1. Kennedy and the cold war

2. John F. Kennedy
Remembered in many ways

3. Election of 1960 Closest Presidential election in over 70 years
John F. Kennedy:
Young, energetic, and a great speaker
Senator from Massachusetts
Democrat, Catholic
Popular among African Americans
Richard M. Nixon
Vice President
From California
Not skirting civil rights issues
Experience

4. Elec. of 1960 (cont.)
candidate.org/commer cials/1960
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6. Cold War Strategies Fight communism in Latin America
JFK took different approach than Eisenhower
Stay away from huge military forces
Use smaller elites forces along w/ CIA for “flexible response” to military engagement
Fight communism in Latin America
Make up “missile gap” w/ USSR
Aid to developing nations/ Peace Corps
Look imperialism of T. Roosevelt and American policies toward Latin America

7. The Cuba Problem Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro
Batista gov’t was corrupt; US doesn’t mind the overthrow at first
Dealing w/ communists won’t work
Fidel Castro
Major communist reforms put into place w/ Soviet help
Kennedy’s Problem: Eisenhower already set up to invade Castro and set up pro- American government

8. Bay of Pigs Invasion
Eisenhower and Nixon plan overthrow of Castro for months
Loss of election didn’t stop CIA from pushing Kennedy into action
CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles were ill-prepared and the entire attack was mishandled
Only 300 survived
Kennedy and US look bad
Castro grows in stature

9. Bay of Pigs invasion
"The United States has no right to meddle in our domestic affairs. We do not speak English and we do not chew gum. We have a different tradition, a different culture, our own way of thinking. We have no borders with anybody. Our frontier is the sea, very clearly defined.”
Fidel Castro

10. Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviets now had access to a country that posed a great threat to US security
US implemented a naval blockade to keep Soviet help out.
US removed missiles in Turkey, USSR took missiles from Cuba
Opened discussion b/w USA and USSR
Nikita Krushchev took a lot of heat from fellow Soviets as being perceived as weak; Kennedy looked calm and pragmatic

11. The Berlin Crisis Krushchev long wanted to control all of Berlin
Kennedy saw it as a Soviet threat and aggression, but would stand behind out Allies
Berlin wall is constructed as a symbol of the divide b/w the Soviets and the Western world