Kennedy / Cold War Chapter 20

Kennedy 1960’s Economy in recession American military falling behind the Soviets Alignment of Cuba with the Soviets Were we winning the Cold War??

Election of 1960 First televised debate --- Sept. 26, 1960 Kennedy v. Nixon John Kennedy Well organized campaign Backing from wealthy family Handsome – Charismatic 43 Roman Catholic Looked / Spoke better than Nixon

Kennedy and Civil Rights Atlanta, Georgia Martin Luther King, Jr. --- arrested 33 Demonstrators Sitting at a segregated lunch counter Sentenced to months of hard labor Kennedy phoned King’s wife Robert Kennedy persuaded the judge to release King on bail Pending an appeal African American Community now backed Kennedy in election Helped carry key states Won by only 119,000 votes

Kennedy Mystique Referred to Camelot Everyone loved him “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1PbQlVMp98 Brought together “the best and the brightest” Robert Kennedy Attorney General 35 years old

Military Policy Focused on the Cold War Redefined the nation’s nuclear strategy Flexible Response Increased defense spending in order to boost conventional military forces Non-nuclear forces Troops, ships, artillery Create an elite branch of army Special Forces (Green Berets) Tripled the overall nuclear capabilities of the U.S.

Cuba Fidel Castro January 3, 1961 Eisenhower cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba Fidel Castro Declared himself a communist Welcomed aid from the Soviets Gained power with a promise of democracy

Cont. Castro 10% of Cuba’s population went into exile Seized 3 American and British oil refineries Congress erected trade barriers against Cuban sugar 10% of Cuba’s population went into exile Florida

Bay of Pigs March 1960 Kennedy learned of plan 9 days after election Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to secretly train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba Overthrow Castro http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cuban-missile-crisis/videos/bay-of-pigs-cias-perfect-failure Kennedy learned of plan 9 days after election Had doubts --- but approved plan

Cont. April 17, 1961 Secretary of State --- 1,300 to 1,500 Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs Nothing went as planned Air strike failed to knock out the Cuban air force Faced 25,000 Cuban troops Backed by Soviet tanks and jets failed Secretary of State --- “look like fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies, and incompetents to the rest”

Cuban Missile Crisis Nikita Khrushchev 1962 October 14 Promised to defend Cuba with Soviet arms 1962 Soviet weapons set up at Cuba Nuclear missiles October 14 Photographs taken by U.S. planes Ready to launch

Cont. Kennedy warned that America would not tolerate offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba “Any missile attack from Cuba would trigger an all-out attack on the Soviets” 6 days --- possibility of nuclear war Soviet ships headed towards Cuba U.S. prepared to Quarantine Cuba 100,000 troops waited in Florida

Cont. Soviet ships suddenly stopped Few days later Khrushchev offered to remove the missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba U.S. also secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey “For a moment, the world had stood still” Robert Kennedy http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cuban-missile-crisis

Berlin 1961 Khrushchev 11 years since Berlin airlift 3 million East Germans – 20% fled into West Berlin Weakened East Berlin Khrushchev Wanted to close all the access roads to West Berlin because many people were leaving east Berlin. Kennedy refused

Cont. Khrushchev Kennedy August 13, 1961 “I want peace. But, if you want war, that is your problem.” Kennedy “We cannot and will not permit the communists to drive us out of Berlin” August 13, 1961 East German troops began to unload concrete posts / barbed wire Within days the Berlin Wall was erected

http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall

Ease Tensions 1963 Hot Line Limited Test Ban Treaty Direct telephone line between the White House and the Kremlin Communicate at once Limited Test Ban Treaty Barred nuclear testing in the atmosphere