1. Kennedy / Cold War
Chapter 20

2. Kennedy 1960’s Economy in recession
American military falling behind the Soviets
Alignment of Cuba with the Soviets
Were we winning the Cold War??

3. Election of 1960 First televised debate --- Sept. 26, 1960
Kennedy v. Nixon
John Kennedy
Well organized campaign
Backing from wealthy family
Handsome – Charismatic 43
Roman Catholic
Looked / Spoke better than Nixon

4. Kennedy and Civil Rights
Atlanta, Georgia
Martin Luther King, Jr arrested
33 Demonstrators
Sitting at a segregated lunch counter
Sentenced to months of hard labor
Kennedy phoned King’s wife
Robert Kennedy persuaded the judge to release King on bail
Pending an appeal
African American Community now backed Kennedy in election
Helped carry key states

5. Kennedy Mystique Referred to Camelot Everyone loved him
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”
Brought together “the best and the brightest”
Robert Kennedy
Attorney General
35 years old

6. Military Policy Focused on the Cold War
Redefined the nation’s nuclear strategy
Flexible Response
Increased defense spending in order to boost conventional military forces
Non-nuclear forces
Troops, ships, artillery
Create an elite branch of army
Special Forces (Green Berets)
Tripled the overall nuclear capabilities of the U.S.

7. Cuba Fidel Castro January 3, 1961
Eisenhower cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba
Fidel Castro
Declared himself a communist
Welcomed aid from the Soviets
Gained power with a promise of democracy

8. Cont. Castro 10% of Cuba’s population went into exile
Seized 3 American and British oil refineries
Congress erected trade barriers against Cuban sugar
10% of Cuba’s population went into exile
Florida

9. Bay of Pigs March 1960 Kennedy learned of plan 9 days after election
Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to secretly train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba
Overthrow Castro
Kennedy learned of plan 9 days after election
Had doubts --- but approved plan

10. Cont. April 17, 1961 Secretary of State ---
1,300 to 1,500 Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs
Nothing went as planned
Air strike failed to knock out the Cuban air force
Faced 25,000 Cuban troops
Backed by Soviet tanks and jets
failed
Secretary of State ---
“look like fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies, and incompetents to the rest”

11. Cuban Missile Crisis Nikita Khrushchev 1962 October 14
Promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms
1962
Soviet weapons set up at Cuba
Nuclear missiles
October 14
Photographs taken by U.S. planes
Ready to launch

12. Cont.
Kennedy warned that America would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba
“Any missile attack from Cuba would trigger an all-out attack on the Soviets”
6 days --- possibility of nuclear war
Soviet ships headed towards Cuba
U.S. prepared to Quarantine Cuba
100,000 troops waited in Florida

13. Cont. Soviet ships suddenly stopped Few days later
Khrushchev offered to remove the missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba
U.S. also secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey
“For a moment, the world had stood still”
Robert Kennedy

14. Berlin 1961 Khrushchev 11 years since Berlin airlift
3 million East Germans – 20% fled into West Berlin
Weakened East Berlin
Khrushchev
Wanted to close all the access roads to West Berlin because many people were leaving east Berlin.
Kennedy refused

15. Cont. Khrushchev Kennedy August 13, 1961
“I want peace. But, if you want war, that is your problem.”
Kennedy
“We cannot and will not permit the communists to drive us out of Berlin”
August 13, 1961
East German troops began to unload concrete posts / barbed wire
Within days the Berlin Wall was erected

17. Ease Tensions 1963 Hot Line Limited Test Ban Treaty
Direct telephone line between the White House and the Kremlin
Communicate at once
Limited Test Ban Treaty
Barred nuclear testing in the atmosphere