JFK

FADE IN:

Credits run in counterpoint through a 7 to 10 minute sequence

of documentary images setting the tone of John F. Kennedy's

Presidency and the atmosphere of those tense times, 1960

through 1963. An omniscient narrator's voice marches us

through in old time Pathe' newsreel fashion.

VOICE:

January, 1961 - President Dwight D.

Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the

Nation -

EISENHOWER ADDRESS

EISENHOWER:

The conjunction of an immense military

establishment and a large arms

industry is new in the American

experience. The total influence -

economic, political, even spiritual -

is felt in every city, every

statehouse, every office of the

Federal Government... In the councils

of government we must guard against

the acquisition of unwarranted

influence, whether sought or unsought,

by the military industrial complex.

The potential for the disastrous

rise of misplaced power exists and

will persist... We must never let

the weight of this combination

endanger our liberties or democratic

processes. We should take nothing

for granted...

ELECTION IMAGERY

School kids reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. WPA films of

farmers harvesting the Texas plains. Rain, thunderheads, a

dusty car coming from far away on a road moving towards

Dallas. Cowboys round up the cattle. Young marrieds in a

church. Hillsides of tract homes going up. The American

breadbasket, the West. Over this we hear Eisenhower's

address. As we move into the election campaign of 1960, we

see the TV debates, Nixon vs. Kennedy, Mayor Daley, Kennedy

victorious...

Against this is juxtaposed other forces: segregation, J.

Edgar Hoover, military advisors, Castro, Marilyn Monroe,

Lumumba... three frames of the Zapruder film counter-cut...

ending with the Kennedy inauguration and the irony of Earl

Warren administering the oath as he will Kennedy's eulogy.

VOICE 2

November, 1960 - Senator John F.

Kennedy of Massachusetts wins one of

the narrowest election victories in

American history over the Vice-

President Richard Nixon by a little

more than 100,000 votes. Rumors

abound that he stole the election in

Illinois through the Democratic

political machine of Mayor Daley...

(inauguration shots)

At his inauguration, at a time when

American males all wore hats, he let

his hair blow free in the wind.

Alongside his beautiful and elegant

wife of French origin, Jacqueline

Bouvier, J.F.K. is the symbol of the

new freedom of the 1960's, signifying

change and upheaval to the American

public, scaring many and hated

passionately by some. To win the

election and to appease their fears,

Kennedy at first takes a tough Cold

War stance.

BAY OF PIGS IMAGERY

The beach, the bombardment, the rounding up of prisoners,

Kennedy's public apology, Allen Dulles standing next to

J.F.K., both uncomfortable with the small talk...

VOICE 3

He inherits a secret war against the

Communist Castro dictatorship in

Cuba, a war run by the CIA and angry

Cuban exiles out of bases in the

Southern United States, Panama,

Nicaragua and Guatemala. Castro is

a successful revolutionary frightening

to American business interests in

Latin America - companies like Cabot's

United Fruit, Continental Can, and

Rockefeller's Standard Oil. This

war culminates in the disastrous Bay

of Pigs invasion in April 1961, when

Kennedy refuses to provide air cover

for the exile brigade. Of the 1600

men who invade, 114 are killed, 1200

are captured. The Cuban exiles and

the CIA are furious at Kennedy's

irresolution... Kennedy, taking public

responsibility for the failure,

privately claims the CIA lied to him

and tried to manipulate him into

ordering an all-out American invasion

of Cuba. He vows to splinter the

CIA into a thousand pieces and fires

Director Allen Dulles, Deputies

Charles Cabell and Richard Bissell,

the top leadership of the Agency.

SECRET WAR IMAGERY

Cuban rallies, footage of training camps, espionage

activities, boats, cases of weapons, Robert Kennedy... John

Roselli, Sam Giancana, Santos Trafficante, Richard Helms

(the new CIA chief), Bill Harvey, Head of ZR/RIFLE, Howard

Hunt...

VOICE 4

The CIA, however, continues it's

secret war on Castro with dozens of

sabotage and assassination attempts

under it's ZR/RIFLE and MONGOOSE

programs - The Agency collaborates

with organized crime elements such

as John Roselli, Sam Giancana, and

Santos Trafficante of Tampa, whose

casino operations in Cuba, worth

more than a hundred million dollars

a year in income, Castro has shut

down.

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