Kennedy and the Cold War

President John F. Kennedy takes over the Cold War in the 1960’s – The 1960 election changes politics First Roman Catholic president First televised presidential debate – Kennedy’s first challenges occur in Cuba Cuba was an American protectorate from A revolution, led by Fidel Castro, put a new government in place that drew increasingly closer to the Soviets The Bay of Pigs: April of 1960 – The CIA began secretly training Cuban refugees at the end of the Eisenhower administration – Kennedy authorizes a US backed invasion of Cuba by the refugees – Due to poor planning, the unwillingness of the US to risk its own troops, and popular support for Castro, the invasion failed Cuban Missile Crisis: October of 1962 – The Soviets begin sending nuclear missiles to Cuba in the summer of 1962 – The US discovers this and imposes a blockade on Cuba to prevent weapons from being shipped there – Standoff occurs when Russian ships appear ready to run the blockade – The Soviet Union blinks and stops its ships – The Soviets agree to remove missiles, in exchange the US pledges to not invade Cuba and remove missiles from Turkey

Cuban missile crisis map Guiding Question: How did the Cold War proceed during the Kennedy administration? Summarize what Source A has to say about the guiding question

The Berlin Wall is built in 1961 – Since the Berlin Airlift, 3 million refugees had fled from East Germany to West Germany This was embarrassing to East Germany and harmed the East German economy – In order to prevent more refugees from leaving, Khrushchev and East German officials had a wall built on the border of East and West Berlin

Berlin wall map Guiding Question: How did the Cold War proceed during the Kennedy administration? Summarize what Source B has to say about the guiding question

Berlin wall primary source Guiding Question: How did the Cold War proceed during the Kennedy administration? Summarize what Source C has to say about the guiding question

Nuclear war notes As a response to how close the US and the USSR came to nuclear war, Kennedy and Khrushchev attempted to reduce tensions – Set up a “hot line,” a dedicated phone line between the two leaders – Agreed to a limited test ban treaty that ended nuclear testing in the atmosphere

Nuclear war cartoon Guiding Question: How did the Cold War proceed during the Kennedy administration? Summarize what Source D has to say about the guiding question