JFK and the Cold War

JFK and the Cold War Pages 748-751

The Kennedy Mystique Election of 1960 John F. Kennedy (D) Richard Nixon (R)

Election of 1960 Personality and style over substance Nixon had more exp Kennedy younger

John F. Kennedy War hero Catholic

Role of Television • TV played a huge role in determining the outcome of the election • The campaign featured the first televised presidential debates

Kennedy/Nixon Debates Most thought Nixon gave better answers Seemed nervous Bad makeup

TV vs. Radio Most journalists reported that if you listened on the radio, most thought Nixon won Those viewing on TV thought Kennedy won http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QazmVHAO0os

Kennedy Inaguration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4phB-rRjYQw Most famous line?

Kennedy’s Mistakes Leader of Soviet Union was Nikita Khrushchev

Cuban Invasion • Kennedy sponsored an invasion of Cuba on April 17, 1961 • This confirmed Soviet fears of American aggressiveness

Bay of Pigs Supposed to be secret mission

Bay of Pigs • Bay of Pigs was a plan from the Eisenhower administration • Kennedy refused to commit American armed forces to support them, Cuban forces were able to capture the attackers

Damage Control Kennedy now had to quickly fix this problem Rushed into a meeting with Khrushchev that he was not prepared for Gave Soviet Union the impression he was weak

Soviet Threat Soviet Union focused attention again on Berlin City was still divided and was an escape route from Communism for many Soviet Union was attempting to block access to Berlin

Important • Wanted the U.S. to formally recognize East Germany • Kennedy responded by doubling draft calls, called up reservists, and warned families to build bomb fallout shelters

New War Fears • Soviets chose not to fight the Americans directly, but rather build a wall around the western sectors of Berlin • Berlin Wall 8/13/61

Berlin Wall • Privately JFK accepted the wall, “ A wall is a hell of a lot better than a war”

Getting Into Vietnam • American involvement started in the mid 1950’s when the United States replaced France as the supporter of anti-Communist Vietnamese who had established a government in the southern part of Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh • Ho Chi Minh, leader of Communist North Vietnam had defeated the French in 1954 • Power struggle ensued, international conference wanted a single government.

Southern Leader • Eisenhower administration wanted Ngo Dinh Diem from the South and Catholic roots to hold own elections

Diem Controlled the South, which was free Communist insurgents were beginning to battle him in the South The Viet Cong

Opportunity for JFK • Kennedy saw this as an opportunity to reassert idea of containment • Tried to support Diem with more weapons and military advisors • Didn’t work

Now What? • Diem was losing support of his people in the South • Kennedy administration approved a coup that killed Diem and replaced him

Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis • Photos in Oct 1962 revealed Soviets at work on launching sites in Cuba from which missiles could hit the United States • Officials spent 5 days trying to decide what to do

Options • Doing nothing was political disaster, an invasion was not feasible, and air strikes were impossible • Decided to demand removal of the missiles and set up a naval quarantine in order to buy some more time

Speech • JFK spoke to a terrified nation • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W50RNAbmy3M

Soviet Response • Khrushchev offered to withdraw the missiles in exchange for a promise from the U.S. not to invade Cuba • A second letter followed the next day also demanding the removal of American missiles in NATO countries

American Response • JFK just decided to accept the first letter and act as if he never received the other • Pledged not to invade Cuba and secretly removed some missiles from Turkey

JFK and the Cold War