1. Kennedy and the Cold War

2. REMINDER!  Cold War= 1945 to 1989  United States VS Soviet Union  War against COMMUNISM

3. John F. Kennedy  Son of wealthy Boston businessman  Attended Harvard  Served in the navy during WWII  Elected to Congress in 1946

4. JFK becomes President in 1960   Defeats Nixon   Televised debates make the difference

5.  Candidates agreed to 4 televised debates  Nixon in hospital before so he appears pale and exhausted  Many who listened on radio thought Nixon won debates but most watched on TV… Kennedy was elected with a lead of 112,827 votes, or 0.1% of the popular vote, giving him a victory of 303 to 219

6.  JFK steps into tough times  Sputnik I and Montgomery bus boycott The Soviets were advancing and Brown v. Board of Education still had a long way to go- segregation was still taking place.

7. Kennedy launches new Cold War strategies  1) Build up the nation’s armed forces  2) More money to Army Special Forces i.e. Green Barets  3) Help developing countries through the Peace Corps (also known as “Third World Countries”) “Third World”= developing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

8. Kennedy Confronts Communism in Cuba  Fidel Castro takes over in 1959 WHY / HOW?  U.S. tries to play nice but Castro is a radical leader and takes aid from Soviets.

9. BAY OF PIGS  Before leaving office, Eisenhower cuts off ties with Cuba and plans a CIA-led invasion to overthrow Castro. 638 Ways to Kill Castro  Kennedy decides to follow through with the plan and a CIA-led force of Cuban exiles attacked in the Bay of Pigs invasion. *This was done less than three months after Kennedy became President!

10. Poor planning!  1) poorly equipped forces  2) no protective cover  3) the invasion FAILS  *All but 300 of the 1,400 invaders were killed or captured  The Bay of Pigs invasion turned many Cuban Americans against Kennedy.

11. Cuban Missile Crisis Who is Nikita Khrushchev? leader of the Soviet Union following the death of Stalin

12.  What took place? U.S. intelligence discovers Soviets building nuclear missile sites in Cuba 6 tense days where nuclear war was a real threat  Results: Soviets remove missiles from Cuba b/c the U.S. promised to do the same in Italy and Turkey The U.S., GB, and SU all sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (bans above ground testing).