JFK Foreign Policy

Background: Student Palo Alto High School  Harvard  Stanford  US Navy WWII Harvard – Senior thesis: Why Britain failed to maintain a military force comparable to the Germans leading up to World War II – Traveled throughout Europe while his father Joseph was ambassador to Britain Stanford studied business; took courses in politics & international relations

Background: Senator “Foreign policy today, irrespective of what we might wish, in its impact on our daily lives, overshadows everything else. Expenditures, taxation, domestic prosperity, the extent of social sciences — all hinge on the basic issue of war or peace.” - JFK in Campaign Speech for Massachusetts Senate Seat, 1951

Cold War President Fought Communism in developing nations with Peace Corps Vowed to beat the Russians in the race to the moon Oversaw largest peacetime arms buildup in history

Bay of Pigs Weeks after taking office, informed of CIA plan to send Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro – Purpose to rid western hemisphere of 1st Communist regime April 17, Cuban exiles trained by CIA landed at the Bay of Pigs in the south of Cuba – Over 100 exiles killed and 1,198 captured Publicly JFK accepted responsibility, privately blamed the CIA

Vietnam April 29, Approved deployment of 400 Special Forces troops to South Vietnam Within two years, more than 16,000 American troops arrive in Vietnam U.S. involvement/aid in Vietnam increased – Aides to the president have said JFK wanted to avoid appeasement for political reasons, but planned to withdraw after re- election of ‘64

Berlin Wall May Met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna – Khrushchev wanted to close off the flow of refugees - threatened that if Kennedy intervened, there would be war – Meeting ended without resolution JFK increased the size of America’s combat forces and obtained billions of dollars for nuclear and conventional weapons Aug Russians built Berlin Wall – “A wall is better than a war.”- JFK

Cuban Missile Crisis Oct. 15, American pilots photographed Soviet ballistic missile sites being installed in Cuba JFK formed the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm) –ExComm had no proof that there were nuclear warheads for the missiles on the island (although later declassified Soviet documents account for 134 nuclear warheads in Cuba)

Cuba Blockade “ Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere…. We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation’s security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive and ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased possibility of their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace.” - Oct. 22, 1962 in JFKs address to the nation (first time Soviets knew they had been detected) announced a blockade of Cuba declared that an attack from Cuba would be understood as a Soviet attack requiring response stepped up American military readiness asked for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council

From Brinkmanship  Backing Down Soviet ships approached the blockade, slowed, turned back Khrushchev publicly agreed to remove the missiles in return for US not invading Cuba – JFK also promised to remove American missiles from Turkey – Fidel Castro gave a speech where he declared that Kruschev lacked “cojones” Seen as foreign policy success for JFK

JFK Foreign Policy Successes or Failures? Bay of Pigs Invasion Vietnam Berlin Wall Cuban Missile Crisis Brinkmanship Cuba Blockade