.
01:02:55.000 --> 01:02:59.999
[music]
01:03:00.000 --> 01:03:04.999
[sil.]
01:03:05.000 --> 01:03:09.999
[music]
01:03:10.000 --> 01:03:14.999
Does the fact that you\'re sending additional
forces to Vietnam imply any change
01:03:15.000 --> 01:03:19.999
in the existing policy of relying
mainly on the South Vietnamese…
01:03:20.000 --> 01:03:24.999
He told White House reporters that
he could imagine a wall over there
01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:29.999
going on for five, six or seven years.
01:03:30.000 --> 01:03:34.999
Have you thought of that possibility, sir?
Could you tell us whether you believe this war
01:03:35.000 --> 01:03:39.999
as you now call it can\'t be contained
in this corner of Southeast Asia
01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:44.999
without involving a US
Soviet confrontation?
01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:49.999
Governor Hatfield of Oregon said the most
recent escalation of action in Vietnam
01:03:50.000 --> 01:03:54.999
is moving all the people to the
old closer to World War III
01:03:55.000 --> 01:03:59.999
and we have no moral right to commit the world
and especially our own people to World War III
01:04:00.000 --> 01:04:04.999
unilaterally or by the
decision of a few experts.
01:04:05.000 --> 01:04:09.999
This seems to imply rather strong
criticism of President policies…
01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:14.999
Yes, I don\'t interpret it that way. I
think there are dangers in escalation.
01:04:15.000 --> 01:04:19.999
I don\'t think I have any right commit the whole
World of World War III. I\'m doing everything I know
01:04:20.000 --> 01:04:24.999
how to avoid it but retreat is not
necessarily the best way to avoid it.
01:04:25.000 --> 01:04:29.999
[sil.]
01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:38.000
[music]
01:04:40.000 --> 01:04:44.999
It is 1965, the democratic majority
01:04:45.000 --> 01:04:49.999
in both houses of Congress has increased. It was
positively ruined nation for the Republicans.
01:04:50.000 --> 01:04:54.999
So Johnson is in a position
that Kennedy was never in
01:04:55.000 --> 01:04:59.999
or anybody else was ever in up
to that point. I\'m not saying
01:05:00.000 --> 01:05:04.999
he could do what he wanted but
the choices open to Johnson,
01:05:05.000 --> 01:05:09.999
particularly with regard to Vietnam
War, it was a very wide array of it.
01:05:10.000 --> 01:05:14.999
He could do everything from endow US
involvement and manage that politically
01:05:15.000 --> 01:05:19.999
because all of his people were
in charge in the Congress
01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:24.999
or he could choose to escalate. The fact, plus
the fact that a man that builds an oil well…
01:05:25.000 --> 01:05:29.999
Enter Hubert Humphrey… And he finally hits one, he can
take all of the indications for all of the losses
01:05:30.000 --> 01:05:34.999
that he had been before. But senator isn\'t that…
There are 45 separate (inaudible) these are benefits
01:05:35.000 --> 01:05:39.999
given by the government for mining
and gas and oil development.
01:05:40.000 --> 01:05:44.999
What you didn\'t have in 1925 and I say that it\'s absolutely
wrong in… (inaudible) then surprised as the supply of oil
01:05:45.000 --> 01:05:49.999
and other critical raw materials are concerned… That\'s
correct, the supply is even the known supply today
01:05:50.000 --> 01:05:54.999
is much greater than it was in 1925 and…
…That the bond market for gas and oil wells
01:05:55.000 --> 01:05:59.999
are gilt edged securities and the profit
percentage and gas and oil development is
01:06:00.000 --> 01:06:04.999
above any other commodity
in the American market.
01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:09.999
[music]
01:06:10.000 --> 01:06:14.999
Humphrey deeply concerned that
01:06:15.000 --> 01:06:19.999
the momentum toward war in South Vietnam was
gonna completely overwhelmed anybody\'s ability
01:06:20.000 --> 01:06:24.999
to keep up with it to tamp it down to slow
it down, so the probable consequences of it
01:06:25.000 --> 01:06:29.999
could be examined. Humphrey decides
to write his president a memo.
01:06:30.000 --> 01:06:34.999
\"Mr. President…\" and he said, \"…this
is not Korea. It is not clear.
01:06:35.000 --> 01:06:39.999
You\'re not going to be able to explain this to the
American people. It\'s gonna chew up American boys
01:06:40.000 --> 01:06:44.999
and you\'re not gonna be able to say why.
Mr. President, you must have noticed
01:06:45.000 --> 01:06:49.999
that our key allies, they\'re seeing this build-up
in Southeast Asia all around the South Vietnam
01:06:50.000 --> 01:06:54.999
and they\'re worried. What\'s gonna happen?
Are we gonna go to war there?
01:06:55.000 --> 01:06:59.999
Is that what we care about? Our allies France, Germany and
England, think that the number one priority should be Europe.
01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:04.999
I, Hubert Humphrey think it should be Europe. You\'re
the expert on the Congress, have you noticed?
01:07:05.000 --> 01:07:09.999
That all of the… the committee chairman are opposed
and if you notice what\'s happened in South Vietnam
01:07:10.000 --> 01:07:14.999
since President Kennedy died, it\'s
gotten worse and worse and worse
01:07:15.000 --> 01:07:19.999
to the point where we don\'t even know who we\'re supporting
half the time to the point where the Vietcong now control
01:07:20.000 --> 01:07:24.999
more than 50% of the country
South Vietnam\'s a basket case.
01:07:25.000 --> 01:07:29.999
There is no South Vietnamese government to speak
of unless you\'re talking about the U.S. advisors
01:07:30.000 --> 01:07:34.999
to that… to that government.
The Vietcong isn\'t insurgency.
01:07:35.000 --> 01:07:39.999
It has managed to win the hearts and minds of the
people of South Vietnam. No matter what we may think
01:07:40.000 --> 01:07:44.999
of communist ideology, it\'s working.
Do we have a message
01:07:45.000 --> 01:07:49.999
that we can deliver at that level
to those people. Are we credible?
01:07:50.000 --> 01:07:54.999
Do we know the Vietnamese language,
culture, history, we don\'t.
01:07:55.000 --> 01:07:59.999
If we choose to go to war, if you Mr.
President, make that choice
01:08:00.000 --> 01:08:04.999
to go to war, you\'ll have to consider
that we won\'t know what we\'re doing.\"
01:08:05.000 --> 01:08:09.999
[music]
01:08:10.000 --> 01:08:14.999
In other words, what\'s happened?
Hubert Humphrey has done his president
01:08:15.000 --> 01:08:19.999
and the world the great favor of laying in
front of Johnson, the political arguments,
01:08:20.000 --> 01:08:24.999
the arguments about the politics of
Vietnam. He\'s laid them out crystal-clear
01:08:25.000 --> 01:08:29.999
in a 3.5 page memo, given it to
Johnson, he\'s not copied it.
01:08:30.000 --> 01:08:34.999
And now we ask what happens.
01:08:35.000 --> 01:08:39.999
Johnson refused even to
give Humphrey a meeting,
01:08:40.000 --> 01:08:44.999
he subsequently black balled Hubert
Humphrey, he expelled him from all meetings
01:08:45.000 --> 01:08:49.999
having to do with Vietnam. Based
on this memo and some speeches
01:08:50.000 --> 01:08:54.999
that Humphrey had given, he urges his
colleagues when they\'re with Humphrey too
01:08:55.000 --> 01:08:59.999
in effect keep him under surveillance.
01:09:00.000 --> 01:09:04.999
You know, Hubert declared that carefully,
everybody said New York with you.
01:09:05.000 --> 01:09:10.000
Well, I say he\'s got a good negotiation.
01:10:10.000 --> 01:10:14.999
And we shall fight the battle
01:10:15.000 --> 01:10:19.999
against aggression in Vietnam
to a successful conclusion
01:10:20.000 --> 01:10:24.999
and throughout the world we shall
fight the battle for peace
01:10:25.000 --> 01:10:29.999
and to the American
people who have given us
01:10:30.000 --> 01:10:34.999
their strength and every hour of trial,
01:10:35.000 --> 01:10:39.999
I say to you that we shall fight
all of these battles successfully.
01:10:40.000 --> 01:10:44.999
And President John F. Kennedy said in 1962,
01:10:45.000 --> 01:10:49.999
withdrawal in the case of Vietnam might
mean a collapse of the entire area,
01:10:50.000 --> 01:10:54.999
a year later he reaffirm and I quote that
01:10:55.000 --> 01:10:59.999
we\'re not going to
withdraw from that effort,
01:11:00.000 --> 01:11:04.999
we just must not mislead the enemy.
Let him not think that
01:11:05.000 --> 01:11:09.999
debate and dissent we\'ll
produce wavering and withdrawn
01:11:10.000 --> 01:11:14.999
or I can assure you they won\'t.
01:11:15.000 --> 01:11:19.999
And so the true peacekeepers
in the world tonight
01:11:20.000 --> 01:11:24.999
are not those who are just to
retire from the field in Vietnam,
01:11:25.000 --> 01:11:29.999
who tell us to try to find
the quickest, cheapest exit
01:11:30.000 --> 01:11:34.999
from that tormented land no matter
what the consequences to us maybe,
01:11:35.000 --> 01:11:39.999
the true peacekeepers, are
those man who stand out there
01:11:40.000 --> 01:11:44.999
on the DMZ at this very hour, taking
the worst that the enemy can give.
01:11:45.000 --> 01:11:49.999
The true peacekeepers are the soldiers
01:11:50.000 --> 01:11:54.999
who are breaking the terrorist grip.
My fellow Americans,
01:11:55.000 --> 01:11:59.999
not long ago, I received a letter
from a woman in the Midwest.
01:12:00.000 --> 01:12:04.999
She wrote, \"Dear Mr. President,
01:12:05.000 --> 01:12:09.999
in my humble way I\'m writing to you
01:12:10.000 --> 01:12:14.999
about the crisis in Vietnam. I
have a son who is now in Vietnam,
01:12:15.000 --> 01:12:19.999
my husband served in World War II.
Our country was at war
01:12:20.000 --> 01:12:24.999
but now this time, it\'s just
something that I don\'t understand.
01:12:25.000 --> 01:12:29.999
Why?\" Well, I\'ve tried
01:12:30.000 --> 01:12:34.999
to answer that question,
dozens of times and more.
01:12:35.000 --> 01:12:39.999
Americans have gone
01:12:40.000 --> 01:12:44.999
too far lands away to fight for freedom.
01:12:45.000 --> 01:12:49.999
We have learned a terrible and brutal calls
01:12:50.000 --> 01:12:54.999
that retreat does not bring safety,
01:12:55.000 --> 01:12:59.999
and weakness does not bring peace.
01:13:00.000 --> 01:13:04.999
And it is this lesson
01:13:05.000 --> 01:13:09.999
that has brought us to Vietnam. No better
word to describe our present course
01:13:10.000 --> 01:13:14.999
than those spoken by the
great Thomas Jefferson,
01:13:15.000 --> 01:13:19.999
\"It is the melancholy law of human
societies to be compelled sometime
01:13:20.000 --> 01:13:24.999
to choose a great evil
01:13:25.000 --> 01:13:29.999
in order to ward off a greater
(inaudible).\" We have chosen in fact
01:13:30.000 --> 01:13:34.999
a limited war in Vietnam
01:13:35.000 --> 01:13:39.999
and attempt to prevent a larger war.
01:13:40.000 --> 01:13:44.999
For the end is not yet, I cannot promise
you that it will come this year
01:13:45.000 --> 01:13:49.999
or come next year.
01:13:50.000 --> 01:13:54.999
I adversary still believes
I think tonight that
01:13:55.000 --> 01:13:59.999
he can go on fighting longer than we can.
Good evening my fellow Americans.
01:14:00.000 --> 01:14:04.999
Tonight I want to speak to
you of peace in Vietnam
01:14:05.000 --> 01:14:09.999
and Southeast Asia. No other question.
01:14:10.000 --> 01:14:14.999
So preoccupies our people.
01:14:15.000 --> 01:14:19.999
Many men on both sides of
the struggle will be long,
01:14:20.000 --> 01:14:24.999
a nation that has already
suffered 20 years of warfare
01:14:25.000 --> 01:14:29.999
will suffer once again. Armies on
both sides will take you casualty
01:14:30.000 --> 01:14:34.999
and the war will go on.
01:14:35.000 --> 01:14:39.999
There is no need for this to be so.
01:14:40.000 --> 01:14:44.999
I shall not see and I will not accept
01:14:45.000 --> 01:14:49.999
the nomination of my party for
another term as your President.
01:14:50.000 --> 01:14:55.000
[music]
01:15:05.000 --> 01:15:09.999
Lyndon Johnson suffered terribly
because the Vietnam War.
01:15:10.000 --> 01:15:14.999
It prevented him from doing what he wanted
to do, he was just broken by this war.
01:15:15.000 --> 01:15:19.999
I\'m sure his life ended prematurely because of
this war, he did not enjoy dealing with this war,
01:15:20.000 --> 01:15:24.999
he hated it, but a president has to choose
01:15:25.000 --> 01:15:29.999
and Lyndon Johnson signed
that piece of paper,
01:15:30.000 --> 01:15:34.999
sending 18,000 combat troops to General William
Westmoreland in Saigon, the field commander over there
01:15:35.000 --> 01:15:39.999
and he told him to win the war.
He made that choice.
01:15:40.000 --> 01:15:44.999
Ladybird Johnson\'s diary
contains many entries
01:15:45.000 --> 01:15:49.999
along the following lines. I wish
poor Lyndon had never taken this job,
01:15:50.000 --> 01:15:54.999
I wish poor Lyndon had never heard of
Vietnam. He\'s sick, he throws up at night,
01:15:55.000 --> 01:15:59.999
he\'s drinking too heavily, he heads down
the hallway in the middle of the night
01:16:00.000 --> 01:16:04.999
and asked the CIA guy in charge in the
Situation Room. \"How many boys if we loss
01:16:05.000 --> 01:16:09.999
since I went to bed?\" And
it\'s not Johnson\'s fault
01:16:10.000 --> 01:16:14.999
and it\'s not necessarily to Kennedy\'s credit.
He was a different kind of president.
01:16:15.000 --> 01:16:19.999
It makes a big difference I think
01:16:20.000 --> 01:16:24.999
who we elect a president in
matters of war and peace.
01:16:25.000 --> 01:16:33.000
[music]
01:16:35.000 --> 01:16:39.999
Yes, I thank the American people ought to understand
that there is no quick solution to the problem
01:16:40.000 --> 01:16:44.999
that we face there. I would not
want to (inaudible) or predict
01:16:45.000 --> 01:16:49.999
whether it would be a matter of months
or years or decades. I do not know that
01:16:50.000 --> 01:16:54.999
we had any accurate timetable on how
long it would take to bring victory
01:16:55.000 --> 01:16:59.999
in World War I. I don\'t think anyone really
knew or two years or four years or six years
01:17:00.000 --> 01:17:04.999
to meet the success in World War II.
01:17:05.000 --> 01:17:09.999
I cannot foresee what next year or the
following year, the following year the whole,
01:17:10.000 --> 01:17:14.999
I don\'t know that the Americans
will do whatever is necessary.
01:17:15.000 --> 01:17:19.999
I do not want to speculate on
the reaction or other people.
01:17:20.000 --> 01:17:24.999
This nation is prepared and we will always be
prepared to protect its national interests.
01:17:25.000 --> 01:17:29.999
We intend to bury no one.
01:17:30.000 --> 01:17:34.999
[music]
01:17:35.000 --> 01:17:40.000
And we do not intend to be buried.
01:18:15.000 --> 01:18:20.000
[sil.]