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It is the eve of the 1960 presidential election, and John F. Kennedy is poised to become the youngest man ever elected to office. While he and a heavily pregnant Jackie are forefront in the media spotlight, behind the scenes Kennedy family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., one of America’s richest men, works furiously to ensure his son’s victory over Richard Nixon. Younger brother Bobby is JFK’s campaign manager.

Joe Sr. was Ambassador to England in 1937, but when his own Presidential aspirations are dashed he grooms his eldest son to run for office. After a family tragedy the mantle falls to Jack, an inveterate ladies man, who has no interest in politics. Joe Sr., however, leaves nothing to chance.

We follow Congressman Jack Kennedy through his early years in Washington, where he meets a young Jacqueline Bouvier. They marry two years later, despite warnings from her mother that Jack will never be faithful. And when this prophecy becomes true Joe Sr. tries to solve the problem the only way he knows how – by offering to buy Jackie’s silence.

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Jack and Bobby try to convince their father that Bobby’s being named Attorney General would be a major mistake.

We are quickly drawn into to Bay of Pigs crisis. Virtually all of Jack’s advisors – military and civilian – urge him to go ahead with the invasion. But he’s unsure that the plan will work, and he worries that the operation will be linked back to the US – causing major problems with Cuba’s #1 ally, the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Bobby and J. Edgar Hoover butt heads over Bobby’s desire to control the flow of information from the Justice Department. Hoover sets out to hurt Bobby the only way he can - through his brother the President.

While Jackie is away, Jack has a one-night tryst with Judy Campbell, to whom he’d been introduced during the 1960 campaign by Frank Sinatra. In Hyannis Port, Jackie bonds with her mother-in-law Rose Kennedy over the one thing they have in common: philandering husbands.

In August of 1961 the Russians move troops into Berlin, though their intentions are unclear. JFK prepares for the possibility that Khrushchev may try and take the city.

Bobby announces the formation of the Organized Crime Division. Chicago mobster Sam Giancana is livid about it, and blames Frank Sinatra, who had arranged a meeting between the gangster and Joe Kennedy Sr. before the 1960 election.

Jackie becomes increasingly busy as First Lady, forcing her to spend more time away from her children. Suffering from severe back pain and debilitating fatigue brought on by the chemical cocktail of legitimate medications he’s taking for a variety of illnesses, Jack calls in New York physician Max Jacobson, aka “Dr. Feelgood,” to treat him.

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At home and with little to do, for the first time in his life Joe Sr. feels useless. Rose is angry, and feels her sons have abandoned their father. Then, terrible news: Joe suffers a stroke from which he may never fully recover. At the hospital, Rose is mute, but the look on her face says she blames her sons.

In the South, civil rights demonstrators are protesting. JFK calls a meeting with the Southern Caucus of the Senate, who state their opposition to desegregation. James Meredith, a black student, is attempting to gain admission to the University of Mississippi. Riots are imminent, and protests are forming outside the school.

Jackie is receiving ‘treatments’ from Dr. Jacobson. Jack worries she may be developing an addiction, and he confronts her about it

In Hyannis Port, we flashback to the twenties, to meet Rose and Joe Sr.’s daughter Rosemary, who has a severe learning disability. Joe insists on sending her to a convent where she can be adequately cared for. He later does something to Rosemary for which his wife will never forgive him.

In October 1962 Jack’s marriage is in shambles because Jackie has found out about his affair with Mary Meyer. Jack has to also deal with an impending crisis in the Caribbean. The Soviet Union has placed nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba. Tensions are high, and Jack is being pressured to attack Cuba with the purpose of removing the missiles.

Bobby’s wife Ethel tries to convince Jackie to return and support her husband during this crucial time.

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22 November 1963. JFK is in Fort Worth, Texas to mend fences between the liberal and conservative wings of the state’s Democratic Party prior to beginning his re-election campaign. Lee Harvey Oswald is at home in Dallas, assembling a rifle.

Back in 1961, Bobby is at a party in Malibu, hosted by his sister Pat and her husband Peter Lawford. Enter Marilyn Monroe. She’s already become Jack’s lover, but that doesn’t stop her from making a pass at Bobby. This will come back to haunt the brothers.

A year later and JFK is organizing a political fundraiser. Two weeks on, Marilyn is singing him “Happy Birthday” at Madison Square Garden.

25 November 1963. The nation watches as John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Bobby sinks into a deep, debilitating depression born out of the suspicion that it was his actions – with respect to Castro and/or his pursuit of the mob – that might have caused Jack’s assassination.

With Lyndon Johnson now in office, Jackie prepares to leave the White House. Bobby spends more time with her, leaving Ethel feeling jealous and abandoned.

With war raging in Vietnam, Johnson’s popularity hits an all-time low. Bobby sees an opportunity for change. He’s being urged to run for President – especially by Ethel. But it’s Jackie’s approval that he really seeks.

Aristotle Onassis proposes to Jackie. Before she’ll accept, she asks for Bobby’s blessing. Hesitant at first, Bobby eventually grants it, genuine in his desire for her happiness. Later that night, Bobby is speaking in Los Angeles after his win in the California primary. After the speech and during his exit, Robert Kennedy is shot and killed.