A beat. Kenny stands straight, ready for action, ready for

some necessary thing. Ready to go back into the game.

THE PRESIDENT (CONT'D)

...never mind. See you around, Kenny.

Kenny starts to leave, but at the door, turns back.

KENNY

You know...

The President looks at him in the mirror.

KENNY (CONT'D)

...this was what we're here for.

The President smiles an ever-so-faint smile. Kenny turns and

leaves the room, vanishing, and as we HOLD on the empty

doorway, the simple, whistled melody of O'DONNELL ABOO drifts

from the hallway beyond, becoming our END MUSIC.

FADE OUT

SUPER:

Shortly after the crisis President Kennedy ordered a

reassessment of U.S.-Soviet relations, ushering a brief thaw

in the Cold War. During this time, the Washington-Moscow

hotline was installed to ensure that in a future crisis,

miscommunication would not lead to nuclear war.

The President was assassinated on November 22nd, a year after

the crisis ended.

THE SUPER:

Bobby Kennedy ran for president in 1968. After winning the

California primary, he called Kenny from the Ambassador Hotel

in Los Angeles and told him, "I finally feel like I'm out

from under my brother's shadow."

Bobby was assassinated minutes later.

THEN SUPER:

The members of EXCOM continued to serve with distinction in

government in various capacities over the next three decades.

As Lyndon Johnson's Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara

urged containment of the Soviet threat in every theatre of

conflict around the world. He ultimately advised President

Johnson to increase the U.S. military commitment to one of

these minor backwater conflicts: Vietnam.

AND FINALLY SUPER:

Kenny O'Donnell witnessed the President's assassination from

the car behind. He went on to head the Peace Platform at the

1968 Democratic National Convention, fighting to end the

Vietnam War. He died in 1977.