Kennedy and the Cold War

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Kennedy and the Cold War
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Cold War-Review

• Dwight Ike Eisenhower
• Mood of restlessness among Americans due to
• Economy was in recession.
• Launch of Sputnik and USSRs development of
  long-range missiles.
• U-2 Incident.
• Americans feared our military was falling behind
  the Soviets.
• They also questioned, with the recent alignment
  with Cuba and the Soviets, whether we were
  actually winning the Cold War

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Kennedy and the 1960 Election

• John F. Kennedy

• Richard Nixon

• Democratic
• Well-organized campaign
• Wealthy family
• Young and Handsome
• Charismatic

• Republican
• Ikes lap dog
• Stern and monotone
• Already accused of bribery and corruption.

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Kennedy and the 1960 Election

• September 26, 1960- 70 million TV viewers watched
  the two knowledgeable candidates debating issues.
• Kennedy and his campaign party collaborated
  together with TV producers to sharpen Kennedys
  appearance and speech and Nixon did not.
• Americans notice the difference and Kennedy now
  has the upper hand on the election.
• This debate started the current trend of
  appearance along with substance during political
  debate

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Kennedy and Civil Rights

• Next major move with Kennedy dealt with civil
  rights and Martin Luther King Jr.
• Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in
  Atlanta along with 33 other African-Americans
  demonstrators.
• When Eisenhower and Nixon took no public
  position, Kennedy telephoned Kings wife and his
  Kennedys brother Robert actually persuaded the
  judge to release him on bail.
• News of the incident captured immediate attention
  of the African-American community which would
  help Kennedy win the election.

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Becoming President

• November 1960- Kennedy won by fewer than 119,000
  votes (closest since 1884).
• Inauguration speech- And so, my fellow
  Americans, ask not what your country can do for
  you, ask what you can do for your country.
• Kennedy and his family invites many celebrities
  and artists to the White House, black and white.
  This boosted his image with the American public.
• It seemed the nation could not get enough of the
  first family, whether it was Johns ability to
  read 1,600 words per minute or Jacquelines eye
  for fashion.
• Newspapers and magazines filled their pages with
  stories about the two and their children.

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Kennedys Beginning

• Kennedy surrounded himself with a team of
  advisors who were called the best and the
  brightest.
• Kennedy focused on the Cold War and blasted the
  Republicans for allowing communism to develop in
  Cuba.
• Developed flexible response policy, which he used
  to increase defense spending and created an elite
  branch of the army called the Special Forces.
• Also tripled the overall nuclear capabilities of
  the U.S.
• These changes enabled the U.S. to fight limited
  wars around the world while maintaining a balance
  of nuclear power with Soviet Union.

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Kennedy and Crises Over Cuba

• January 3, 1961- Eisenhower cut off diplomatic
  relations with Cuba because of a leader named
  Fidel Castro, who openly declared himself a
  communist and welcomed aid from Soviet Union.
• Castro had seized three American and British oil
  refineries and broke up commercial farms.
• Castro seen as a man full of charisma and bravery
  standing up against U.S. while others thought he
  was just another dictator.
• About 10 of Cubas population went into exile,
  mostly to the U.S. (Miami, FL).

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Kennedy and Crises Over Cuba

• March 1960- Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to
  secretly train Cuban exiles for invasion of Cuba
  to overthrow the government.
• April 17, 1961- 1,500 Cuban exiles reached
  southern shore of Cuba but everything did not go
  as planned
• Air strike failed to knock out Cuban air force
• Small advance group mean to distract Castros
  forces never reached shore.
• Main unit lacked American air support and were
  faced with 25,000 Cuban troops with Soviet tanks
  and jets.
• Invading exiles were killed or imprisoned.

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Kennedy and Crises Over Cuba

• This event was dubbed the Bay of Pigs.
• Kennedy was embarrassed and wondered how the CIA
  could be that wrong?
• Kennedy negotiated w/ Castro for the release of
  those surviving commandos and paid a 53 million
  ransom for food and medical supplies.

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Kennedy and Crises Over Cuba

• Summer of 1962- Soviet Leader Khrushchev promises
  to defend Cuba with Soviet arms and he built up
  nuclear arms in Cuba.
• Kennedy responds with a warning that America
  would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in
  Cuba.
• October 14- American planes discover Soviet
  missile bases Cuba, some ready to launch which
  could reach America in minutes.
• October 22- Kennedy informs America about the
  nuclear arms and his plans to remove them. Made
  it clear any missile attack from Cuba would
  produce full attack on Soviet Union.

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Kennedy and Crises Over Cuba

• The next six days was the closest America would
  ever get to nuclear war.
• Soviet ships carrying more missiles headed toward
  Cuba but were stopped by the U.S. Navy which
  prevented coming 500 miles from boarder.
• In FL, 100,000 troops waited for possible
  invasion.
• Soviets made first retreatOffered to remove
  missiles if America promised not to invade Cuba.
• Khrushchev and Kennedy were widely criticized for
  this event.

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Kennedy and Crisis in Berlin

• Berlin Wall- a concrete wall topped with barbed
  wire that severed the city in two.
• Almost 3 million East Germans had fled into West
  Germany to flee Communist rule.