Kennedy and the Cold War

John F. Kennedy 35th President of the United States Senator from Massachusetts World War II Hero  Injured on PT Boat 109

Election of 1960 Kennedy runs against VP Richard Nixon Americans afraid of falling behind USSR  Sputnik, Soviet missiles  U-2 incident  Cuba aligned with USSR

Kennedy and Nixon Eisenhower is popular  Nixon hopes it’ll help him Kennedy is young, smart, and handsome  Promises to “Get America going again” Both have very similar positions

TV Debates Kennedy coached by TV executives Looks better Images become as important as words

Civil Rights MLK is arrested and put in jail Eisenhower does nothing  Nixon has no public statement JFK calls MLK’s wife  Robert Kennedy gets MLK released on bail

Kennedy Wins Closest election since 1884  Fewer than 119,000 votes  Shenanigans in Chicago Picks a young, intelligent advisors  “The best and brightest”  Brother Robert as Attorney General

Cold Warrior Increased defense spending  Troops and ships Tripled nuclear capabilities Promised to fight in our hemisphere

Cuba Fidel Castro comes to power in 1959  Seized American oil refineries Castro turns to the USSR Massive Cuban immigration to US

Bay of Pigs (April ‘61) CIA trains Cubans in America PP lanned invasion of Cuba 1,500 Cubans land at Bay of Pigs NN o air cover FF ace 25,000 Cubans Disaster for Kennedy and US

Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct ‘62) Soviets sneak nuclear missiles into Cuba US blockades Cuba  Country is freaked out  Russian ships turn back Kennedy strikes deal with USSR  No invasion of Cuba by US  Soviet missiles out of Cuba