Two programmes air this evening looking at the life and death of the former stateside President.
In the first offering, at 8 pm, a documentary created to mark the 60th anniversary of the assassination of John F Kennedy. This is a moment-by-moment view of the day JFK died, 22 November 1963.
Exploring the last hours of the 35th President of the United States, the film explores the chaos and grief that swept a nation, through incredible original footage and the use of oral history. During his Texan campaign of 1963, President Kennedy was surrounded by fans, well-wishers, staff and the press. His every move was meticulously documented. JFK: 24 Hours that Changed the World follows Kennedy from his arrival in Dallas, Texas, all the way through to his horrific shooting and onwards to two hours later with his body being taken by Air Force One to Washington DC.
This full archive special also covers the subsequent arrest and murder of apparent sole gunman Lee Harvey Oswald.
Then at 9pm JFK’s world of showbiz friends and underworld connections is investigated. With his wise guy links, Frank Sinatra helped John F Kennedy into the White House in 1960. But it all came to a bitter end.
Frank Sinatra grew up in the poor New Jersey suburb of Hoboken where wise guys were a natural part of the landscape. He was a single child raised by a barkeep father and a midwife mother, both of whom had loose affiliations with organised crime that helped Frank greatly in his rise to stardom. From getting him gigs to liberating him from an extortionate contract with Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra benefited from the Mafia.
Meanwhile, John F Kennedy was raised in a wealthy and large Catholic family. His father’s bootlegging past cultivated criminal connections that greatly helped hisrising political career. When the two icons crossed paths, they immediately enjoyed each other’s company. Sinatra became integral to the Kennedy presidential campaign as he involved many Hollywood A-listers. Quietly, however, Sinatra and Kennedy pulled strings with Sam Giancana and his Chicago mafia in order to help secure victory in the 1960 election, and Giancana grew furious when Robert Kennedy, hellbent on cracking down on the Mafia, was appointed the Attorney General.
Giancana’s affair with one of JFK’s mistresses, Judy Campbell, did nothing to ease the heat, and when FBI head J Edgar Hoover discovered the love triangle he made it plain to the president that he must cut all ties and communication with the Mafia, including Sinatra. This was only days before a trip to Sinatra’s home in California, which he’d newly renovated for the President. Humiliated and angry, the two stars never spoke again.
JFK: 24 Hours that Changed the World and Kennedy, Sinatra and the Mafia, tonight on Channel 4 from 8 pm
