Announcer: (singing) mtv.
[crowd cheering]
Narrator: November 22, 1963.
[gunshot]
America's president is shot dead in full view
Of crowds of well-wishers.
To have him taken away in such a violent manner,
It was incredibly shocking.
When the president of the united states
Gets assassinated, it sends shock waves all over the world.
Narrator: Jfk's death leads many to ask,
How could the leader of the free world be murdered so easily?
[gunshot]
The assassination of john f. Kennedy was a watershed event.
It changed the history of the world.
Narrator: Now, in-depth analysis,
Investigative reports, and declassified documents
Expose crucial errors.
If you don't have intelligence coming in, you cannot ensure
That the president is safe.
There was a failure of collecting the data, but also
Of imagination or analysis.
Narrator: From ignored threats--
The biggest mistake was going to the city of hate.
Narrator: --To intelligence breakdowns.
The less you can make public, the better it is,
The safer it is.
The tragedy is that this man who wasn't taken seriously
As a violent threat was on the radar
Screen of us law enforcement and intelligence before dallas.
Narrator: And major security failings.
Putting the president of the united states in a convertible
Was incredibly stupid.
If there had been a bulletproof top,
That would have made the president far safer.
Because they weren't feeling at their best,
They weren't watching.
Narrator: 10 deadly mistakes that, if avoided,
Could have changed history.
You don't want to think like a secret service agent.
You want to think like the assassin.
Not recognizing that threat was possible
Was probably the greatest oversight in american history.
[numbers clicking]
[typing]
[dramatic music]
The constitution--
Narrator: John f. Kennedy's inauguration
Changes the way the world sees an american president.
[crowd cheering]
Ask not what your country can do for you.
Ask what you can do for your country.
Narrator: Jfk's life as us president plays
Out on camera to the world.
The image that john kennedy had as president
Was one of energy and youth and vitality.
He exuded charisma, intelligence,
And he worked hard to ensure that he came
Across very well in the media.
President kennedy wanted to be seen.
He wanted to connect.
Sharron wilkins conrad: To be in that role
And to be seeking votes in that way,
You have to be willing to put yourself out there.
And he certainly was willing to do that.
Narrator: When he's shot dead, the world goes into mourning.
But the tragic journey leading to jfk's death
Begins long before the bullets hit him--
[bullet crashing]
[tape rewinds]
--Starting three years earlier, when poor security allows
An assassin to almost kill him before he even steps
Foot in the white house.
If he had set off the bomb, it would have probably
Killed president-elect kennedy.
[numbers clicking]
[shutter clicks]
[crowd murmuring]
Narrator: November 8, 1960.
John f. Kennedy narrowly beats richard nixon to become
President of the united states.
But many people across america are
Outraged at the shock result.
[crowd yelling]
Barbara a. Perry: He didn't even get 50% of the popular vote.
So while there were many people who loved the kennedys
And loved president kennedy,
There were a lot of kennedy haters
In the united states at that time.
Narrator: Among the most outraged
By kennedy's narrow victory is richard pavlick,
A 73-year-old retired postal worker living
In belmont, new hampshire.
Richard pavlick was known to be
The town crank in a small town where he had retired.
He began to be threatening about the town.
He would write intemperate letters to the editor
Of the local newspaper.
But it also happened that he began
To act out in his own mind this plot against kennedy.
Narrator: Pavlick believes kennedy has stolen
The election from nixon and vows to assassinate
The president-elect.
Kennedy's popularity and willingness to court the media
Means it's not hard for pavlick to track him
To his vacation home in palm beach.
Barbara a. Perry: Kennedy wanted to have that relationship
With the media.
So all he had to do was read the newspaper about where
President-elect kennedy was going
To be staying at any one time.
Narrator: Pavlick buys 10 sticks of dynamite and heads south.
Barbara a. Perry: He would have created
What we would now call a suicide bomber out of himself.
This plot was to approach kennedy at some point
Where he could get close enough to kennedy to pull the switch
To set off this suicide bomb and take kennedy out
And murder him.
Narrator: Sunday, December 11, just a month since his victory.
Jfk is preparing to attend Sunday mass in palm beach.
As he leaves his vacation home, pavlick is waiting.
Pavlick saw the president-elect come out
And was ready to get out of his car
And set off the suicide bomb and take the president out
And murder him.
But just at that moment, mrs. Kennedy
Appeared in the doorway with her young toddler daughter,
Caroline.
Pavlick sees caroline next to the president.
And apparently, as he would later tell law enforcement,
He didn't want to kill anyone but john kennedy.
And so he stopped.
He did not go ahead with his plot of blowing himself up
And the president-elect.
Narrator: It is pavlick's own morals,
Not the actions of the secret service, that spare jfk's life.
Incredibly, pavlick continues to stalk
The president for a further four days
Without anyone picking him up.
Eventually, he is stopped by the fbi, but only by chance.
He wrote to the postal inspector in his small town
In new hampshire with some threatening language
About kennedy.
And that caused the postal inspector to turn
It over to the authorities.
That's how they began to be on the lookout
For richard pavlick in palm beach.
But as it turned out, he created a traffic offense.
That's why the police picked him up.
But once they put all the dots together,
They realized that they had this potential assassin
On their hands.
Narrator: During his trial, pavlick mocks the president's
Ineffective protection detail.
What should have been a major flag that jfk's
Security is too lax is ignored.
Three years on, at the end of his first term in office,
Jfk and his security are making exactly the same mistakes.
And this time, his would-be assassin is far more
Equipped to complete the job.
Not recognizing that a high-angle sniper threat was
Possible was probably the greatest
Oversight in american history.
[text clicking]
Narrator: November 22, 1963.
Jfk heads to dallas, texas to rally
Support for his re-election.
But choosing dallas is a major error.
Jfk's pro-civil rights stance has made him hugely
Unpopular across the south.
Dallas had had a long history of violence
To secure different kinds of political aim.
The dallas branch of the kkk, which emerged in the 1920s,
Was one of the largest in the country, if not the largest.
Narrator: But the president ignores
All warnings to avoid the city.
You didn't go to dallas in 1963
If you were afraid of the possibility of criticism.
Narrator: And just an hour after arriving, he is dead.
[gunshot]
The biggest mistake was going to the city of hate.
[numbers clicking]
Narrator: In the run up to the 1960 presidential election,
Jfk knows he's behind in the polls
In the conservative south, particularly texas.
So he sends his vice presidential running mate,
Texan-born lyndon b. Johnson, to dallas
To try to gain some ground.
Clodagh harrington: To jfk's credit,
He could hardly have chosen better
In terms of a brash, loud, macho texan who spoke
The language of the south.
Narrator: Jfk's team believes if anyone's
Got a chance of gaining some momentum in dallas,
It's lyndon b. Johnson.
But not even a texan with johnson's following
Is enough to calm the anti-jfk feeling.
Sharron wilkins conrad: When lyndon johnson comes to dallas
In 1960 as part of the campaign, he and his wife
Lady bird are swarmed by this mob of middle-
And upper-class white women.
Barbara a. Perry: Women took out their hat pins
And tried to stick them in soon-to-be vice
President johnson and soon-to-be second lady lady bird johnson.
Sharron wilkins conrad: They spit on the couple.
They pushed the couple.
They steal lady bird's gloves out of her hand
And throw those gloves into the gutter
And really kind of create this environment,
This mob environment.
In fact, these women came to be known as the mink coat mob.
Narrator: This is no grassroots movement.
The anti-kennedy campaign is highly coordinated and backed
By some of the biggest names in dallas,
Including newspaper moguls, wealthy oilmen, and even
Religious leaders, all united in their anger
At kennedy's support for civil rights.
It will be a miracle if kennedy can carry
This part of the united states.
For lyndon johnson to be the object of scorn,
That was a sign that politics of the south were boiling.
Narrator: And the anti-jfk movement
Only gets stronger throughout the president's first term.
Just four weeks before kennedy's fatal visit to dallas,
History repeats itself.
On a visit to the city,
Ambassador to the united nations
Adlai stevenson finds himself
At the center of another violent demonstration.
[crowd yelling]
Adlai stevenson was surrounded by a mob, attacked, spat upon.
One of these ladies that was at the stevenson rally,
She took a placard and hit him over the head.
And so he was not only verbally attacked during his speech,
But physically attacked.
Narrator: Stevenson is sped away by security.
The shaken ambassador is among the close advisors who warn jfk
Against the visit to dallas.
[dramatic music]
Had jfk heeded those warnings, he may have survived.
Instead, less than a month after adlai stevenson's visit,
The powder keg that is the city explodes.
To go to a part of the country where he knew that the vitriol
And the hatred towards him was, you know, on display,
There was perhaps an arrogance, maybe, to the trip,
And the warnings should have been heeded.
[siren wailing]
Narrator: But the next mistake is only
Focusing on the far-right extremist element.
Jfk's assassin is known to the fbi,
But the left-wing sympathizer is discounted as a threat.
Timothy naftali: The fbi is interested in extremism.
It's not associating far-left activism with terrorism.
[numbers clicking]
Narrator: October 1959, four years
Before jfk's assassination.
The cold war is at its peak, and there's growing tension
Between the us and the soviet union
When the cia receives an alert.
[phone rings]
A 20-year-old former marine and highly skilled marksman
Is looking to defect to russia.
His name is lee harvey oswald.
You got to remember that being in the united states
For an american citizen is, you know--
It's a pretty cool thing.
So if you have someone that is interested in leaving,
You're going to want to know why.
Narrator: As theagency responsible for
External threats, the cia monitors oswald for three years
After his successful defection.
But by June 1962, he's back in the us
With his russian wife and child.
Fbi agents in dallas soon discover
A defector with military training
Has moved into their jurisdiction.
They interview oswald twice about his soviet links.
It is no surprise that the intelligence community was
Interested in lee harvey oswald, because a,
He was one of the very few americans who had ever defected
To the soviet union, and b, he was almost the only person
Who had re-defected back to the united states after
Defecting to the soviet union.
Narrator: Oswald then moves to new orleans.
His plan is to set up a local branch of an organization
To support cuba and the country's new communist regime.
This was a national movement among
Communists in the united states, pro-fidel castro, pro-cuba.
It hated the anti-castro, anti-communist cuban vision
Of the american president, john kennedy,
And his administration.
Narrator: Two years before, jfk tried
To topple cuba's communist leader,
Fidel castro, with the ill-fated bay of pigs invasion.
The fallout of the failed coup means
That anyone expressing sympathy for cuba
Is immediately a person of interest.
But the authorities fail to see the bigger threat.
Timothy naftali: Lee harvey oswald triggers
Interest in new orleans.
He triggers interest because he is a far-left activist.
He does not trigger interest because
He is a potential murderer.
The fbi is interested in extremism.
It's not associating far-left activism with terrorism.
Narrator: Lee harvey oswald is arrested, but yet again fails
To cooperate with the fbi.
He's charged with disturbing the peace and, once released,
Quickly falls off the fbi's radar.
Had there been better communication
Between the fbi bureaus, they might not have lost him.
Greg shaffer: That was the crux of the failure.
Law enforcement learns its lessons the hard way.
Narrator: Just two months before president kennedy
Is assassinated, the fbi loses lee harvey oswald.
There's still a chance for us external intelligence
To stop him, but the mistakes continue to stack up
When the cia also drops the ball.
It is clear that the kgb agent that lee harvey oswald
Is speaking to is known to be attached to the assassination
Group of the kgb.
[numbers clicking]
[muffled voices on radio]
As the fbi attempts to locate lee harvey oswald,
The former marine is once again on the move.
This time, he's crossing the border out of the us.
In September of '63, lee harvey oswald makes
A bus trip to mexico city.
[horn honking]
And it's at this point that the american cia picks up
The trail, because now he's left the country,
And he is engaging in conversations in mexico city
At the soviet embassy, at the cuban embassy,
Presumably about a visa possibility,
So that he's perhaps thinking about going
Back to the soviet union.
Timothy naftali: He wants to go to moscow,
And he wants to go to moscow via cuba.
The cubans say to him, "we're not
Going to give you a transit visa unless we know
That you have a soviet visa.
So go talk to the soviets first."
Narrator: Declassified cia documents now
Reveal a key mistake is made when the agents fail to react
To who oswald is talking to, a kgb officer believed
To work for the department responsible for sabotage
And assassination.
When oswald was in mexico, a call
Was made from the soviet embassy back
To the kgb department itself.
And that tells us lots of things,
Even if we don't know the contents of the call itself.
The fact that an american citizen had traveled to mexico,
Gone to the soviet embassy, was using a telephone line
At the soviet embassy to phone back to the kgb
In moscow should really have triggered off
A whole number of alarm bells.
To have lee harvey oswald going to speak to assassination
Group members of the kgb in mexico city
At the soviet embassy,
And it would seem that it would have sparked
So much suspicion at the time.
And certainly, in retrospect, it does.
Narrator: Despite the monitoring and logging of oswald's call
To a soviet spy department linked
To political assassinations, no action is taken,
And oswald returns to the us.
Timothy naftali: Lee harvey oswald was in a different box.
He was in the cold war box.
He's a far-left agitator box.
Wasn't the same box as the secret service's box of people
Who were potential candidates for attempting to assassinate
The american president.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course,
And it's very easy when we know what's
Happened to look back and think, why didn't someone spot this?
Narrator: As oswald roams free, his dislike
For american politics becomes more and more
Hate-fueled by the day.
And warnings that could ultimately
Help stop the president's assassination
Are about to be fatally ignored.
You don't want to think like a secret service agent.
You want to think like the assassin.
[phone rings]
[men murmuring]
[suspenseful music]
Narrator: In the months leading up to jfk's assassination,
The intelligence agencies fail to recognize the looming threat
Of lee harvey oswald.
The former marine and sharpshooter
Is now suspected to be in direct contact
With an agent from russia's assassination department.
But there is still time to stop him,
If only the dots are connected.
We now know there were small snippets of intelligence that
Had been picked up beforehand that suggested
That he might be a target for assassination.
[numbers clicking]
[text clicking]
Narrator: October 15, 1962.
Almost a year before kennedy's dallas visit,
A call comes through to the us naval attaché in canberra,
Australia, warning of an assassination plot against jfk.
A man called to say that he was a polish chauffeur,
And that he was hired to drive soviet officials
Around australia, and that, in the course of doing that,
He heard conversations about assassination plots and plots
To murder the american president.
Narrator: The anonymous caller claims that iron curtain
Countries plan to pay $100,000 for the assassination
Of president kennedy.
But officials in canberra find no trace
Of any polish chauffeurs working in australia's soviet embassy.
The call is filed as a hoax.
There's no corroborative information.
If there's nothing else to substantiate it,
Then quite often, it's going to be ignored
And put into the discard pile.
Barbara a. Perry: This would fall into what intelligence
Officials call chatter.
And that is an increase in talk or communiques
That sometimes are in coded language,
Are not specific, but seem to be revolving
Around a certain event that may be about to happen.
Narrator: On the day of the assassination,
Just before midday, jfk's motorcade
Leaves love field airport, headed towards downtown dallas.
It's just 35 minutes before lee harvey oswald fires his gun.
Almost 5,000 miles away, across the atlantic,
Another mysterious phone call is received.
Barbara a. Perry: It was an anonymous phone call
To a journalist in cambridge, England,
Alerting him that there was going to be a big story
Breaking and that, in order to get that big story,
He should call the american embassy.
Narrator: The tip-off is so vague, the reporter ignores it.
What's interesting about any sort of telephone chatter
Or, you know, anyone calling, saying that the president's
Going to get assassinated, and then they hang up the phone,
You're at a disadvantage.
You can't ask any questions.
Every piece of information, whether it's a call
From canberra, whatever it happens to be,
Is a piece in a mosaic.
But if you're not looking to build a mosaic,
It's just a piece, and it gets filed away.
Narrator: As news of jfk's assassination
Spreads across the globe, the journalist contacts the police.
British intelligence passes the details
To the london cia office, and it eventually reaches the fbi.
The next day, the polish chauffeur from canberra
Also calls the naval base again to follow up on his tip-off
From a year earlier.
But in both cases, it's too little, too late.
Because intelligence failures sometimes
Are missing the piece, but often,
They're not having the picture in mind.
So the piece doesn't fit anything,
And so it's disregarded.
So intelligence failures can be both a failure
Of collecting, collecting the data, but also
Of imagination or analysis.
Narrator: Efforts to trace the polish chauffeur
Fail to locate him.
Numerous errors mean the stage is now being set for the moment
That will end jfk's life--
Ignored tip-offs, warnings about dallas,
And major security failings.
But the mistakes don't stop there.
Just days before the assassination,
The secret service unwittingly provides the perfect vantage
Point for a trained marksman.
Not recognizing that a high-angle sniper threat was
Possible was probably the greatest
Oversight in american history.
[numbers clicking]
[ominous music]
Narrator: In a bid to gain more public support in texas,
Jfk agrees to a 45-minute motorcade
Through the streets of dallas
Before his planned business lunch.
Clodagh harrington: Well, I can see why a motorcade would be
Attractive to any public official who wants to seem
Accessible to the crowds, to citizens,
To potential voters, et cetera.
But there's a sense of vulnerability there
That, you know, with even the tiniest bit of hindsight
Is quite shocking.
Narrator: Eight days before the visit,
A secret service agent checks out the planned route
Of the motorcade.
When he signs it off, the president's fate
Is sealed, because the route takes jfk through dealey plaza
And right past several tall buildings,
Including the texas school book depository from where
The fatal shot will be fired.
Greg shaffer: The threat from any one of those buildings
Would be great.
It was putting the president in a very precarious situation.
When you think of protection, it's not just
What's at the ground level.
You have to think 360 degrees.
You don't want to think like a secret service agent.
You want to think like the assassin.
Narrator: And there's another crucial flaw
That's been missed.
Approaching dealey plaza, the motorcade
Will need to slow down significantly
To make the turn onto elm street.
Greg shaffer: It's not just a left-hand turn.
It's a sharp left-hand turn then coming back at an angle, ok?
The vehicle has to virtually stop
Or go at a very, very low speed to make that hard turn.
Narrator: From a window high up in the book depository,
The limo becomes the perfect target for a trained sniper.
You don't want to be static or still,
And there's a term that's commonly referred to
In the service called "get off the x."
When you're on the x, or when you are static,
You are most likely to get hit.
Narrator: The secret service then makes another key error.
The details of the planned route are passed on to every
Law enforcement group involved in the president's visit
Except the fbi, the one agency that could have made
The connection with the route and a possible threat,
Because the local fbi has finally
Tracked down lee harvey oswald.
He's back in dallas and is the newest employee of the texas
School book depository.
If you don't have intelligence coming in, then you cannot have
Those kind of conversations,
And you cannot get out in front to ensure
That the president is safe.
Narrator: On November 19, four days before jfk's visit,
The local fbi bureau eventually finds out the exact details
Of the motorcade route, not through official channels,
But from the local paper.
Timothy naftali: If you keep a motorcade route secret,
It makes it very hard for potential conspirators
To ambush the president.
But it also means the public doesn't know where
The president is going to be.
Narrator: Publishing the route of the motorcade
Ensures maximum exposure for jfk.
It also puts him in the direct line
Of fire of lee harvey oswald.
[crowd cheering]
I suspect if the secret service had known that someone
As controversial as lee harvey oswald was working
On the motorcade route, they either would have changed
The motorcade route, or they would have found
A way to keep him under surveillance that day.
And he would not have been in the texas book depository
That day.
Narrator: But by 11:55 on November 22, 1963,
Oswald is in position at the book depository
Sixth-floor window, and a key procedural error
By the secret service is about to ensure he is undisturbed.
Greg shaffer: They didn't have the manpower.
They recognized that as a vulnerability.
They recognized that as a mistake.
[numbers clicking]
[siren wailing]
Narrator: Today, the secret service
Has an annual budget of around $2.25 billion
And employs over 3,000 special agents.
In 1963, its budget is the equivalent of just $35 million,
And the most powerful man in the world has just 28 agents
To provide round-the-clock close protection.
That's a low number, given what you're dealing with.
You're dealing with crowds of people.
You're dealing with the vehicles and its movements.
You're looking at securing the environment
Around it, the buildings.
That's a lot.
Narrator: For the dallas visit, the secret service
Insists local officers act as rooftop security
At either end of the motorcade route.
But during the 45-minute motorcade journey,
The secret service agents are expected to watch
The windows as they go.
In that era, they didn't clear the buildings.
In fact, the president wanted people to open the windows
And look at him, or at least to see him from windows.
The secret service was not looking for snipers.
In retrospect, you've got to wonder, why?
Narrator: The route through dallas
Takes jfk past 20,000 windows.
Rhonda glover reese: When kennedy was shot,
The resources of the secret service
Was minimal, whereas now, everybody
Is going to participate.
The more collective information you have,
The more intelligence you have,
The more and the better you can secure somebody
So things like this don't happen.
[suspenseful music]
Narrator: In the aftermath of the assassination,
Secret service procedures change almost overnight.
In today's world, when a president visits some place,
You have everything from removing mailboxes along
The motorcade route, to soldering shut
The manhole covers, to putting counter-sniper teams
On the rooftops that look for snipers.
But back in 1963, it was just a different world
That we lived in, and the failings of the secret service
Became evident as a result of the assassination.
Narrator: The unsuitable route that brings the motorcade
To a standstill, the exact journey's publication
In the press, and a lack of manpower
All leaves the president more open to attack.
But it's jfk's open-top limo that decides his death.
Truly, at the end of the day, when it comes down to it,
It's the car, the car, the car.
[ominous music]
Narrator: Prior to the assassination of jfk,
Everyone from intelligence agencies to the white house
And even the president himself either misses
Or ignores the warning signs of a clear and present danger.
But there is one factor that makes
Jfk even more vulnerable--
The very car he is sitting in.
[numbers clicking]
Jfk's car of choice is a modified lincoln
Continental nicknamed x-100.
Costing over $1.5 million in today's money,
It's designed to be the ultimate head turner.
It had this sleekness about it, and even its secret service
Name of x-100 made it seem like something
Out of a james bond movie.
Narrator: The limo's plush interior
Includes luxury rugs and hand-stitched panels
Featuring the presidential seal.
Rather than being traditional presidential black,
It is blue with silver sparkles to look better on camera,
And it's a convertible.
He knew people wanted to see him.
He's like, yeah, I'm the president.
I'm cool.
I need the people to see my face.
Narrator: But when it comes to keeping the president safe,
The limo has serious flaws.
It had almost no security features.
It was not armored, for example.
It didn't have bulletproof sides.
It didn't have bulletproof glass.
That was not the car to put the president
Of the united states in.
Narrator: The limousine's only security features
Are extra room in the back, retractable running boards
On the sides, and steps at the rear for secret service agents
To ride on the car.
One extra feature of high importance to jfk
Is the car's hydraulic rear seats.
They had made a platform along the back seat
So that he could sit above the rear seat
In full view of the crowds on the side of the street.
Narrator: The raised back seat makes
Jfk a clear target for attack.
There were certain things that he wanted to do
That really positioned him,
That put him out there.
And so there's some contributions there
To making it very difficult,
Particularly for the secret service,
To protect the president.
There's moments, I think, in every agent's career,
Mine included, where you say, "no, I'm not ok with this.
This isn't ok.
I can't keep you alive and do this."
But I do think you see at that time,
With jfk, this pivotal flaw where you give in to something
That you necessarily should not have been given into.
Narrator: Another fatal decision made by the president himself
Makes him even more exposed, because jfk
Wants the limo's roof removed.
They called from fort worth to ask,
"how is the weather in dallas?"
To the secret service agents at love field.
They said, "it's looking fine.
The weather is clearing."
He didn't bring jackie along with him to hide
Underneath some bubble top.
He wanted people to see them.
Evy poumpouras: So there's nothing
There to obstruct the shot that lee
Harvey oswald's about to take.
Everything's lined up perfectly for him to take that shot
And succeed in taking that shot.
Sometimes it's just that simple.
He should have never been in that vehicle.
Narrator: Today, the presidential limousine
Is one of the most secure vehicles ever built.
Greg shaffer: The limousine that the president currently
Travels in is called the beast.
The capabilities of that vehicle are classified,
But it's virtually impenetrable.
So in 1963, putting the president of the united states
In a convertible was incredibly stupid,
And the secret service, you know,
Learned a very valuable lesson.
Narrator: Jfk, seated raised up in an open-top limo,
Is an easy target for oswald.
But that's not the only mistake the president makes
On the day of his death.
As his motorcade makes its way down elm street,
He should be surrounded by a human shield
Of secret servicemen.
But the president has ordered them to back off.
It's an error that he will pay for with his life.
In a sense, they set themselves up for failure,
And they set up lee harvey oswald for success.
[numbers clicking]
[ominous music]
[crowd cheering]
Narrator: As john f. Kennedy's motorcade begins its journey
Through dallas, the crowds are able to get
A close look at the charismatic young president
And his glamorous wife.
Narrator: Standard protocol is for the president's
Bodyguards to be stationed as close as possible to the limo.
But jfk wants to make an impression in dallas,
And he doesn't want his secret service agents getting
Between him and the public.
Barbara a. Perry: Because president kennedy wanted
To have maximum contact with the people
While riding in a motorcade, he did not
Want any physical blockage of having secret service agents
On the running board, or he didn't really even want them
On the back of the limousine.
One of the things that kennedy prided himself on
Was that willingness and that ability to just get out there.
He was willing to talk to people, to engage with people.
Narrator: The secret service reluctantly complies
With jfk's wishes to back off.
They'll ride in the second car, only getting
Closer if his limo slows down.
Evy poumpouras: It's another layer
That should have been there.
It's another layer that could have
Prevented this from happening.
So you can see all these concessions
Made by the us secret service in turn which yielded this result.
Narrator: When lee harvey oswald first pulls the trigger
At 12:30 pm, the nearest secret service agent
Starts to run towards the president,
But he has 25 feet to cover.
When it comes to protection, proximity is key.
You need to be close enough to touch your protectee,
And that's not happening here.
Narrator: By the time the agent reaches the presidential limo,
A second shot, this one fatal, has been fired.
That led to the dramatic moment of the secret service
Officer trying to shield both the president
And protect the first lady from falling out the back
Of an accelerating limousine.
Evy poumpouras: You want to have close access
To the person you protect.
I'm not physically faster than a speeding bullet,
And especially if you put me at a greater distance.
So these agents are at a distance.
They can't get there in time.
If you've got the running boards,
At least they're there to possibly shield and take
The bullet for the president.
Narrator: Distancing himself from his protection detail
Is a critical error.
But even if the agents had been in position on the limo's
Running boards, shocking evidence
Reveals that late-night drinking has left many of them
In no fit state to react quickly.
Evy poumpouras: When I look back,
It is almost incomprehensible to understand how
They thought they could keep somebody safe
Functioning this way.
[numbers clicking]
[glasses clinking]
Narrator: In the inquest that follows jfk's assassination,
Many of the secret service agents
Claimed they thought the first gunshot was a firecracker.
But 10 days later, "the washington post"
Reveals another reason for the lag in their reaction times--
They were hungover.
Rhonda glover reese: There's no way
That you're going to be on task
When you're out drinking the night before.
I know that, as a former leader in the fbi,
Those individuals would have been pulled.
Narrator: The night before the motorcade, six members
Of jfk's personal protection detail
Head out for late-night drinks.
Some remain out until 3:00 am.
Evy poumpouras: When you're an agent,
Like, you have to be fully functional.
So the consumption of any alcohol, any substance,
Is a huge no.
Narrator: After jfk's assassination, several members
Of the public report they spotted a gun barrel
In the window of the book depository.
Rhonda glover reese: Because they weren't feeling
At their best, they weren't watching.
Evy poumpouras: You have to have all your wits about you.
You have to have all your senses and be sharp.
The odds were in his favor, not in theirs.
[dramatic music]
Narrator: Had all of jfk's security detail
Been in their best physical shape
And stationed next to him, jfk may have survived.
[gunshot]
Timothy naftali: First shot to hit kennedy
Went through his neck.
And he remained sitting upright,
Which meant that he was a clear target for oswald's next shot--
[gunshot]
--Which hit the back of his head and blew it off.
Narrator: John f. Kennedy is pronounced dead
At parkland memorial hospital at 1:00 pm.
Timothy naftali: It looked like the kennedys
Would be in the white house for another four years.
Dallas ended all of it
In one, sharp, tragic, awful moment.
I don't think america was ever or will
Ever be the same after that.
It was, as some have said, a loss
Of innocence for the united states,
And it was a loss of hope.
Sharron wilkins conrad: For african americans watching this
And living through this, there's a sense
That they had lost their champion,
Because he had spoken out on their behalf.
Narrator: No single error allowed
The events of November 22, 1963 to play out as they did.
But the 10 mistakes that led to the inevitable death of
Of john f. Kennedy also mean no other president will ever
Be as exposed to attack again.
[gunshot]
This whole thing is about holes.
Where are the holes?
Where are the vulnerabilities?
That day in dallas was a huge wake-up call around
How a president is allowed to be and how
Free he and his family can be.
It just gets tighter and tighter and tighter.
Greg shaffer: The assassination of john f. Kennedy
Was a watershed event.
It changed the history of the world,
And it also changed dramatically the standard operating
Procedures that the secret service now follow to ensure
That their principal, the president of the united states,
Is being protected.
The scenario that happened with president kennedy
Is not a scenario that will ever happen again.
As an agent looking back at my predecessors,
I think to myself, how did you not think something
Like this would happen?
But as a result of that, everything changed.